"Yes, I… I destroy the world… and create it… anew."

…

"A Code…? Perhaps my father had the last laugh after all."

…

"My survival will bring the Zero Requiem to a halt the second I am seen. Is there really no other way…?"

…

"Then I have no other choice. I'm sorry, old friend…"

…

"I know I do not deserve to ask anything more of you, but as you can tell by my being here…"

…

"Then you'll do it? You will accept the Geass Contract after what you've seen?"

…

"I truly am sorry that things had to turn out this way. Thank you for everything, all of you. I leave the world in your hands."

One and a half years after the Zero Requiem, Lelouch vi Britannia, the enemy of the entire world, died peacefully at a very secluded orange farm. But this would not be the end of his adventures, for as soon as he breathed his (true) last, in another world, Reizo Akaba's life began.

Prologue: Rebirth

He'd always felt out of place in the world. That it was lying to him; the memories hidden deep inside of his head (he wasn't even sure they were his, but they were definitely there) did not always match up with the reality he saw. Acting the part of a normal son of a single mother attempting to run the business her husband left behind wasn't that hard, considering he was still just a child. But there were times when the memories were overwhelming and everything was just wrong. A tantrum because he wanted to see his sister but couldn't. Pure hatred directed towards one or both of his parents (always towards his father). Slipping up and calling his older brother some name he could never recall after it left his lips (apparently "Clovis" or "Schneizel"; what strange names those were).

That was the problem. Reizo Akaba did not have a sister, only his brother Reiji (certainly not Clover or Schnitzel or whatever), his elder by nearly two and a half years. (But Reizo could never call him "Brother" or any of its variants, only Reiji. Always Reiji. Any time he tried otherwise he felt wrong.)

The other problem was, at the very least, Himika Akaba did not deserve his hatred. Yes, she did pressure him to be the best Duelist around (Reiji received the same treatment, though he was such the prodigy that it really wasn't necessary). That was the only subject Reizo and his mother ever butted heads about; he had no intentions of ever becoming a professional Duelist, and he never cared about the outcome of his Duels, only the challenge that they could be when trying to figure out all the combinations of cards. He'd never really had that spark for a card game, and would actually rather play chess. (A game he didn't actually know how to play, and yet felt like he could…)

On the other hand, his father Akaba Leo was certainly worthy of Reizo's hatred. The bastard had up and left one day about four months after Reizo had turned three, not a trace of him behind. It had actually taken almost two full days before Reizo found out that his father had vanished, not that he cared much at all. He just wished the abandonment didn't mean the headaches he always had got worse as visions of a man that was his father but definitely wasn't Akaba Leo kept him awake at night.

Reizo's Life Points: 3400 - 400 → 3000

The nine-year-old boy got back up on his feet, a slight scowl on his face as he narrowed his violet eyes. Another day, another Duel he had to complete. Only this time, it was in an actual tournament, he forgot the name. The ground was different, though, a soft material that was almost like a trampolene. Safety precautions for the kids of his age group who participated in Action Duels, of course. As he'd expected, the semifinal Duel was not going to be as easy as the previous two; his opponent was well skilled with her "Ghostrick" Deck—and she wasn't even using any Xyz Monsters.

All three of his monsters—Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World, Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, and his ace Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World—had been trapped face-down as a combination of his opponent's Ghostrick Night and Ghostrick-Go-Round. The only other card he had was his Set Dark Deal—fat lot of good that would do him in this situation.

His opponent this time was a girl maybe a year or two older than him with curly orange hair and olive green eyes, a smile like he'd never seen before plastered on her face. Her Duel Disk matched her hair, and it looked like she was still wearing a school uniform (not LDS, that was for sure). Other than her Traps, her field consisted of Ghostrick Warwolf, Ghostrick Witch, and Ghostrick Ghoul. Hiroe Kaiya was her name; that's what the announcer said.

(Then why did he feel like it should be something different?)

There was something about Kaiya that made her look familiar, but the more he tried to focus on it the more his head hurt. Trying to take his mind off of it, he tried focusing on the Duel, but it was constantly nagging him. Like someone whispering in the vicinity just quietly enough to not be heard.

(Sh…y …tte…)

The orangette grinned, spinning around a little. "Okay, now it's time for Ghostrick Ghoul to do his thing! He gives Ghostrick Witch his power and Ghostrick Warwolf's until the end of your next turn! Oh, but that means only she can attack this turn, 'kay?"

Ghostrick Witch: ATK: 1200 + 1100 + 1400 → 3700

The black-clothed young witch spun her broom around energetically, a giggle escaping her lips as she started glowing faintly.

"Okay then, Battle Phase! I use the first effect of Ghostrick-Go-Round to flip Ghostrick Warwolf face-down and flip your Broww, Huntsman of Dark World back into Attack Mode!"

Tch.

Broww, Huntsman of Dark World - 1400 ATK

"Then my Witch will attack Broww! Tricky Illusion!"

With nothing to counter with and not willing to run for an Action Card, Reizo shielded his face as the wave of shadowy magic destroyed his monster and sent him flying.

Reizo's Life Points: 3000 - 2300 → 700

"I'm gonna flip Ghoul back down with his effect, and that ends my turn!" Another twirl, and Kaiya giggled. "Isn't this fun, Reizo?"

"Fun?"

"Well, yeah! That's why I'm in this tournament in the first place; I wanted to have fun and make people smile!" Kaiya replied. "C'mon, I can't wait to see how you try to get out of this! Surprise me, 'kay?"

Fun. If only he could mindlessly enjoy this game like nearly everyone else in this world. Victory, though; he could always strive for victory. And there were a few cards that he could use in this situation to win this round… "Be careful what you wish for, Kaiya! It's my turn, I draw!"

Polymerization. Well then, his Deck certainly knew what he needed. "I activate the Spell Polymerization!" The audience gasped, not expecting that sort of play from a nine-year-old even if he was Akaba Reiji's younger brother. "I'll be using the two monsters still on my field as—ngh!"

(Shir… Fen…te.)

The headache was back, stronger than it had at the start of the Duel. He squeezed his eyes almost shut, nearly biting his tongue to not cry out in pain. He tried to speak, but his voice wouldn't work. No way of continuing the Duel like that even if he did manage to ignore the headache (something of an impossible feat).

"H-Hey, are you okay?" Kaiya's voice sounded so far away…

(A flash of orange; a girl, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old. Her eyes were shut, face pale, and her dress was unrecognizable due to the amount of red staining it. Blood. It was blood, and the girl was dead. His stomach heaved and his heart ached, and he screamed because he could not save her. He'd failed Shirley, just like he'd failed—)

"Eyahhh!"

Reizo's eyes snapped open and he jolted up. His vision was spinning, and his heart was pounding so quickly. He could vaguely hear the sound of something beeping extremely quickly, like a far-off siren. It was just that name, over and over again in his head: Shirley. And the image of that girl lying dead on that floor…

"Reizo!"

Just like that, it was gone. The pressure in his head faded away, and he could feel his heart slow back down. And also… hear it…? He'd ended up in the hospital.

"Reizo, everything's alright now," Reiji said, gently squeezing his hand. Behind Reiji stood their mother, her eyes a mixture of concern and relief. "Calm down before you tear the IV out of your arm."

"Yeah…" Reizo mumbled. "Everything's… alright."

Even though the world was wrong and he was living a lie, well, Reizo continued living. If his life was a lie, then he would make it the truth. And that was how he ended up assisting Reiji in moving into their father's old office at Leo Corporation once Reiji turned thirteen and was able to inherit the company. He did care about his brother, that certainly wasn't a lie.

(But was the lie the two being brothers, or was it something else…?)

They had been quiet for hours, Reizo silently completing whatever task his brother asked him to do while his brother sorted through computer file after computer file. Until the sun had long since set and Nakajima had briefly told them that it was far past dinner time, not much more than a few words passed between the boys. But as soon as Nakajima had left them alone again, Reiji shifted his glasses to the point where Reizo couldn't see his eyes. "Reizo. I want to show you something."

The younger boy set down the box he was holding, wiping some sweat off his forehead. "What is it, Reiji?"

Reiji moved, his glasses no longer hidden behind his eyes. "I know where to find our father," he said, firm yet calm. "We have to go talk to him, bring him back home. You know how his absence hurts Mother."

That was how Reizo found himself led through a secret passage into a laboratory, whereupon Reiji turned on one of the machines and declared that it would lead them to Akaba Leo. Reizo stepped inside of it alongside his brother. A blinding flash of light filled the room, and when it dimmed, he was alone in a strange room filled with machinery. Cylindrical glass cases connected to computers, though everything was powered off at the moment.

H-Huh?! Where am I…? Where's Reiji?!

In another world, the faintest of smiles appeared on someone's face.

I've finally found you… Lelouch.

(Edited to reflect certain important details in the future, and to reflect more recently revealed canon events.)

A/N: I'm trying something different this time and not doing author's notes at the top of the story. Anyways, I'm sure it isn't too hard to figure out quite a bit of the mystery going on, though there's going to be parts coming up likely in the next chapter where I'm taking my creative liberties in this to the fullest extent.

Now, as for technical things you can expect the following from this story:

- I'm going to use the Japanese names of the canon!Arc-V characters. Most of the dub name changes suck about as much as the dub itself (which is saying something because I stopped watching it after less than five minutes it was so horrible).

- For consistency reasons, should I include a character from another version of Yu-Gi-Oh!, I'll also be going with their Japanese name if it's different than the dub.

- HOWEVER, there won't actually be much consistency with the names of the cards used by the characters. Most of the time they should be the TCG names as they're the ones I am most familiar with. There are times when I abhor the TCG names of the cards though (looking at Creation/Destruction Magician right now), and will instead choose the OCG/translated names instead. Either that or those cards don't have an official TCG name yet so I have to use the translated one.

- There are times when I have to make a card up. Sometimes I even make up a complete archetype and give it to a character. I will balance these fake cards to the best of my ability, and I'll also try not to make them feel cheap by only being used once.

- Romance will NOT be a focus in this story. However, I have already decided on the pairings that will be implied or shown briefly, so please don't bother requesting a specific one.

- Finally, don't worry, Reizo!Lelouch and the person at the very end of this chapter are not going to be the only Code Geass characters I use in this story.

If you enjoyed this chapter, I sincerely hope that you choose to review it!

(I don't own Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion or Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V.)

Reizo wanders around the halls of a strange castle until he meets up with a strange, green-haired woman. That woman is…!

Next time: Above the Surface