Ashford Academy

Before the meeting over Ark stripped out of his Black Knight uniform and changed back into his Ashford academy outfit. It was important for him to keep his cover at Ashford. people were becoming suspicious of his whereabouts when he ditched classes to continue with his rebel force agenda. He left the base through one of it's secret entrances and entered the enormous nearly a half an hour later. The courtyard was full of lushes leaves and the pristine oak wood double doors stood a few feet higher than him. It angered him to walk through them and enter into such a beautiful building sitting at the center of a decimated nation. It sickened him even more to know that only the children of wealthy Britannians were allowed to attend the academy while the Japanese were forced to get second rate educations unless they renounced their heritage and became honorary Britannians. "Sickening."

Cyrus walked out of the car with a satchel being held by his right hand. The satchel was over his shoulder while he walked to Ashford. The school was home to many historical events, and it would soon be home to new ones. Walking into the school he had all of his papers with him. Soon arriving at the headmaster room he opened the door to see a beautiful women dressed in a beautiful dress that showed her curves.

"Guess I came at a bad time," Cyrus said kindly embarrsed to even look at the women. She was extremely beautiful in his eyes. He knew that she was one of the Ashfords.

Milly huming a lovely tune as she finished dressing herself looked t oward the door to see a boy blushing. She hadn't seen before the boy had short vermillion red hair, and mismatched eyes. She wanted to find out who he was, but from his apperance it said he was a student. "Its alright please come in I'm Milly Ashford the headmaster of this school."

Cyrus looked up at the women she seemed to want him to come in. Being the generous type he walked in, and sat in the chair that was in-front of her desk. He wondered if she was put off by his blue and purple eyes. His family had wondered how he got the but never knew. "I'm Judas Verlona I'm new here, and I'll be attending the academy," he said while opening his satchel and pulling out some papers.

Milly looked at Cyrus as he introduced himself, he passed her some papers, and she speedly looked through them. Everything seemed to be in order, she remembored that she receivedv a file on the boy. "Well it's a pleasure to have you here Judas. We have many events here, so be prepared for them. Soon we will have our cross dressing event." Milly was talking with a cheerful attitude, she wanted to see the boy's reaction to what she said.

Cyrus looked up, cross dressing what did she mean by that, he wondered before deciding to leave. Cyrus got up from his chair, and walked toward the door, "if that is all, then I'll be taking leave." Walking out he moved down halls until he was looking at the girls swimming club. He was no pervert, he just waved and smiled to them and in return, some of the girls winked at him. Smiling Cyrus watched the girls practice.

(So cherry ready for some cross dressing?)

"You have to be kidding me...." Ark face palmed at the sight of a poster about a cross dressing event. It showed a male student dressed as a countess and a female student dressed as a baron. "Maybe I should skip the rest of the day." Ark turned the corner of one hallway into another. He was going to sneak out before anyone noticed his presence. If anyone did notice him he would just claim that he was sick and that he was going home to rest. He noticed a familiar student walking in his direction. He stopped in his tracks. It was his brother. His enemy.

Cyrus stopped looking att the swimming club, he knew he would be in big trouble if Carine saw it. He and the girl were going to get married, but only if they could sway Schniezel. The emperor didn't even know about the two of them. He started to walk away, and saw one other person, the guy looked familiar, but he couldn't place where he seen him until the last second. His eyes slightly widened it was his brother. Cyrus just passed the William, but knew it would be a problem if he told his identity to anyone. Walking into another hallway, the boy pulled out a phone, and sent a text to someone telling them about his current situation. He stayed there telling that person what happened currently, and walked away after he was done.

Ark passed by Cyrus pretending as if he weren't there. Nor did Cyrus look up at him. The once close brothers walked by each others as if they were a pair of strangers on an empty street. He's wearing an Ashford Academy uniform. Did he just enroll? But why? Isn't he a member of the Britannian military? his train of thought was lost as he turned a corner down another corridor when the peaceful placid atmosphere of the Academy was interrupted by the eruption of distant screams and frenzied shouts coming from all around him.

What's going on? Is this the beginning of that stupid cross dressing event?.....No. Those screams are... Ark found himself racing down the hallway in cold sweat. An expression of fear clear on his face. He heard a faint familiar voice coming from the direction he was heading in.

"Who are you people!? You're not allowed to--" was all Ark could make out before a blinding light engulfed the corridor. The floor beneath him rattled and shook with the full force of the explosion, slamming him to the ground. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, blocking all logical thought. He looked up to notice that the entire area was being overtaken by a thick cloud of dark smoke. He pulled his collar over his nose and removed a pair of goggles from his satchel, placing them over his eyes. As the painful ringing dissipated it was replaced by the sound of gun shots and more screams. Ark jumped up, ran in the opposite direction around the corner and into a the arms of a tall man wearing a gas mask.

Ark struggled in the man's arms. He was being held extremely tight. Ark could hardly breathe before he pulled his leg back and kneed the man directly in his pelvis. Once he was loose he decked the guy knocking him flat on his back. He wasn't alone. A second man was behind him. This guy wasn't as friendly. He opened fire. Ark dived to his left, then launched himself at the man, swinging one leg up then down, kicking the weapon out of the man's hands. The AK-47 hit the ground and in that same instant Ark spun around with another kick that sent the soldier flying into the air then crashing back down to the floor. Ark knelt beside the men. They were both wearing military issued combat boots and had red stripes at their shoulders.

It was obvious. Soldiers..

The radio's at one of the solder's waist came on. A voice muffled by static barked through the receiver. "Secure the exits! Take the students hostage! We will force the britannian children to witness the wrath spawned by their predecessor's expansionist greed! Down with Britannia! Long Live JAPAN!"

They're Extremist! Ark realized. Could this be the Japan Liberation Front? Ark could hear the heavy marching of boots coming from behind. He removed a handgun from one of the fallen soldiers and disappeared.

Ark burst through a door into a bathroom. From the look's of it's pearly white floor, mass of mirrors and pink stalls it was the female lavatory. He could hear the sound of pursuing soldiers arriving outside the door. While trying to catch his breath, he scanned the bathroom for anything. He ran over to the window. To his dismay there were Knightmare frames stalking the courtyard. "How did they get those here!?"

Some unruly shouts were coming from the other side of the bathroom door. Acting on instinct he yanked open a stall door only to be met by the sound of a high pitched scream. Ark pulled the girl into his arms covering her mouth. "Quiet." he commanded. The girl stopped struggling. The soldier's shouts from the other side of the door were silent. Are they gone?he hoped.

No luck.

As soon the thought hit him he heard them coming through the door. With a vein close to popping out of his forehead he urgingly looked up and noticed an air vent high on the wall. Thinking quickly, he pulled a knife from his shoe, stood on the toilet and opened the vent. He stepped down from toilet. "Climb in there." he instructed. The girl jumped onto the toilet and he helped her into the vent. He could hear the soldier slamming the doors to the other stalls. They were getting closer and closer. Ark jumped into the vent just as the soldiers opened the door to his stall.

Ark sighed a sigh of relief. The two Ashford students continued crawling until they came upon a room that appeared empty. Ark reeled his foot back as far as he could and kicked the grate open. He dropped down. Landing on both his feet and caught the girl who came down after him.

"This is the theatre storage room where they put all the," the girl announced looking around with timid eyes. Ark moved to the door peering out the window. The hallway was empty.

"And these are the outfits for the cross dressing event," the girl sighed longingly. Ark stared at the girl through narrow eyelids. It was like she didn't notice that there was something more important going on.

"I'm heading out. Hide in here and stay away from the windows." Ark opened the door and prepared to head out, but he was stopped.

It was the girl. She awkwardly fixed her glasses and offered him a back. "Here take these, my knight."

"A knight..." The word seemed to resonate with him. He stared back at the girl and finally accepted the back pack. "Thanks. now, hide." He rushed out of them room and turned around bumping into Cyrus.

"I'm....." Ark wasn't sure what to say. "Surviving." he admitted. It was after all part of the truth. "What about you? Why would a Brittanian soldier be attending Ashford?"

"We strip the soldier of his clothes and equipment. One of us puts the outfit on and pretends to be a soldier. While the other puts on this fake Zero costume. The soldier takes 'Zero to the other soldiers who will probably take him to their leader. So then the fake Zero can cause a distraction before they begin trying to harm the students. Then the one dressed as the soldier talks to the other soldiers to find out what passage they used to get into the school. It would be best if you played the soldier, since you are one." he smirked back at Cyrus. He hadn't talked to him in such a long time a piece of him was happy for the meeting. "That way when you discover where the passage is, you can bring your military buddies in through there. Sound like a plan?"

Ark stood with the cape surrounding his body and finally put on the Zero mask. "Now, hold a gun to my back and take me to soldiers. Hopefully they'll by the act and think I'm Zero." Ark wasn't sure if this was going to work, but he prayed it would.

Behind the mask Ark was surprised by his brother's mastery of the Japanese language. He wondered why his brother had learned it. I guess it doesn't matter, Ark decided. They seem to be buying it Cyrus' act. Though they didn't seem to be buying Ark's. The soldier's exchanged unsure glances, then finally one approached him with a crooked grin. "Zero, eh. What a once in a lifetime opportunity. To come face to face with the great Zero." Ark could tell he was being mocked, but he didn't let it show through his posture. He stood erect, holding his chin up the way his superior, Zero, would. "Why do you hide behind that mask? Don't you know the eyes are the windows to the soul. How can anyone trust a leader who hides his soul? Give us a peek. Show us what kind of man you are." The soldier crept his hand towards Ark's mask as the other soldiers chuckled silently behind their comrade. With one swift move Ark knocked the man's hand away from his face.

"Enough of this foolery!" Ark barked in a commanding voice. "I've come here to reason with your leader, not to carry on satirical banter with a second rate soldier." The soldier was thrown off. "Now, take me to your leader or I'll bring down the entire might of the Black Knights and turn you over to the Britannian dogs on a silver platter!" the soldier ground his teeth, preparing to retort when one of his comrades laid a hand on his shoulder. That same soldeir then pulled out his walkie talkie.

"We have Zero of the Black Knights. He wants to speak with General Kusikabe. Over." There was a pause. Then the walkie talkie buzzed to life. Ark couldn't make out what was being said, but apparently he got their approval because the soldier nodded to the others. They surrounded Ark and began to lead him down the hallway. On the inside the young student sighed with relief.

Requiem hovered in the sky, approaching the school. "All Britannian forces, this is Sir Thermidor, Knight of One. I am assuming command of the situation. Who's in charge here?"

(Who's commanding the Britannian Military Police?)

Ghost smirked. "Perfect. Now that he's out of the way..." He said to himself, before slipping into his Zero costume and sliding on the mask. He dropped out of Requiem and into the trees below him.

He ran through Ashford, keeping to the shadows until he arrived into the area where Ark was. He clicked on his mask's radio.

"Ark, this is Zero. What the hell are you doing?"

As the soldiers continued to lead Ark through the halls he noticed they'd brought him close to where the Head master's office was. Is that where their leader is? It was just so painfully obvious he didn't think that's where the leader would be. Suddenly Ark's communicator hidden under his clothes came on and he as well as the JLF soldiers heard the voice of the "real" Zero.

"Ark, this is Zero. What the hell are you doing?"

"What the he-" A soldier began as they turned on Ark. Ark attacked. He threw an elbow in the gut of one soldier and flipped the same soldier over his shoulder and into another. He then dropped to the ground and kicked the feet from under a third soldier. Then the soldier who was being 'smart' with Ark earlier charged at him. Ark stood still then when he was close enough and stomped his foot straight into the guy's crotch. He fell over in tears.

Ark removed his communicator from his clothes and responded. "I've disguised myself as you to create a distraction, sir. I apologize for acting without informing you, but I haven't exactly had a chance to do that. But I think I found where the leader is."

Zero nodded. "Perfect, Ark." He said, and raised his silenced sidearm, shooting both of the soldiers in the head without blinking. "Bring me to him. I don't like other organisations stealing our spotlight."

Ark burst through the door to the Headmaster's office. There was a camera being held by a JLF soldier in a corner of the room. In front of the camera was who Ark assumed was General Kusikabe. He was holding a bound Ashford student in front of him, holding a gun to his head. Behind the desk The headmaster was tied up with tape over her mouth wiggling on the floor like a worm.

"Enough of this!" Ark commanded. "What do you think you'll accomplish by killing innocent students? The dethroning of the emperor? Don't make me laugh. An egotistical sociopath such as him would sooner sacrifice everyone in this entire building rather than give himself up!" Ark slowly stepped forward. "To continue this fruitless venture is a fools journey. You'll only end up getting all of your men, including yourself killed." he paused in his speech. "Lower your weapon General."

General Kusikabe was silent for a moment. Then he began cackling. He looked up with an insane grin, aimed his weapon at Ark and fired. Ark was hit in the shoulder. He pulled out his own gun and returned fire. Kusikabe dodged it and the bullet flew straight through the window behind him shattering it to pieces. Suddenly a group of JLF soldiers stormed into the room and forced Ark down to the ground, bending both his arms uncomfortably behind his back. Ark cried out in pain a the pain from his wounded shoulder ignited from the aggressive pressure being forced down on it.

"You're the fool, Zero." Kusikabe spoke as he squatted near where Ark was laying. He waved over the soldier holding the camera motioning for him to zoom in. "You hide behind that mask pretending to be an ally of the people, but I see you for who you really are. A liar. A coward. Japan does not trust you. You are not our hero. You are worse swine than Schneizel himself." The JLF general put his gun to Ark's head and prepared to pull the trigger." And i will put you down like the animal you are." Ark's mind raced, trying to figure out a solution to a problem that he wasn't sure there was a possible answer to. he gritted his teeth preparing for the worse, but nothing happened. Something had taken the generals attention. he was able to twist his head enough to catch a glimpse of Nunnally's former knight, Nathaniel Grant.

That was when Zero calmly walked in behind Lightning and Nathaniel, holding a small detonator in his hand. Behind the mask, Ghost smirked.

"Hello, gentlemen. Please, feel free to let my associate up and drop your weapons. This is linked to a small-scale FLEIJA warhead that will destroy the entire school if detonated, along with everyone in it." He stated calmly. "I will not hesitate to detonate it should either of you make the slightest move that I don't like."

Zero moved the Shinkiro out of the way narrowly, just dodging Cyrus' strike. He moved the back of it towards the headmaster's office and opened the cockpit, before shooting out the glass window.

"Ark! Get off the floor and into the Shinkiro." He ordered, before turning to Rose. "Well done. You have just saved Ark's life."

Zero grunted in pain as the round grazed his leg, drawing a thin sliver of blood and tearing the costume. A slight amount of red dripped onto the floor, but he ignored it, staring at the one who had shot him.

He drew a long two-handed sword out of his cloak-like costume and charged towards Nathaniel with surprising speed, swiping at the younger man's torso.

Ark through himself back into the pilot chair, closing the entrance to the knightmare he watched as his fellow knights disappeared behind the wall and the monitors inside the shinkiro came to life revealing his opponent. Ark slid his fingers across the key board based control system throwing up the The Shinkiros ultimate defense system which issued a shield of violet hexagonal shapes to block the knightmare from it's opponents attack. The Shinkiro swung around on it's heels thrusting it's arm up and firing the Hadron canon under it's wrist.

Zero danced back out of Nathaniel's melee range as he felt the strikes connect with his head, and tried to ignore the pain as he dived forward again, feinting to Nathaniel's head and then moving his aim to his opponent's waist.

"On the contrary, Nathaniel..." He stated.

Ark's finger tips were jumping from key to key thrusting the Shinkiro driving backwards swerving from side to side to dodge each blast, though one hit the machine, but it's full force was reduced by Ark who hastily threw up a hexagonal shield. He'd never used the Shinkiro, but he was quickly getting the hang of it. Thanks to his innate ability to adapt to whatever situation he was in. His head wasn't big enough to realize that he was at an extreme disadvantage. They were surrounded by the britannian military and his opponent was obviously more skilled when it came to the knightmare he was using. "This battle is pointless." Ark tapped the button that would connect him to Zero and other members of the Zero division. "Zero" Ark began while throwing up both of the hadron canons and firing them both in the direction of the knightmare speeding towards him. "The JLF has been neutralized. There's no reason for us to continue fighting here. We should make our escape."

Ark Yelped dashing his fingers across the key board throwing up another shield in time to catch the attack from the sword. "That sword...Excalibur?" Beads of sweat were racing down Ark's forehead as he held the shield against the luminous blade that seemed to be slowly tearing through. "This is bad." Ark prepared to fire a hadron, but he was too slow as the Excalibur tore through the shield, shattering it like glass and slashing off one of the knightmares arms.

Zero laughed as the foot made a metallic bang when it collided with his foot.

"You think you're the only one who wears knee guards?" He asked. He wrenched the blade out from between the Tonfas, but the action had put him on the defensive, and slightly unbalanced him.

(We need a conclusion to this fight... Zero won't run as a matter of his planet-sized ego.)

Zero backflipped, landing on the ground gracefully. He briefly thanked the numerous physical training courses the Knights of the Round were obligated to do.

"Damned headmaster. I'll have to get myself a new sword now." He muttered, before sprinting off.

As soon as he reached Requiem, he climbed in, changing into his Knight of One gear.

He saw the battle occuring over Ashford and smirked as he headed towards it.

"Just as planned."

Ghost sighed as he heard Morgan's transmission over the Black Knights frequency. "How irritating," he muttered, before scanning the area and seeing a Black Knights Knightmare - Kira, if he recalled correctly, the ex-Knight of Two. He was going to be a problem.

"Sir Grant, this is the Knight of One. If you're still alive, get in your Knightmare, and do it now."