The rebellion had a name. Zero wasn't a hero. He was a chess grandmaster, and the world was his board.

As Lelouch fell toward the burning earth, C.C. caught him in her arms, floating above the inferno.

Their clash was inevitable.

For the first time, the Elevens saw a masked man on a stolen screen, declaring:

Suzaku, believing Zero murdered the woman he loved (Euphemia), hunted Lelouch with suicidal fury. Their final duel took place aboard the shattered Avalon airship, as the Imperial capital of Pendragon burned in the distance.

Suzaku stared at the pale, bleeding face of his best friend.

During a battle for the Narita mountain range, Zero used an avalanche to bury Cornelia's forces. Suzaku, piloting the experimental white Knightmare Lancelot, fought Zero to a standstill. But Lelouch, hidden in a nearby bunker, saw the truth: Suzaku would never join him. Suzaku was the antithesis of everything Zero stood for.

"Lelouch…?"

"People of Area 11! I am Zero. The ones who are truly evil are the Britannians who slaughter the weak and call it order. Rise. Not as Elevens. But as Japanese!"

Cornelia's backup arrived. The Black Knights, betrayed by their own intelligence officer (a Geass-corrected mole), turned on Zero. And in the chaos, Suzaku's Lancelot punched through Zero's cockpit.

He stopped. He couldn't. Suzaku was the only friend who ever believed in him. The Geass, that cursed power, had already cost him Euphie. He would not spend his last coin on Suzaku.

Lelouch didn't flinch. He smiled. Lelouch understood the math. One man with a gun is a terrorist. One man with a mask and an army is a revolutionary.

He chose power.

That hesitation cost him everything.