"Why isn't this just perfection, everyone?" trilled a curly-haired blonde in designer hiking boots and a matching jacket, "The way the sun meets the lake and the mountain air whipping in your face! It's the perfect day for a hike to Lake Chuzenji!"

"If... you say so... Milly," coughed a slim, dark-haired teen behind her, currently bending down on his knees, heaving large gasps of air.

"See Lulu? That is exactly why you shouldn't always be skipping out on gym classes. What on earth will the ladies think of a man that isn't even strong enough to sweep them off their feet?" the blonde, Milly, teased with a quirky grin to the boy.

"Lelouch doesn't need the muscle," said another teen of seventeen years behind them. "While he may be frailer than a twig, he has the brains to compensate for it."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Suzaku!" Lelouch replied, glaring at the Japanese boy.

"Well, at least the scenery is pretty. This used to be a volcano or something, right?" A girl with orange hair tied in a high ponytail trotted up behind the group.

"Sure is, Shirley," Suzaku nodded. "It erupted thousands of years ago, and because the eruption blocked the valley below, it made the perfect place for water to gather. So now we have Lake Chuzenji, also known as the Lake of Happiness."

"The brochure says there's an onsen on the east side of it. We should totally check it out before we head back to the hotel tonight," Milly insisted, waving a pamphlet above her head.

"That… actually sounds really nice," Lelouch admitted, stretching his arms and hearing joints pop.

Milly chortled, "You seriously must be an old man in a teenage suit, Lelouch!" Even Suzaku fought the grin that was stretched across his face.

"Laugh it up…" the boy groaned again before the quartet was joined by a blue-haired boy who was currently piggybacking a red-headed girl up the trail, who was failing to hide a bright blush that matched her bangs.

"Doing all right there, Rivalz?" Shirely asked him, biting her lip as she watched him panting harder than Lelouch, even staggering under the additional human weight.

"Yep, yep, I'm good, Shirley!" Rivalz insisted with a strained smile.

"We're almost there, right?" his passenger said meekly. "I think I can walk the rest of the way."

"You sure, Kallen?" Rivalz asked as he gently set her down on the mountain trail. "I mean, sure, it is all downhill, but…."

"I got it, okay?" she snapped, before withdrawing, embarrassed. "Sorry…"

"Hey, it's fine. Let me know if you change your mind. The Rivalz Express is always available!"

"Don't push yourself too hard, Rivalz," the final member of their group commented, a tall, thin, but somewhat haggard boy with hair so blond it looked almost white depending on how the light reflected off it.

"Aw, thanks for the encouragement, Rai, my man!" Rivalz grinned, slinging a sweaty arm around his shoulder. He then glanced at the tall boy's comically bulky backpack and an additional travel bag with his left hand. "You sure you don't need help?"

"No, I've got it!" Rai said quickly, shying away from the short-haired member.

"Okay, if you say so…"

"Come on, everyone! It's not too far now!" Milly declared from the front, and the group trailed behind her through the forest and thicket surrounding the lake.

It had been six years since the Empire of Britannia had annexed the country of Japan, now known as Area 11, and renamed its citizens Elevens if they refused to apply as honorary citizens of the empire. Since then, the country had become a hotspot for colonization and military operations.

Despite the construction of Britannian settlements, civilian and military, the empire still left many areas of Area 11 untouched to preserve the natural beauty and environment. Some were so well preserved that it was as if the war had never occurred in the first place. One such place was Nikko National Park, home to Lake Chuzenji, also known as the Lake of Happiness. It became a popular vacation destination and easier to access after a Britannian boating company was built to carry visitors across the lake, and many nobles owned small villas along the lake's shore. Several new hiking trails were also constructed for easier travel through the largely underdeveloped forest area. Developers even built a small beach area for lake goers to enjoy the water more directly.

In some ways, Area 11 is better off now than the old Japan ever was. Being made a colony of the Empire has stabilized its military and economic position in the world. Kallen fought to keep the scowl from forming on her face as Lelouch's statement from about a week ago reared its head. As much as the rebel fighter Black Knight side of her wanted to argue, she couldn't help but admit that Britannian companies did improve a couple things, such as easier access to natural parks like this. At least they didn't destroy everything with their improvements… this time.

She shook her head and leaned back on her beach towel, glaring up at the sun through her sunglasses. She was a Black Knight, serving faithfully under Japan's savior, Zero. A fighter for justice and defender of the weak. She couldn't allow these sympathies to start forming just because of a couple of conveniences.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, Kallen?" Milly asked, tilting her own sunglasses up.

"Uh… maybe something like that," Kallen muttered in reply.

Milly's smile turned sympathetic. She felt bad for the redhead. She was rarely at school half the time due to poor health, so it was a surprise when she told everyone she could go on this outing. She was grateful. Not only could this help Rai get used to everyone, but it could also be a way for Kallen to open up and make some friends.

If only Nina could have come… Milly mentally sighed. Unfortunately, the only absent student council member had come down with a terrible head cold the other day, and when they checked up on her a day later, it hadn't gone down. The council initially planned to postpone, but Nina insisted they go on without her. Though something in Milly's gut told her that even if Nina hadn't gotten sick, she would have found some excuse to stay behind anyway. She didn't blame her. Not after the hotel jacking at Lake Kawaguchi. Who knows what could have happened if Zero and his Black Knights hadn't stepped in. The girl had already been traumatized in the Area 11 ghettos a couple years ago, and the terrorist attack had likely only worsened the trauma. And when she was finally starting to warm up to Suzaku too.

Milly sighed and leaned back. She'd deal with that later. Right now, the only thing she would focus on was her tan.

"Hey! Suzaku! Shield me!"

"Wha-hey Lelouch, no fair!" Suzaku yelped as his friend dived behind him, using him as a human meat shield against Shirley and Rai's water gun assault.

"That's foul play, Lulu!" Shirley laughed just before Rivalz sprang up from behind Lelouch and dunked him into the lake.

"I… guess that's our point?" Rai asked as Lelouch miraculously escaped Rivalz's grip and tried (keyword tried) to make a beeline for the shore.

He didn't make it.

Rai sighed as he unpacked the large bag he'd brought on this trip. Shortly after the water war, Shirley went further into the lake to practice some laps. Meanwhile, Rivalz and Suzaku had found some snorkeling gear and were busy diving and exploring some of the lake's aquatic life. Lelouch was hunting for some pretty stones and snail shells for his sister. Meanwhile, Kallen was soaking her ankles in the lake's cool water while Milly had moved her sunbathing spot in the shallow shore area, sitting upright in the water, but most of her body remained dry, absorbing the sun's rays.

Rai pulled out a personalized laptop, noise-canceling headphones, a receiver, a small satellite, and a homemade handheld device as discreetly as possible. He set the device aside and set up the satellite and receiver before plugging his headphones into the laptop. Lines of code greeted his vision, and his fingers moved fluidly across the keyboard. Numerous colored graphs and other data flashed to life before his eyes.

He winced and turned down the volume as an electronic beep hit his eardrums. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to bypass the static and focus more on the murmuring voices he was picking up in the background. Just as he suspected, bringing his equipment closer to the epicenter had made the distortions clearer.

Now if only he knew what they were talking about…

He didn't register that someone had been calling his name until someone waved a hand in front of him. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

"What?!" he snapped, turning around. He saw that all the student council members were standing behind him. Suzaku had his hand pulled back, meaning he had been the one that finally got his attention.

Rai coughed slightly and composed himself. "What?" he asked again, more politely this time.

"Sorry to disturb you, Rai, but it's getting dark. We were about to head over to the onsen before it got too late," Shirley explained.

Rai blinked and finally took a look around. She was right. The sun was setting, and the sky exchanged blue colors for warmer twilight colors. How long had he been focused on his laptop?

"You must be very invested in whatever you were working on to not hear us," Lelouch commented, eying the headphones slung around Rai's neck.

"Um, sorry…" Rai blushed.

"Why did you bring all of this equipment with you?" Suzaku asked. "Some of these look military grade."

"So?" Rai asked defensively. "Never heard of someone building their own laptop and equipment?"

"Wha… wait, you built all these?" Rivalz gasped, looking the satellite up and down, mouth agape. "How? When?"

Rai shrugged. "I barely leave the school after classes, and I'm mainly in the council as a formality. I've had extra time on my hands."

"That's impressive," Kallen commented.

"Did you two know he could do this?" Shirley asked Milly and Lelouch.

"I knew he was handy at fixing stuff. He was the one that fixed the radio in the broadcasting office," Milly explained. "Though I'll admit, this is the first time I've seen him make some from scratch."

"But that doesn't explain why he brought his handmade equipment out here," Lelouch pointed out. "Come to think of it, Rai was also the one that requested this destination."

Rai stiffened as all eyes fell back on him, silently asking for an explanation. He had to admit, it was weird to bring all of this out here, but he had to. The voices he heard through the headphones and in his dreams were telling him, ordering him to find it.

He hesitated. Milly and her grandfather took him in out of the kindness of their hearts. Would they kick him back to the street if they thought he wasn't well in the head? Anyone would draw that logical conclusion, after all.

But if he got admitted to a mental hospital, he could break out like before.

Wait… before? Before what?

"Rai, you okay?" he heard Shirley ask, and the platinum blond blinked again.

"Sorry…" he muttered, "I just… you wouldn't get it if I told you."

"...Try us." Lelouch insisted.

Rai frowned, but something told him everyone would keep pestering him about it until he finally fessed up. So he sighed and decided to take the plunge.

"Okay, here goes," he muttered in defeat. "So this stuff, the satellite, laptop, all of this, I designed its reach to be as far out as the edge of the Solar System."

"Seriously?" Kallen asked, "Why?"

"Well, it's—if you could not touch anything!" Rai suddenly snapped, scaring Rivalz as the other teen nearly dropped the handheld sensor Rai had set aside.

"Okay, okay, jeez…" Rivalz muttered, setting it down and pouting.

Rai sighed in exasperation. "Anyway, long story short… I'm picking alien radio chatter."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Huh?" Shirley asked as the others stared at him like he was the guy in the town square who liked to rant about conspiracy theories and the apocalypse.

"Okay…? You feeling okay there, dude?" Rivalz asked.

Rai rolled his eyes, "Knew you wouldn't believe me."

"No, no, it's not that we don't believe you," Suzaku insisted, "It's just… well…."

Rai sighed again, "I get it, but I'm not making this up." Rai pulled out a notepad from his back pocket and flipped to a page with a large bolded word he'd underlined several times. "They keep repeating one word: Voltron! I still don't know what it means, but once I brought everything here, I heard it clearer than ever."

"How did you know to come here?" Lelouch asked, sounding like he was at least willing to hear the new student out.

"It wasn't easy," Rai admitted, "In the chatter, I also started picking up a series of numbers, and I couldn't figure out what that was for a while. But then I realized it was a Fraunhofer line."

"Frown-what now?" Rivalz asked, confused.

"Fraunhofer line," Suzaku explained, "I learned about this during my military training in the engineering department. It's the number describing the emission spectrum of an element. The head of the department said the military uses it to find new sakuradite veins to mine in Area 11."

No one noticed the subtle death glare Kallen shot Suzaku when he said Area 11.

"Exactly." Rai nodded, "Anyway, once I figured that out, I input the numbers and realized that whatever radiation signature this is, it's not an element found on Earth. Of course, I didn't have time to go around and scan every inch of the island on foot. But then, I actually took a look at the wavelength. Check this out."

Pulling up a line graph on his computer, he then pulled out a side-view picture of the volcano surrounding Lake Chuzenji. The pictures overlapped each other to form a single image. The wavelength blended in perfectly with the mountain range.

"What…?" Rivalz's eyes widened.

"That's… kind of scary…" Shirley stuttered as Milly leaned forward, squinting.

"That's a strange coincidence," Lelouch admitted, genuinely intrigued.

"A little too much, right?" Rai asked before continuing. "Well, once I realized the line matched the mountain range, I had to come and confirm it for myself. Hence why I built and brought this Geiger counter."

He reached for the handheld device Rivalz had been looking at earlier. "With this, once I confirmed if I was in the right place, I planned to use this to track down the energy source and maybe find this Voltron thing I keep hearing about."

"On your own?" Suzaku asked.

"That was the plan," Rai admitted with a shrug. "Since we were planning to spend the night at the resort, I figured that would be the best time to sneak out and be back by morning."

"And then what?" Lelouch asked, "Say you found what this mystery radiation was. What were you going to do next?"

"I…" Rai hesitated, "I honestly didn't get that far."

"Not the most thought-out plan," Kallen muttered.

Rai scowled, "Oh, well, if you were in my shoes, let me know if you have a better idea."

"Well, for one, I'd have some help." Milly answered immediately.

"What?" Rai asked, genuinely surprised.

"Wait, Prez, what do you mean?" Shirley asked.

Milly simply smirked one of those smirks, which could make the other student council members fear for their lives depending on the day.

"Everyone… who wants an adventure?"

Without any street lights from the city, the forest around Lake Chenzenji grew dark fast. Fortunately, since he had already planned to sneak out, Rai had a few flashlights, so the group wasn't tripping over each other in the dark.

Following his Geiger counter, Rai led the other student council member down a hiking trail. Eventually, they branched into an unpaved area, the forest becoming thicker and dirt pricklier.

"Hey, anyone hear that?" Shirley asked after a while.

"Hear what?" Kallen asked.

"It sounds like… a waterfall?" Shirley asked.

Suzaku smiled, "I'm not surprised. There are a lot of those around here. Some of the hiking trails lead to them."

"Like that one up ahead?" Rivalz asked, pointing from the front of the group holding Rai's satellite. Coming over a small ridge, the group gaped in awe as a serene waterfall greeted them, the water looking pure and untainted as it poured from the cliff ledge above.

"This is it," Rai said, looking down at the Geiger counter. "It's leading us here."

"There's a cave! Down there!" Lelouch pointed with a flashlight.

"Oh! Let's check it out!" Milly exclaimed, a gleam in her eye.

"P-prez! I don't think that's a good idea!" Shirley yelped, put off by the president's look. "Isn't this good enough?

"No!" Rai was the one that answered this time. "We've got this far. You can go back if you want, but I'm seeing this through to the end!"

"Calm down, Rai," Suzaku said as Shirley hunched her shoulders and glanced back in the direction they came from.

"I think we should check it out, too," Lelouch said, surprising everyone. "Something led Rai and us here. It would be insulting to stop partway through."

"My, my, Lulu!" Milly teased, "Where has this adventurous spirit come from?"

"What makes you think I've never had it?" Lelouch shot back with a slight smirk.

"Uh…" Rivalz muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't answer that…" Lelouch muttered, grin vanishing as he led the way down the rocks to the waterfall.

"Wait! Guys!" Shirley protested as she trailed behind as everyone else climbed down after the vice president. "We-we're tracking radiation, right? What if it's radioactive or something? We could get infected or poisoned, or…."

"Could you calm down, Shirley?" Kallen snapped, "You're overthinking this. Besides, if this was radioactive, wouldn't this area or even the lake be closed off or something?"

"I… guess you're right…"

"Don't worry, Shirley," Suzaku assured her, "It's just a quick peak inside. I'm sure the most we'll do is take some pictures."

"Yep! Making memories is why we're here, after all!" Milly added jovially as Lelouch, Rai, and Rivalz crept behind the waterfall and peeked into the cave.

Shirley nodded, still feeling unsure, but nearly jumped when Rivalz cried out.

"Whoa! This is cool!"

Those that hadn't entered the cave quickly followed. And stopped dead in awe at what the flashlights were illuminating.

There were drawings and artwork of all styles decorating the walls. Not only were there paintings but even carvings right into the stone itself. Despite the different patterns, they all had one thing in common.

They each depicted a blue lion.

"What the…" Lelouch muttered, swinging the flashlight in one direction, then another.

"Who could have done this?" Kallen asked. "And why a lion? Japan doesn't have lions."

"Maybe an old deity had a lion's body or something?" Shirley guessed.

Suzaku shook his head. "I think you're mixing up Japanese and Egyptian, Shirley."

Then, as if they were robbing a bank and tripped the internal alarm, the cave's carvings and paintings lit up in bright blue lights.

Rivalz let out a yelp and stumbled back. He had only cleared some dirt off one of the drawings to get a closer look! Did he trip a booby trap?!

"Rivalz! What did you do?!" shouted Kallen in alarm.

"Nothing! I just touched it! That's all!" the boy defended in a panic.

A tremor under their feet drew all eyes to the floor before it promptly collapsed under their feet. Screaming, the student council found themselves riding a raging river deeper into the cave, white water and rapids splashing around them. It came to an end as one by one, the group landed in a shallow pool at the bottom.

Now wet, cold, and miserable, the teenagers struggled to their feet, but their eyes were drawn elsewhere before anyone could start trying to find a way out.

Eyes widened, and jaws went slack.

"Lions are everywhere…" Rivalz muttered as they beheld the large blue lion sitting serenely before them.

Well, not a real blue lion. It was a giant, robotic, blue lion, and it was sitting up behind a large blue barrier of some sort.

"Wh-what is that?" Shirley stuttered, "Is that the Voltron?"

"It must be… it has to be!" Rai whispered, arms slack, Geiger counter forgotten and lost in the rapids.

"It looks like a Knightmare Frame," Suzaku commented, "A really gigantic, advanced Knightmare Frame." Taking a closer look, it looked like no machine he'd ever seen, whether on paper or in production with the engineering corps, which was saying a lot when Earl Lloyd Asplund was the head scientist of the department. He came up with some wild designs and upgrades.

"It can't be," Lelouch insisted. "From the looks of it, this cave hasn't been touched for decades, maybe centuries. The first Knightmare Frame was invented over twenty years ago. There's no way something like this could have been created before that, and I don't see any other entrances in here, so it's highly doubtful this was some secret military project."

Suzaku nodded, seeing Lelouch had some good points. And while it was possible there was a hidden entrance they couldn't see, he knew logically that if this was a secret Britannian military weapon, there would have been a lot more security. Plus, the military could have used the radiation excuse Shirley mentioned earlier to seal off and cover up what was really happening, and none would be the wiser. After all, it was common knowledge that radiation took a long time to dissipate or dispose of properly. The European Union was still struggling from the Chernobyl disaster thirty years later.

Rai quickly walked up to the lion Knightmare robot. "It's not moving. I think it's safe to come closer."

The others cautiously followed after Rai, but Rivalz couldn't help feeling goosebumps. It felt like something was watching him. Gazing at the lion, he swore he felt its eyes following him.

"Um, does anyone else here feel like this thing's staring at them?"

The group eyed the secretary dubiously. "No…?" Kallen answered for them.

"...Yeah, the eyes are totally following me!" Rivalz exclaimed, feeling antsier than before they found the cave.

Lelouch reached the forcefield first, and looking closer, he saw that the lion wasn't completely blue, mainly on the head, shoulders, torso, and around the paws. The rest was mainly grey and silver, but he also noticed some red detailing by the shoulders.

He placed his hands against the barrier. It felt cool like he was pressing against the glass in an aquarium. "I wonder how we get through this…?"

"Maybe you just have to knock," Rivalz said sarcastically and did just that, rapping his fist against the translucent shield.

Rivalz had meant that as sarcasm, but then he yelped when he felt a jolt of electricity run through his arm. The forcefield flashed before vanishing, revealing the lion underneath, its yellow eyes glowing brightly. Under its feet, a platform began glowing in the same color as the carvings above.

The other students gasped. Shirley, in particular, took several steps back as the cave began to rumble.

"Guys, I think we should–"

Shirley was cut off when in the blink of an eye, the cave disappeared and was replaced by a cloudy sky, seven colored streaks soaring above their heads like shooting stars. The lights joined as one, and in their place was a figure with red and green arms, yellow and purple thighs, and blue and orange shins. His body was mainly black, but a blue glowing 'v' was spread over his chest, and a gold horned crown perched on his head. With a swipe of a flaming sword, the starry universe vanished, returning the group to the underwater cave where they still stood.

"Uh… did anyone else see that?!" Rivalz asked, eye flicking to others pleadingly.

"Voltron's a robot!" Milly squealed, "A huge, awesome robot!"

"And this thing is only one part of it," Kallen added, "I wonder where the rest of them are?"

"If that's true, how did this piece get down here?" Lelouch asked, "And how long has it been like this? Why isn't it with the other pieces?"

"Who knows?" Suzaku shrugged. "This is still amazing, though!"

"There's no doubt," Rai said resolutely, "This is what that alien chatter was talking about. And we found it!"

"Okay, so… what now then?" Shirley asked.

As if to answer, the blue lion lowered its head toward the group. Shirley yelped and hid behind the closest person she could find (being Rai), and everyone else tensed, ready to run if the thing tried to make a snack out of them. However, all the blue lion did was open its mouth, and a small ramp lowered right in front of Rivalz.

Blinking but intrigued, Rivalz set his foot on the ramp, pulled it back like it had been burned, then set it down again. Then he took a step forward, then another, and eventually, his feet led him inside. It led him up, and a set of doors slid open to reveal a large cockpit with a single white and blue chair in the center.

"Huh, okay then," Rivalz said, taking a seat and leaning back. "Here we go, I guess–whoa!" Rivalz jerked forward as the seat slid in, locking into place.

As the other student council members filed into the cockpit, several screens lit up, some on the dashboard, and others in holograms, much to everyone's astonishment. If there were any doubts that this was really a Britannian secret weapon, they were gone now. Britannian technology hadn't advanced far enough to invent holograms yet! Finally, the front main screen lit up, showing the cave outside.

"This is nuts…" Suzaku commented as the others looked over the screens and other gadgets.

"Amazing!" Milly commented, snapping a few photos with her phone.

"All right, this is pretty awesome!" Rivalz admitted, a grin sliding across his face.

"Okay, uh, everyone," Shirley said nervously, "I think I just need to point out, just so we're all, you know, aware. We're in some kind of futuristic, alien cat head right now."

Just as the words left Shirley's mouth, Rivalz felt another jolt of energy run through him, from the top of his head all the way to his toes. The world around him faded, and all he could hear was a loud soothing purr.

"Whoa! Did you guys just hear that?!" asked Rivalz, looking back at them, eyes wide and a little spooked.

"Hear what?" Lelouch asked cautiously, a strange sense of foreboding creeping up on him.

"Um, sorry if I sound crazy, but I think it's talking to me!" Rivalz explained before turning back around and examining the controls. Hesitantly, he pressed a couple of random buttons on the closest hologram. He had no idea what he was doing, but they felt like the right ones to push.

He must have hit the right ones because the blue lion jolted and leaped to its feet, roaring loudly. Excitedly.

"Whoa! What's happening?!" Shirley squeaked, visibly frightened.

Rivalz felt a grin grow on his own face. "Okay, got it! Now, let's try this!"

Once he pushed the controls forward, the lion smashed out of the cave. Rocks and debris flew everywhere as it shot into the evening sky. Descending, the lion flipped and used rockets in its feet to skim over the surface of Lake Chuzenji, kicking up water before rocketing into the air again, corkscrewing above the forest.

Inside, the Ashford Academy Student Council held on for dear life, screaming at the top of their lungs, holding onto whatever they could so they wouldn't fall.

"RIVALZ!" screamed Kallen as the lion did a few more flips, "YOU ARE THE WORST. PILOT. EVER!"

After several more maneuvers that did little to assure the other passengers that Rivalz was a good pilot, the lion began bounding around on the ground. Thankfully, the forested area it made its playground was away from any buildings or civilian homes. The lion seemed too overjoyed about being freed from its underground prison to care about any damage it may be causing.

Despite this, Rivalz felt like he was having the time of his life, a wild grin plastered on his face.

"Isn't this awesome?!" he exclaimed.

"Make it stop!" yelped Shirley, who was starting to look a little green, "Make it stop!"

"I'm not making it do anything! It's like it's on autopilot!" Rivalz shouted with a whoop.

Suddenly, the lion's back legs fired into the ground, and the lion ascended into the sky.

"Rivalz!" shouted Lelouch in a rare tone of panic, "Where are you going?!"

"I just said it's on autopilot!" Rivalz explained hurriedly. "Ah-it says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it!"

"What did it say, exactly?" Milly demanded.

"Well, it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain… kind of?!"

"Wait, aliens?!" Shirley asked. "Um, okay, if they want this thing, why don't we just give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone?" Shirley suggested, "Sorry, lion, nothing personal."

"No!" Rai shouted. Everyone turned to him, shocked by his outburst. The platinum blond was trembling, eyes wide and wild, skin pale and sweating. "We can't! They're monsters! They'll destroy everything in their path! There's no bargaining with them!"

"Whoa, Rai, what are you talking about? Who's 'they'?" Suzaku asked.

"They won't stop! Not until everything is dead!" Rai continued.

"That doesn't explain anything!" Kallen shouted, irritated.

"He has a point, though," Lelouch agreed, "We've never encountered aliens before. We don't know their intentions. If we hand this lion ship over, what's to stop them from turning it on our planet next?"

"Oh…" Shirley muttered as everyone turned to glare at her. She shrunk in on herself, "Sorry. Didn't think about that…."

There wasn't any time to continue the discussion anyway. Moments later, the blue lion exited Earth's atmosphere and entered open space, the blue of the night sky darkening further and sparkling with millions of stars. The tranquil scene was interrupted when a violet flash entered their vision, and a huge dark ship with purple highlights appeared almost out of nowhere.

There was a collective gasp in the cockpit. "Holy crow, is that real?!" Milly cried.

"...They found me..." Rai whispered in horror, though no one seemed to hear him.

After flying around and observing the UFO for a few seconds, multiple purple lasers began firing at the lion. Fortunately, they didn't have the best aim, so none hit them.

"We need to get out of here!" Kallen screamed.

"Hang on!" shouted Rivalz as he pulled on the controls, and the lion flew off at top speed. Even though Rivalz had little to no idea what he was doing, the lion seemed to know what to do as he felt like it was guiding his hands over the various indecipherable keys as it maneuvered and dodged all the attacks with little to no effort.

"Okay, I think I know what to do!" Rivalz shouted, knuckles white on the controls.

"Rivalz, be careful!" shouted Suzaku, "This isn't a simulator!"

"And you don't think I know that, Suzaku?!" he replied as the lion leaped around more lasers. Rivalz then pushed down on one of the control levers, and the lion's mouth opened wide, firing a powerful blue beam directly at the side of the ship. It sliced through it like a sword through butter, causing massive explosions.

"Let's try this!" Rivalz smiled as he flew the lion closer to the ship, scraping the lion's claws on the other side, leaving deep gashes and causing more explosions.

"Nice job Rivalz!" Lelouch praised.

"Okay, let's get these guys away from our planet!" Milly proclaimed.

"Right!" Rivalz agreed.

"Lord Zarkon, the escaped prisoner, and his people found the Lion. It attacked us and is heading out of the system."

"Follow that Lion and alert all ships in the area to intercept. Capturing the Lion is your first and only priority."

"Yes, your majesty. Full power, after the Lion!"

"Oh no!" Shirley gasped as they all saw the alien ship catching up to them.

"They're gaining on us!" Kallen exclaimed.

Lelouch's eyebrows furrowed, "It's weird. They're not trying to shoot us anymore. They're just pursuing!"

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?" Shirley asked, looking more and more frightened by the second.

"Where are we?" asked Milly, looking around.

"Edge of the Solar System," Rai murmured, looking at the moon they were passing by, "That's Keroberos, Pluto's moon!"

"That's impossible!" Suzaku exclaimed, his eyes widening, "It takes the most advanced spaceships decades to get out this far! We got out here in like five seconds!"

Suddenly, a swirling, sparkling... thing appeared before them like a vast swirling whirlpool.

"What is that?!" Shirley nearly shrieked at the sight of it.

"Uh, this might seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there!" Rivalz explained hastily.

As everyone stared at the strange swirling void, everyone else couldn't describe it, but… they felt the same. Like they should go through it.

But why?

"Where does it go?" Kallen asked Rivalz urgently.

"I-I-I don't know…" Rivalz stuttered, "Um, Lelouch, what do you think we should do?"

Lelouch was caught slightly off guard. "Why are you asking me? Ask Milly. She's student council president."

"No, you decide, Lelouch. You're the chess master here," Milly immediately deflected, "What do you want to do?"

Lelouch stared at Milly, almost not believing what he was hearing. Yes, Milly was one of the few who knew of his former status, but to think she was basically forcing him into an equivalent role right now… then again, she wasn't wrong. His experience as Zero did still make him the best person to choose what to do.

And he had to do it fast.

Lelouch frowned, glaring at the swirling vortex in front of them, his brain working on overdrive. If they chose to go forward, they would be entering no man's land. The people of Earth barely knew much about their own solar system, so moving forward would give them even less information. They could be walking right into a death trap with no hope of return. Not to mention… he'd be leaving Nunnally. While he trusted Sayoko to look after his sister in the event of an extended absence, if he and seven other students who attended a prestigious school like Ashford Academy went missing, it would definitely be on the news. It would take one wrong member of the royal family seeing his face on the breaking news to reveal who he really was: Lelouch vi Britannia, seventeenth heir to the Britannian Imperial Throne, and thought to have been deceased for the last six years. Britainnian military and royal guards would be swarming their residence faster than he could say, "I am Zero!"

He (and Kallen, by extension) would also be leaving the Black Knight hanging. Since their official debut with the Lake Kawaguchi hotel-jacking a month ago, the Knights hadn't made any huge moves. Most of their actions involved raiding drug cartels and exposing corrupt politicians and businessmen. Basically, they were doing what the police should be doing. They had even gotten some special Knightmares from the Six Houses of Kyoto, which was a good sign. Despite this, it was clear that most of the members were getting anxious to take their operations a step further besides being a glorified police force. If their leader and top Knightmare pilot went missing, there could be panic amongst the ranks, and they could do something stupid.

Lelouch grit his teeth. If anyone in the Black Knights got arrested, he would have to start over entirely from scratch. It would be annoying but… not impossible. And it looked like Ohgi was a reasonably competent leader. Hopefully, he could keep the Knights in line until he managed to get back.

As much as Lelouch hated those odds, though, he had to consider the other side of the coin as well, and that was simply the fact that the threat directly behind them wasn't much better. This alien ship had shown it was willing to follow them until it got what it wanted: the lion ship. Plus, the lion itself seemed to hold some kind of sentience. Something told him it wouldn't be easy to convince the ship to turn around when it had already brought them out so far from their planet. And if they did manage to turn around, the clearly hostile alien ship would pursue them and undoubtedly attack Earth, which would endanger many more people, including Nunnally.

But… they knew there were six other lions like this one. If they were all just as, if not more capable than this one, he could use them to help his cause. He hadn't seen it yet, but he could already tell, without a shadow of a doubt, that if this lion went up against a hundred Knightmare Frames, the lion would be one walking away, and there would hardly be a scratch on it.

Taking in all the factors he knew of, Lelouch made his decision.

"Something else is clearly happening here, and the only way we'll find out more is going forward. I say we take the chance. Any objections?"

"Lelouch, are you sure? Nunnally–"

"She's with Sayoko," Lelouch interrupted Suzaku, "Besides, I doubt we can get this lion to turn around. Unless you'd like Earth to deal with an alien invasion on top of everything else."

With that, all the passengers looked at one another until they finally came to the same conclusion. And that was that Lelouch was right. Nothing could be done until they figured out more.

Rivalz sighed, "All right. Guess we're ditching class tomorrow."

With that said, Rivalz urged the lion towards the whirlpool. Once it swallowed the lion, it closed behind them, the alien ship pursuing them missing it by seconds.

AN: So, if you've all been keeping up with my updates, you'll know about my intentions. I'm revising and rewriting most of this fic. Nothing too crazy or plot-altering will happen, but I wanted to update the chapters to reflect my current writing level and style. I hope you all enjoyed this updated version of the first chapter. In case you didn't notice, I did combine parts 1 and 2, so the prologue will ultimately be shaved down from 6 to hopefully 3 parts. Here's part one. Let me know what you all think.

R&R! Edited and revised 03/19/2023