Geass vs. Geass (episode)

Geass vs. Geass is the fourteenth episode of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Summary
Lelouch believes Shirley may have discovered his identity as Zero, so he and C.C. pursue her to Narita. Ohgi explores the battlefield of the previous night, discovering a wounded Villetta Nu left for dead out of sight. Lelouch encounters Mao, a young man who also has the power of Geass, which he uses to read minds, and thereby wins a chess game with Lelouch. Mao used his abilities to play on Shirley's insecurities, manipulating her into shooting Lelouch, but she falters at the last moment and C.C. sends Mao away temporarily. Lelouch uses his Geass on a grief-stricken Shirley to erase all her memories of him.

Plot
Kallen manages to force Suzaku away to the point where she can flee, and Suzaku is unable to pursue under orders to protect Cornelia first. C.C. then calls Ohgi and gives him Zero's order to retreat (as Zero is too shaken up to do it himself), as any further violence will result in slaughter; after reuniting with Diethard, Ohgi agrees. Meanwhile, Zero notices fatal blood on the ground but no body to show whose it was, while his handgun is missing and his mask has fallen off. This frightens him, suspecting that a person saw his face, took his gun, shot another person and took both the body and the gun. He tells this to C.C., and they prepare to find who they were. It is then revealed that Shirley took the gun with her and shot someone else. In her dorm, she begins writing something about the recent events, presumably a suicide note, and in the process, she wakes up her roommate Sophie Wood; she tries to hide the note from her, but Sophie (not seeing what is on the note) assumes it is a love letter to Lelouch, and Shirley says it kind of is.

The next morning, Nina asks Suzaku if she can meet Euphemia in front of the whole Student Council, this time with confidence. Rivalz decides he wants to meet her too, joking that this way he can marry into royalty, though Nunnally says he never will with his "impure" intentions, everyone unaware that Nina has the same ones; Rivalz then tries to get Milly's opinion, but she refuses. However, Nunnally says she would like to meet her also, even though Suzaku says it would be near-impossible. Just then the phone rings and Suzaku answers it. It is Lelouch, who asks if anything is unusual. Suzaku says that the only thing is that neither he nor Shirley are there, while Kallen is shown to be away at a table reading a book. As Lelouch asks him to tell Nunnally he will be late tonight, Suzaku chastises him for doing so every night just as Arthur attacks him and cuts the line. Based on the call, Lelouch assumes that Suzaku wasn't the one who took the gun, nor any member of the military, and it can't be the Japan Liberation Front since any surviving member would have killed him. Deciding to have Ohgi check the black market for the gun later, while taking the time to analyze the blood. He then remembers that he thought he saw Shirley there, and C.C. makes fun of him and her.

Meanwhile, Guilford and Darlton meet with Cornelia and Euphemia, having deduced that Zero has a personal vendetta against the Royal Family; Euphemia considers this to herself, remembering how Zero said "You haven't changed" when they met. In order to protect her, Guilford suggests that she have a Knight, as from there they can increase her security, and she has the authority to do so. Meanwhile, Cecile talks about Suzaku's desire to save people, having come to realize that he is obsessing over it. When Lloyd says that Suzaku's performance data is still solid and suggests putting a new piece of hardware to test with him, Cecile counters that they should deal with the human issue with Suzaku first over the Lancelot, since treating him like just part of the machine could have serious consequences. Lloyd asks if she isn't taking care of Suzaku in place of someone else, and Cecile becomes flustered and says that she's not sure. Meanwhile, Lelouch uses Geass on Sophie to let him and C.C. search her and Shirley's dorm, while she tells others that they have to disinfect her room. C.C., however, becomes disgusted with searching through her underwear and sits on the bed, only to ironically read Shirley's diary. She discovers that she hasn't written in it since the 14th, when she found out her father died. Just then, Lelouch accidentally drops a box containing several photos of himself and Shirley, and after that sees a monorail schedule book with a circle around one to Narita. There Shirley is at a memorial site for those that died, with the gun and several memories of her father in a pink bag. She thinks to herself why Lelouch would do all this, when the blindfolded man from before appears to read her thoughts (he restates her question) and reveals himself, clapping his hands creepily.

Meanwhile, the Black Knights are in their meeting vehicle and make fun of how Tamaki, who is complaining about their defeat, had to eject in the first minute. Ohgi, meanwhile, wonders why the Front ship blew up. Though Kallen suggests he not doubt Zero, Diethard, who is now in charge of the assessments, voices his own suspicions about the uncanny timing. Elsewhere, Lelouch and a disguised C.C. are on a train where the latter asks what Lelouch truly feels for Shirley, to which he says he doesn't know. She also asks that, if she does know his identity, would he kill her, and that if he doesn't want his loved ones harmed, he could just avoid them. Lelouch asks if that is from experience, and she denies it. Meanwhile, the blindfolded man approaches Shirley step by step, claiming that Shirley likes a bad boy even after she knows he is Zero, and that he knows everything to the point where he deems both should be punished, causing Shirley to drop the bag. It is revealed in a flashback that, after Shirley saw Zero's identity, Villetta came out and found it out herself. She then began gloating over how she would gain immense honor with this knowledge and the fact he is alive. Just as she claimed to give Shirley a tad bit of a reward also, Shirley, disgusted by Villetta's intentions, pointed the gun at her. Furious, she tried to lunge Shirley, but she shot Villetta, who is revealed to have been the one bleeding, in the head, killing her, and hid the body among ruins at the port. In the present, the man accuses Shirley of being a murderer and having used her father's death for her own gain in the kiss, as Lelouch would clearly sympathize. He then accuses her of being an evil witch that kills and fishes for attention that she tried to lure away from Kallen. As Shirley breaks down, the man then says that she must pay for her sins or be forever tormented. It is then revealed that the man has a Geass.

Lelouch and C.C. soon arrive at the same memorial, but discover no one there. They split up to go look for Shirley while Lelouch wonders about what happened to the person that was shot. At that moment, Lelouch gets a call from Shirley. When he answers it, however, he discovers the man, who is right behind him, on the line. Lelouch demands to know what he did to Shirley, and the man agrees on the condition that he face him in a game of chess. C.C., meanwhile, talks to a motorist about it when she sees Lelouch and the man on a mountain railcar. She appears to be shocked when she sees the man, and identifies him as someone named Mao. It is shown that Mao and Lelouch are playing chess in the railcar, where Lelouch realizes that Mao is calling all of his moves, and is stalling to create an opening. He thinks to himself that he needs to make his own opening, but Mao calls it out for him. C.C. then steals the guy's motorbike and races up to reach the two. Mao then corners Lelouch in the game and calls checkmate and questions who he is, in the process creating 14 possibilities. Mao asks if C.C. never mentioned him, and says that one of the possibilities is correct while revealing his Geass, which can read minds.

As the railcar comes to its destination, Shirley appears and points a gun at Lelouch. Shirley is shown to have succumbed to Mao's will of being punished, and is willing to kill Lelouch before committing suicide; if she doesn't, Mao will kill them himself, seeing Lelouch as a thief. Seeing that Mao is traumatizing her by reading her mind and repeating that she killed someone, Lelouch tries to snap Shirley out of it, but becoming more confused she fires the gun. Although she misses Lelouch, he still falls a ways down the stairs, dropping the photos he found in the box (which also include photos of her other friends) and begins hesitating. She then nearly shoots Mao, who retreats into the railcar while Shirley passes out in Lelouch's arms. Mao tries to kill them with a sniper rifle, but C.C. activates the railcar, sending him back down. However, Mao briefly sees C.C. and is thought to have obsessive feelings for her, saying he'll come back for her, but C.C. wonders why he would talk to other humans. Shirley then confesses she murdered Villetta, but Lelouch says that she only did it thanks to him. He then says she will put it all behind her, and despite her protests uses his Geass on her. Meanwhile, Ohgi comes back to the port battleground when he sees Villetta, still alive and having passed out from blood loss. Not knowing who she is, he goes up to her and shakes her; she then mutters something about Zero, to his shock.

That night, Shirley is at the memorial when she turns to see Lelouch, and it is revealed that Lelouch wiped all of Shirley's memories pertaining to him. She asks if Lelouch lost a loved one too, and he says he kind of did, and although he realizes now that she really meant something to him, he doesn't quite know if he loved her when she brings it up. Shirley, however, says that she came for something specific but can't remember exactly, and that maybe Lelouch's "sunrise" will come as well. Lelouch decides to accept this, and says "Thanks for everything" before leaving, confusing Shirley.

Battles

 * Battle of Port Yokosuka (Concluded)

Powers or Abilities used

 * Lelouch's Geass
 * Mao's Geass

Quotes

 * "If you have someone you don't want to lose, you should keep them at a distance." -C.C.

[laughs evilly before letting go of Lelouch's hair] When I bring him to Viceroy Cornelia, she'll make me a noble! Not just a knight of honor, real nobility! And he's still alive, too! What kind of grand execution will they have in store for him. [stands up to face Shirley] Of course, you'll be rewarded too-- [Viletta gasps, as Shirley is now pointing her gun at her] [charges towards Shirley] [flash forward to the present day]
 * Conversation between Mao and Shirley with Villeta sppearance
 * Mao: He's a cruel man isn't he? Lelouch.
 * Shirley: How do you know about Lou Lou?
 * Mao: Ah, he deceived you. Never told you he's Zero.
 * Shirley: Who are you? What do you want?
 * Mao: The same mouth that ordered your father's death, stole a kiss from your tender lips. He's a very bad man and you like it. Punishment must be measured out. To him and to you.
 * Shirley: To me?
 * Mao: I know everything. All that happened that night.
 * [flash back to the previous night, during the Black Knight assault on the Britannian forces at the harbor; Shirley is in shock that Lelouch and Zero have been revealed to be one and the same]
 * Villeta: Is that Zero?
 * [Shirley stands aside as Viletta approaches the unconscious Lelouch, kneels next to him, and grabs him by the hair]
 * Villeta: Well, well, what a shocker. The student is Zero himself. A Britannian?
 * Villeta: Stupid of me. He's your boyfriend, isn't he?!
 * Shirley: Lulu! [guns down Viletta]
 * Shirley: So you're a killer, too. Just like Zero.
 * Shirley: No! That's not true! I just--
 * Mao: And you actually used your father's death for your own gain.
 * Shirley: No! I just-- I just-- "
 * Mao: Cunning little woman. You knew he'd feel sorry for you, didn't you, so you played it for all it was worth.
 * Shirley: No! You're wrong!
 * Mao: Did his sympathy make you all tingly?
 * Shirley: Stop it!
 * Mao: Playing the tragic heroine again?
 * Shirley: No, I'm not doing that!
 * Mao: A girl who kills and then goes fishing for attention? Only evil witches do that.
 * Shirley: I didn't-- I never meant-- [walks even closer to Shirley] "You knew there was another girl who liked Lelouch, and you wanted to get him away from her. [Shirley gasps once more]
 * Now you have to pay the price, Shirley. [Shirley falls to her knees and breaks down in tears]
 * Mao: Do you want to carry these feelings around for the rest of your life? All by yourself? [starts clapping] Unless you atone and completely free your heart, you and Lelouch will both be lost in your sins, forever.
 * Conversation between Lelouch and Shirley
 * Shirley: Oh hello. Did you lose someone in your family too?
 * Lelouch: No. Not someone from my family. It was a friend. Someone, well, very important.
 * Shirley: I understand.
 * Lelouch: But I didn't know. I didn't know until after I lost her. I realized how much she meant to me. How her smile saved me, and how I will never be able to argue or laugh with her like that again.
 * Shirley: I see. You loved her didn't you? You must feel terrible.
 * Lelouch: Right now. I don't know anymore.
 * Shirley: Well the morning always comes again. I have to say it's funny. I know that I came out here for some reason, but I can't remember exactly what it was now. Maybe it's because I already put the whole thing behind me. Something I wanted to let go of. Maybe it was something I thought I couldn't forget. Maybe I was full of sadness, but morning still comes right? That's why you shouldn't try to hold your thoughts back like that.
 * Lelouch: Yes, you're right. I feel the same way now. Thanks a lot. For everything.
 * "Maybe I was too soft. Maybe it would have been better to just kill Shirley. But, Geass the power of the king will condemn you to a life of solitude. So I need to harden my heart even more. Then, it's me and Mao. Payback." -Lelouch (Preview for the next episode)