Almost instinctively, you rushed down to the pavement and out of the line of fire. Having witnessed the gun rising, you were able to duck down just in time to avoid any stray bullets from the young Eleven's rifle. On the other hand, the blind-sided blonde wasn't so lucky. Without any armor over her uniform, the flesh of her back consumed no less than a dozen bullets and spat out at least a liter of blood in several powerful gushes. Serving as more than enough proof of the weapon's power was the body, which quickly went from being almost a meter away to right on top of you and painting you the same color as the pavement Cindy traversed.
Terrified, you didn't dare move the cold frame of the soldier off of you to get a better look. Luckily what you heard was more than enough for you to piece it together yourself.
"Drop the weapon, put your hands in the air, Takashi!" You recognized this voice as the older Eleven.
"AS IF!" And that was the younger one, Takashi. Once again, this was just before his gun burst into life aiming to take the older one's as compensation.
This time, Takashi wasn't alone in his attack.
It was hard to hear, but you could faintly make out a quicker succession to the bullets this time, indicating the older one also pulled his trigger to stop Takashi. However, it was hard to be sure; the screaming booms of the guns didn't sound for nearly as long as the first stream that took Cindy. You tell yourself, "Either the older one killed Takashi, or..."
Mustering up some courage, you move Cindy's legs apart just enough to see past them and take a look. Takashi had made his way to the brick wall his Knightmare almost knocked down when he entered the alley and was steadily collapsing. At the same time, the older one was hunched over, clutching his stomach with his left hand, hoping to dam the rushing of blood rushing out to the cliff's edge. He attempted to make his way back to his Knightmare's cockpit, undoubtedly to signal for help, but his staggering legs barely carried him back to his position prior to his duel with Takashi before he too fell under gravity's merciless influence.
"What just happened?" you ask aloud. It wasn't to anyone in particular, you just needed to center yourself, and quickly.
"Your Geass," a voice answers.
You were bathed in sunlight once more once Cindy's body was picked off of you and haphazardly tossed aside. Above you was the green haired girl you...kissed? Was that real, or another of today's bizarre incidents? Regardless, the set of keys she dropped next two you answered how she was ambulatory after being restrained, and the new occupant of her hands answered why she needed to drop those keys. Without missing a beat, the rifle from your former meat shield was turned against the expiring Eleven with the shortest stream yet.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?"
"He was a threat to me. Do I need any other reason?"
"Preferably! He was already a dead man walking! ...So to speak."
"I don't like such useless gambles when I have a safe certainty at arm's length."
You wanted to continue, but already figured out this was going to be like talking to a brick wall. Instead, you shrug it off and redirect the conversation onto a topic she started.
"All right," you begin, "the Eleven was a threat to you even as he died. Now, what was that thing you said, a 'Geass' was it?"
"Yes, The Power of Kings. A power that makes you above all other humans."
"Nice little speech, but it's no good. I don't remember having any power, and I certainly don't remembering activating any power."
The girl giggles at your flustered speech and face, apparently mocking you ignorance. "It seems your desires led you to activate it subconsciously."
I'll indulge her, you muse, believing it'll lead you to some truth anyway. "Okay, so what is my Geass? How did it make these soldiers turn against themselves?"
"Geass manifests itself in different ways for different people. For some reason, it became The Ability of False Perception in your case. Now you can make people see, hear, smell, taste, and feel what isn't actually there."
"That...actually makes a bit of sense." It fits your experience at the very least. If your Geass activated, then the voices in pairs were both what was actually being said and what it became after your Geass altered it, and the second set of lips you noticed were the Geass making their lips move in tune with the new words. "But why did it keep changing? It seemed like reality was more dominant at first, but then the illusion took control."
"You lost your focus. Once you stopped protecting yourself, the Geass affected you as well."
"It fits."
Admittedly, you did lose your focus after you stopped talking; you weren't focusing on making them do something, you were focused on what she was saying. Hearing the distasteful speech from Cindy removed most of your focus, allowing the fake words from the older Eleven to take more control, and when they dropped what was left Cindy's true intentions didn't have even one thread to follow.
"But if I stopped concentrating, why did the illusion continue?"
"Your Geass is a spirited one. It doesn't stop until it completes the goal you instilled within it when it activates."
More logical answers, you think to yourself. In this case, your last focus was to stir up animosity, hoping this would distract them enough for you to flee, but it seems the Geass didn't get that last part and just made them attack each other. In any case, it worked, you got them to attack each other in ways you can only imagine...meaning she is the only one who managed to make use of your distraction. How does the Geass...
You think, I'm actually buying this! The girl may have made one amazingly convincing story, but that's just it: a story! No such power exists outside of fantasy stories and mythology. Next she's going to try saying another Geass allows someone to move the sun along the sky as if it was pulled by a chariot. No matter how logical, the unreal can never even hope to be the truth.
"That answers that," you lie, putting up a front as you carefully close the gap between you and the strange lunatic. "Now, let's talk about something more interesting."
"Such as?" she asks.
"YOU!"
With swift movements, you're able to parry the gun to her left, forcing it and her right arm across her body. Now that her arms were immobile, a swift kick to her knee was all that was necessary to snake your way between them and locking them where they can't force you off of her. And the pain radiating across her face was a nice bonus, a compensation for what she's put you through.
"Now then," you continue as though nothing happened, "why were those soldiers after you?"
"Didn't you hear Cindy's answer?"
"I did, and it looked like she was being honest. But her superiors could have lied to her. I want to hear it from you. And try to tell the truth, or I go back on the assault."
"You can't kill me, I'm immortal."
"I don't believe you, but even if you are, you already showed me you can feel pain. I'll ask one last time: Why did those three soldiers come looking for you?"
"Fine," she sighs. "They were looking for me because...
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