The next three years were quiet. Marcus periodically visited Mendel to make sure everything was okay.
But in the end of the day, it was his… well, how one should put it… a side gig? A side activity, he visits this timeline several times per year before leaving them to their devices.
So the moment they passed through the portal, their phones vibrated.
"Umm… Your Majesty, we have an issue." Jeanne looked at her phone.
"Mendel… colony, it was attacked by Blue Cosmos." She said in a nervous tone, What will he do now? That place was his sandbox, the place where he plays around.
"..." Marcus looked at his phone; there was a frown on his face.
"They are really asking for it." He sighed in annoyance.
"...what should we do?" His knight asked with a worried look. She recalled the people working there.
The Emperor took a deep breath.
"They were quiet for three years. I destroyed their bases, their funding, and even the ones who founded them, yet…" He scratched the back of his head.
"Well, it would seem I got what I could from this place." He paced around for a bit; it seemed he was considering pulling out of this reality.
"Prep my spaceship, we are going to collect the black boxes."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The pair got into their spaceship and left the hideout.
In mere moments, they were in Mendel. Blue Cosmos blew up the G.A.R.M complex into bits, like a bomber carpet-bombed the whole place.
'They really hate me.' He thought to himself, the Emperor was proud of that fact.
Regardless, he left with his armour and swiftly went under the building complex.
The building's basement was special, as Marcus built it from materials not found in this reality… Nano metal, reinforced with tubes. Even a nuclear explosion would do nothing to it.
Once inside the special chamber, he went over, collected several boxes, and entered self-destruct sequences for the computer. It was far too advanced for this world to stay around.
With the data secured, he left the chamber and swiftly stored the black boxes in his spaceship.
"Let's return with the data. I need to visit the HQ and figure out what is going on."
"Understood."
The pair returned to the hideout with data, and as he uploaded everything to his computer, he found some interesting things in the files.
It would seem Aura figured out something, so she stopped using his data centres and computers. He has no idea if Aura created Lacus.
'Well, that doesn't matter, I shall make one myself anyway.'
'At least the Ultimate Coordinator project was a success, Kira Yamato was born.'
Then he saw the casualty list.
"...Pity… The attack killed Via."
"...What are you going to do?" Jeanne asked him, looking at his expression.
"Listen, we had a small fling going on. While I do resent Blue Cosmos and will make another purge, there is not much I can do for her.
Well, I could grab Atlantic Federation by its balls and make sure they don't do any other crazy things." The Emperor concluded after getting an idea of how to pay back.
"...I see, I am surprised you are not going crazy." Jeanne slightly teased him.
"Hmph, I helped her to get over the fact that her husband neglected her. We were not THAT close, I suppose there was some satisfaction to her that she was sleeping with her husband's boss." Marcus rolled his eyes. He understands women slightly better now, after living for a considerable amount of time and having countless studies conducted on them.
Hell, his Empire does selective breeding; turns out that date of birth and location play a part in character development, zodiac signs are real…
'I suppose my Lacus birthday should be on February fifth, just like the original one, if I want her to be as I remember.'
With that in mind, he began his preparations.
~~~
One of the first things he did was purge more of Blue Cosmos.
In fact, this time around, he terrified the world with his actions; he put fear into their very souls as Marcus decided to use Geass.
He made suicide bombers blow up their own bases, he made allies turn, paranoia was at an all-time high to the point that Blue Cosmos all but ceased to exist.
It was so bad that governments began to fear Anaheim, as they simply had no idea what this corporation was doing or what they are capable of.
To the people in government, it was clear that it was Blue Cosmos vs Anaheim, but no one could prove anything.
People could follow Blue Cosmos, but Anaheim? It's like they use advanced technology.
Regardless, Marcus paid back for what they did to his G.A.R.M. For now, he retreated to his 'reclusive lifestyle'.
To people around the world, he was the eccentric billionaire who wanted to improve the world through genetics.
That's how they would know him for years to come.
…
…
…
Once he finished the purge, the Emperor returned to his hideout and began to work on something he had been itching to do for years.
"Might I ask why you are cloning Professor Clyne?" Jeanne looked at the pink-haired girl inside a water tank.
"Is that what you think it is?" Marcus chuckled as he looked at his knight.
"...Wait… that's Project Lacus? You making one yourself? But why?" The red-haired girl looked surprised.
"That's an Accord-Innovator hybrid. I even gave her a Geass Seed."
"...Geass Seed… isn't that what your children are born with?"
"The youngest ones, like Scipio, Daphne and Iskandar, all have dormant Geass. I assume it's because Geass grows stronger all the time. I can assume it influences my Innovator senses as well, as I know that I have been growing stronger all the time." Marcus commented as he looked at his creation.
"...And yet you made this girl…" Jeanne was a bit worried about what this woman might do in the future.
"Indeed, unlike my wives, my Lacus can cook." The Emperor said with a proud tone.
"...You still talking about that…" Jeanne was speechless!
"More than anything. Do you realise how embarrassing it is for me?" He complained to her.
"...You are the Emperor…"
"And an Emperor who doesn't have wives who can cook!" He countered back.
"...So it reached the point that you are making a woman who can cook for you…" Jeanne was baffled! Damn!
She never thought it was that important to him!
"One of several things. Besides, Lacus has a good voice, so she will be able to sing for me, oh and of course, she keeps up with my research, as she has Innovade traits."
"...In other words, you truly made her all capable." Jeanne was a bit terrified of what he created.
"Maybe we will see."
~~~
Lacus Anaheim knew the reason for her existence. The moment she was self-aware, a voice explained things to her. She has memories of things, like cooking, singing, technology, physics, math, and many more. Most importantly, she knew the weight of her name.
Anaheim, the Imperial name of a dynasty that rules two Earths, can travel between realities.
She comes from a world where the Emperor has set foot and created her to entertain him.
The pinkette's eyes opened as she realised that she was in a liquid tank of some sort.
Moments later, the central computer drained the liquid, and she ended up standing on a cold surface. The girl removed the breathing mask, and the tank opened. She slowly walked out.
Her first steps were wobbly, but soon enough she adjusted.
"Well, well, it would seem your Innovator powers are dormant." Her creator commented as he looked at her.
"...They are not… I think I don't need them at the moment." The girl replied to the Emperor as she looked into his eyes.
"You don't want augmented senses?" His eyes glowed a bit as she could see lightning dancing in them.
"...What I mean… is that at the moment I do not require them, My Emperor."
The girl placed her hand on her chest.
"I see… well, for now, you need a haircut and clothes."
"...Yes, please, I don't mind showing my body in front of you, but it's a bit cold here." Lacus slightly trembled, but then she sensed a gaze on her.
"..."
"Is there something on my face?" The pinkette asked the red-haired woman.
"...No, it's that you remind me of someone."
'She looks just like Professor Clyne and Euphemia… even slightly similar to Feldt… what the hell…'
"...Oh… that should be given, from what I understand, I am based on a scientist." Lacus placed her finger on her chin as she replied.
"...And you don't mind?" Jeanne asked curiously.
"Why should I? The Emperor designed me the way he wanted me to be." The pinkette replied with a bright smile.
"Hah, Jeanne, what is with silly questions? You do realise I worked on this almost as long as I made the platform for Solar Cannons." Marcus chipped in before looking at Lacus.
"Now, come, I want to give you a haircut."
"...Of course." The pinkette nodded as she followed after him.
As he didn't have a room for haircuts, he went to cut her hair in the kitchen of his hideout. Once Lacus dressed in a one-piece dress, he made her sit in the middle of the room.
"I do wonder how well you will do, Your Majesty," Jeanne asked with crossed arms.
"From what I understand about My Emperor's abilities is that he can easily master such basic tasks." The girl sitting on the chair replied with a confident tone.
"Oh, such confidence, I like it." Marcus chuckled as he revealed a briefcase of tools.
"You are even prepared." The red-haired knight wasn't even surprised that he had an entire set of tools to work on hair.
"Indeed, I was thinking of testing Veda's systems in person, and I had a person in mind." The Emperor took scissors and a brush.
"...From what I understand, there should be another version of me, yes?" Lacus was curious, wondering about another version of herself.
"There is a possibility that Aura ditched me. So I will need to extract several pounds of flesh from her. She used my money and left." Marcus complained about certain scientists leaving him.
"...Does it matter what she did? You got most of the Accord Project anyway." Jeanne sighed.
"Indeed, but it's a matter of principle." The Emperor began to cut his hair as he replied
"Do you require my help?" The pinkette asked.
"We will see how things will play out, Lacus." He replied with a smile.
"We have all the time in the world."
"...As you wish." The girl slowly nodded; she would follow whatever he desired.
For the next couple of minutes, there was silence as he made sure the hair was perfect.
Once done, he placed a hairpin on her left side. It was similar to the one he remembers, but there was a bit of personal touch to make sure it was his creation.
"What do you think?" Marcus offered a mirror to her.
"...As long as you like it, I am happy with how it is."
Jeanne looked at her. The answer made her a bit annoyed. She realised that Lacus sounded like Anna from her younger days. A love-struck puppy, but this could be worse, as the girl has been designed like that by the Emperor.
"Indeed, then it's settled. Now, why don't we test out how good you are?" The Emperor took the mirror from her as he moved on to the next thing.
"What do you desire to test?" The Pinkette asked him.
"Everything. Your physical prowess, your Innovator powers, and your scientific knowledge and how quickly you can learn."
"...Understood, I won't disappoint you."
~~~
In Marcus's dojo in the hideout, Jeanne and Lacus changed into gym clothes. The first test was how good the girl is at physical encounters.
"...Umm… are you sure?" The bodyguard looked at Marcus, who was sitting on the ground with a cup of tea in hand. The pinkette prepared it for him.
"Trust me, she is not fragile."
Lacus smiled brightly when she heard that.
"Yes, now let's see if I know the right order." The girl tried to take a stance. She looked amateurish, which annoyed Jeanne a bit. Will she need to train her?
*Sigh*
"Fine."
Jeanne's Innovator's eyes glowed as she got serious. She tried to grab the pinkette, who reacted at absurd speed.
'What the…'
Before she realised she needed to defend herself, Lacus went on the offensive, forcing her to defend herself.
'D-Damn!'
Before she realised she was taking this extremely seriously.
Especially when this girl had that blank look on her face, it was like she was in a frenzy or on autopilot.
"The theorised Seed Mode, which relates to adrenaline, it would seem Accords have that. Mixed with Innovator potential, she is literally a peak warrior without even having the training." Marcus commented as he realised that Lacus is pushing Jeanne back, who is one of the greatest fighters in his Empire.
"...Gee… good to know." Jeanne tried to sound as sarcastic as possible.
After a while, Marcus stopped them when he saw that his ladies would wound themselves. The first test was a success; it would seem Lacus, who was recently born, can keep up against a very talented warrior.
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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