“Not bad,” Lelouch replied. Time for an experiment, perhaps? “If only we had a mask with a top that looked like one of the hats they were wearing. Yes. Like the one Schizoid Man just slipped on the table there, thank you.”

“No trouble, handsome!” it said with a sly wink. Interesting. Could it fetch anything it wanted? Could Shirley learn to control that ability? He watched as she frowned, and then a can was passed to her out of nowhere. Fascinating. Where was Schizoid Man getting it from? Was it an ability Lelouch could fully exploit? Were there any limitations to it? Truly, this Stand was a tremendous boon. So long as he could control Shirley he had a weapon at his disposal…

“Oh, wow!” Shirley gasped as she put the mask on. “Now I’m really feeling the part. Ahem! I am Zero! Protector of the weak and the innocent! You will give me the last of your chocolate mints, or face my wrath!”

… Except that she wasn’t just a weapon. She was a girl he knew, that he was a close friend with that he had rescued from an emotional breakdown. Because of an ability she didn’t know how to control. Because of something she did not quite comprehend. Because she was scared. Now, he was thrusting her into a battle. Now, he was placing her at the head of an organisation and the only reason he was able to do it was because she had a powerful emotional devotion towards him. Was it love? Admiration? A silly crush that she would, one day, get over? And what did he feel for her? Here he was toying with her feelings and using them to pull upon her strings. Shouldn’t he feel more guilty than this?

Lelouch closed his eyes, and millions of faces flashed before his eyes. Two tenths. That much was relying on him, for the time being. Perhaps that was keeping whatever conscience he had in check. The two of them were among the only hopes left to stop them. To stand up to Stand Out. Them. Leading the Black Knights. They had the costume. He had a plan. This was not the time to second guess himself. This was the time to let the world behold the beginning of his rage. This was the time for the ends to justify the means, and if he had to commit acts of evil to prevent greater evils, then so be it.

-Lulu's Bizarre Rebellion Chapter 15