Prologue

Amanda Waller sat in front of her computer, sorting through various files dealing with the status of homeland security, metahumans, and other "fun" stuff. She glanced at the clock on the upper right hand side of the screen. 3:05. She sighed and returned to her work.

Suddenly, she heard a phone ringing, so she opened a drawer in her desk, pulling out a special phone.

"Yes, Mr. Secretary," she spoke into the phone.

"Assemble your council, Ms. Waller," replied a disguised voice, "I will be arriving within the hour."

With that, the line went dead as the Secretary of Defense hung up.

Waller blinked in surprise, but replaced the phone in her drawer and closed it.

Nearly an hour later, Waller now sat at the head of a table, with her advising council in their own seats around the table. Waller checked her watch, then looked back at her council.

"Stay sharp, people. The SECDEF will be here any minute."

A few minutes later, a man opened the door to the assembly room and said, "Ms. Waller, the Secretary of Defense."

Then the man stood aside and let in a man in his late 50s enter the room. Waller stood up and nodded. "Mr. Secretary."

"Ms. Waller, good to see you," responded the man, "Now then, let's get to it."

Then the man walked over to the end of the table, where a projector and a computer sat. Then he pulled out a secure thumb drive and held it to the computer for a few minutes. Once it unlocked, he walked back over to Waller as the lights dimmed and a screen lowered down. The Secretary pulled out a remote from his pocket and clicked a button, revealing the first slide.

The image was of Hawk Moth standing on the Eiffel Tower, with Ladybug and Cat Noir just arriving at the scene.

"Two weeks ago, on June 18, Hawk Moth publicly called out Ladybug and Cat Noir, demanding they face him or have Paris pay the price. Naturally, they arrive on scene, but they soon found out they bit off more than they could chew."

He clicked the remote, revealing the next image of tons of supervillains surrounding the duo, but Carapace, Rena Rouge, Ryuko, Viperion, King Monkey, and Pegasus were with them. Many buildings were mostly or entirely demolished, and there were small fires everywhere as the heroes engaged with their adversaries.

"Hawk Moth showed up with a whole army of supervillains. When the battle grew much for Ladybug and Cat Noir, they called in reinforcements. However, in the ensuing battle, they disappeared."

He clicked the remote again, showing the picture of a news story with the caption: CITYWIDE EVACUATION IN ORDER. SUPERVILLAIN UPRISING REACHING CLIMAX.

"Two days later," he continued, "Mayor Bourgeois ordered a citywide evacuation, as the situation grew out of control, and the heroes were still missing. Cut to today."

He clicked the remote, but the next image was more terrifying than any of the previous ones. The image showed the city of Paris from afar, except it looked very dark, as if all light were chased out from every corner of Paris. There was also smoke rising from many parts of the city, and even a few fires. Finally, there were large spiderwebs blocking any road or access point, even bridging the gap between buildings on the edge of the city.

Some of the council members gasped, and even Waller couldn't hide her shock.

"French authorities have tried to handle the situation, but anyone they sent never returned. The entire city has become a no-man's land as well as a fortress." He clicks the button to reveal Syren and continues, "The akumatized villainess known as Syren inhabits the ocean around France, and she appears to have gained new powers to control water and manipulate it as she pleases, repelling anyone who tries to sail or fly over to France." He clicks the button and shows Stormy Weather. "Then there's Stormy Weather, who patrols the skies and creates wind, lightning, or snow storms to drive back any aircraft, assuming they can get past Syren." He moves onto the next slide, revealing Anansi. "Next, we have Anansi, whose upgraded powers have created impenetrable spiderwebs. A task force that actually managed to get past the previous two villains tried burning, cutting, or ramming through it, but nothing worked." He clicked the remote to reveal the next slide containing Queen Wasp. "Lastly, there's Queen Wasp. From what we could gather on her, she used to be the former hero Queen Bee, until she wanted revenge on Ladybug for withholding her Miraculous and tried to steal all the other Miraculous jewelry. Anyway, with her powers to create and dispatch swarms of mind-controlling wasps, anyone who could make their way through all these villains would only fall under her control."

Then the Secretary clicked the remote and turned off the slideshow, and the lights came back on.

"This is where you come in, Ms. Waller," he said, facing her. "Against our better judgement, the World Security Council has voted for you to reassemble and deploy Task Force X, effective immediately."

"With all due respect, Mr. Secretary," said one of the male council members, "Can we not simply have the Justice League handle this?"

"The Justice League is on a mission in deep space, and besides, this is a government affair due to the relationship we have with France. This is not up for discussion."

"I understand, sir," said Waller, "I will prepare the Task Force immediately."

"Good. I expect to hear a report on which villains you have recruited and what your plan is by the end of the week. For all our sakes, I hope you're up to the task."

With that, the Secretary nodded at everyone and left the room.

Then Waller looked at the council member to her left and said, "Get me Blackgate Penitentiary on the phone, now."