I don't know if people have realized it but I haven't been writing numbers using letters, and for the longest time it's been eating at me to change it. But I was worried that it would ruin the writing style of this story, in fact that is the reasoning for a lot of my worries of my writing in this story. So I'm just gonna rip the band-aid and do it. This is just my thoughts about the matter and why things are gonna shift a bit. There won't be any change to the story, just how it's being presented.

Government Bureau

"Do you know how much panic you put everyone in? You were gone for 5 hours, no way to contact you, no idea where you went or who had taken you, I was just short of sending Darlton to the nearest terrorist cell to demand you back!"The shaking voice of Cornelia li Britannia shouted.

Cornelia didn't speak with sorrow; it was rage that was inside her heart. Euphemia understood this the most, she was the reason her sister was like this.

"Going to Shinjuku? Are you that ignorant?! Do you know what those Elevens would have done to you if they knew you were a princess?! Ransom, slave trade, and a litany of ideas I dare not even think about!"Cornelia ranted.

Euphemia sat in her room being drilled by her sister for leaving her room at the courthouse without any guards or supervision. She just wanted to see Area 11, but it only got her in trouble.

"Don't forget running out into the middle of a Knightmare fight! You could have been killed!"That had certainly not been Euphemias wisest choice. She had only wanted to stop the fighting between the Pure Bloods, in her defense she didn't know they would fire at each other. But she would dare speak against her sister; Cornelia was a general in the Britannian army and had much more resolve than she ever had.

"Uh, you gave us a scare."Cornelia had seemingly cooled off and sat beside Euphemia. If they didn't share the same name, one would be correct that these two were anything but sisters. Cornelia was the brave, strong, and confident Goddess of Victory, a worthy addition of the Britannian royal family.

Then there was Euphemia, the meek, kind, and fragile princess of Britannia. She had none of her sister's zeal, or her attitude, not even her talent.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, sister."Euphemia squeaked out, not wanting to anger her sister more.

"Worry? Worry is when I think an enemy Knightmare might have shot too close. No, I was panicking."Cornelia had certainly sounded like I when Euphemia had finally turned up with the help of Margrave Gottwald.

"I'm sorry for making you panic, sister."Euphemia restated.

"You've become the right age, Euphy now is the time to choose a Knight to be by your side," Cornelia said.

"This again?"Euphemia asked.

"I won't always be there to protect you, nor will I be there to solve all your problems for you. It is time you chose a Knight that will protect you. I chose Guilford when I was your age, and he has fought by my side ever since. You will choose a knight, I will send you a list of soldiers I believe to be gifted enough to protect you. I have to go now, we can speak later."Cornelia turned to Euphemia one last time and cupped her cheek caringly. "I love you, don't ever forget that. If things go smoothly, this Zero will be dead by the end of the month, you will be appointed as Sub-Viceroy while I'm in the field. I'll send Darlton your duties. Goodnight."Cornelia kissed her forehead before leaving through the door.

"Goodnight," Euphemia said as her sister walked out the door.

Ashford Academy

"We will fight on. We shall struggle, compete, plunder, and dominate. And in the end, the future shall be ours. All Hail Britannia!"The rousing speech of Emperor Charles zi Britannia echoed across the gym walls.

"All Hail Britannia!"

After the gathering, classes were suspended for the day in honor of Clovis leaving each to their own devices. For some, it meant relaxing, others it meant to study, but for Miles Morales it meant work.

"Aaaaand, done."Miles looked at his journal with pride.

"Whatcha got there Miles?"The voice of Shirley Fenette spoke beside Miles as he almost fell out of his chair.

Miles sat in the Student Council room, alone (or at least he thought) working on his journal. For the last 5 minutes, Shirley had watched him lean back and focus entirely on his journal. What was in it she had no clue, so curiosity got the best of her and she approached him.

"Jeez Shirley, you almost gave me a heart attack."Miles warned her as he sat back up.

It was true; Miles had not heard her or even sensed her. Of course, she wasn't the first to achieve this. His parents also had this effect on him, which led to a lot of close calls over the years. Thankfully this was not one of those close calls.

"Sorry, you just looked so focus on that journal of yours. What is it?"Shirley asked.

"Well if you want to know," Miles laid the journal flat on the table and showed it to Shirley. "It's my latest tag."He said.

Shirley leaned in and saw for herself. It was a small drawing of the Tokyo Tower, around it was swirls of purples, cyans, and pinks. It looked almost hypnotic like it was pulling her in.

"I didn't know you were an artist."Shirley redirected her attention back at Miles.

"Well I've just been busy lately, but I still don't have any spray cans to actually put it up yet. So it's staying in my journal for now."Miles lamented.

"Spray cans? Why would you need spray cans?"Shirley asked.

"Oh, I see. I don't draw on paper, I tag stuff."Miles told her.

"Tag?"Shirley asked confused.

"I spray paint this on the walls of buildings or in a tunnel."

"You graffiti?!"Shirley accused him.

"Graffiti is completely different, I'm making art here. Look at this, does this look like something you'd see on the side of a train?"Miles pointed to his drawing of Tokyo Tower.

"I suppose not, where did you learn this from?"Shirley asked him.

"My Uncle Aaron taught me, he used to do it back in his day too with my dad. I did plenty of tags back in New York, but I haven't done one recently so I've been planning to go out sometime and do it. You want to come with?"Miles asked.

"I don't know, tell me the day and I'll see."

"Alright, I'll be sure to let you know," Miles told her.

Happy with the conversation, Shirley said her goodbye and started to walk away. Maybe this is what she needed to take her mind off of Lelouch and that Kallen girl. They couldn't really be together, right?

"Wait," Shirley said to herself in the middle of the hall, a brilliant idea had just formed into her head.

Many weeks ago, Milly used to talk to Shirley about her favorite show. About a troubled woman who was trying to sway the emotions of the man she loved. She constantly teased Shirley about the parallels. But one thing she remembered was the main actress faking having a relationship with another man to gain the attention of the man she loved! That's it! Shirley will make Lelouch jealous!

As God as her witness, she will make Lelouch jealous!

Somewhere in China

"What news do you have?"A man in black and yellow armor asked one of his servants that approached him.

"We have just received word from our brotherhood in Gulmira. They have been attacked, most have been wiped out as well."He responded.

"How?"He asked calmly.

"They do not know, the survivors claim it was a Knightmare the size of a man. They had never seen anything like it before. The Ten Rings wants to know what their next orders are."

The man stood up, his small throne already hidden behind his massive frame. A Knightmare Frame the size of a man? This excited him; he had an inkling of an idea of who could have done this.

"Tell them to continue their deal with Obadiah, if my presumptions are correct he will be ratted out soon enough. Or he succeeds and he will have access to Stark Industries weapons manufacturing."

"Sir?"The servant not yet caught up who his master was referring to.

"You heard my orders, The Mandarin commands it!"

Government Bureau

"Are the conditions in order?"Cornelia asked.

"We have brought all ranking officials who were there the day of the Shinjuku raid. Although…"Guilford grimaced.

"What is it?"Cornelia asked.

"We had reports that Spider-Man was at the ghetto fighting off soldiers. We have an accurate timeline of events, but we don't know if he will also attend. Since Zero's reveal we've only seen brief sightings of him across the city."Guilford reported.

"He's laying low until the heat settles what of his motives?"Cornelia asked.

"Well we don't exactly have a manifesto from him, all we have are interactions he's had. Jeremiah Gottwald told us his conversation between him and Spider-Man. He said he fights crime."

"A vigilante."Cornelia pointed out.

"It seems so, from the arrest files I received from the police department, it seems that the criminals he does fight end up heavily bruised. There have been no occurrences of deaths related to Spider-Man."

"He's a hypocrite. He claims to fight crime but doesn't finish it. That's beside the point. It seems that our recreation of the Shinjuku raid won't be as accurate as I'd hope but it's an acceptable loss. If the vigilante wants to prance around and fight crime let him, we're after Zero. Set the time for tomorrow and alert the media. I want Zero to know we're coming."

Tokyo Settlement

"Honey, foods ready!"His mother Marta exclaimed from the kitchen.

I'll be down in a minute!"Jacob yelled back, he was so close.

He'd been working on it for months. He'd used dozens of splices, but he'd finally found the one. Now he just had to find the right sequence, he was so close.

"Jacob, your mother is already done cooking. Hurry up."His father shouted from the bottom of the staircase.

"I'm almost done!"

Maybe he needed more X? No, that would hamper regeneration. Maybe Y? That could wo…no, no that would cause a complete meltdown. Maybe…maybe…

Jacob had entered the sequence in his head, years worth of genetic studying poured into one thought, one single moment in his life that he had hoped would make all the difference.

The simulation began, and he watched with bated breath. This was his moment; this is where he would…

"Jacob, I've been shouting for the last minute are you alright?"His door abruptly opened to the sight of his father.

Before he entered the room, Jacob had switched the screen and looked like he was busy. He needed to keep his metaphorical mask up.

"Uh, yeah dad. I'm fine."He said.

Curtis Connor looked at his son worryingly. "Are you sure, it's okay to tell me." Curtis raised both hands to his sons face checking for any warmness.

"I'm fine dad, let's go eat."His father smiled and wheeled Jacob to the escalator built for him.

In his room, the computer he was working on beeped and beeped and beeped.

Sequence complete Lizard DNA 100% match

Britannia

Steve liked to think he was opened minded, but even some experiences were weird for him.

"Here's your Pepperoni pizza you ordered, have a nice day."The woman at the counter handed him the cardboard box and went to the next customer.

Steve was growing accustomed to the way of life that was the 21st century, he liked it a lot to be frank. The internet was so helpful, television gave him countless hours of entertainment, plus he didn't have to boil everything. But recently it hasn't been the TV or the internet that had his attention, it was Zero.

"I? I am Zero! I stand for justice, but I know that this world is not just! This is why I fight back against the system, why I will not have you condemn a man for a crime he did not commit!"

Those words rung in his ears, could this Zero actually mean what he said? It was so hard these days to talk to someone without any need to lie. He had to know, but how could he put his trust in this Zero?

It was a dilemma he had as he ate the pizza he ordered with money he had scrounged up. Let it be known that Steve Rogers does not steal.

We haven't checked in with our good friend Steve Rogers in a while, so why not do it now while we witness the birth of so much set up.