[FRONT COVER: A groupshot of the team at some kind of formal event sponsored by Prime Minister Gendo Ikari, with Simon, Lightning, and Shulk in the back row, with Shirley and Shinji in the front. Dr. Summers can be seen in the crowd. Simon is gladly shaking a smiling Gendo's hand, while everyone else is trying to look professional. In the foreground Hope is leaping in front of the camera holding a sign that says "NOT A DREAM! NOT AN IMAGINARY STORY! While a banner in the background reads "THE BEGINNING OF AN ERA" in big fancy letters.]

"I've got good news, and I've got better news."

The manager of the hospital looked at those assembled in the meeting hall. Simon, Lightning, Shulk, Shinji, Girlborg, Nia and Dickson were all doing their best to look professional, despite few of them being any good at it. There were also over a half-dozen students from Ashford Academy who were all apparently Gilrborg's close personal friends, who were apparently there for moral support. They were attempting to hide their identities by wearing domino masks that the purple-haired boy had brought with him for this exact purpose. One of them had even repaired Girlborg's arm, something that the rest of the staff had spent hours puzzling over, though the speed of the job was obvious given how a massive seam was still visible.

The manager took a deep breath. "The good news is that, after running some blood tests, we've determined that miss "Girlborg" is the only one infected with the Machine Plague." He shuffled around some papers. "Furthermore, we discovered that all samples of the plague outside of Girlborg's body have gone inert. We hypothesized that this is because the Machine Plague itself is a technological entity, and that Girlborg has subconsciously disabled the virus samples with her technopathic abilities. This was proven correct when we brought in an outside sample for comparison, which we found to be disabled when brought within approximately ten meters of the subject."

"Uh, that's great doc." Simon grinned awkwardly. "But I got a 'D-' in biology. Can you say that without the technobabble?"

"Well basicly he said that the virus isn't in our systems." answered Nia. "And even if it was, it's not going to spread because of Girlborg's powers!"

"So... we can leave?" Shinji's eyes picked up.

"Yep. Yer all free to go." said Dickson.

Shirley breathed a blissful sigh of relief, her antennas drooping in response. "Thank god..." she whispered. "I don't think I could live with causing a pandemic..."

"Well. Glad that's over." Lightning got up from her seat. "Now if you excuse me, I have paperwork to catch up on..."

"I wouldn't leave quite yet." said Shulk. "He still has something to tell us."

"Ah, yes, that." The manager began to scan his papers. "Erm... the 'better news' is..."

"...that you are now cordially invited to join Japan's newest super-team." Prime Minister Gendo Ikari, pushed open the doorway, and casually strolled into the room.

"Dad?!" exclaimed Shinji.
"Hello, son." Gendo smiled. "I assume you had a good meeting with Doctor Summers?"

"...yes." Shinji squeaked.

"Good to hear it. You'll be seeing a lot more of him, too, given how I've asked him to be the Society's personal psychologist..." he then snapped his gloved fingers. "Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself!"

The hospital manager got from his seat, and offered it to the Prime Minister.

"Thank you, Dr. Woodward." said Gendo. "That will be all."

The hospital manager politely excused himself from the room.

"Now. As I was saying..." he picked up a small remote control, and turned off the lights. A projector hidden in the ceiling then turned itself on, and started to display a old black-and-white film.

"Imagine if you will, the late 1940's; the end of World War II, and the dawn of the age of superheroes..." images flashed by of heroic feats performed by heroes of the era, such as Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, phasing through a wall as part of a demonstration, or Jay Garrick, the first Flash, effortlessly demonstrating that he could find a needle in a haystack in blink of an eye. "All over the world, people with super-human powers were starting to emerge... and even some who lacked powers were inspired to take justice into their own hands."

"Chief among them was the Justice Society of America, the world's first superhero team." He then began to play footage of the Justice Society brutalizing Japanese soldiers.

Lightning recognized these scenes as being from old propaganda films, and regarded them indifferently. Shirley, however, squirmed in her seat, as she was more used to hearing about the JSA in a more positive light.

"Formed in World War II, these men played a key role in allied victory, forever changing the face of organized warfare." Gendo continued. Some stock footage of riots in post-war Japan began playing. "As you may recall from history class, American occupation of our fair country was a turbulent time. Sudden democratization, censorship, poverty, food shortages, alien invasions... the people back then had every reason to be afraid."

The stock footage was of the Diet discussing something. "In order to skirt around the ban on having an armed military, in 1948 the Diet approved funding for the creation of a 'Justice Society of Japan', a Japanese counterpart to the American team, pouring billions into the creation of a government-sponsored crime-fighting team that could be deployed in the event of war."

"While it was technically legal, the United States stopped the plan cold, citing fears that our country was preparing for World War III. The funding, however, was never withdrawn and remains frozen in our coffers to this day." Gendo turned off the screen, and turned the lights back on. "But now that even the Cold War has passed us by, I feel that now is the perfect time for the Justice Society of Japan to come into being, and I would like to invite you fine people as it's first members."

Simon raised his hand. "Uh, yeah. I got a question." he said. "What if we don't particularly want to work for the government?"

"The Diet was very careful about how they worded things." said Gendo. "The group is only to receive funding from the government; the idea that they could be used in warfare was an assumption made on the basis that they would willingly volunteer to protect their country's citizens. You won't need to report to me or anyone else if you so choose, though I would recommend that you work closely with the Tokyo police force."

"What about nepotism?" said Shinji. "I mean, won't people be kinda suspicious given that I'm your son and all..."

"That's what secret identities are for." Gendo said. "But I'm willing to take the risk. And if it comes to it I'll even step down from office."

"Can we join?!" shouted Rivalz. "I mean, we're not superheroes, but every team needs guys on the sidelines!"

Gendo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "...that's something you should ask the chairman, but I don't see a problem with it." he pointed back at the group. "Speaking of which, your first order of business should be to pick a chairman."

"A what?" said Simon.

"An elected leader, usually acting as spokesman of the group." said Lelouch. "This is not something to take lightly. Bad PR can make or break a group like this."

"Oh. That's easy, then." said Simon. "We'll just pick Shulk."

"M-me?" sputtered Shulk.

"Yeah." said Simon "You seem like a smart guy, and everyone knows that an English accent makes you sound smart..."

"Yes, well..." Shulk took a moment to collect himself. "...I'm not even sure I'm going to agree to this. After all, I still work with Atlas, and I've overstayed my welcome as it is..."

"The Mechonis ain't goin' anywhere, kid." said Dickson. "Better you spend months preparing for a formal expedition alongside supermen than just head off to fight an army of robots on yer own." he rapped the Monado with his fist. "I mean you've had the bloody thing for what, a month? It takes time to get good at usin' something like this. 'sides, the minister got one of those special contracts that says we gotta send one of our mates over, and honestly you'd probably be my top pick."

"Uh... thanks." said Shulk. "...but even so, I'm going to have to decline being chairman. After all, this is supposed to be the Justice Society of Japan, and nearly half the team is foreign. I just think it would send some unfortunate implications..."

Simon crossed his arms. "...okay, how about Lightning? She's a capable, no-nonsense kind of personal."

"Normally I'd agree with you... but I'm also going to have to pass." she said. "Let's just say I don't have a very good reputation right now and leave it at that."

"Ooookayyyy..." simon looked around the room. "Then that just leaves... Shinji?"

"Blagaghggarragblargblarrrargblarh!" Shinji stammered. "...I mean, I kinda have stage fright..."

Simon looked down at the core-drill, and wondered; "What would bro do at a time like this?"

The answer, of course, was obvious: First shout "ALL RIGHT THEN!", leap onto the table, strike a heroic pose, and say "From this day forward we no longer stand alone! From now on, WE are the avengers who right all wrongs! WE are the beacon of light in a sea of darkness! WE ARE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF JAPAN, AND WE'RE GONNA SAVE THE WHOLE GODDAMN WORLD!"

Those assembled reacted to Simon's antics with what ranged from stunned silence to mild bemusement.

"Yay, Simon!" Nia said. "That has to be your best speech yet!"

"If that's the case, I don't want to hear his worst." Lightning sighed. "Seriously, can you tone down the antics a little?"

"No, keep it!" said Milly. "The public eats up that kind of hammy, over-dramatic stuff! I mean, do you have any idea how much money Most Excellent Superbat pays his people to write speeches like that? Not to mention the entire tokusatsu genre would cease to exist if it boisterousness wasn't marketable..."

"'Marketable'?" Lightning shot Milly a stern look. "We're not a reality TV show, and we're not Super Young Team."

"Well, as the Justice Society's publicist I feel that I ought to set some-"

"You're our publicist now? We met you all of ten minutes ago; what makes you think that we trust you enough to manage our reputation?"

"Look; Shirley can vouch for me that I'm more than qualified to..."

The rest of the conversation faded into the background as Shirley, hands in her head, tried to wrap her mind around what was going on. "[This is all happening too fast...]"she thought. "[First powers, then I nearly die, and now they want me on a superteam? I can't do this, I just can't!]"she looked at the rest of the student council, trying not to cry. "[Milly... Rivlaz... Nana... Loulou... I'm sorry I let you guys down. I know it meant so much to you...]"

Shirley stood up in order to speak, and the whole table went silent.
"I... I..." she began to say, but found that the words just wouldn't leave her lips.

"What's wrong?" Shirley turned her head to see Lelouch staring right back at her with a concerned face. "Is something the matter?"

"N-no! Nothing! N-not at all." And just as hard as it was to speak just a few moments ago, she now the words flowing from her mouth at the mere sight of Lelouch. "InfactIjustwantedtosaythatIthinkImightbeagoodvice chairman!" She slapped her mouth shut as soon as she realized what she had said the exact opposite of what she had originally intended.

Milly and Lightning looked at each other, and then back at Shirley. "What makes you think that?" said Lightning.

Shirley tried to correct herself by saying. "Um, I'm sorry, I just misspoke..." but instead it came out as. "Well I'm in the student council so I have experience not as a vice president or anything but I might be running for that next year and I being vice chairman could be like leading the next generation or something I'm sorry if this sound stupid I'll be quiet now."

Another round of silence ensued.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea at all!" said Milly. "A plucky everygirl in a leadership role would be a good thing, perhaps silencing any fears that Simon's testosterone-filled attitude will be a bad influence to children."

"W-what, me? Plucky?" Shirley jumped back in her seat, and her antenna suddenly went rigid in fright. "No no no, you've got to be thinking of someone else..."

"On the contrary, you're one of the bravest people I know." Shirley turned to her side and found, to her great surprise that Lelouch was the one now vouching for her. "On the first day on the job, you put your own life in danger trying to protect Avalon, and even after you got your arm torn off got back up in order to save someone's life."

"He's right! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you rescuing me!" said Nia.

"And neither would I." agreed Shulk. "And you were out of your element too, which I found really impressive. I second the nomination!"

Milly began to grinned ear-to-ear. "All in favor of Amazingly Powerful Girlborg as our vice-chairman, say "aye"!"

"Aye!" said Rivalz.

"Aye!" said Nia.

"Hold on, do those two even get a vote?" said Lightning. "Technically they're not even members..."

"I'm chairman and I say they do!" said Simon. "Aye!"

"Aye!" said Nunally.

"Aye!" said Rolo.

"A-aye..." stammered Nina.

Lightning shrugged. "Well, we could certainly do worse. Aye."

Shinji looked around the room. He and Lelouch were the only ones without their hands raised. "Well, might as well give into peer pressure... aye."

Shirley was about to protest, but then Lelouch's hand shot up to silence her. "Aye!"

"Well then it's settled!" Gendo clapped his hands together. "A unanimous vote for the Vice-Chairman. Another stunning example of democracy at work."

"Heh heh... thanks..." Shirley laughed nervously. "I'm just worried I'm not qualified..."

"Oh don't worry about day-to-day operations." said Milly. "Our treasurer and I will handle all the details..." she gestured to Lelouch.

"Wait, what?" said Lelouch. "Who said I was going to be-"

"Being a leader is easy!" said Milly.

"(No it isn't.)" whispered Lightning.

"All you need to do is look pretty for the camera and act inspiring to the group!"

"(And make tough decisions, assume responsibility for mistakes, be at the vanguard of every fight... you sure you're up to this?)"

"(Uh... I.)" Shirley looked at Lelouch's smiling face, and then back at Lightning. "(Yeah... I think I can do this.)"

Lightning nodded. "(Allright, if you say so. But just remember; I went through all this once myself. If you everneed to talk about something, I should be the first one you go to.)"

"So, back to business." Gendo said. He handed Lelouch a thick stack of papers. "These are the records for the Justice Society fund, as well as the stipulations on what it can and cannot be used for. Buildings, vehicles, just about anything is fair game aside from nuclear materials, controlled substances, and weapons of mass destruction. There's even room in the budget for good-sized salaries, so if you wish you can consider the Justice Society to be your full-time jobs."

"Woo! I'm rich! ...is what I would be saying if I wasn't already." said Rivalz.

"I'm going to need to quit the police force then." said Lightning. "My guess is that this is going to eat up a lot of my time... think we can get a forensics lab in our headquarters?"

"Probably." said Lelouch. "I don't think I've ever seen this many zeroes in one place..."

"I can easily get the stuff in my own lab shipped over." said Shulk. "We just need to make sure that the building is located on a ley-line. We might even need to construct one if we can't find one that's naturally occurring."

"And a medical center! Some staff might be nice as well."

"I need some stuff too..." muttered Nina.

"Don't forget the publicity budget!" said Milly. "We need to get the word out after all."

"I swear, Milly; sometimes you're just as bad as Superbat..." Lelouch replied. "But I'll take that into account. I'll write up a budget for tomorrow, and by the end of the week we should have our headquarters."

"Simon grinned. In that case, as your new Chairman, I declare this meeting to be adjourned!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not really following." said SELEE-06. "Wouldn't our work better if we had fewer cape-wearing morons running around, not more?"

Gendo sighed. "Because, number six, if you had bothered to actually read any of my research, you would realize that we need an Anti-AT field of biblical proportions, when an Anti-AT field in general is something that is currently only theoretical." Gendo pulled up his notes in order to make absolutely sure that what he was saying made sense. "Our original plan involved alienating The Third Child to the point that his ego shattered completely, forcing the creation of an Anti-AT field at the peak of his ability. If subject zero's output was anything to go on, The Third Child will have more than enough power by the time the Angels arrive. However, certain factors have prevented this phase of the plan from being completed..."

"And by 'certain factors', of course, you mean yourself." Gendo could imagine SELEE-03 staring at him disapprovingly. "Face it, Ikari. You've gone soft. What happened to the man who was willing to throw his wife, his career, and even his own son to the dogs for the greater good of mankind? Has his era come and gone without so much as a goodbye?"

"Number Three!" snapped SELEE-04 "I will remind you that we are not allowed to refer to each other by name during these meetings..."

"Oh yes, I forgot how much you scribes love to keep your secrets." SEELE-03 replied. "Very well then, I'll humor you. Tell me, Number Two; what is your plan exactly?"

"As I was saying..." Gendo continued, "...an AT-Field is a physical manifestation of the ego, the boundary that separates souls from one-another. Because of this, full understand of another being is impossible..." he scrolled down a few pages into his notes. "...however, the mere act of trying to understand another soul can cause the AT-Field to 'leak', and in extreme cases a permanent bond between souls can be formed. This, we believe, is a natural occurrence of an Anti-AT field's creation." he took a deep breath. "And, by allowing The Third Child to establish a bond of camaraderie between his peers, by severing said connection we'll be able to release an Anti-AT Field of the appropriate magnitude."

"...So you're seriously suggesting..." said SELEE-07 "...that we cause Instrumentality using the power of friendship."

"And MURDER!" said SELEE-06. "I like this plan! The second part at least."

"Number Two, this is unacceptable!" said SELEE-01. "You deviated from the plan without unanimous approval! How dare you-"

"Pardon me if I interrupt..." said SELEE-13 "Number Two's plan is actually quite plausible. In fact, if successful, it might actually be more efficient than our original plan. I've run the numbers myself."

"As have I." said SELEE-10. "And I've shared Number Two's concerns over the Third Child, especially after both how the Second Child turned out, and our lack of progress on the Evangelion project."

"Speaking of which, I still believe the project is a waste of time..." said SELEE-09. "Horrific monstrosities might have been an appropriate test in The Age of the Gods, but times have changed. No one had expected the arrival of Superman, and since then the Earth has only become a more chaotic place. If we took the dead sea scrolls literally, The Angel Invasion would come and go without anyone batting an eye were it not for our plan. Especially when we've already had a literal angel invasion."

"Oh come on!" shouted SELEE-06 "You're just saying that because you're a girl! Of course you don't like giant robots!"

"No, I must agree with Nine." said SELEE-08. "The Evangelions should not be our first priority. My guess is that the Angel attacks will be more subtle, thus we need subtle tools for the job..."

"The feasibility of the Evangelion project is beyond the scope of our meeting." said SELEE-12. "May I propose that this meeting be adjourned before we fall further off topic?"

"Seconded." said SELEE-04. "The lot of you are starting to get on my nerves..."

"Just one last thing..." said SELEE-11. "Number Two, it has come to my attention that you have allowed my children to become involved with this so-called 'Justice Society'."

"...as noncombatants, yes." said Gendo. "They seemed eager to support their friend, and the chairman was more than willing to-."

"I don't care who's idea it was. I want them off the team at once" said SELEE-11. "You know as well as I do that non-combatants in any team are the first targets of vengeful supervillains, and the last thing I want is to see their faces in the obituaries."

"...that's not under my jurisdiction, Eleven. It would be a gross breach of conduct if I-"

"Well if you can't handle this, then I'll find someone to do it for me. And I can't promise that he'll play nicely with your little 'League'."

"Just so we understand; the Third Child is to remain-"

"OF COURSE he'll be unharmed. What kind of idiot do you take me for?" SELEE-11 rumbled. "That boy of yours is worth more than any of our heads combined. Certainly more that that useless whelp my third wife left behind..."

"...Well, that was very uncharacteristic of you, sticking up for Shirley like that." C.C. said. "Or are you planning to lead this "Justice Society" from the shadows, ruling with an iron fist through it's new vice-chairman?"

Lelouch took a long look at C.C.'s latest outfit. He had heard of "hiding in plain sight", but what she was wearing now bordered on ridiculous. She was wearing a crimson top decorated with images of flowers, detached sleeves of similar design, high heels, a bow tying her hair into a ponytail, and a pink cape that looked more like an old blanket. The only reason why they weren't getting any stares is that the bus they were on was passing through the Harajuku district, and thus was filed dozens of other cosplayers. In fact, Lelouch could probably wear his Zero costume in broad daylight here and no one would notice.

In any case, Lelouch was too used to C.C.'s odd fashion sense to bring this up, and anyway they had more important business to attend to.

"Possibly." he said. "In any case I'd need to have a plant in their organization; It's just a stroke of luck I happened to be so close to one of the members."

"Yes, but is that good luck or bad?"

"...what do you mean?"

"Suppose... someone got the wrong idea about the Black Knights. After all, they are a military force not accountable to any government. Should they send the Society after you, would you be willing to pull the trigger on your own friend?"

"...that's not going to happen."

C.C. slouched in her seat. "That's what you always say right before things go wrong."

"No, I mean it; the members are anything but government stooges. and in any case our relationship with the Japanese government is-"

"...on the verge of collapsing due to our recent failures. While we did capture Mordred, Morgaine herself escaped and took out our best Knightmare pilot."

"...look, I'm sure whatever kind of curse Kallen's under, they're be a way to break it and-"

"Lelouch. You don't know what's actually happened, do you?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow "And you do?"

"Possibly..." C.C. looked around the room in case anyone was listening in. "Call it a hunch, but I think Kallen might be a..."

"...VAMPIRE!" screamed the the strange old man. "Yes, it is clear to I, MERASMUS, that Kallen Stadfeldt-"

"Kozuki." corrected Kallen.

"...was bitten by a bloodsucking fiend of the night, and even now is going through a HORRIFIC TRANSFORMATION!"

Kallen didn't really know what to make of this so-called "Magician." Draped in brown robs and wearing what appeared to be a ram's skull on his head, Merasmus appeared less like a powerful magus and more like a crazy hobo with a funny walking stick. Rather than running any sort of test, the moment he arrived he called for all the division leaders to assemble so that he could deliver a "SHOCKING REVELATION!" because apparently possessing phenomenal cosmic power was also a license to write flyers in all caps with multiple explanation points. Needless to say, only the medic and those sufficiently bored enough to find entertainment in listening to an crazy man's ranting (i.e. Shinichiro Tamaki) bothered to show up.

The medic facepalmed.

"Yes, you see it's quite obvious!" He pulled out the medic's silver cross again, much to Kallen's displeasure. "Crosses are a traditional vampire weakness! Therefore, she must be a vampire!" He then opened Kallen's mouth, and put his fingers behind her teeth, which seemed to be a bit sharper than usual. "And look at these fangs! Clearly, the girl has truly become an unholy creature of the night!"

"Um... dude?" said Tamaki. "It's the middle of the afternoon, and she's in direct sunlight." he pointed to the open window.

"FOOL!" Merasmus raised his arms dramatically. "It is a MISCONCEPTION that all vampires burst into flames in the light! Sometimes it does NOTHING! Other times, it makes them SPARKLE! It's really kind of a crapshot."

"Zhen, wouldn't she have bite marks?" said the medic.

Merasmus looked at Kallen's bite-free neck. "Oh. Good point." he scratched his head. "In that case she must be a WEREWOLF!"

"Zhe full moon was out last night, and nothink out of zhe ordinary happened."

"...err maybe she's a zombie?" Merasmus reached into his robes, and produced a jar containing a skull with a brain still inside, floating in a jar of unknown liquid. "You don't have an irresistible urge to eat this PICKLED MONKEY BRAIN, do you?"

Kallen shrugged. "...not really."

"Good, more for me, then!" the magician reached into the jar and pulled out it's contents, before taking a big bite into the brain. "Mnow." he said as he chewed, "mets see mhat melse is min mere..."

After swallowing, he pulled out a large tome that said "Monster Manual, Core Rulebook III". "Now let's see... maybe she's a kelpie."

"A what?" said Tamaki.

"A water spirit that causes drownings... oh wait, it's supposed to be in the shape of a horse. Let's start at the beginning. Let's see... Aboleth? No, wait, not enough legs... Achairai? No, too many legs... an Allip? No, wait, those only come out of suicides... you can't be an Angel, that's for sure... I'VE GOT IT! You must be an Animated- oh, wait, nevermind, that's dumb. False alarm."

Kallen sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"[I'm BOOOOOOOOORED.]" Hope yelled, her face pressed against the door of her cell. "[I forgot to bring my DS and the cell is really boring and why am I in a cell anyway when I didn't do anything bad?]"

"Yeah! Come on, Ikari!" Detective Maniwa said. "We've been watching her for almost a day..."

"You know as well as I do that this is standard procedure for unknown metahumans." Keiichi sighed. He then looked at the kid. "[Well, if you want to leave so quickly, maybe you could at least tell me who your parents are so they can pick you up?]"

"[I can't do that, silly! I'm running away from home!]"

"Told you our patience would pay off..."

Detective Maniwa bent his so that he could talk to Hope at something more akin to her eye level. "[Oh really?]" he said. "[How come?]"

"[Uh... my dad beats me!]" she said. "[With a stick! And shoves hot pokers in my eye!]" she pointed at her eye to emphasize this fact.

"[Really?]"

"[Yeah! And... uh once, Santa gave me a puppy for Christmas, and... uh... my dad threw into a woodchipper because... I didn't eat my broccoli! Like in that move! What that guy! In Minnesota!]"

Detective ikari was nonplussed. "[...Aren't you a little young to be seeing movies like that?]"

"[Uhh... he beat me for that, too!]" shouted Hope. "[And then he made me watch it again! While beating me! With a baseball bat!]"

Ikari got up from his stool. "No more questions. Come on, Maniwa."

"[Hey, don't leave me hanging! Can you at least bring me a TV or something?]"

"Actually, we do have an old pocket TV in the supply closet. I'm sure there's an English language news station or something she could watch. Is that okay?"

Keiichi shrugged. "If it keeps her quiet."

One trip to the supply closet later, the two detectives were heading out the door of the station, and were soon heading home.

"So..." Detective Maniwa said as they boarded the subway, "...do you think the kid's telling the truth?"

"About what?" said Detective Ikari. "Running away? Or the beatings?"

"I dunno."

"Running away is plausible, though I'll be damned if I knew how she got all the way to Japan..." Ikari looked at his partner. "...but do you really buy that sob story about the beatings?"

"Well, she does have a healing factor..."

"She's making it up. I can tell. She's probably some middle-class suburbanite who's daddy works at S.T.A.R. Labs." Ikari sighed and buried himself in his newspaper. "My diagnosis? The kid's seen too much Fargo, and you've seen too much Special Victims Unit."

"...what's 'Fargo'?"

"An American movie about a plan that went horribly wrong. Funny in a bleak sort of way. You should watch it sometime." the detective grabbed onto the nearby bar as the train screeched to a stop. "Well, here's my stop." he looked at his partner. "You're coming with me, tonight. I want you to meet my wife."

"Uh, actually I had something to-"

"Is someone dead?"

"No..."

"Good. Because there's this new curry recipe we've been meaning to try, and I want an outside opinion." Ikari started to leave the train. "You coming?"

Detective Maniwa looked at his watch. If he was lucky, he might be able to make it back home in time to...

"Maniwa!" Ikari shouted. "I said are you coming?"

Maniwa looked up, and then chased after his partner. "Uh... okay! Hold up!"

From his throne, the conqueror watched as the world continued to spiral into chaos...

"[...an armed confrontation in Mexico City...]"

"[...has once again evaded jailtime despite overwhelming evidence against...]"

"[...at least five banks into debt, was awarded a seven billion dollar bonus...]"

"[...tens of thousands thought to be dead in the wake of Brainiac's latest...]"

"[...Khandaqi terrorists have claimed responsibility for...]"

"[...wanted for seventeen counts of rape in the past month alone, continues to evade thanks to his body-jumping powers...]"

Before him were dozens of television screens, each one displaying a different news broadcast from somewhere in the world. The channels changed occasionally, as an advanced computer program of the conqueror's own design ran in the background, skipping past commercials and human interest stories to only inform him of the most tragic results of mankind's follies for hours upon end.

To an ordinary man, such a ritual would be maddening. But for the conqueror's superior mind it was a mere part of his daily routine, a reminder of his purpose.

"The world is corrupt, and cannot be trusted to rule itself."the conqueror stared at his palm, clutching it as if he were holding an invisible globe. "One day, I will succeed where others have failed." he clenched his fist. "I will bring order and stability to this hopeless planet!"

The conqueror felt his pulse rising, an unstable euphoria as the blood rushed to his head, but rather than act on impulse he instead attempted to remain calm.

"...but if I rush too quickly, my plan will be over before it has even begun, Just as the revolutionaries before me..." the conqueror exhaled sharply. "...best, then, that I keep my ambitions in check. For they will no doubt lead to my undoing..."

Just then, the conqueror's highly sensitive ears picked up something coming from one of his monitors. A man with calendar dates tattooed around his forehead was speaking as news anchor. "[...In other news, Prime Minister Gendo Ikari of Japan has just announced the unveiling of a new super team, "The Justice Society of Japan".]"

The conqueror raised an eyebrow.

The news anchor continued to speak. "[For now, little is known about the team's roster save for it's chairman, 'Simon the Digger', a hero best known for leading the counterattack against the Spiral Kingdom's sudden invasion, and it's vice-chairman, an up-and-coming heroine known as "Amazingly Powerful Girlborg"..."

A rare scowl crossed the conqueror's face. His fingernails dug into his palm as his hand tightened even further. "Those...IMBECILES!" In the safety of his own mind, the conqueror raged. "The real Justice Society were nothing if not honorable warriors of the purest intent. And now these pretenders think they can repeat history? Such fools need to be put in their place!"

"[Only time will tell if they will be able to surpass the legendary status of Big Science Action, as well as (to a much, much, much lesser extent) Super Young Team...]"

The conqueror stood up and beckoned for his minion. "EXCEL!" he cried, his imposing voice echoing through the chambers of his underground palace.

From out of the shadows, a teenage girl scramble to address her superior, carrying a large cardboard box marked with a skull and crossbones. Like any good lackey, she was wearing an outfit that could best be generously described as "iconic"; a tiny white jacket with large, egg-shaped epaulets, a black cleavage-exposing vest with blue trimmings around her bosom, white short-shorts, black, fingerless gloves, and a pair of white boots. Topping off the package was a mop of thick, orange hair that the conqueror swore used to be blonde.

The conqueror would have continued his speech then an there, but the moment his minion was within earshot she launched into a whirlwind of loquacious babble. "Hey there boss I just got the fireworks you asked me to get! Also I got Lollita Canary's phone number so we can track her by hacking into her phone except I dropped it and now I have to spend all night fishing through the sewers which I don't mind really but it's very unsanitary so I had to steal some scuba gear from the yakuza but they didn't like that so they chased me around for a few hours shooting at me with guns and-"

"I'm sure your story is quite fascinating, but I'm afraid we have much more important matters to attend to." The conqueror hid his arms underneath his cape for dramatic effect. "As of today, we will no longer try to destroy Super Young Team."

"Aww! Really? And I wanted Superbat's autograph! I asked Number Seven for it but you know how he is with remembering things always losing his keys and stuff. By the way when are the Ten-Ben Matanga getting out of prison? The headquarters is very quiet without them and I was looking forward to playing parcheesi with-"

It was times like this that The Conqueror wished he could just shoot his minions when they annoyed him. But Excel was "special" in more ways that one. Though more dense than a sack of bricks, her loyalty to the cause was unshakable. If only he had a thousand of her, then perhaps their sheer numbers would cancel out her own bottomless stupidity.

"-and Number Two was like "nuh-uh" and I was like "yah-huh" and then he punched me in the face but we've gotten off track here what were you talking about again because I think you said we weren't going to fight Super Young Team anymore but if so then I'm kind of wondering why we're going to do that I mean wasn't it just last month that you said that they were scum that were corrupting the youth of our fair country?"

Grateful for the pause, the Conqueror took a moment to adjust his glasses."That may be true, but recent developments have proved that we were merely swatting at flies. While we chased that band of idiots, we failed to notice the seeds of destruction sown within our midst!"

A click of a remote control was heard, and suddenly all the monitors in the room changed to show but one image; a still frame from the news report on the new Justice Society.

"Youths brought up on nothing but the corrupting influence of anime and dubstep have made it their goal to pervert the image of a proud tradition." As he raised his voice, the almost empty room seemed to shake with fright. "As well-intentioned as they are, if their so-called 'heroism' will inevitably destroy a cherished symbol that is our most noble enemy, then we have no choice but to defend it with our last breath!" The conqueror extended his hand, carrying his cape as he did so, once again putting on a show for the one-woman audience. "From now on, ACROSS is one-hundred percent dedicated to destruction of the Justice Society of Japan!"

"HAIL IL PALAZZO!" applauded Excell, "YOUR LEADERSHIP IS A SHINING EXAMPLE TO US ALL OR AT LEAST THOSE OF US WHO ARE HERE WHICH IS ACTUALLY JUST ME BUT I'M SURE THE TEN-BEN MATANGA WOULD BE HAPPY IF THEY WERE HERE BECAUSE THAT WAS A REALLY GOOD SPEECH IN FACT MAYBE I SHOULD RECORD IT WITH MY PHONE AND BREAK INTO PRISON JUST TO SHOW IT TO THEM AND THEN THEY'LL BE SO INSPIRED THAT THEY IMMEDIATELY BREAK OUT BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST BECAUSE LIKE YOU SAID THE JUSTICE SOCIETY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY AND..."

As he tried to tune out Excell's babbling, Il Palazzo's trigger finger began to itch. He wondered if next time he should just send her a memo...

-END OF CHAPTER-

BETHANY SNOW: And welcome back to Channel 52 News! And now, continuing his expose on urban legends, here's intrepid reporter A. Bug with the scoop on so-called "Fan Death".

AMBUSH BUG: Thanks, Bethany! Apparently in Korea there's this rumor going around that your ceiling fan could kill you in your sleep. And I don't mean by falling on you, I mean just by doing normal fan things. Now, if I asked you this you'd probably be saying, "Ambush Bug, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Do you mean to tell me that you broke into my house just to tell me that! Get out of here before I call the cops!" But here at Channel 52 we hold yourself to a higher standard, to get to the truth no matter what! He're my exclusive interview with Dr. Phelan Porteous, as he answers the most pressing question of our age: Can your ceiling fan kill you?

DR. PORTEOUS: No.

AMBUSH BUG: Well that was disappointing. Back to you, c-man!

CALENDER MAN: Thank you, Bug. In other news, Prime Minister Gendo Ikari of Japan has just announced the unveiling of a new super team, "The Justice Society of Japan". For now, little is known about the team's roster save for it's chairman, 'Simon the Digger', a hero best known for leading the counterattack against the Spiral Kingdom's sudden invasion, and it's vice-chairman, an up-and-coming heroine known as "Amazingly Powerful Girlborg". Only time will tell if they will be able to surpass the legendary status of Big Science Action, as well as (to a much, much, much lesser extent) Super Young Team.

BETHANY SNOW: Now we got to our foreign correspondent for an update on the Big Ben mystery!

THE 11TH DOCTOR: Thank you, Snow! I'm here with this fine fellow, who claims to have seen the one who blew up Big Ben yesterday. In addition, we have Squire, of Britain's own dynamic duo, who will use her "communication powers" to translate the man's incomprehensible rhyming slang for the folks across the pond. Now, tell me, what did he look like.

COCKNEY CHAP: I din't get a Robin Hood butcher's at 'im, but 'e was wearin' a Hoppin' Pot of gold.

SQUIRE: He says, "I didn't get a good look, at 'em, but I do remember 'e was wearin a lot o' gold."

COCKNEY CHAP: I adam 'n eve 'e was carryin' 'round a bunch of blades.

SQUIRE: And he also remembered he had lot of swords...

COCKNEY CHAP: ...and I seem ter recall 'is Barnet Fair was as blonde as wheat.

SQUIRE: And that he was blonde. Very blonde, in fact.

THE 11TH DOCTOR: Well there you have it, this clearly must be the work of Deathstroke the Terminator. Because who else wears that much yellow and fights with a sword?

COCKNEY CHAP: 'ey! wot do ya fin' you're tryin' ter pull! I said 'e was wearin' gold, not yella!

SQUIRE: He says it was gold, not yellow.

THE 11TH DOCTOR: Little known fact: gold is a kind of yellow! Back to you, snow!

Author's Notes:

New 52 Reboot? What's that? :P

Okay, I admit there are somethings that I do like about the reboot that I brought over to this story. The Channel 52 segments are one of them (obviously), and I enjoy a couple of the titles that came out of the reboot (most notably Demon Knights), and as of this writing I'm finding the "Trinity War" event to be much more interesting (and less pretentious) than I thought it would be (though that may change :P). And to a certain extent I can understand why DC would want to clear it's continuity; too much background can make it paralyzing for new readers to get into, and writers need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of their characters if they want to do anything new with them. I know I did.

Still, there are a few things that leave me miffed, most notably the idea that superheroes are only a fairly recent development in the world, retroactively eliminating large swathes of DC canon including the first two blue beetles, and the Justice Society of America, my own personal favorite superhero team. Oh, and naming Captain Marvel "Shazam". Because if you were going to change his name to avoid confusing with Marvel Comic's Captain Marvel(s), OF COURSE you should have his name be the same as someone else in his own little cast heard.

So for this story I decided that while an event similar to flashpoint happened in this continuity, the effects weren't nearly as drastic. I don't want to define everything outright because then this story would just be me explaining my own made up continuity forever.

Now: onto stuff about the story itself.

I considered not having the SELEE conversation, but trust me; there is a LOT going on in this story. Their plans are just the beginning, folks; not the end. And lets face it. If you've seen Evangelion or spent enough time on the TV Tropes wiki, you probably know what they're up to. And if not, this is explaining things a heck of a lot better than the TV show did.

And now to address the elephant in the room; why the hell did I pick Shirley Fenette as one of the main heroines? After all, everyone else so far makes sense; Simon, Shulk and Lightning are unambiguously heroes, and even in canon Shinji has his heroic moments when he's not being crazy or emo. But Shirley isn't any kind of hero, she's a character who seems like she belong in a Shojo series, not a shonen mecha show. Of Lelouch's three love interests, she's the only one who isn't an action girl to some extent, and is arguably pretty stereotypical. If the show was primarily about her, it would fail the Bechdel Test pretty hard since Lelouch is pretty much all she ever thinks about.

And yet... I felt that she was very endearing nonetheless. Even if Lelouch doesn't want to have a serious relationship with her, it's clear that he cares deeply for Shirley and values her friendship. The thought that he was responsible for Shirley's father's death visibly shakes him, and I feel that her death towards the end of the series is arguably what pushes Leleouch over the edge. And on Shirley's side, her discovery that Lelouch is Zero presents a set of serious moral dilemmas: It's her duty as a Britannian to confront him, but the Black Knights have very good reasonsfor rebelling. She's known Lelouch for years and loves him, yet Zero is the one who caused her father's death. Which of course makes her own death all the more tragic when she finally comes to her decision. Or at least that's how I see it.

Also:

C.C. is supposed to be Dressed as Terra from Final Fantasy 6 in her scene with Lelouch.

The detective guys are leaving a Kōban, not a normal-sized police station. However I chose to call it a police station because most americans don't know what a Koban is.

Any discrepancies between how the events portrayed and how the real-life Tokyo Metropolitan Police would actually treat a child who fell from the sky can be put down to "budget cuts".

HAIL ILPALAZZO!