Hippolyta chuckled, seemingly amused by the Black Knight’s boldness. “You? A man with such a scrawny build, is challenging the Queen of the Amazons to a duel?”

  “Do not let my appearance fool you, I don’t need muscles to win.” said Zero, “Here is my proposal: If I win the duel, your daughter Diana will come with me and shall resume her mission in the world of Man.”

  “And if I win?” Hippolyta asked.

  “I shall become a prisoner of the Amazons, and you may do whatever you wish, even execute me.” Zero calmly explained.

  The Amazons minus Hippolyta gasped, shocked by the Knight's offer.

  “You are willing to risk losing your freedom for someone you hardly know? You are as bold as you are foolish.”

  “Perhaps I am,” Zero chuckled, “But Diana here is worth taking any risks. Her talents are needed in the World of Man, it would be a disgrace letting them get wasted on an island in the middle of nowhere eternally stuck in the Classical Age.”

  Diana grabbed Zero's hand, worried for his safety. “You do not have to do this, Zero…”

  “Do not worry about me, Wonder Woman. I promised your subordinates that I would bring you back, therefore I will.”

  Hippolyta smirked “We Amazons do not tend to make prisoners, but I accept your challenge. Your courage is admirable…” She drew her sword, “But your arrogance will be your downfall, Black Knight!”

  Zero chuckled. “We’ll see. Now…Let us dance! ”

  

  In a flash, Zero hurled several smoke bombs into the air and detonated them, completely covering the ship.

  He jumped away, disappearing from Hippolyta’s sight.

  “Resorting to these sorts of tricks, typical of a man!” She said while coughing. “Show yourself, coward!”

  “As you wish, Your Majesty.” Zero taunted. He then jumped to attack Hippolyta, using the mast for momentum, but the Amazon parried it in time.

  Zero backed off, trying to attack from a different angle, the queen of the Amazons was fast enough to parry every attack.

  The battle kept going, slowly heading into a stalemate. Against all expectations, Zero was pulling one hell of a good fight against Hippolyta, who couldn’t manage to land a hit on him due to his agility.

  Meanwhile, Barbara, Kara, Jessica, Karen and Zee arrived aboard the ship without getting noticed.

  “Looks like we missed the beginning,” Kara commented.

  “W-We have to fight her ?” Karen asked, very intimidated.

  “Well, Zero doesn't seem to struggle against her,” said Jessica.

  “Yup! Come on, guys, time to be heroes!” said Barbara.

  The girls jumped into the fight…And immediately got captured by the Amazons. Unfortunately, this caused Zero to get distracted for an instant and…

  *SLASH!*

  Hippolyta hit him. Zero jumped away without any injuries…And his mask began to crack in two. The two pieces of the mask fell to the ground revealing the Knight's face, that being…

  “Lelouch?!” The girls said in unison, completely flabbergasted.

  “You’re Zero?!” said Karen.

  Diana observed Lelouch’s expression as he turned to the girls. There was something…Eerie about him, with him looking so calm and composed as if he was expecting this to happen. And there was the Geass sigil in his left eye, making it completely red and glowing…

  “Yes, I am Zero. The Black Knight who torments the criminals of Gotham and now Metropolis. My apologies for not telling you, but I had to be sure that you could be trusted.” He looked at Barbara, “And I’m sure you figured it out already, didn’t you, Batgirl?”

  The girls looked back at Barbara in confusion.

  “You…Did?” said Kara.

  “I found it out when he called me ‘Babs’ after you guys left,” Barbara explained, slightly embarrassed.

  “But…Nunnally said you were lacking in physical prowess,” said Diana.

  “That isn't exactly a lie. Without this bodysuit, I'm as athletic as a man in his 90s. Now then…” Lelouch turned to Hippolyta as he put himself in position. “Let’s resume the duel, shall we?”

  “Wait!” Diana interjected. “Mother, I beg of you, stop this and let me remain in the World of Man!”

  “Nonsense!” said Hippolyta, “You are only 317 years old, Diana. You are too young and too naive to make your own decisions, let alone go to the World of Man alone!”

  “And yet it was I who survived the 21 tests of the tournament of Athena and Aphrodite, was I not?” Diana objected “While I may be young, I have proven I am my own woman and I decide who I want to be. And I won’t be alone in my missions, for I have now five sisters with me…” She gently held Lelouch’s hands, smiling warmly. “...And a brother, too.”

  For an instant, a blush crept up the Knight’s cheeks, which he immediately covered with his cloak as Diana let him go.

  Seeing how determined her daughter was, Hippolyta sighed and put her sword back in her scabbard. “...Very well, you may resume your path. As for you…” She turned to Lelouch, “I am impressed by your skills, Black Knight Zero. Not many would come out almost unscathed from a duel against the Queen of the Amazons, you have my respect.”

  “The same goes for me, Your Majesty.” a smirk appeared on Lelouch’s face.

  “ !ksam siht riapeR ” Zee used a spell to fix Lelouch’s mask and then handed it to the Knight.

  “Well, ladies…” Lelouch put his mask on, “I believe we have a criminal to stop, do we not?”

  Jessica created a magic carpet big enough for the seven of them and flew back to Metropolis.

  “Well done, Diana!” said Barbara, “Standing up to your parents is Normal Teenage Lesson #234! You’re now officially a teenager and we are a team again!”

  The girls shared a hug.

  “So, did you enjoy my 'little show'?” said Lelouch.

  “You were amazing!” said Barbara, now in “fangirl” mode. “You were all ‘swish-swoosh’-y, you managed to go toe-on-toe against that behemoth that’s Diana’s mom, and your costume looks soooo cool! You look like Batman if he was an aristocrat!”

  Lelouch chuckled softly, “Well, if it’s coming from you, Babs, I’m really flattered.”

  “I am in your debt, Lelouch. You fought valiantly to grant me freedom, even if you risked losing yours.” She smiled again.

  “Thank God I’m wearing my mask…” Lelouch thought, “I knew Babs would arrive with the others, so I only had to resist till then.”

  “By the way, what was the red, bird thingy you had in your eye?” Kara pointed at her left eye.

  “It’s a manifestation of my power, but I'll explain another time. Let's first deal with the robots, they must have left a trail of chaos over the city,” said Lelouch.

  “Huh...Guys?" Karen pointed at the pier, with the robots about to enter it.

  The team landed, the robots stopped moving right in front of the entrance.

  “Why have they...Stopped?” said Diana.

  Then, they heard a noise, the noise of wheels moving, becoming louder and louder.

  “What's…That noise?’ Karen asked, having a terrible feeling about it.

  “Eh, relax, Karen!” said Kara, “Let's focus on kicking these robots-”

  Suddenly, a giant robot jumped towards them. It was different from the robots at the Sweet Justice, being more humanoid and holding a coil gun-based assault rifle. Before it could shoot at them, the team hid in one of the stands just in time.

  “W-What the hell was that ?!” Kara panted.

  “It was huge! And came out of nowhere!” Karen was shaking like a leaf.

  “Why are you scared of it? Aren't you immune to bullets?” Zee looked at Kara.

  “I'm not scared!” Kara blushed from embarrassment, “I-I'm just surprised, that's all! The biggest threats I've faced till now were robbers and kittens stuck on trees!”

  “What is a Knightmare Frame doing in Metropolis?!” said Lelouch.

  “You know that metallic creature?” said Diana.

  “Yeah, a humanoid war machine that makes tanks practically obsolete.” Lelouch explained, “I thought only the Britannian Army had them, but it looks like Lex Luthor managed to get the blueprints…”

  “So…How are we supposed to defeat it?” Jessica asked.

  Lelouch went silent for a few seconds, thinking of a plan. “...The cockpit. If we find a way to trigger the Cockpit Ejection System, the Knightmare will go off and then we could finally capture Luthor.”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “Sounds like a good plan to me,” Kara cracked her knuckles.

  "Here's the plan: Zatanna, Green Lantern and Batgirl, you will deal with the robots. As for the Knightmare..." said Lelouch, "You have an important role in its defeat, Bumblebee."

  "M-Me?" said Karen, very unsure.

  "With your ability to shrink yourself, you can sneak inside the Knightmare's circuits and cause havoc. Supergirl, Wonder Woman and I will distract Luthor long enough for you to do so."

  "I-I don't know, Lelouch, what if I-?"

  Before she could finish her sentence, Lelouch put his hand on Karen's shoulder. "I know it's dangerous, but you're our only hope to end this swiftly. If you built this incredible armour with a bunch of scraps, you can do anything with a bit of confidence."

  The shy teen seemed to be convinced by his words and nodded with determination. "Okay, I'll do it. I can do it!"

  Then, the firing stopped as “Lex” laughed, “Come on, girls! Let’s have some fun!”

  The team left their hiding and stood in front of the Knightmare Frame and its hordes of robots.

  “Lex Luthor!” Lelouch spoke. “For the destruction you have caused throughout Metropolis, you shall be punished!”

  “...‘Lex’? I’m not Lex! I am…” the pilot spoke. The cockpit opened, revealing…A blonde little girl with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a school uniform. “Lena Luthor!”

  Needless to say, the heroes were not impressed.

  “All of this was my plan, not my dopey brother’s! He could never come up with something this go-What’s with your faces?”

  Lelouch facepalmed. “All of this chaos, hordes of robots and a Knightmare Frame…All controlled by a spoiled brat. It's Midnight, isn't it past your bedtime?”

  “Shut up! I'll go to sleep whenever I want!” Lena shouted. “Ugh, teenagers! Thinking they’re so smart with your driving cars and commercials! Yet, you didn’t pick up on the most obvious of evil plots! So first, I reprogrammed Lex’s worthless VR specs, then, I hacked the Demolition Robots the city contacted my doofus brother to make and finally, I used them to destroy every " fun" and "cool" place to "hang" in Metropolis, so that there would not be any entertainment except for my VR world, where you will be stuck in there forever!” She monologued, “And with teenagers out of the way, children will rule Metropolis!” She laughed maniacally.

  The team was still not impressed.

  “That's…That's the dumbest plan I've ever heard,” said Kara.

  “I made better plans when I was 8,” said Lelouch.

  “SHUT UP!” Lena shouted again. She then went back into the Knightmare. “Enough talking! Roll out, boys!”

  The Demolition Robots started destroying some of the attractions as they headed towards the heroes.

  “Well, ladies, you know your roles,” said Lelouch, "It's showtime."

  “We may be inferior in numbers, but we shall prevail despite it!” said Diana, "Come, comrades! This pier is where we shall become heroes!"

  The team split up into the chosen groups.

  Diana's team distracted Lana, bringing her away from the others.

  “Where do you think YOU'RE GOING?!” The Knightmare chased them.

  Lana tried to shoot at them, but they dodged every bullet. Meanwhile, Zee, Jessica and Barbara were having a few difficulties, especially in doing Damage Control caused by the Demolition Robots. But the main show was Wonder Woman’s group against Lena. The Amazon threw part of her Lasso of Truth to Lelouch, and then the two turned around and ran towards the Knightmare.

  “OH NO, YOU DON’T!” Lana, realising what they were doing, was going to shoot at them…That was until Kara arrived and punched the Knightmare right in the face , almost making it lose balance.

  “Hey, Gundam!” the Kryptonian taunted, “How about you fight someone who can put up a better fight? Or maybe you’re just a chicken?”

  “AAAAAAAARGH I WILL END YOU! ” Lana started shooting at Kara, who dodged every single bullet (not that she had to, though).

  However, that distracted the younger Luthor long enough for Karen to sneak into the Knightmare’s circuits.

  Then, Karen flew through the circuits, managing to even see how the Knightmare was powered.

  “Wow…This is incredible!” She thought and shook her head. “Concentrate, time to test the cannons!”

  She pressed a button on her armour, which activated some roughly-made sonic blasters and started hitting every single cable she could see.

  After doing it, the Knightmare’s operative system triggered an alarm. “CRITICAL FAILURE”

  “What?!” said Lena, ”No, no, no!”

  And in an instant, the cockpit got ejected from the Knightmare and fell to the ground. At the same time, the Demolition Robots and VR specs were deactivated.

  “It’s over…” Lelouch smirked.

  “Did…Did Bumblebee get out?” Barbara sounded worried.

  Immediately after that, Karen came out of the Knightmare and returned to her normal size. Her suit was partly damaged, “I’m fine!”

  “Victory!” Diana cheered.

  Then, many civilians, now freed from Lena’s VR world, went to the pier to see what happened, and among them, there was none other than Lex Luthor himself, escorted by his mother.

  “IT’S NOT FAIR!” Lena shouted as the cockpit opened.

  “See, Mom? I told you she stole my stuff!” said Lex.

  “Lutessa Lena Luthor, get in this car right now!” said Mrs. Luthor.

  “You can't make me! No, no, no, no! " Lex's bodyguards dragged Lena into the car.

  “I'm sorry about your robot, Lex,” said Mrs. Luthor.

  “Eh, don't worry Mom, Earl Asplund will understand.” The bald teen reassured, “I’m just glad that the little tyke is fine.”

  Lena blew a raspberry at her brother.

  “Oh, you think next time you can get those cupcakes you promised?” said Mrs. Luthor.

  “Already on it!” Lex smirked, as he escorted his mother to the car.

  “You’ll pay for this, Super Teen Jerks! YOU WILL PAY!” Lena yelled as the car left.

  Lex looked at the heroes, who were now surrounded by the amazed civilians.

  “Is that Zero?!” A teenage boy commented.

  “A brand new superhero team right here in Metropolis!” Said one of them.

  “And they’re girls!” said a girl scout.

  “Isn’t Zero a guy, though?” Another one asked.

  “Who knows, their face is hidden!” The girl scout said.

  As the crowd cheered, Lelouch noticed Lex, glaring at the group.

  A week has passed since Lena’s defeat at the pier. Zero and the “Super Hero Girls” have been in every major newspaper, including The Daily Planet. Despite that, Lelouch has been distant from the girls, ignoring them at school and behaving differently with other students, consolidating his “Laid-Back student Lelouch Lamperouge” persona at Metropolis High.

  One evening, at the Lamperouge residence, Lelouch kept looking outside of the window, tapping his foot on the floor.

  “Is there something wrong, big brother?” Nunnally asked.

  “Hmm? Oh, no, don't worry,” said Lelouch, “I'm…I'm waiting for a friend to arrive.”

  “A friend? Is it Diana?” Nunnally asked.

  “No, not her. Another girl I befriended at school. She's from Gotham, you know?”

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “It must be her,” Lelouch opened the door to Barbara, who brought her backpack with her. “Thanks for coming, Babs.”

  “No problem, Lelouch!” Barbara went inside. “Woo! Nice house you've got-” She gasped at the sight of Nunnally, “Who's this angel?”

  “I'm Nunnally, Lelouch's little sister. Nice to meet you, Babs.” Nunnally smiled, making Barbara's heart warm.

  “Your sister is adorable! ” Babs whispered to Lelouch.

  “I know.” said Lelouch, “Now, Nunnally, Babs will stay here for the night, we have some...Homework to do.”

  “Oh, I see.” said Nunnally, “I'll leave you be, then.”

  The instant she went to her room, Lelouch's expression turned from sweet to cold without a beat as he turned to the redhead. “Did you bring the stuff I asked?”

  “Yup!” Barbara emptied her backpack on the table. “Blueprint paper, pencils, my sleeping bag…I also brought some snacks when taking breaks.”

  “Good, let's get to work, Batgirl,” said Lelouch, smirking. “We have a superhero hideout to plan.”

  Hours of drawing and planning later, the two were quite exhausted.

  “Are you alright, Babs?” He asked, bringing two cups of coffee.

  “Yeah, just a bit tired…” She yawned. She showed the Britannian her blueprint for the hideout. “I added a few things to the hideout…What do you think?”

  Lelouch inspected the blueprint. While his original plans were more serious, Babs' additions, such as the colours and furniture, made it a little more special.

  “Not bad at all.” said Lelouch, “We’ve earned some rest.”

  “Can I ask you something?” Barbara asked, taking a notebook from her backpack and a pen. “About your power, your ‘Geass’, can you tell me more? I've never seen something like yours!”

  “Alright,” Lelouch decided to trust her, “I haven't experimented much with it for now, but I know that I can use on a person only once, and I can make them whatever I want, even the craziest things.”

  “Really?” Barbara got even more curious.

  “Yeah, for example, if I ordered you to b-” He looked away, “If I ordered you to burn all the Batman merchandise you have, you would do it.”

  It’s real luck Lelouch made that tame example, imagine if he told her, I don’t know, to kill all the Japanese and accidentally activated. Crazy, right?

  Needless to say, Barbara was…Spooked from the Britannian’s explanation. “...Wow.”

  The two kept chatting until it was time for them to go to sleep. Barbara had her sleeping bag, while Lelouch decided to sleep on the couch, feeling it would be rude to let her sleep alone in the living room.

  And so, the two teens went to sleep…Or at least, that’s what Lelouch wanted to do. He heard a voice, a softspoken female voice, chuckling.

  “Oh, aren’t you two adorable?”

  Lelouch sighed. “Do you have to bother me even when I’m trying to sleep, C.C. ?”

  He turned to face a beautiful girl with waist-length green hair and golden eyes, sitting at the table and holding a newspaper. She wore a sleeveless black uniform with a high collar, gold trim, and a silver Geass sigil on the chest with the uniform’s lower end into four long pieces that nearly extended to the floor, long gold-trimmed black gloves and long white-and-gold high-heeled boots and white shorts underneath the uniform.

  “You know me, I just love pestering you.” She said. C.C. looked at the photo in the newspaper and then at Barbara. “Looks like you’ve made some new friends. You sure love being surrounded by pretty girls, don’t you, playboy?”

  He scoffed, “You know that I couldn’t care less about stuff like that. The only girl I need in my life is Nunnally…Although I admit they’re all rather good-looking.”

  “Oh, really?” C.C. smelled blood. “Tell me, which one you’re attracted the most to? I bet on the Amazon. Or maybe…Her?” She glanced at Babs. “She reminds me a bit of-”

  “ Don’t you dare say that name, ” Lelouch glared.

  “...Again with a story?” said C.C., “Lelouch, it’s not your fau-”

  “ Yes, it is. ” The Britannian interjected once again, raising his voice but not enough to wake up the others. “And the girls are nothing more than pawns for my plans, so don’t-”

  The boy looked at the chair, but C.C. was no longer there, having seemingly vanished.

  “...Sometimes I wonder if I’m going mad,” Lelouch thought. He then looked at Barbara, seeing her sleeping so peacefully. “...I shouldn’t get attached to her or any of the girls. There won’t be another Shirley situation, never again!”

  A day later, after Barbara headed back home, at the ruins of the Sweet Justice the construction workers hired by LexCorp were ready to begin the reconstruction of the cafe, until Lelouch, disguised as a city employee, arrived on the scene.

  “Good morning!” He said, faking an accent. “I was sent here by the City, you see…” He takes off his sunglasses, showing the workers the Geass sigil in his eye. “There have been a few variations on the blueprint.”

  In the following 3 months, Lelouch kept a very low profile, avoiding spending time with the girls, and secretly supervising the work on their special project along with Babs.

  Now, at the grand re-opening of the Sweet Justice, Kara, Barbara, Diana, Jessica, Zee and Karen were eating the usual sweets as they waited for Lelouch to arrive, who invited them in the first place. The boy then arrived, donning his Ashford Academy uniform.

  “Ah, there you are, Lelouch,” said Diana.

  “Mind explaining why did you invite us here? Despite avoiding us for three months?” said Zee.

  “Well, I had my reasons. I was preparing something I’m sure you’ll love, right, Babs?” said Lelouch.

  “Yeah!” Barbara nodded

  As the Britannian sat down, Babs pressed on a part of the table, revealing a numeric keyboard. She then inserted a code and the table and the ground disappeared, making the group fall into a tunnel.

  After going down a very long slide, the team landed on a mattress. Well, the team minus Lelouch and Barbara, who were now in front of the girls with the former wearing his Zero costume minus the mask. Lelouch snapped his fingers and the lights went on, revealing their brand-new secret hideout. It was large, separated into 7 sections each for every member and a few couches, a table and a TV at the centre.

  “Tada! Welcome to our home base!” said Barbara, confidently.

  “Babs and I made the blueprints for this hideout, and I… Convinced the construction workers to build it under the cafe.” said Lelouch “I admit it’s a bit...Rough, it should do the job.”

  The girls looked around, completely amazed.

  “Truly, this is a place of wonder!” said Diana.

  “Not bad, not bad at all!” said Kara.

  Jessica looked up and saw a large coat of arms-like symbol: A large shield composed of each hero’s symbol (Diana’s golden ‘W’, Barbara’s yellow Bat insignia, the Green Lantern Corps’ emblem, a bee-like pattern for Karen, a purple stylish-looking ‘Z’ for Zee, the House of El crest and a silver Geass sigil with a sword in the middle for Lelouch. Underneath the shield, there was the phrase “EQVITES METROPOLIS”

  “Equites Metropolis…” She read, “Latin for...‘Knights of Metropolis’? Is that our new name?”

  “It’s better than ‘Zero and the Super Hero Girls’, we sounded like we were a lame band or something,” Kara commented.

  “The Knights of Round, the Three Musketeers, groups of people that have inspired people with their heroic gestures.” Lelouch began his speech, “Now, in the Age of Metahumans, these tales can become reality. Heroes like Superman and Batman do a lot to protect their respective cities, but their work is not enough, more heroes are needed. I decided to don the mask of Zero to help make the world the gentle place my little sister imagined and if we join forces, I’m sure that dream will become reality. So, what do you say, fellow knights?”

  “Your mission aligns with ours perfectly, so you are welcome to our team, Lelouch,” said Diana.

  “Super Awesome Super Hero-ness, here we come!” said Barbara.

  And that’s how it began, the day a Demon found new allies to assist them in his mission. And who knows, maybe one day he would eventually start to consider them more than just that.

  <----To Be Continued----