Metropolis, Delaware, Home of the greatest hero of the world: Superman, an alien who fights for truth, justice, and the “American way”, as some would say.

  However, this isn’t his story. This is the story of how a fallen prince became a hero along with a group of powerful teen girls, who slowly became his new family.

  Across the city of Metropolis, every TV was playing an ad for the VR headsets made by LexCorp, the company controlled by the world’s youngest billionaire, Lex Luthor. But then, it was interrupted by the News.

  “As it becomes too clear this month, it seems that Metropolis needs further super help, despite having the likes of Superman looking out for its citizens. Last week, a mysterious hero appeared in the city, patrolling its streets and defeating villains during the night, a modus operandi similar to the Batman of Gotham City. Since there seems to be almost no information regarding him, the local press has nicknamed him “Zero”. And "Zero" isn’t the only new superhero in town.“

  The News programme showed a video of a mysterious athletic young woman with long dark hair and tanned skin, wearing a red corset and a blue skirt with white stars on it cutting a monster’s tentacle with her sword.

  “The video you’re currently watching has been recorded this morning, where a new glimmer of hope may have arrived. And now, And now, we're left with the question everyone's been asking: Who are Zero and ‘Wonder Woman’?”

  A taxi was driving through the city, inside of it, there was a handsome young man who was reading the news about Wonder Woman on his smartphone.

  The young man was tall and very thin, he had short raven hair and violet eyes. Since it was his first day at his new school, the boy decided to wear his uniform from his previous school: A black jacket with golden trims and linings with fleurs-de-lys on the neck, black trousers and matching shoes.

  “Wonder Woman, huh?” He thought, “By looking at the video recorded some hours ago, she must possess immense strength.” He chuckled, “She’d be a valuable ally, I wouldn’t mind teaming up with her.”

  The taxi arrived at the destination.

  “Keep the change.” The boy handed over the money, speaking with an Estuary English accent.

  The boy looked at his new school “Metropolis High School”, a large building made of brown and grey bricks.

  “Rather than a high school, it looks like a university.” He thought.

  The boy noticed a girl looking at the building with a rather saddened expression. She was much shorter than him, and she had long orange hair tied into a ponytail and bright emerald eyes. She was wearing a yellow-and-violet t-shirt under a purple hoodie with bat ears attached to the hood, along with dark purple short shorts, white yellow-and-purple striped thigh-high socks and yellow shoes.

  The boy decided to approach her.

  “Let me guess, you’ve got transferred here, too.” He said.

  The girl turned around and looked at him in surprise. “How did you-”

  “I know that expression had it too many times.” said the boy, “But I’m glad at least I won’t be alone here, fellow Batman fan.”

  At the mention of the Dark Knight, the girl’s eyes sparkled with happiness. “You’re a fan of Batman too?!”

  “I lived in Gotham, of course I am. Him being a normal guy in a world full of powerful beings like Superman makes him rather remarkable, doesn't it?” He said,

  “I know, right?!” said the girl, “Sure, I love all heroes, but Batman is just…Different, you get me?!” She calmed down. “Oh, s-sorry, I talked too much. I’m Barbara, but you can call me Babs!”

  “Lelouch, Lelouch Lamperouge,” The boy, Lelouch, introduced himself. “Nice to meet you, Babs. Well, I'll go now, maybe we will eat together at the cafeteria later?”

  “Sure!” said Barbara, “See ya later, Lelouch!”

  Lelouch entered the school. “First thing you need to do when you move to a new place is to befriend someone. Babs seems like a nice girl to be friends with.” He thought.

  Barbara grinned happily.

  “I've got a new friend on my first day!” She thought, “He’s a Batman fan and he's handsome, too!”

  Barbara then noticed a rather muscular tall girl with short blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue t-shirt, a leather jacket, brown trousers and a pair of boots talking with her parents.

  “I don’t know why you're punishing me for something I didn't do.” She said,

  “And we know that you “didn't do it”, Kara!” said the blonde's mother. “A new school will be less of a punishment and more of an adventure!”

  Kara slammed the door of the car in annoyance, accidentally overturning the vehicle, as she entered the building.

  “Have a great first day!” said Kara’s mother.

  “Or don’t! Do whatever’s right for you!” said Kara’s father.

  Barbara looked at the scene completely confused.

  A school bus arrived and a short black girl with sage-green eyes, maroon-brown lips and long, curly, dark brown hair with honey-blonde highlights tied up into pigtail buns, and wearing a large black-and-yellow striped turtleneck sweater, a yellow skirt, dark brown tights and a pair of boots, fell from it to the ground, with several tools coming out from her backpack.

  Barbara quickly went to help her out. “Hi, the name’s Babs!”

  “Karen.” The short girl, Karen, introduced herself as she put her tools back into her bag and quickly went into the building.

  Confused once again, Barbara then saw a girl named Zee, with long purple hair and violet eyes, wearing a white blouse, black waistcoat, a ribbon tie, purple skirt and black high-heeled boots coming out of a limo and heading towards the school. Her father call for her, saying that she forgot her backpack…And it immediately went into the girl’s hands, without moving an inch.

  “Ooookay…That was weird.” Barbara thought.

  Lelouch walked through the corridors of the school undisturbed…Well, not really, as some of the students were glancing at him (especially girls), either because of his good looks or because of his Ashford Academy uniform.

  “Wow, look at him!”

  “He’s so handsome…”

  “Isn’t that an Ashford uniform?”

  “He must be rich…”

  “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea going to school with this uniform, I’m attracting too much attention.” Lelouch thought, “What if-No, calm down, you’re acting paranoid.”

  While walking, the boy overheard a tall tan-skinned girl with long brown hair and olive–brown eyes, wearing a green beanie, light green hoop earrings, a mid-sleeved, slightly dark green off-the-shoulder crop-top over a light green tank top, a long green skirt talking with a tall, muscular young man with short brown hair and green eyes, wearing a white-and-grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

  Lelouch also noticed that both the two teenagers wore the same mysterious green ring, the muscular guy on his left hand, while the other on her right hand.

  “I told you, Hal. I don't believe in the Lantern Corps. Their methods are too extreme.” said the girl.

  “Look, Jess, I don’t make the rules,” said Hal, “That’s just how they work.”

  “If so, then take it.” Jess took off her green ring. “I don’t want it.”

  “No, Jess.” said Hal, “The ring chose you.”

  The bell rang, and Lelouch walked away.

  “Lantern Corps’?” He thought, “I wonder what she meant, I doubt something like Civil Services. I’ll think about it later, I don’t want to be late for the lessons.”

  As he walked to his classroom, Lelouch overheard other students talking about the latest news of the city.

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  “Check out my new VR specs!”

  “The podcast called her the “Wonder Woman”!”

  “She took down some giant monster!”

  “There’s also that guy, “Zero”.”

  “What’s he like?”

  “Do you think he and Wonder Woman work together?”

  Lelouch smirked. “That would be the intent, yes. But I wonder if there are any more superheroes in this city.”

  At lunchtime, today’s lunch was spaghetti and meatballs…That didn’t look rather tasty for Lelouch’s standards.

  “...Is this what people eat in public schools?” He thought.

  “Lelouch! Lelouch, over here!” Barbara waved at him from the table she was sitting at.

  Lelouch sat down next to her. “Happy to see you again, how was your day?”

  “A…Bit weird, honestly.” Barbara looked around as if to check if someone was overhearing them. She then whispered to the Britannian boy “ I think there are people with superpowers in our school! ”

  “Superpowers?” Lelouch repeated, “Hmm…You might be right. I heard before two students talking about a “Lantern Corps” or something similar. Both were wearing the same green ring.”

  “I see…Well, don’t worry, Lelouch! I’ve got a plan!” said Barbara, “Watch this!”

  Kara threw her spaghetti and meatballs at Kara in the face.

  The blonde was furious, as she looked around for the culprit…And noticed Karen, who was also eating spaghetti.

  Kara threw her hamburger at the short girl, making her fall to the ground. As she stood up, Kara threw another hamburger at her, but Jess parried it with her plate.

  “Leave her alone, you bully!” She said.

  However, the parried hamburger fell right into the purple-haired girl’s hair.

  “My hair…MY HAIR!”

  In a matter of seconds, the situation degenerated into a massive food fight in the cafeteria.

  “And this is supposed to be your plan?!” said Lelouch as he dodged the food coming at him.

  “Don’t worry, I have everything under control!” said Barbara.

  A teacher arrived in the cafeteria and saw what was happening.

  “Enough…I said ENOUGH!”

  Everyone stopped doing anything and pointed at Lelouch, Barbara and the other girls.

  “You six, let’s go.”

  So, the group were brought to detention.

  Everyone sat down, looking either annoyed or sad (except for Barbara, whose eyes were sparkling from excitement).

  “....I hope you all have really good attorneys.” said the fancy purple-haired girl, while checking her nails.

  Kara snorted. “What? You’re gonna sue me ‘cause I have better aim than you?”

  “So you were the one who threw those potatoes!” said the girl.

  “And you threw those nuggets at me!”

  “Will you all stop behaving like children?” Lelouch interjected, with his accent slightly slipping into an RP one.

  “Oh-ho! Excuse me, I guess people at Ashford Academy don’t do stuff like this!” Kara mocked.

  “He’s right, let’s not fight again,” said Jess.

  “Um, f-for the record, if I offended anyone, I’m truly very sorry,” said Karen.

  The teacher opened the door, as a police officer arrived.

  “We found her just walking around the streets.” said the officer.

  “Cutting class on the first day of school…Get in here with the other delinquents.” said the teacher.

  A cloaked figure entered the room as the teacher and the officer left. The figure took off his cloak, revealing to be an athletic girl with tanned skin, long dark hair and blue eyes, wearing a red-and-gold corset, blue skirt with white sars on it, a golden tiara with a red star on it and matching earrings.

  Barbara gasped in admiration.

  Lelouch smirked. “Looks like today is my lucky day.”

  The mysterious girl nonchalantly sat down, not even noticing the staring the others were giving her.

  “That’s…She’s…” said Karen.

  “Gorgeous!” said Zee.

  “Is that…” said Jess.

  “The Wonder Woman!” said Barbara, with her eyes still sparkling.

  “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you, Babs?” said Lelouch.

  Kara laughed, “That’s no Wonder Woman, it’s just some dumb cosplay girl!”

  “I am no girl!” the girl spoke with a Mediterranean accent as she stood up, offended by the blonde’s comment. “I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons. I alone survived the 21 tests of the tournament of Athena and Aphrodite. By right, I am not a girl, but a woman!”

  “The Amazons? Like from the ancient Greek myths?” Lelouch thought.

  “Trust me, Princess, you do not want to start with me.” Kara warned Diana.

  “Is this a challenge?” the Amazon refused to back down.

  “For you, maybe.” said Kara.

  “Very well.” Diana prepared herself to fight. “I shall grant you the first strike.”

  Kara looked surprised, people usually backed down when she threaten to fight. “Alright, don't say I didn't warn you.”

  Kara threw a punch at Diana…But she dodged it.

  “Again!” said the Amazon.

  Kara tried to hit her again, but Diana kept dodging it or hit her instead.

  “Why don't you just stand STILL?!”

  Kara hit Diana in the stomach and sent her flying into the wall, breaking the drywall.

  The girls gasped in horror (except for Barbara).

  “Oh god, oh my god!” Kara panicked “I'm so sorry, are you okay-”

  Diana came out of the hole unscathed, and resumed the fight.

  Zee, Jess and Karen looked at the two fighting worried about their safety, while Barbara was really excited and Lelouch was carefully studying them.

  “The blonde has a strength almost matching Diana's, but her fighting style is incredibly rough, giving her a disadvantage. It can either end in a draw or with her losing.” He thought.

  “Both of you, stop! Fighting is never the answer,” said Jess.

  “I doubt they will listen to you,” said Lelouch.

  “I-I think we should run away…” said Karen.

  Suddenly, they heard some footsteps coming towards them.

  “The teacher is coming!” Zee pulled out a wand from her pocket. “!niaga egnarts ssalc os siht tuP!”

  In a matter of seconds, the class was back to normal, everyone quickly sat down as the teacher returned.

  “Everything all right in here?” He asked.

  The students nodded.

  “Hmm. Forgot my keys.” The teacher took the keys and left.

  “A-ha! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” Barbara jumped off her school desk. She pointed at Kara, “I knew you were super. I knew it the minute I saw you dent that car door because no ordinary person could possibly slam a door that hard.” She pointed at Karen, “And then when you spilt all those weird metal thingies on the bus,” She pointed at Zee, “I knew there was something weird going on with you, too. And then you, all of a sudden, had your backpack, and I was like, "That's weird."” she pointed at Jess. “And then Lelouch told me about him overhearing you talking to that cute boy about some Corps thing and some ring and I knew something was up, so I decided to start a food fight so that we all get detention together, which totally worked!” Then she pointed at Diana “And then you, I wasn't planning on you showing up at all. So that's just like a huge bonus anyway. My plan was that you'd all keep fighting once we got to detention and all get so worked up that you'd be forced to reveal that you're super and guess what, so am I! The one and only... Batgirl! ” Barbara stood up on the teacher's desk and covered her face with her arm as if she was wearing a cape.

  The others looked at Barbara as if she was crazy.

  “...Great, another cosplayer,” said Kara.

  “Huzzah! At last, a sister-in-arms.” Diana, pleased, put her arm around Barbara and pulled her close to her. “Never had I dreamed I would encounter the warrior spirit of an Amazon upon entering the World of Man. For you see, it is my quest, my crusade, my destiny, to bring the Amazon way of peace and prosperity to man's world, and to rid it of all evil. The gods bestowed this honor upon me and I feared I alone should have to carry my burden. But now... Now I have a sister by my side!” She hugged Barbara.

  Barbara snapped out of her “excited fangirl” mode and freed herself. “What? No, no, no, no! Five sisters! And a brother, too!”

  “Uh, nope.” Kara objected. “Every single time I use my powers I get in trouble.”

  “I’m not fighting anyone,” said Jess.

  “I’m an artiste, not a police officer,” said Zee.

  “Um, I’m not…Really good at it-”

  “Cowards!” Diana slammed her hands on the desk, surprisingly not breaking it. “I speak of destiny, the same mantle of greatness the Gods bestowed upon me, they have also bestowed upon you.

  “Is it cowardice knowing your limits?” said Lelouch, “Some of us have never fought in our lives, hell, I don’t even have superpowers.”

  “Neither Batman has superpowers! Nor I do!” said Barbara, “I’m sure there’s something you can do. Come on, guys! How can you not be excited about heroes and villains and fighting crime and hidden lairs and secret identities and stuff?!”

  “The trick with secret identities, my dear, is that, in order to remain secret, one must convincingly pass as a normal human being,” said Zee.

  Barbara glanced at Diana, who didn’t look like a normal teen at all. “Okay, tell you what! You guys give being a team a teensy try, she'll teach us how to be heroes and you can give her a makeover. Deal?”

  Zee sighed, “Who am I to say no to a makeover?”

  “Um…Okay,” said Karen.

  “I'll try, too, but only to support and encourage Karen's brave decision,” said Jess.

  “Okay, whatever, “ said Kara.

  “I may not be fit for fighting, but maybe I can help you with other things. I’m in,” Lelouch smiled.

  “YES!” said Barbara, “It’s settled, then! Super Awesome Super Hero-ness, here we come!”

  After school, they exchanged phone numbers to better organise their “outing”. Diana sticked around with the girls, while Lelouch told them that he first need to do something important at home.

  As he walked down the streets, the boy was deep in his thoughts.

  “Looks like my school life here in Metropolis will be much more lively than I thought. Not only have I met Wonder Woman, but there are other students with superpowers in the school, too.” Lelouch thought, “However, I don't trust them enough to tell them about my power, for the moment. I'll pretend to be powerless till I learn their weaknesses.”

  “Heeey there, buddy!” Lelouch heard a deep male voice coming from a hallway.

  With a glance, he saw two teens bullying a shorter shy boy.

  “W-What do you want, Mark?” said the shy teen, “I gave you my money already!”

  “Yeah, yeah, we know!” said the other bully, “But you see, we wanted to buy those new LexCorp VR specs, and we're kinda out of money, sooo…”

  “B-But I don't have that much money on me!” The shy teen complained.

  One of the bullies sighed. “Oh well, I guess we're just gonna beat you up to kill some time!”

  “ Ahem. ” Lelouch calmly walked into the alley. “What’s going here?”

  The bullies noticed Lelouch. “Oh-ho! The cavalry has arrived!” One of them said.

  “That's a Ashford Academy uniform, did you get lost, rich kid?” said the other bully.

  “Apparently not.” Lelouch was now speaking with a RP English accent and with a deeper voice. “I’m asking you to leave that boy alone, he clearly said that he doesn't have money.”

  “Alright, alright! We'll stop…Unless you give us money instead.” said the bully.

  Lelouch scoffed. “As if I'm gonna give money to scum like you two. I advise you to go look for a job, rather than extorting money to people weaker than you.”

  The bullies were pissed off. “The hell did you just say?!”

  

  “Oh, you have heard me clearly.” Suddenly, Lelouch's left eye turned from violet to bordeaux, as a glowing bird-like red symbol appeared in it. “Lelouch vi Britannia commands you…Leave this place at once and never bully that boy again!”

  As Lelouch's voice boomed as he gave the command, red edges appeared around the bullies' pupils.

  “Come on, dude, let's go.”

  So, the bullies left, leaving the two alone.

  “T-Thank you.” said the boy.

  “You're welcome. By the way…” Lelouch turned to the boy, with the red “V” still in his left eye. “You will believe that Zero saved you from those bullies rather than me.”

  Red edges appeared around the boy’s pupils. “Okay, I won’t tell anyone.” He left.

  The “V” disappeared from Lelouch's eye as he left the alley. However, the lanky teen was unaware that he left a witness, someone who observed the scene from the rooftop… Diana.

  <----To Be Continued------