Shadow of Zero

Unknown:

Lelouch gasped for air, he groaned and held his head, it hurt, a lot.

He tried to get up, but fell clumsily.

"This sucks" he muttered under his breath. He coughed, to his surprise blood came out his mouth. Lelouch who never had that problem, freaked out, he started to breathe slowly trying to calm his nerves down enough to think rationally. With a lot of effort he got to his feet, he stumbled forward holding the wall as he walked. "Where the hell am I?" he said in confusion. He remembered that he had just managed to escape Shinjuku ghetto, he didn't want to be there when they discovered the body of the dead Prince Clovis, he had just reached Ashford academy, when suddenly his surroundings turned black. At first he blamed the mysterious power he had received that day, as an after effect or something like that. But when he woke up in a different place, he wasn't so sure. "Did someone drug me" Lelouch's eyes widened in fear "Did someone found out about Clovis?" no it couldn't be, he made sure that no one was around. Cameras? Maybe he honestly hadn't bother to check, but Clovis detested the idea on being spied on, so he really doubted it. So what options remained. Not much really, maybe some eleve… "Japanese" he corrected himself. Maybe some Japanese had managed to kidnap him, trying to get money out his family. He snorted if only they knew that his only family was Nunnally. A blind and crippled fourteen year old, with no money whatsoever, but he knew that Nunnally would do anything to get him back, she would ask Milly for help, but he refused to trouble her and her family anymore. He would escape on his own, his new found power would make sure not to cause any more bloodshed. His stomach flipped as he remembered the people he had to kill, the royal guard, Clovis.

"They were scum, the world is better off without them" he concluded, but killing someone was new to him and still made him sick. "I hope it gets better with time" Lelouch told himself as he looked at his surroundings. He was in an alley, a dark one at that, he walked outside and his eyes widened in shock. This wasn't Britannia, or the ghetto.

He was in city, it didn't look like anything he had seen before. Its skyscrapers where cold and didn't have any light, making the already gloom area look even darker. It looked extremely gothic and depressing. Lelouch looked around, no one was following him, he looked back at the alley, no one was there the only sign that someone had been there was the blood that Lelouch had coughed.

Was this someone's idea of a twisted joke "Lets drop this guy in the middle of nowhere and freak him out, it's going to be hilarious" well Lelouch decided that he wasn't going to lose control. If he freaked out he was done for, someone would pick out his fear and use it against him. Instead Lelouch walked with an air of indifference as he always did, hoping it would make him invisible to the untrained eye. He still had his school uniform and even if he looked tired he could still pass as someone of class. He kept walking for ten minutes and with every minute he became more worried, the people didn't act like britannians or numbers. They all went on their business with an air of nervousness. They looked everywhere in search of a threat, fearing something he was not aware of. What caused all this mass panic? Where they about to be invaded? Was he in the EU? This questions kept Lelouch's mind spinning "How am I supposed to make a plan if I don't know what's going on!?" he mentally raged.

Lelouch stopped when he saw a local TV displaying the news; he hoped that would clear some of his doubts and distract him of his precarious situation. He approached the place and saw some people blocking his view, he gently pushed some people to the side in order to see and to his surprise (and delight) the people didn't complain or got offended. He watched as a pretty reporter gave the latest info "It has been confirmed that the Mr. Freeze has attacked the Gotham City Bank, he has taken more than fifty people hostage, the Gotham policy department can't do anything without putting the hostages at risk" a woman next to him gasped. "My son works there!" she yelled in fear. The image changed to a bald man hugging his wife. "Before he was Mr. Freeze he was just Victor, but with his wife at the brink of dead he tried to do anything to save her, but with time running short he put her in a cryogenic tank in order to save her life, but that angered the wrong people, crime boss Rupert Thorne was displeased that his equipment was used for such trivial things and tried to kill Freeze, dumping him into another cryogenic tank and all the chemicals that Freeze had fell with him turning him into the cold hearted super villain know as Mr. Freeze" Lelouch raised an eyebrow at the term "super villain", he walked away and analyzed the information he had just heard, he was in Gotham, a place he had never heard about and apparently a man had taken the biggest bank hostage. Lelouch smiled, the perfect time to get some money and sort out his problems. He would let Mr. what's his face get all the attention while he acquired some money to return home. He mentally complimented himself for that one "Not bad, taking in consideration that I just woke up in a city that I don't know nothing about" Lelouch tugged a man in the sleeve "Where is the Gotham city Bank?" the man raised an eyebrow at him "Why do you want to know?" Lelouch frowned and activated his Geass. "Tell me where the Gotham City Bank is".

The man blinked and nodded robotically "Of course, is down the street, the biggest building you can't miss it" Lelouch smiled. "Thank you" he left as the man regained his consciousness. Lelouch walked as fast as he could and sure enough he arrived at the bank in less than two minutes.

"How convenient" Lelouch said to himself. The police had the entire perimeter surrounded, but he notice that the back door was protected by just two guards. Lelouch sneaked as best as he could and walked up to the guards "Hey you're not supposed to be…"-"You will let me pass and forget that you ever saw me" Lelouch interrupted him with his Geass. The guards nodded and unlocked the door, Lelouch hurried inside smiling at his small victory. Unknown to him someone had saw and heard what he had just done and he wasn't pleased.

Lelouch walked silently through the hallways; he smiled as he noticed the lack of Britannian flags or EU flags. Heck not even Chinese flags, this city appeared to be free from all the three super powers. Maybe if everything played right he would bring Nunnally here so she could live a peaceful life while he waged war on Britannia. "Please let us go, we have done nothing wrong!" a man yelled making Lelouch snap out of his thoughts. He stopped on his tracks. He had reached the main entrance, where the super villain was "I know you have done nothing wrong, but I don't care you are the only reason the police hasn't stormed inside and taken me out" Lelouch's eyes widened as he saw the man who had talked. Mr. Freeze was not a bald man with a frail looking appearance. He was covered in a bulky looking suit that made him look imposing. Another man stood up "You think you can get away with this freak, Batman will show up and make sure you pay" the man said boldly.

Mr. Freeze raised his gun, Lelouch flinched knowing what was coming, but instead of the sound of a bullet the gun emitted a strange beam that let the man frozen in the place he stood. Solid as ice, Lelouch gasped in surprise "That's impossible" he muttered to himself.

Mr. Freeze turned to the rest of the terrified hostages "Anyone else is feeling remarkably stupid or brave" silence "Good, then don't bother me while I gather something" Lelouch watched as the man walked up to a terminal and started typing. He was going to transfer the money to an unknown location, clever. But Lelouch needed physical money now so he couldn't do what the Popsicle was doing, he got to a terminal and started to type the amount that he supposed he needed, five thousand should do. But then the machine a loud "ching" noise, Lelouch's blood ran cold; he heard the super villain turned around from his work. He stared at the school boy with a mixture of surprise and annoyance "What do you think you're doing?" he asked as he pointed his freeze gun at him. Lelouch activated his Geass and looked at him in the eyes "Nothing you will continue doing what you were doing" Mr. Freeze stopped on his tracks and lowered his gun, then he started to laugh, his robotic voice making the prisoners shudder and this time it was not because of the cold of the frozen bank.

"Very funny kid" he pointed his gun at him once more "But I don't need a clown here, if I wanted to hear jokes from a clown I would have stayed at Arkham" Lelouch couldn't believe it, he wasn't affected by his power!? He looked at him and noticed that his eyes were covered by some strange red goggles, before Lelouch could come with a smart excuse he felt something hit him and in less than a second he was at the floor tied up. He couldn't move he was trapped again; he looked around frantically trying to get eye contact with someone. But they were paying attention to someone else, Lelouch watched as man dressed completely in black descended from the shadows. He saw Mr. Freeze curse loudly and shoot at him, but the demon managed to not only escape the shot but counter attack it, throwing something a sharp object at him, as soon as the object made contact with Freeze it exploded making the armored man take some steps back. "Victor stop this, now" the man told the villain in a very deep voice. "I think not Batman, I have already transferred the funds to an associate of mine, soon he would move everything to a safe place, where I will pick up the money after I'm done with you" the Batman frowned and send a glare that made Lelouch shiver "Don't push me Victor" Freeze didn't respond and started to shoot randomly at his foe. Batman barely managed to escape them but one shot got him in the arm, freezing him to the wall. "I learn from my mistake Batman, do you?" Victor taunted "One would think that with all the time we have fought you wouldn't fall for that one" Batman growled and broke free from the ice, punching Freeze in the face, breaking his protective glass. Lelouch watched in fascination and surprise, this masked man took down a formidable foe. Freeze looked at Batman in anger and charged his next attack he punched the ground and froze everything that was on the floor. Freeze stood up and searched for his enemy, surprisingly Batman had managed to escape the blast, Freeze felt another explosion on his back making his suit emit an alert sound "ALERT: SYSTEM COMPROMISED, TOTAL FAILURE INMINENT" the suit chimed in. "NO!" Freeze yelled as his suit lost power. He felt someone push him to the ground and with no warning he was knocked out.

Batman let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in, it went better than last time where Freeze had managed to cover him in ice and thrown him into a river. If it wasn't for Batgirl he would have been dead. But now he had another thing to worry about, he turned around and pointed to one of the hostages "You alert the police tell them that the place is secure, Freeze is down you are safe now" the man nodded and left to find the cops, while the other hostages started to thank Batman "If it wasn't for you, he would have turned us into…" the young secretary couldn't finish her sentence as a sob broke her speech. Just thinking about it made her sick. Batman put a hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, he won't hurt anyone for a long time"

Lelouch had his head lowered, exhausted from the events. First he had been kidnapped by terrorists and taken to a war zone, he had managed to escape there and hand the victory to the rebels then he had to kill his half brother but not before he got information about the dead of his mother and apparently two of his closest siblings knew about it and then he had to run all the way to Ashford academy, not to mention all this nonsense about ending in a completely different city. He felt someone cut the ropes from his arms and legs only to be force into some handcuffs and his head was covered by a bag. Oh goody this day just couldn't get better now could it?

He felt himself being raised by the shoulder and pushed somewhere soon enough he found himself being pushed inside a car. The sound of the engines told him all he needed to know about this car. It was a tank, plain and simple; the shock from the blast of the engines had been enormous but the car hadn't exploded, instead it had accelerated like a race car. Lelouch watched with mild interest as the lights passed by quickly, they were going really fast. But he could hear the sound of the wheels whining at every turn, this was one heavy tank. He heard the sound of waterfall and then all the light was cut off. Lelouch knew what was coming, he mentally prepared himself for torture he would not let this Batman break him.

Bruce was impressed, this sixteen year old boy was brave as you could get. He had not only remained quiet the entire ride but he had also managed to exit the Batmobile with an air of dignity and respect. He would have assumed he was the son of very rich man, but Bruce knew very well that he was not. He was dressed differently his eyes where purple and he had mind controlled two guards. Bruce placed him on a chair and turned all the lights out. He removed the bag from the boys head and waited. He saw him frown but he remained calm "Your act is not going to scare me I have suffered worst trust me" he said in a calm bored tone. Batman smirked, he was different all right, he had sent a message to Batgirl telling her to call the Martian man hunter, or John Jones, to get to the bat cave now. He would arrive in ten minutes or something Bruce estimated. He just had to keep his guest busy "Who are you?" Lelouch smiled, so he wanted to know huh? Well then let's scare him "My name is Lelouch VI Britannia" he said and waited for the gasp or the denial of the Batman. But nothing came "Fancy name, where are you from?"

Did he not know the weight of his name or he just didn't care? Lelouch decided to humor the man "I'm from Japan, I have come here for tourism" Batman smiled from the shadows.

"You're lying, your accent is from Europe, you were born there and no one comes to Gotham for tourism" Lelouch chuckled; it appears he has met a man as smart as his older brother.

"Well then from where are you really?"-"Britannia" Lelouch waited and once again he was disturbed by his answer "So you're from England"-"No, don't tell me you don't know Britannia?"

Batman frowned, he was wondering if he would have to prepare a cell for a crazy English guy in Arkham "No I have no idea what Britannia is, I suppose you are talking about England in the British Isles"

Lelouch paled, he was getting really worried, but he refused to show weakness "but that's impossible, don't you know Britannia, the emperor and his atrocities?" he threw the insult to his father to see if he was a Britannian or if he was a number. He had to know something that was familiar to him damn it!

Bruce was almost fifty percent sure he was crazy, but from his movements and facial features he knew he wasn't lying, he either completely believed in his fantasy world or he was telling the truth.

"Do you know where you are?"-"Gotham"-"who am I?"-"You are Batman"-"Who is Superman?" Lelouch blinked in surprise "Who?"

Bruce smirked, gotcha. There was no way that he didn't know Superman, everyone knew him he was the embodiment of hope and peace. He was the one and only man of steel he had been in all the countries of the world, this kid was eider delusional or…

Batman gritted his teeth and turned the lights on, Lelouch blinked and when he had managed to regain his sight Batman had his back turned to him "I know you have some sort of power, I saw you control those officers, but your failed attempt at controlling Freeze means that you have to make eye contact with the subject, I won't let you do that to me, I'm tired of people playing with my head" Batman told him not looking from his work. Lelouch smiled like a child at Christmas, he knew he was smart but he didn't think he would have deduced everything in a small amount of time, he was clearly a man of knowledge if only he could convince him to fight at his side against Britannia or at the very least convince him to play chess with him. It had been a while since he had a worthy opponent. He felt a strange light pass over him and to his surprise it tickled, the light tickled him, that as something so weird to him, lights couldn't do that.

"What did you use on me?"-"Something" Batman replied, Lelouch frowned, and looked at the machine "I suppose it was a scanner, are you trying to find out about my power?" Batman nodded and started to read the analysis. He had an abnormality in one of his eyes that emitted a peculiar type of energy, a magic type of energy. Bruce wanted to groan, why it couldn't be a weird fake eye, one that he could just deactivate. No it had to be magic; he had to call Zatanna now. Bruce smiled at the thought of his old friend but regained focus. From what he had gathered he was really human. No muscle mass whatsoever, no robotic implants just a plain school boy that happened to have magical powers. He kept reading until his eyes stopped at a certain page, his breath caught in his throat. He read it again and again, trying to deny what he had just read, Bruce for the first time in a long time felt fear.

"What is it?" Lelouch asked indifferently "Is my power more dangerous than you thought or has the emperor ordered you to release me?" Lelouch hoped it was the first one. He didn't want to see his father in this state; he wanted to see him at his feet as his empire crumbled because of him.

Batman turned his head a little "Tell me schoolboy, what's the last thing you remember before appearing in Gotham?" Lelouch's eyes widened "How did you…" he never got to finish the sentence as a powerful hand grabbed him by the throat. He couldn't look at his eyes because Batman hand was pushing his head back, making sure that his eyes were on the roof "Why did Darkseid send you?" he growled at him. Lelouch gasped for air "Who?" Batman released his grip a little so that he could breathe "Your lord"-"The only one I follow is myself, I don't know who this Darkseid is" Lelouch told him calmly; he was surprised when Batman lowered him "Did you escape from Apokalips, are you a survivor?" Lelouch shook his head. He hated to admit it but he couldn't do much in a situation like this. So he waited and to his surprise Batman untied him and made him sit in front of the computer. He showed a picture of planet earth. "You know what this is?" Lelouch snorted "Of course is our planet" Batman frowned and showed another picture, it was of America "Area 1" Lelouch replied with a bored tone. Why was he showing pictures of things he already knew?

Batman on the other hand wanted to punch a wall. This kid was not from around here, another dimension to be precise and he had got here because of a boom tube, which once again made no sense. Because the only one with access to a boom tube was Darkseid and his minions and this kid didn't know Darkseid.

"Batman I have arrived" a deep and calming voice came from behind him. The Martian had arrived. Lelouch jumped from his seat and stared at him horror "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

The Martian shook his head; people here on earth really had something against Martians. Batgirl appeared moments later. Dressed in her usual bat gear, she frowned when she looked at the boy. Was this really the reason she had been woken up in the middle of the night a boy that looked her age? She did as ordered and avoided his eyes, but he really wasn't looking at her, he was too busy staring at the Martian, he was cute she would give him that.

Lelouch watched in a mixture of fright and disbelief as the green thing approached him "Batman what seems to be the problem?"

Batman removed his cowl revealing the handsome visage of Bruce Wayne "Well for starters he is from another dimension"