Japan, Near the Kagari Shrine, August 2010 CE

The sound of rapid footsteps cut into the cicada song flooding from the forests, sunlight shone upon the freshly trodden path, making apparent the dust that was just settling. Laughter emanated from further down the trail, the source, two girls, one Atsuko Kagari, the other Diana Cavendish. The laughter died when the two reached a sharp incline on the hill. Atsuko climbed the incline with ease then reached down to assist Diana in making it to the top, once both were there, the cicada song stopped abruptly. Neither wished to interrupt the silence, as they each looked around for what caused it. Atsuko was the first to find out, her red eyes widened, and she pulled on Diana's sleeve, while pointing shakedly off into the distance. Diana froze solid, her purple eyes wide as her friend's, as a look of utter terror plastered itself across her face. The scene in front of them, Mt. Fuji, as pristine as the day Japan proclaimed itself as such, the only difference from then and now being that of the sky. Within the sky, above the holy mountain, was a mass of Britannian air-power, signifying the end of an era.

Japan, Unknown Ruined City, September 2010 CE

The two girls sat together amongst the ruins of an old Japanese home, not far from them a Japanese soldier stood saluting a pyre, the two were sitting in absolute silence, that was until Diana stood, fists clenched to her sides as she marched a few paces away from her prior seat.

"Akko I swear..." The blonde started, her voice shaking with anger, she turned on her heel, and stared into Akko's eyes "I swear... One day..." Hatred seethed through her every word.

"I'm going to obliterate Britannia!"

Area 11, Tokyo Settlement, August 2017 CE

A large semi-truck sped down a near-empty road, the sound of helicopter propellers whirring sounded overhead.

"This is Alpha-3. Target is traveling from Delta-12 toward Delta-14, at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour." Stated a Britannian police officer from within the cockpit of a pursuit chopper.

"CCP to all mobile units. Declaring a Code 3 from floor 5 to floor 2. All units, take 2-8-8. I want the target intact." Another officer transmitted over the radio.

Within a room, not far from the chase, stood 4 guards around a table that seated two, a nonchalant young, bearded man, and a very on-edge older man.

"Here's video footage of yesterday's terrorist bombings in Osaka. The secretary reported 59 casualties in this incident: 8 Britannians, and 51 others-" The TV broadcast was cut short by the sound of a chess timer beeping, and one of the guards flipping the TV off with a remote.

"You're out of time. From here on you'll make your moves every 20 seconds." One of the guards spoke up, the nonchalant man scoffed.

"Very well, I'm game." Not too long after his acceptance of the time shortening, the double doors at the back of the room swung open. "Hm? Did your substitute arrive?"

"Thank heaven!" The older man exclaimed, "I'm saved! Are things going well at school?" He finished.

"What have we here, schoolchildren?" The nonchalant man questioned.

"Hmph, well look at this, a nobleman." The blonde schoolgirl observed.

"I envy you kids today," The nobleman started, "You have so much time on your hands, time for regrets. What's your name?" He finished.

"Diana Cavendish." She stated confidently.

"Whoa now wait a minute Diana, there's no way you can win this one! It's impossible, right?" The blonde schoolboy questioned.

"When do you think we'd have to leave in order to make our next class, Frank?" Diana queried.

"Uh, 20 minutes if we really bust our hump." Frank guessed.

"Then be sure to drive safely on our way back, I'll need 9 minutes." Diana assured.

"9 minutes? You only have 20 seconds per move." The nobleman said, shocked.

"Enough time." Diana stated, whilst picking up the black king.

"You start with the king?" The nobleman questioned, before laughing boisterously.

At Hanbridge Academy, the school Diana and Frank attend, a group of three sat together while enjoying their lunch together.

"Where's Diana?" Andrew asked the other two.

"She went somewhere with Frank." Barbara responded.

"What? Maybe it's poker this time?" Andrew wondered aloud.

"They seem to forget that they're on the student council!" Hannah cut in, "They're off gambling for money! Diana may be smart, yet she wastes her brain on stupid things! If only she'd apply herself in school, she'd get high grades!"

"Perfect!" The driver of the semi-truck hissed out, the truck weaved between the occasional traffic, and continued plowing down the road, "After we finally steal this damn thing!" He glanced up at the pursuit chopper, and then to the road. "If only Tamaki had stuck to the plan, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

The passenger looked on with a near-snarl on her face as the truck merged into the other lane again to dodge another car.

"I love playing chess with the nobility! When they lose they always pay outta pride!" Frank started, "By the way, 8 minutes and 32 seconds is a new record!"

"He also didn't have much time to move, either." Diana justified, "And as opponents go, the nobles are tepid. They're just overprivileged parasites, that's all."

"Well then, why don't you challenge one of the Elevens? They're nothing like us Britannians-" Frank began, but was cut off by the news broadcast playing nearby.

"We apologize for the delay. Now His Royal Highness Prince Clovis, third prince of Britannia, will address the nation." The newswoman announced.

"To all my imperial subjects! Including of course the many cooperative Elevens who choose to serve the empire of Britannia!" The prince began, "Do you not see my pain? My heart was ripped from my chest only to be torn apart! The remnants are filled with rage and sadness! However, as ruler of Area 11, I will not tolerate terrorism of any kind! Because the battle we fight is a righteous one, a virtuous battle to protect the well-being of one and all! Now then, everyone! I would like you to join me in observance of the eight who died for justice, in the line of duty."

"A moment of silence please." The newswoman stated.

"Aren't you gonna join in?" Frank asked.

"Aren't you?" Diana replied while walking toward Frank's motorbike.

"Heh... It's sorta embarrassing." He said while scratching the back of his neck.

"And I agree with you." She stated firmly, while hopping into the sidecar. Besides, spilling tears over those people won't bring them back to life now, will it. The blonde thought, It's all about self satisfaction. Doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't do it. There's no way you can change the world.

Cameras pulled away from the stage where the third prince was standing, and he began walking down the steps.

"You were magnificent Your Highness!" A noblewoman started, "One would never guess that you were attending a party while doing that!"

Two servants walked up and began taking off the cape the blonde prince was wearing.

"After all, the viceroy is the marquee actor of Area 11. I need to change costumes quickly." Clovis stated.

"My! You're so self-confident!" The same noblewoman observed.

"It's all in the performance. Since the media want a charismatic prince, I give them one."

"His reign is a pathetic sham…" Mumbled a darker skinned woman, who was reading a folder labeled: Osaka Crisis Special Presentation.

"Y-Your Highness!" Shouted a bulky military man, walking by the woman, as he approached the prince.

"Hmm? A soldier?" She queried.

"Blackwell? How boorish of you!" Clovis responded to the approaching man.

"I beg your pardon, Your Highness. My Lord…" The man started, too quiet for the woman to hear.

"Not another appearance for him. Hope it's not as dreary…" The woman seemed to deflate a bit, but she perked back up at what happened next.

"You fool!" Prince Clovis shouted.

"The police were informed that it's medical equipment, that's all. If we scramble the army there'll be a record-" Blackwell explained to the exasperated prince, before getting cut off.

"Deploy the Royal Guard! The Knightmares as well!" The prince shouted, the woman smirked at that. Wangari you may have a story yet. She contemplated.

"That first move you made..." Frank murmured.

The two were riding down along the highway back to Hanbridge Academy, Diana was reading in the sidecar, while Frank paid attention to the road.

"Hm?" Diana made clear she was listening, while not once looking from her book.

"Why'd you start with the king?" Frank questioned, Diana finally looked up from her book, and closed it softly.

"If a king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?" She stated, as though it were the simplest of ethos.

"What's with that?" Frank questioned further.

"With what?" Diana questioned back.

"Do you fantasize about running a major corporation some day?" Frank asked, and Diana reopened her book.

"No way. Ambitions like that will ruin your health-" Diana started, before being cut off by a loud horn blared behind the two.

"We're gonna die!" Frank exclaimed while speeding up to stay ahead of the large semi that had seemingly materialized behind them.

"You idiot!" The driver of the semi shouted, "Get outta the way!" He veered off to the nearest exit, which had been blocked off with traffic cones.

"No not that way!" The girl in the passenger seat exclaimed, but it was too late. The truck traveled full speed through the cones and into a construction site, the driver tried to stop the truck by veering it to the side more, but ended up just sliding it into the under construction building. Frank's bike screeched to a halt while the dust was still rising.

"Uh, is that our fault?" He questioned blandly.

"I don't think so." Diana replied.

The two got off the bike and began heading toward the highway's railing, when all of the sudden Diana something sparkling amongst the dust.

"What the?" She questioned.

"Oh man this sucks!" Frank started, "Looks like the power line on the bike got cut..."

"Yeah... Frank come check this out!" Diana called him over, whilst ignoring what was said, still focusing on the spot where she saw the sparkling.

The blonde then looked over to her right and saw that other commuters had stopped to observe the crash, and were doing nothing but observing the sight of it, and taking pictures with their phones.

"Those idiots!" Diana hissed before making a beeline for the exit the truck careened through.

"Wait!" Frank called after her, but it was too late, she had already made up her mind.

Diana ran up to the truck and began climbing the external ladder to get on top of it.

"Hey! Are you alright?" She called out, trying to help out in any way she could. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"It's you... Finally I have found my..." Diana heard a voice say, in an almost ethereal tone.

"Where... Are you in there?" Diana muttered, pretty much to herself, but half to that voice.

Suddenly the truck sprung back to life, and began backing up at a high speed, causing Diana to tumble into the open hatch atop the semi.

"Stop! I'm in here!" The blonde called out, but among the sound of the truck and the surface beneath it, she could hardly hear herself, let alone have the driver hear.

The blonde got up and held onto the wall while looking for a means to escape, her search was fruitless however, and she gave up with a sigh.

"You think they'd stick a ladder on the inside, too..." She thought aloud.

"Stop the vehicle! Surrender now and you'll get the chance to defend yourself in court!" The whir of military choppers sounded from outside the truck, gunfire broke through the air, and the announcement via their loudspeakers only confirmed it. "Stop and surrender at once! Give up now or we'll shoot to kill!"

"If I jump out I have the choice of breaking out or getting shot-" Diana stated, looking up at the open hatch. She was cut short however and decided to hide behind the mysterious container when the door at the front of the vehicle opened.

"Can you enter the subway via the Azabu root?" The girl from the front called back to the driver, Diana made note of her appearance. She had fiery red and orange hair, that spiked out in every which way, and was wearing a very unique pair of clothing, Diana couldn't get a very good look at the girl's face.

"Amanda! Let's use it here! Why not?" The driver called back to her.

"Because that would mean a blood bath!" Amanda shouted back, I swear I've seen her before... Diana thought, but couldn't quite pin a name to the face.

"You're right..." The driver said dejectedly.

Suddenly from the back of the truck a slash harken flew out and destroyed one of the pursuing choppers.

"Crap! These guys are real terrorists!" Diana called out as she watched a red Knightmare leap out of the back of the truck.

"You fellas know full well what this badass fucker can do!" Amanda pushed forward on the controls and brought the Knightmare closer to her targets before launching both shoulder slash harkens at the 2 choppers that remained, one harken landed and promptly destroyed the chopper, the other only just missed. Suddenly a Knightmare VTOL flew up from behind the remaining chopper.

"The rest of you, back off. I'll take this guy." The Knightmare pilot called over the loudspeakers, to which the chopper pulled away from the pursuing red Knightmare. "I can only assume you dug that obsolete relic out of some scrap heap." He stated, before dropping from the VTOL, shooting off a slash harken to counter the harken fired by Amanda. "An over the hill Glasgow is no match for a Sutherland! Not to mention a filthy Eleven who spurns the compassion of our glorious Emperor!"

The Sutherland fired an HE round at the Glasgow which Amanda tried to block with one of the Knightmare's arms, said arm was completely torn from the machine.

"Amanda, we should both split up! Both of us can't risk being killed! Run for it!" The semi's driver called over the radio to Amanda.

"But-" She was cut off by the sound of another Sutherland landing on the road, Amanda couldn't get a glimpse of it, as she already had a fight on her hands, but she could only assume it cut off the truck.

The new Sutherland fired upon the truck, to which the driver veered off and escaped into the abandoned subway tunnels.

"No way, it's stuck!" Amanda called out, as her slash harken was unable to fire anymore.

"Secondhand junk!" Called the voice from the first Sutherland, it reeled it's arm back and released from it a stun tonfa and began an aggressive arc to bludgeon the Glasgow.

Amanda aimed the Glasgow's arm at the Sutherland's tonfa, and fired it off the Knightmare, the resulting explosion created enough smoke for her to make a beeline for the ghettos.

"Ah-ha!" A lilac haired woman called out, while leaning to look directly in the eyes of Blackwell.

"What are you doing?" Blackwell questioned, while tanks began rolling on behind him.

"Looking at a man who blundered… Am I right?" The woman herself questioned.

"Why you..." Blackwell conceded.

"You really screwed this one up. Terrorists came along and stole whatever it was that you and Prince Clovis were secretly working on. Retrieving it is simple, but you want to sweep up all of their compatriots in addition. Let the terrorists go and you can find their hideout, too. Congratulations Chariot! Your reasoning was spot on!" The woman called back to her assistant, a bright red haired woman in an engineer corps uniform.

"It was nothing Croix. I just thought it was strange..." Chariot responded, looking down at the praise.

"Okay, that's enough. What is it the Special Corps wants out of this?" Blackwell straightened up, and cut to the chase.

"I'm merely saying that I'd like to assist with the cleanup!" Croix leaned again.

"Assist?" Blackwell questioned.

"Correct. Because it's data I want." The scientist finished.

"Excuse me, but what in the world have they just stolen, anyway?" Chariot queried.

"Chemical weapons. In other words… Poison gas." Blackwell explained.

Diana sat next to the container in the back of the truck, contemplating her escape, when suddenly the truck jolted to and fro.

"An accident?" She questioned aloud. A door in front of the capsule began to slide open, and reveal the outside world, or inside technically. What lay beyond was the network of tunnels that ran throughout all of Japan, the old subway system. Diana tried to hide behind the container in order to remain unseen from any terrorists, but she was spotted.

"Now I could use this chance to climb up." The blonde said to herself, but at the sound of rapid footsteps behind her she turned and only barely had time to block an attack from her aggressor, however she was still knocked to the ground.

Diana was expecting a terrorist, but when she finally saw who had attacked her, she was both surprised and more afraid, she was attacked by a Britannian soldier. Before she could really think on it she was pinned to the ground by the soldier, who had allowed the bottom half of their mask to slip off to allow for speaking.

"That's enough mindless murder." Came a female's voice.

"Wait! I'm not one of-" Diana tried to reason.

"Trying to use poison gas. Don't play dumb with me." She scolded.

"Get off me!" Diana shouted, while trying to kick at her assailant, causing them to jump off of her, giving her time to get up. "I'm not here by choice. And if that's poison gas, it was made in Britannia, wasn't it?"

"My god." The soldier mumbled.

"Mindless murder? Then why don't you just take out Britannia?" Diana questioned as she neared the Britannian.

"Diana?" The soldier asked while taking off her helmet, which caused Diana to stop advancing. "It's me, Akko."

"You-" Diana began, perplexed by the situation at hand, "You became a Britannian soldier?"

"Yeah, and what about you, you're a-" Akko was cut off by Diana's frantic reasoning.

"What are you saying-" Diana began, but she too was cut off, this time by the capsule itself. A bright light flashed out of it, and it began to open. Akko was quick to react, and chose to throw her air purifier over Diana's face in order to save her. But when the container was fully opened, the two saw what was really inside it.

"That's not poison gas?" Akko realized, "What is it?" A green haired girl fell from the container, and landed on the ground in front of the two old friends.

The two rushed to their feet to help the girl who fell from the capsule, Diana allowed her to rest on her lap, while Akko got to undoing the restraints on her.

"Tell me the truth Akko." Diana began, wishing to milk information from her old friend, "Poison gas? This girl?"

"Hey, it's what they told us in the briefing. I swear." Akko swore, suddenly their conversation was cut short by the clicking of lights being turned on, and the voice of a gruff man.

"Stinkin' monkey." The man snarled, "Being an honorary Britannian will not excuse you."

"But sir!" Akko called, while running up on her commander, "I was told this was poison gas."

"How dare you question orders?" The commander demanded. This is bad. Diana thought. A poisonous situation which would pose a threat to Akko's superiors if it's unleashed.

"However, in light of your outstanding military achievements I'm going to be lenient. Private Kagari, take this and execute the terrorist." The commander ordered, and motioned for Akko to take the handgun he offered.

Both Akko and Diana looked at the commander with wide, shocked eyes. Akko shook herself out of it first.

"But she's not a terrorist!" The Japanese girl stated while turning to look at her old friend. "She's a civilian who got caught up in all of this!"

"You insubordinate little-" The man cut himself off, "That's an order. Didn't you swear your loyalty and your life to Britannia?"

"Yes, but..." Akko began, "But I can't."

"What?" The commander barked.

"I won't do it, sir. I won't shoot a civilian. I can't follow your orders, sir." Akko chivalrously stated, while turning toward Diana.

"Very well." The commander sneered, put the handgun to Akko's back, and fired straight into it.

"AKKO!" Diana shouted, the blonde watched as her old friend fell limp to the floor.

"Well, Britannian schoolgirl, not a good day to cut class." The commander quipped, "Collect the girl. After you've secured her, kill the student!"

As the footsoldiers the commander brought with him advanced on Diana, the front of the semi exploded.

"Stay quiet." Diana told the green haired girl, as she crawled up the stairs of the tunnel they used to escape the Britannians. "Wait here."

Suddenly gunshots sounded, and an Eleven dropped to the ground in a puddle of their own blood.

"Report." The Britannian commander ordered.

"We found only Elevens here, sir." One of his footsoldiers reported.

"You're sure of it? That exit comes out here?" The commander queried.

"Yes, sir. It matches up with our map of the old city." The soldier replied.

The cries of a child cut through the air, the guards turned toward the sound, and opened fire upon the source, which fell silent not too long after. Diana could only wait in horror as the terrors went on around her. Suddenly, her phone goes off, the caller ID showing as Hannah, Diana quickly hangs up, but she knows it's too late. The sound of footsteps rapidly approaching her position were a dead giveaway.

"What an appropriate location for a terrorist to meet her end." The commander motioned at the warehouse with his handgun, Diana's glare intensified at this.

"You scum..." She breathed out.

"Still you did well for a student, but that's to be expected. You're a Britannian." The commander continued. "Unfortunately, my clever young friend, you have no future."

The commander raised his handgun and pointed it directly at Diana, the green haired girl was able to squirm her way out of her captors' grasps and run to get in between Diana and the commander.

"She mustn't die!" The girl shouted right before a gunshot rung throughout the warehouse, the bullet lodged itself into her forehead, and she fell to the ground motionless, her own blood pooling around her.

"You shot her!" Diana called out, as she ran forward and crouched beside the green haired girl.

"Our orders were to bring her back alive if possible." He shrugged, still holding the handgun, "Oh well, nothing can be done about it now. We'll tell our superiors that the Royal Guard found the terrorist hideout and killed them all. Regrettably the female hostage had already been tortured to death. What do you think, schoolgirl?"

Diana sat there, near frozen with fear, all that showed she wasn't was the shaking of her entire being. How can this be happening? Diana lost herself in thought. First Akko's killed... And this girl... Now, I'm about to die. Before I've had a chance to do a single thing with my life. It's gone in a heartbeat...

"You don't want it to end here, do you?" The ethereal voice from earlier rang in Diana's ears, but now she had a face to match the voice to, it was this girl's. What? Diana questioned internally.

"You appear to have a reason for living." Diana felt as though the entire world was morphing around her, giving way to a completely different reality. The girl? That's impossible. Diana reasoned mentally.

"If I grant you power, could you go on? I propose a deal. In exchange for this power you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract and you accept its conditions, while living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence, a different time, a different life. The power of the queen will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?" The voice asked. Diana thought on it hard, before mentally agreeing. Yes! I hereby accept the terms of your contract!

Before long everything snapped back to how it was before the episode, the ground had returned, the world seemed normal, everything was back to how it was, but Diana knew that wasn't the case, she didn't know why, or how, but she knew that what had happened was real.

"Tell me." Diana started as she got to her feet, holding her left eye, "How should a Britannian who detests her own country live her life?"

"Are you some kind of radical?" The commander questioned, pointing his gun once more at Diana.

"What's wrong? Why not shoot? Your opponent is just a schoolgirl. Or have you finally realized?" Diana uncovered her left eye, "The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed." Diana's eye now bore a glowing red symbol, akin to that of an abstract bird, she looked down at the green haired girl, and saw that there was a symbol on her forehead more like the one on her eye, that too was glowing.

"What's happening here?" The commander demanded.

"I, Diana vi Britannia, command you, no, all of you, die!"

The commander and his footsoldiers all slacked a little, before straightening up, and lining their guns at themselves.

"Happily, Your Highness!" The commander then gave his final order, "Fire!"

In an instant Diana found herself from being hopeless, and in a case a assured death, to being able to roam free once more. All around her, there was death, and now, some of it was her own doing, with this, the power of the queen, Diana has real power. Diana has a chance.