The room was in darkness, the only light being at the far end. There was a door there and the light also hit the end of a table. It seemed to stretch along the room and probably did. People were breathing and one coughed. Whoever they were, they appeared to be waiting.

Finally, the door opened and a man in a dark suit stepped through, squinting as the light hit his eyes. After blinking a few times, he grew used to the light and nodded at the table. The people in the shadows seemed to hold their breath.

"You may be wondering why I called you all here today," he said by way of introduction.

"No," said a gruff voice from the darkness. "We have all seen the news. The experiment has gone well, I see."

"Ah, well now," said the man. His kind smile seemed rather fake: it was more of a smirk. "Yes and no. After all, we were supposed to receive these powers. So I would say we have not completed it yet."

"But you can, can you not?" said a rather posh-sounding woman.

"Of course," said the man, turning to where he had heard her voice emanate. "We will still need to be careful, however. Most of them have powers and it will be... unwise... to antagonise them."

"Why did you not take them from the... 'heroes' when there were less of them?" asked a nasally voice.

"I thought it would be more effectual to wait until they all have their powers. We can take them from these so-called heroes after we have observed how they work, of course."

Suddenly, something flickered to life behind the man and he turned to see a large screen coming to life. The battle between Harry and the Gentleman in the warehouse district was being played. His smile grew, this one of genuine glee. Turning back to the table, he listened to what the gruff voice had to say.

"I believe we have observed them for long enough," the gruff-voiced person told the man.

"Yes," said the woman. "It is time to collect."

"My thoughts exactly. And I have a wonderful plan. Now, everyone, I would like you to meet my daughter." He turned to the door as it opened, admitting a young girl.

She appeared to be in her twenties, her face youthful despite the expression of anger and determination twisting her features. Her dark hair was tied back in a long, efficient ponytail which she flicked behind her as she entered. Dark eyes glared at the room as she came to a stop beside her father.

"Why is she here?" demanded the nasally voice, sounding affronted.

"Because she wishes to help, don't you, dear?" said the man, smiling down with pride at her.

The girl scowled at the voice. "I hate the Gentleman! My father's experiment failed because of him and his friends! I won't let them get away with ruining his life!"

"This little one will do whatever it takes to bring down those heroes," said her father, happily. "So, please, feel free to monitor us as we take back what is ours!"

For a moment there was silence. Then a whispering hissed through the air. Eventually, this ceased and the gruff voice spoke again.

"Very well. Proceed with your plans."

Before I mention anything else, the girl is not anyone from Hetalia. Dontcha worry.

Anyway... That's the end. I kinda thought this chapter would be a bit longer but... Oh, well.

Moving on... Drum roll, please. A little louder than that. Are you ready?

SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME BRILLIANT FANTASTIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Okay, it ain't that great but...

Ages ago, I decided on the way the story was going and decided this would be a great place to stop it but...

Then my imagination kept going and...

There will be a sequel! It'll be from someone else's POV (though I can bet you can guess). And I'm gonna call it My Childish Hero. For reasons to become apparent when I put it up.

So that's my announcement. You're just gonna have to look out for the next story somehow... It should be up within, like, a week? I don't know when - I just know that I'm gonna start on it pretty soon. So...

Thank you for all the reviews and follows and favourites. It made it all the more enjoyable to think you all love this story as much as I do. :D

EDIT! I've totally written the first chapter of the sequel and it is DEFINITELY called My Childish Hero. Go enjoy it. :)