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1:00 p.m., Urausu, Japan. A Britannian vehicle was driving amongst the traffic of the town, in search of a specific location. The driver was extremely nervous, as he drove. For some unknown reason, he was wearing a scientist uniform.

Scientist: (frightened) How the hell did I get roped into this?

Two days ago, Narita mountains. The scientists hired by Clovis, now led by a General Bartley, were leaving the area, at sunset, taking their research with them. The landslide caused some trouble of leaving, specifically for the last scientist. He was driving along the smooth road, when a Britannian soldier collapsed in front of the truck.

Scientist: Oh, shit! (stops truck) A soldier?!

The soldier looked at the truck, revealing himself to be Jeremiah Gottwald, who was severely wounded after the forced friendly fire from the Guren. Jeremiah used his walking stick to get to the side of the truck, and got in. The scientist looked at Jeremiah, whose left eye was closed.

Jeremiah: Do you mind taking me somewhere, pal?
Scientist: (draws pistol, holds it shakily) Who are you!?
Jeremiah: (takes pistol) The one calling the shots. (aims pistol) My entire body hurts like a bitch. Take me to a hospital.
Scientist: Well, the Tokyo settlement is a long drive...
Jeremiah: We're not going to Tokyo. Find a Mavericks neighborhood, and get me to a doctor.
Scientist: But, but...!
Jeremiah: Do it, or I'll shoot your testicles!
Scientist: Driving, now!

Present day, Urausu. The scientist stopped the truck, thus waking up Jeremiah.

Jeremiah: (groans in pain) This thing doesn't stop on a dime. (groans)
Scientist: Found it.
Jeremiah: Oh, good. Don't tell your friends about me, or I'll hunt you down.
Scientist: I won't! I swear!
Jeremiah: I can make sure of that.
Scientist: Of course, you can!
Jeremiah: Well said. (aims pistol at scientist's testicles) Good game. (fires pistol)
Scientist: (screams in agonizing pain)
Jeremiah: Drive safe, now!
Scientist: (crying)

As Jeremiah exited the vehicle, the vehicle drove off, swerving at random points. Jeremiah approached the house in front of him and stopped at the door.

Jeremiah: Okay. Inconspicuous. Don't be threatening. What's that knock, again? (while knocking on door) Shave and a haircut...two bits?

Jeremiah waited at the door, then it opened. A young Japanese girl was on the other side and looked up at Jeremiah, shocked that a Britannian was at her doorstep.

Jeremiah: (smiles) Hi. If one of your parents could call a doctor, for me, that would be great. As you can see, I'm hurt as hell. I had to threaten a scientist-looking guy and shoot him between his legs. Don't worry, I'm a soon-to-be Maverick. Also, could you put your back to one of those walls?

The girl did as she was instructed and put her back against one of the walls.

Jeremiah: Good. Now, I won't crush you, when I fall face-first to the floor. Which I will do, now.

Jeremiah fell into the house, face-first, and went unconscious.

Girl: Mom? Dad? We have a patient!

2015 a.t.b., Salt Lake City, Utah. Hawking was wandering the city, tired from walking to the city, deprived of his precious Mephisto.

Hawking: (whining) God. Where's Mercer? He should've noticed my vertibird crashing, by now. I don't have any Mephisto. I'm tired of walking.

Immediately, he saw a black APC being driven by Alison speed past him.

Hawking: (normal tone) Was that Tex? Son of a...

Hawking walked into the road and caused an expensive car to crash. The driver got out of the car and approached Hawking.

Driver: You dipshit! Do you know how much this car costs!? I swear, I'll sue you, till your bankrupt-!

The driver was unable to finish his sentence, before Hawking snapped his neck and let the body hit the ground. Hawking got into the back of the car and saw that there was a rich man sitting next to him.

Rich Man: Why, hello! I rarely get visitors! My bodyguard usually scares them away. My name is Mr. Crane. So, tell me, is there anything I can help you with?

Hawking shoved Crane to the front of the car, slamming the rich man's face into the windshield.

Hawking: Start the car.
Crane: (nose bleeds) Wha- What?!
Hawking: There's a black APC that I want you to follow.
Crane: (stammering) But, but, but, but-!
Hawking: If you do not abide to my commands, then, I, Samuel Hawking, will tear out your intestines, then, I, Samuel Hawking...will mate with them.

Crane got into the driver's seat and started the car, as one of his teeth fell out. The car drove off in the direction of the APC.

Hawking: (thinking) Okay. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but Mercer failed. Somehow. Anywho, I'll just take down Tex, get the AIs, and give 'em to Mercer. Hell, I feel like killing somebody, today. Got a plasma Glock, so, everything's peachy keen. All that I need to worry about is the matter of catching them-.

Hawking noticed that the car stopped and went back to reality. He looked outside and saw that the car was surrounded by traffic.

Hawking: Uh, Monopoly guy? I was kinda lost in my thoughts and, uh...I saw that we're surrounded by, like, 50 cars. Why did we stop?
Crane: As you can see, sir, there's so much traffic, here... It's impossible to move!
Hawking: Well... I see a road that's clearly open. Why don't you use that?
Crane: I-I don't see a road!
Hawking: (sighs) Drive on the sidewalk, dumbass.
Crane: But, it's called a sidewalk! Not a sidedrive!
Hawking: (pauses) Are you being smart with me?
Crane: No, no, no! It's just that-!
Hawking: Is Samuel Hawking gonna have to choke a bitch?
Crane: (crying) God, please!
Hawking: Because, I, Samuel Hawking, seriously believe that I, Samuel Hawking, have not done enough bitch-choking since I've been here!
Crane: (pauses, blood drops from left nostril) Okay...

Meanwhile, Alison's APC drove across the city, with Bautista, York, Carolina, North, South and a wounded Florida.

North: So, now what? We can't take Hawking, head-on.
Alison: Well, Alistair's working separate from us. He has to work on the California Republic and Lost Legion.
Bautista: Recent Legion activity has been found in Zion National Park. All legionaries have been reported dead.
Alison: Thank you, Bautista.
Bautista: You are welcome.
North: So, beat down lesser threats, in order to take down the greater threats. Not a bad thought. Taking out those factions should give him enough experience to take out Hawking.
Alison: Bautista, you said that we should make a volcano... How do we go about doing that?
Bautista: Civility's technology is highly advanced. I am one such example, though speech is still a problem, for me. Civility has gone so far as to make a device that terraforms the land, a replica of the Garden of Eden.
Alison: That's one of the things we can destroy.
South: You hate nature, huh?
Bautista: Alison is correct. True, the device creates nature, from nothing, but the effects on the earth are catastrophic. All of the technological abominations that Civility has created must be destroyed.
Alison: Except for you. You've proven yourself to be a person. We can fix your speech issue, make you sound less robotic.
Bautista: (smiles) That is kind of you, Alison. Do you love Alistair?
Alison: I wish he was loved. The trauma and abuse he had to go through was bullshit. I'll marry him, if I have to, even go for a last resort.
Bautista: (stops smiling) I would not consider your "last resort" option.
Alison: Why the hell not?
Bautista: If I am to understand what it is, and calculate Alistair's physical, mental, emotional, and psychological statuses, the result would not end well. Considering everything he has gone through, and what he has done and seen, what you would propose to do will put his life to an end.
Alison: I want him to be happy, god dammit! I've already lost the only man I ever loved! I'm trying to do him a favor!
Bautista: If you do it, the resulting psychological damage will literally kill him.
South: Whoa. He's got some hella standards.
Alison: I'm giving him what he deserves!
Bautista: He does not deserve what he does not want!
Alison: So, what!? I just stop loving him, all at once!?
Bautista: Do you understand your faults? You have a crush on him, you treat him as though he were a lover... However, you are forcing a romantic relationship. You cannot force that kind of relationship without resistance. That relationship takes time.
Alison: Time which he doesn't have! He needs love, now! Not later, now!
Bautista: Let him live his life! Let him find his own love!
Alison: Let me do this for you, Null!

An awkward silence filled the vehicle, which stopped during Alison and Bautista's argument.

Carolina: If you're gonna argue, then let me drive.

Alison and Carolina switched places at the front of the vehicle, and Carolina started driving the APC.

York: You're still hung up about Null?
Alison: I thought I moved on. I saw Null in Alistair. I'm still living in the past.
Bautista: Alistair knows what it feels like to spend your own life, chasing ghosts. His medical records show that he was having constant nightmares, after Britannia took his life away. He wanted to see his parents, trying to crawl out of that crater. He wanted to see his friends, go back to school, back to his home. He wanted to know what his African American friend wanted to say. He wanted the good times back.
Alison: We're in the same boat. We've both lost potential lovers. We've both lost our happiness. Alistair's all I've got left. I have to love him. It's the only way.
Bautista: Is it?
Alison: I honestly don't know.
South: Is it weird that I'm giving a shit about this? 'Cause, seriously, the psychological damage is real and still there.
North: Must be weakening. How's the exit situation?
Carolina: Well, there's a little traffic ahead, but we can make it.

Immediately, an expensive black car sped around the corner, ran over about 15 bystanders and started drifting in front of the APC. Samuel Hawking was in the back of the car, flipping off Carolina, Alison and York.

York: What the hell?!
Carolina: Hawking!

2017 a.t.b., unknown ghetto. Zero was waiting for the driver from the Kyoto organization to arrive. Out of the fog, a car drove up to Zero, and the driver rolled down the window.

Driver: My master has instructed me to tell you to bring your command staff with you.
Zero: Don't worry. They're surveying the area, as we speak. Also...(mask reveals left eye, activates Geass) I want the talks to be peaceful. No guns, no violence. Just words.
Driver: Of course. I will insist.
Zero: Good.

2015 a.t.b., Salt Lake City, Utah. Hawking was chasing the APC driven by Carolina, and Bautista decided to man the turret on top of the vehicle. Bautista tried to shoot out the tires of the car, without hitting the driver, but kept missing and hitting the car with debris.

Alison: Crap! There's nothing we can do!
Carolina: Wait, is that Crane, from Atlas?
Alison: What!?
Carolina: It is! That douche is backing Atlas, under the "nice guy" shtick! Wait, why's he wounded? Doesn't he know who Hawking is?
Alison: Bautista! No time for mercy!

Bautista fired the turret at the roof of the car, tearing it clean off. Hawking stood up in the back seat and started firing an assault rifle at the APC.

York: This guy's insane!
Carolina: No shit! He made himself that way!
Alison: Wait, what?!
Carolina: Turns out that he was responsible for a load of murders, in his childhood! All the bullying he endured? Inspiration!
Alison: So, what, he had a Joker run!?
Carolina: Exactly! Then, he tried utilizing the law to kill people!
Alison: And the self-insanity thing!?
Carolina: Self-explanatory! He loves being evil, so...!
Alison: He made himself insane, to keep from atonement.
Bautista: The turret has taken too much damage!
Carolina: Clever dick!
York: Train's coming!
Carolina: Hang on, guys! Time to improvise!

Carolina sped the APC past the railroad before the train arrived. The car Hawking was in was not going to make it past the tracks.

Hawking: Crap. All because I don't have any Mephisto, anymore. Wait, I never wore this suit. (searches pockets, pulls out syringe) Oh! Here's some Mephisto! (injects Mephisto, smiles sinisterly)

The car was over the train tracks when the train made contact with it and exploded. After 10 seconds passed, the train was launched off of the tracks and Hawking emerged from the flames and wreckage, dragging Crane's corpse with him.

Hawking: (laughs) Time to take a ride Pringles mascot!

Meanwhile, the former Agents of Civility and android seemingly escaped Hawking, giving a moment to relax.

South: You think that got him?
Florida: (groans) What's going on?
Bautista: That makes no sense. You received a fatal wound!
North: I know, right? He comes back from those wounds in the most impossible way.
Florida: Some kind of enhancement. I won't complain. So, what's going on?
Carolina: We were being chased by Hawking.
Florida: Here?!
Carolina: I think we lost him, though. We're gonna speed out of here, so hang on!
Bautista: Projectile approaching!

The former Agents in the back of the APC looked out the back doors and saw Crane's corpes flying right towards them.

North: God dammit!

The corpse hit the doors at the back of the APC and they flew open, the impact on the APC launching North, South, Florida and Batista out of the APC, as the APC continued driving.

North: I don't think they noticed.

The group looked up, and Hawking was on the other side of the road.

Hawking: Remember me, bitches?

2017 a.t.b., Narita mountains. Suzaku was assisting with cleaning up the landslide, and searching for any bodies that were under the rubble. However, he was distracted by the previous events, during the battle.

Suzaku: (thinking) That couldn't have been her. Could it? And, the hallucination... No, forget it. The data doesn't show her, anywhere.
Lloyd: Have you dug enough bodies out of the landslide, yet?
Suzaku: (out loud) I'd like to continue the recovery operation.
Lloyd: Be my guest. Princess Cornelia's indulging you, after all.
Suzaku: Lloyd... Zero and the Black Knights... What are they trying to do? What do they hope to gain, sacrificing all these lives?
Lloyd: Knights of justice, so they say.
Suzaku: This can't be justice!
Lloyd: Cool your jets. Whatever embarrassing theory on the nature of justice that you have, you should keep to yourself. We're soldiers, remember?
Cecile Croomy: Suzaku! The energy filler has been replaced!
Suzaku: Thanks. (walks toward Lancelot)
Cecile: (walks to Lloyd) I checked the Purebloods' units.
Lloyd: Was I right?
Cecile: Only a Radiant Wave Surger could do that.
Lloyd: Rakshata. Had to hear from her, again. It's actually hard to believe that she'd work with our enemies. Probably excluding the Mavericks, of course.
Cecile: And the pilot of that unit was an ace. We can't have Suzaku fight that pilot, again. Considering his mental status...
Lloyd: True. Lancelot has more versatility, but...
Cecile: Then, there's the ace pilot of the Mavericks. He stole that Sutherland, during the Saitama invasion.
Lloyd: Strategic, powerful, fast, versatile, intelligent... Every ounce of combat knowledge over the course of history flows through that brain. My Lancelot, beaten by boxing!
Cecile: You have to wonder... Why did the Primebloods and Renegades appear, when the Mavericks reared their heads?
Lloyd: Good question. The Mavericks are getting powerful, too. Their main priority is people, no matter who they are. Britannians and Elevens litter their ranks. Some of our own soldiers left to join them. I guess the Black Knights are a little more exclusive.
Cecile: But, why vigilantism?
Lloyd: I don't think it's vigilantism, Cecile. It's...something else, entirely. Their symbol... I remember it, from somewhere. It's on the tip of my tongue...