The white-haired girl leaped out of her makeshift top bunk bed in fright, her faunus teammate and sister turning to see why the girl had so abruptly joined them once more. "Ruby, you nearly scared me half to death, what is wrong with you?!" Weiss snapped.
"Whoops, sorry, Weiss. I just had the best idea for what we can do today!" Ruby shouted, pumping her fists into the air to excite her comrades.
"How many cubes of sugar did you have with your coffee, Ruby?" Blake asked, trying not too hard to conceal a smile.
Ruby crossed her arms indignantly, shutting her eyes as she responded, "That's not important, but if you must know, six. But I had the best idea from walking through the halls of our fine academy after class."
"Well, don't hold out on us, spill it, sis." Yang insisted.
"Alright, you guys know there's a scavenger hunt coming up in Beacon's own Emerald Forest, right?"
All of the young girl's teammates looked at her with cocked eyebrows, instantly converging on her as they asked, "WHAT?!"
"Jeez, back off guys, give a huntress in training her breathing room. There's a scavenger hunt coming up that I heard from Professor Port, Goodwitch, and Oobleck talking about setting this up for next week on Monday and having it be a week long event."
"You heard them say this?" Weiss inquired, looking Ruby over with suspcion.
Ruby finally conceded, pressing her index fingers together as she did so, "Alright, I eavesdropped on them talking about it and I thought we could get a head start on finding the prize so..."
"Wait, are you saying we cheat?" Yang asked, almost unsure this was her own little sister before her.
"Well...uh...I...uh...cheat is such a strong word...I mean...uh..." Ruby stammered.
"It's a chance for a tactical edge, think about it! We know exactly where it is, go in, and claim the prize." Weiss interjected.
"Right, and, once we find it on the first day, we have the rest of the week to hang out and then show we found it while everyone else is off campus. We'll have Beacon all to ourselves!" Ruby added.
"I don't know, why would you want us to do this, Ruby?" Yang inquired.
"Come on, Yang, we can get a little edge and then we have the rest of the week to ourselves, think about it! No teachers, to teams, and no classes, just us doing whatever we want here!"
"I guess, if everyone's on-board." Yang muttered, looking around the room for objection.
"Why not? Beats sitting around and studying, might as well open up an entire week for anything." Blake answered.
"Alright, almost all of us are onboard. What about you, Weiss? Weiss?" Ruby asked.
Weiss stood hunched-over, dark clouds appearing behind her as she plotted in her mind, This is brilliant! We have the edge we need to win this without any opposition. We'll get the stupid prize but, more importantly, people will notice us! We'll become popular, campus celebrities, and, most importantly, everyone will rush to buy my new line of Dust Accessories that come out soon. Nothing can stop us, the only thing that can slow us down is...
"WEISS!" Ruby shouted straight into the heiress' ear.
The heiress crashed back in fright, demanding from her comrade, "WHAT?!"
"Are you coming with us or not?"
"Definitely." Weiss responded, an evil grin parting her lips.
The Bat had finally touched down in Gotham, the feeling of solid Earth a good feeling beneath his feet. He tapped a few buttons on the wrist of his gauntlet, summoning his Batmobile to his location, his trustworthy ride would arrive any moment now. "Master Bruce," his faithful butler spoke over his earpiece, breaking Bruce's concentration on waiting, "good to see you're back on Earth, any chance you'll be stopping by the residence?"
"Not now, Alfred, we have much bigger issues."
"And what would that be besides the imminent danger this city is constantly in and the questionable event today?"
"That would be the second coming of Trigon. What was that event you mentioned?"
"You don't remember, sir? Lex Luthor is in Gotham and he's paying a visit to Arkham Asylum to pitch new technology to the guards and the owner himself. The news clippings I've left you say it's top secret as a matter of state security."
"What? Why haven't I seen or heard of this?"
"I left them on your super computer's table under the assumption you'd be home sooner than later. But, here we are. What I don't understand is, if it's such an urgently secret manner, why parade it around to everyone in the papers?"
"He's flaunting it, like he wants us to go see what he's up to."
"Well, what are you going to do, Master Bruce?"
The Dark Knight growled in frustration, contemplating his next move. Trigon was coming, that much was certain, they needed everyone for the job of putting him back. But, the Justice League was on its way there, and Trigon could be days, maybe even weeks away from returning. Luthor was up to something and it was something worth checking out. Worst case scenario, he'd pitch lethal force to the guards. Best case, it's a time share scam and wastes a few hours of his time, but it was something he'd have to watch. "Alright, Alfred, I'm going to this event at Arkham, let Gordon know I'm going there and why. I'll get Clark to come with me."
"Why, sir? Your last trip not eventful enough?"
"Don't remind me. I need him for leverage on Luthor, he won't pull any stunts with him around."
"Alright, I hope you know what you're doing, sir."
"I do, too, Alfred."
The transmission went dead, Batman quickly changing calls and hearing Clark's voice fill his ear, "Bruce? What is it? Are you on your way to the Tower in Jump City?"
"Not yet, Clark," Batman answered, his vehicle arriving and top sliding open, "Luthor's up to something here in Gotham, apparently he's pitching something at Arkham. I need you to come here as quickly as possible so we can see what it is and make sure he doesn't fully pull anything."
The Batman entered his vehicle and sped off towards the edge of town, his private boat to board him and his vehicle waiting with the Commissioner, Superman protesting, "Bruce, are you sure we should do this? Luthor can wait, but Trigon's arrival deserves our utmost attention. Whatever he's up to, it can't be more dangerous than that."
"I know, but Trigon's not coming right now. We go to the prison, confirm my suspicions that he isn't doing anything illegal, and head to Jump City, ASAP. The last thing we need to worry about is Luthor plotting something while we fight an interdimensional demon. He may know something about this, he's just using that to cash in on this while we're gone."
Clark sighed on the other end, giving in to his hooded comrade's demands, "Alright, I'll be there as soon as possible. Let's just hope you're right very quickly and nothing happens in our absence, Bruce."
"That's what I'm hoping too." Batman responded, the call ending once more.
"BRUCE!" Peter shouted, jolting the scientist into consciousness.
The lab had fallen into a further state of dilapidation, coffee dumped over the the desk of his computer, dripping into a small pool on the floor. Various colors and sizes of pills spilled and lying about the floor randomly. Various chemicals began to fester and waste away in beakers and test tubes. "What is it, Peter?!" Bruce responded, shaken and weary.
"Bruce, I thought you said you'd leave tonight, what gives!?"
"Peter, if I go outside I'm almost guaranteed to destroy the city, Peter..."
"I thought you said that was after ten days?"
"I was wrong, he's getting so much stronger faster than I anticipated Peter, the slightest strain will unleash him at this point. I can't chance that."
"So, what, you're going to live here for the rest of your life? Living off junk food, pills, and loneliness?"
"If it keeps her safe and happy, that's all that matters."
"Bruce, you not being there isn't going to keep Betty or make her happy. She wants you, she loves you, and she's stuck by you this long, she can handle it."
"You don't know that for certain."
"Bruce, trust me, I've been with a lot of girls, but you have a woman. She'll stay with you no matter what, but we need to do something about this before it's too late for all of us, Bruce."
The scientist fell silent, contemplating his next move. Finally, he looked Peter dead in the eyes, instructing, "Alright, Peter, I need you to get Tony, the three of us can figure something out. But, we'll need more..."
"Who else? Thor? Natalia? Who?"
"I need the smartest men on the planet, and you and Tony are a good start. But we need more. We need Norman Osbourne, Otto Octavius, and Taskmaster. All of us combined should be able..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean them?! You want me to get them out Ravencroft and then what? Make sure they all stay in line and be good little villains or they don't get a lollipop?"
"Peter, this isn't a joke!" Bruce screamed, slamming his now massive, sickly green hand onto his desk, shattering it.
Bruce looked at his hand in horror for only a moment, diving for the floor and scooping a fistful of a combination of pills, downing them dry before looking up at Peter, tears in the scientist's eyes. "Peter, please, I'm begging you. We need the brains of Norman and Otto but we need Taskmaster as a fail safe, he can tell what I'll do if I it goes wrong and you can all stop me."
"Are you sure? If this goes wrong..."
"It can't Peter, they need to work with us if we all want to live."
Peter sighed, unbuttoning his peach shirt to reveal the webbed blue and red suit beneath, answering, "I'll do it."
"Alright, I'll get Tony here and we'll figure out what to do as soon as you get back."
Hey, folks, DAM here with a brand, spanking new upload of Vale between Worlds. Sorry this took so long, I just got caught up in other projects and this got shelved for a second. Glad I could update and hope you enjoyed, and I hope even more I'm doing this story justice...
HA, great pun, man, so, when do I show up!?
Wait...what...how did you...
Oh, come on, we all knew everyone's favorite Merc with a Mouth would show up sooner or later. Ladies and gentlemen, or the unwashed masses of non-cisgendered Tumblr users, Deadpool is joining the cast of A Vale between Worlds.
You can't just show up before I intended you to, it was supposed to be a surprise, and now you've ruined that.
Like how you're trashing an idea Scarecrow'sMainFan could do a way better job of? Come on, now we have hype, they all love me and they'll finally flock to this meh-ster piece of a...I want to say story, but I feel that's being too generous. How about an electronic coloring book everyone can print out?
I hate you and your damn fourth-wall awareness.
Oh, I hate you too, just like I hate my God of War opponent for your Death Battle rip-off. Oh, wait, was I supposed to say that? Sorry, it just slipped like your grandma on those stairs.
How did you even get here?
Wow, you're asking me that? You must really pour "tons" of "research" into that bias fanboy bullshit you call Death Battle if you don't know.
Screw it, just ruin all the surprises I had in store.
Wow, hostility, what are you going to do? Behead me like you did Weiss just because you want to?
I'm tempted but I'm not lazy like the people who created you. Thanks again guys, let's hope you all make it worth me being stuck with this hyperactive assclown.
Love you too, Zachy, tell me more about how you're kissless beta virgin.
Anyways, thanks again guys, keep the support coming, and cite your DAM sources.
Review, favorite, or follow for Deadpool, ignore for AIDS, famine, and Hitler!