Seto Kaiba, The Dark Knight
Summary: Batman, Lt. Mutou, and DA Marik Ishtar form an alliance in an effort to rid Domino of crime. The trio's progress, however, is strained by the arrival of a new criminal who calls himself the Joker. A canonized sequel of Batman Begins: Enter Seto Kaiba.
Chapter 12: First Confrontation
Firing his shotgun up into the air, the villain announced, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" Meanwhile, his goons handle their part by pointing their guns at the (now) fearful guests.
"We are tonight's entertainment!" stated the clown, quickly partaking in a shrimp cocktail, "I have only one question. Where is Marik Ishtar?!" Not getting a response, the Joker walks around the room, pointing his shotgun at a couple of female patrons. Taking one of the wine glasses on a nearby table, he shook most of its contents before taking a sip. He then resumes his interrogation.
"You know where Marik is?" asked the Joker, slapping a guest's face, "Do you know who he is?"
Walking down the halls in another part of his penthouse is Seto Kaiba, apparently on his way to change into his other work clothes. In front of him, standing a few feet away is a lone shotgun-toting clown thug, who exclaimed, "Hands up, pretty boy!"
Much to the hoodlum's surprise, the so-called "pretty boy" is much more than a "pretty" face. Before the thug could react, the billionaire quickly wrenched the weapon away and bashed the hoodlum's face with said weapon. After knocking out his would-be attacker, Kaiba disassembled the gun apart and proceeded towards his destination.
Grabbing a man's face, the fiend questioned, "Do you know where I can find Marik? I need to talk to him about something. Just something little."
Still not receiving an answer, the Joker shakes the guest's bald scalp as he left to ask another invitee. "No..."
Finally arriving at one of several of his bedrooms, the billionaire finds a couple (presumably two strangers who just met that night) standing near a bed. From the looks of things, it is heavily implied that they were about to begin a one-night stand.
Buckling his belt, the man asked, "What's going on out there? Kaiba?!"
Not wanting to get involved, the younger man pressed a hidden button, opening up a secret passage right in front of his person. Adjusting her dress, the woman said, "Oh, thank God. You got a panic room." However, the couple's hope of having some intimate privacy within the confines of a supposed panic room were rejected, as Kaiba entered through the small secret entrance.
"Hey, wait!"
"Oh, you (fucking) gotta be kidding me," cursed the disappointed woman.
Walking up to Marik's adopted father, the malefactor stated, "You know, if I can't find Marik Ishtar, I'll settle for his loved ones!"
The Egyptian's benefactor replied, "We're not afraid of thugs like you."
"You know..." replied the clown, nibbling on a Muscat berry and tapping his hand on a serving tray, "you remind me of my father."
The Joker seized the elderly gentleman's head and pulled a switchblade close to his mouth. "I hated my father!"
"All right, that's enough!" cried a voice several feet from behind. Curious about who interrupted him from doing harm against his latest would-be victim, the psychopath turned his head back, and saw Téa Gardner. Shoving the man aside, he then said, "Well, hello, beautiful..."
As he uttered these words and approached the brunette (who crossed her arms to make herself seem more imposing), the villain flipped his hair with his knife wielding hand. "You must be Marik's squeeze. And you are beautiful."
Hovering around Gardner like a predator does with his prey, the sociopath continued, "You look nervous. Is it the scars? Want to know how I got 'em?"
Grabbing her face (to which Téa tries to resist by turning her head away but to no avail), the clown demanded, "Come here. Hey! Look at me. So I had a girlfriend, beautiful, like you, who tells me that I worry too much. Who tells me that I ought to smile a bit more. Who gambles and gets in deep with the (loan) sharks. Damit, look at me! So... one day, they carve her face. Obviously, we don't have money for surgeries; she naturally can't handle the trauma. I just want to see her smile again, hmm? I just want her to know that I don't care about her scars. So... I stick a razor inside my mouth and do this..."
The disfigured psycho imitates cutting his mouth open by wagging his tongue (as a pseudo razor).
"...to myself. But you know what happens? She can't stand the sight of me! She offs herself. Now, I see the funny part of this. Now, I'm always smiling."
Taking her chances, Gardner quickly knees the fiend in the groin. Shockingly, the masochist recovers from the pain by laughing it off. "Ooo... haha. Ha," remarked the clown, shaking his knife at Téa, "A little fight in you, eh? I like that."
A hoarse voice retorted, "Then you're gonna LOVE me."
Confused, the Joker turns his head ever so slightly... only to get his face connected by the Batman's fierce left jab. The sheer momentum of said punch backed the clown a few feet away. Once his opponent was momentarily down for the count, the dark figure focuses his attention on taking out the henchmen. He elbows one nearby (who wore a stocking over his head) twice on the shoulders, stunning him; the black-clad fighter proceeded to manhandle him to another hoodlum who circled his way from behind.
One handgun-toting ruffian charges towards the knight, but ends up socking his fellow thug (the same one that was manhandled) since his original target (Batman) deftly positioned himself away. The masked vigilante crouches his body and strikes against the ruffian's back, sending him in a world of pain.
Seizing a stocking-masked thug by the head, the dark knight delivers a swift, precise backfist on his associate's (the ruffian) neck, finally incapacitating him. The Joker, watching the scuffle, brings his last remaining thug to join into the fray. Once the Batman thrashed the second-to-last goon, he turns around... and somehow, the final thug slugs him; he takes the full brunt and is promptly sent on the floor as a result.
Somewhat fazed, Kaiba recovers from the hit, but not quickly enough as the clown snaps his leg against his armored adversary. The dark knight retaliates by striking near his foe's groin. Apparently, this attempt had little-to-no effect. Activating a hidden switch on his person, a concealed blade pops out of the madman's right shoe.
With this equipped, the malevolent clown was now ready to deal out some punishment of his own. Sure enough, he manages to puncture AND harm his opponent during his following assault. This feat was possible by the minion having restrained the vigilante.
"Aggghhh!" screamed Batman, who was in a moderate amount of pain.
Recoiling from his own attack, the psychopath attempted yet another kick. Meanwhile, the vigilante gets the upper hand on the thug by throwing him aside. Before the fiend could launch another stab, the caped crusader, twisting (like a bending straw, not rotating) his torso to his right side, side-fists into the clown, shoving him away.
Knocked back on the floor again, the Joker, realizing that the Batman is too formidable a force than expected, frantically reaches for a gun as a last resort... whereas at the same time, the masked vigilante trounces the final hoodlum. Turning around, the dark figure sees the psychopath holding Téa as his hostage (at gunpoint).
"Drop the gun," implored Kaiba.
"Sure... first, you take off your little mask, and show us all who you REALLY ARE! Hmm?" replied the villain, as Téa shook her head signaling 'No'.
Firing his weapon at a wall-sized window, the terrorist brings Gardner perilously close to the building's edge. In response to this, the armored figure demanded, "Let her go."
"Ooo... those are very poor choice of words, don't you think? HAHAHAHA!" retorted the Joker, releasing his captive from his grasp.
The Batman, not one to allow an innocent die on his watch (esp. those close to him), promptly goes after the damsel in distress. Leaping out of the shattered window, the dark savior slides down the slanted roof in hot pursuit; meanwhile, Gardner can't help but scream in panic. Although the caped crusader manages to reach Téa in time, he consequently loses his purchase. As the two begin to plummet downward into the busy streets of Domino, the memory fabric's glider function is immediately implemented.
Not realizing this, Gardner continued her screams. After dropping down several stories, they finally land (albeit a bit roughly) on top of a taxi cab, much to the driver's displeasure.
"Dijobu (Are you all right)?" asked Kaiba, concerned if his old friend was hurt in the fall.
"I'm fine... Let's not do that again," answered Téa, "Is Marik okay?"
"Yes, he's safe."
"Arigato (Thank you)," whispered Gardner.
By the time the dark knight returned to the penthouse, the Joker and his men were already gone.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next chapter – Chapter 13: Doing some detective work
For those of you who read this fic, I do hope that you were thoroughly entertained as I was when I was writing up this chapter. A constructive review would indeed be much appreciated, esp. by someone whose story was read by one or two persons in various countries, including a very obscure one called "Mauritius".
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Aiko, if you're reading this, it means that I could not find a way to practically respond to your anonymous review. Like many others, I do agree with your belief that Heath Ledger is way too good an actor to be played by an anime character. Hope that you enjoy the rest.
