Back in the story, the kids were in Gym Class, having recreational time.
"Who invited her?" Thor asked sourly as Bliss was coming over.
"Atticus," Cherry rolled her eyes. "I guess we gotta be friendly... It's tough being the new kid after all."
"Believe me, I know." Mo agreed.
"Yep," Lionel replied with a nod. "So we may as well just grin and bear it for the time being."
"Hey, guys. Can I be on your team?" Bliss asked.
"Team?" The group asked.
"Yeah, you know," Bliss smiled. "For the dodgeball game?"
The group chuckled nervously before calming down a little.
"Uh, yes, of course you can," Mo replied. "It should be, uh... Fun."
"I'm so excited to try out regular school things," Bliss beamed. "I used to be homeschooled."
"Y'don't say?" Mo asked. "That makes two of us!"
"Let's just see how we handle ourselves here," said Lionel. "Yo, Storm Cloud; remember that move we practiced last week? I think we should try it."
"Hm?" Thor blinked before looking over. "Now? I admire your boldness, but what would our class think?" he then asked with a sly, bashful smile.
Lionel's face went red. "N-Not that move! The other one!" he exclaimed, flustered.
"Oh..." Thor paused before his eyes widened. "Ohhh! Okay!"
The gym teacher soon blew the whistle and it was soon time for the students to take their positions.
"I know what you're thinking... What could be so bad about a new student, right?" Cherry's voice narrated as Bliss came to join The Toon Force's team for the game of dodgeball. "I mean, she was new in town and doesn't know how to make new friends and has to deal with a lot of kinds of changes that might seem overwhelming and stomach-churning."
"Yeah...?" Mal's voice drawled.
"Well, we were quick to learn that Bliss was very unlike a lot of new students," Cherry's voice soon replied. "Especially with the rampant rise of crimes and threats all over town, keeping The Toon Force and The Justice League's hands full that not even their combined efforts could do it all. Plus The Avengers Grimm team had their own problems to worry about when it came to storybook-based threats while we had to deal with our own criminals and there was even a brutal criminal out there by the name of 'Shadow'. Shadow seemed worse than Hush and Darkseid, not to mention King Sombra when he manipulated Atticus into staying with him after what had happened with Superman the first time."
"And yet, not as bothersome," Lionel replied. "Keep in mind, this was a year before we started working with Downpour and Shifter, so we were a little understaffed."
"So what did this Bliss do?" Mal asked.
"Well... Let's just say, she was perfect." Cherry replied.
The gym teacher blew the whistle again, starting the dodgeball game in the gym and it was almost like a war zone. Dodgeballs went flying left and right with students that got pelted screamed in agony. However, Bliss smirked as she narrowed her eyes and seemed to catch several balls in the air at once by holding out her hands in front of them.
"Telekinesis...?" Cherry mumbled, wondering if she actually saw that or not.
Bliss then smirked as she released the balls and sent them flying right back at her opponents behind the line as the students on that side yelled and screamed.
Cherry rubbed her eyes and shook her head before she was hit by a ball. "OW!" she then cried out.
"Cherry! You're out!" The teacher called.
"...I couldn't have seen that," Cherry said as she went to sit down on the bleachers. "That's crazy... That new girl couldn't possibly have telekinesis."
"Head in the game!" Lionel called as Thor picked him up with a ball, wound up, and flung him into the other team, knocking six of the kids over like bowling pins.
"How was that, Lionel?" Thor smiled.
"Perfect as always!" Lionel smiled back.
"Nice one, guys!" Atticus smiled as he caught a ball that was thrown at him before he began to throw it back.
Eventually, the game was over, and the main group headed off to whatever else was next.
"So it was quite an experience... Having Bliss around," Cherry's voice narrated. "At first, everybody seemed to love her."
All of the students cheered in excitement over Bliss as she blushed at their attention.
"However, she seemed perfect... A little too perfect for my liking..." Cherry's voice continued. "She seemed better at writing and drawing than I was... Told funnier jokes than Lionel... Was tougher and stronger than Mo... Smarter than Atticus... More sensitive and better at cooking than Thor... Something was terribly wrong... But Atticus wasn't giving up and decided we could still use a new friend especially after losing Sabrina."
"C'mon, guys; she's not all bad." Atticus insisted.
"Bullshit! Nobody's funnier than I am, at least not on purpose," said Lionel. "Nobody's better at cooking and being sensitive than Thor, or better at art and writing than Cherry. And if she's so talented, how is she having trouble making friends?"
"Well... I dunno," Atticus shrugged. "She's still new and she probably doesn't know how to make friends. I still think that we should give her a chance."
"Oh, that is so you, Atticus," Cherry rolled her eyes. "Plus I'm pretty sure that she has her own superpowers. I know what I saw in Gym Class today!"
"Who's calling you crazy? I saw it too!" Lionel replied. "How else could she have gotten all those dodgeballs at you in such a short amount of time?"
"You saw that too?" Cherry asked.
"Mm-hmm." Lionel nodded.
"Oh, good," Cherry sighed in relief. "I thought maybe I was the only one who witnessed that."
"I didn't see it myself, I do believe you, Cherry, but I don't think Bliss is all bad." Atticus replied.
Suddenly, Thor felt his phone buzz before he took it out to see a message from an unknown source. "'Watch your backs, Riverdale, for Shadow might come for you next if you aren't prepared'," he then read aloud. "Shadow?"
"That must be that guy who's arranging a lot of crime waves all throughout the country," Cherry guessed. "I've heard about him and he even has a gang of followers who chant 'Huzzah' in his honor."
"He calls himself 'Shadow'?" Lionel snorted. "And people call Batman an edgelord..."
"That's what it says," Thor shrugged before showing his phone to show a mysterious black-masked man. "This is him, I think."
"Yes, it was true," Cherry's voice then narrated. "This Shadow had a gang and he was spreading all throughout the suburbs, being too much to handle, especially with his gang... Worse than The Joker, worse than Lex Luthor, worse than even Hush or Darkseid. He had a bit of a gang with him, almost like the delinquent gang of The Jokerz."
"Sounds worse than Audrey and The Clones." Mal's voice commented.
"We also needed some help and it would be from an unlikely new ally who would assist us." Cherry's voice narrated.
"And luckily, we should be getting to that part soon enough." Lionel added. "I dunno... Is it really accurate to say he was worse than Darkseid? This guy was just some mortal dude. Darkseid was from space and had all those crazy powers, so we might be stretching it, y'know?"
"I know, I just want them to realize how important and serious that Shadow guy was," Cherry explained. "Regardless, the town was in need of a new hero before crime would conquer the whole planet and I don't just mean with our evil counterparts who worked with people like Ultraman or Owlman."
"Whatever happened to those guys anyway?" Mal asked. "Seemed like there was more to them than just that one story."
"We'll get to that another time," Cherry said. "The big thing is that we needed a new hero, not to mention a distraction from Bliss, and that solution seemed to be on the way and in the shape and form of someone we wouldn't think to become the next hero in our Toon Force line-up. However, there was another story that was going to be told during this one during Shadow's reign of terror and taking over the universe with his hopeless crimewaves and emotion-crushing plans."
Meanwhile, a man was shown to be speaking to another as they saw Shadow on TV as he had gotten away with another heartbreaking crime and was even too much for The Justice League to handle as the man in front of the desk beside the TV sat with a young blonde woman. "80% of television news coverage is about crime and violence. Children learning from a young age that life's about surviving, not thriving."
"Gangsters are role models, the drug dealers are career advisers, but we have a thought." The blonde woman added as the man soon brought out a laptop computer onto the owner's desk to show a pitch that they both shared.
"What we're trying to say is we need a new role model for kids," The man added as he typed on the keyboard before pulling up a PDF document and showed it to the man in glasses in front of them. "Someone who's inspirational, who gives power back to the people. Valentine is a superhero, in the movie."
"So you can see, this is very important, and-" The blonde woman began to add.
"Look... Bono, Ms. Dahl, my job is to make money, not to inspire people." The bespectacled man began, removing his glasses as he looked them both in the eyes.
"...You want us to go?" The blonde woman asked.
"So glad you understand," The man smirked. "Now take that little rugrat out the door with you. I just hope she's not drawing on the walls or getting her juice sticky everywhere or whatever. I'm not that fond of children either."
The blonde woman glared and got up. "Fine, then... Prick..." she muttered as she got to her feet. "C'mon, Darla... Let's go."
The young blonde girl looked up and soon followed the blonde woman as she took her hand, holding a doll in her free arm. "Mary, did you tell him about Valentine?" she then asked.
"Yes, we both did," The blonde woman nodded. "Well, we tried to anyway. He didn't seem that interested."
"Cheer up, Mary," Bono smirked. "We're gonna show the world Valentine one way or another. I just know it."
"I hope so..." Mary sighed as they walked off.
"Did we at least get money for me to go to school?" Darla asked.
"I'm sorry, Mary, but I don't think you'll be able to go to school for a while at this rate," Mary frowned before glaring in impatience towards the man with them. "No matter what Bono says."
"We'll get Valentine into work, you guys will see," Bono promised. "We had this deal so we could save the world from crime and peril where fabled The Justice League can't and there'll be hope and prosperity throughout the globe."
"That's what you said weeks ago," Mary rolled her eyes in doubt. "Darla, go wait in the car. Bono and I have to talk in private."
"Okay." Darla nodded as she went to go wait.
Mary nodded as she soon faced Bono with a stern look on her face.
"What?" Bono shrugged. "I'm helping you guys out."
"You're our last hope," Mary replied firmly. "You said that we would be able to do this so we could make some money and I could send Darla to school. It's been rough for us 10 years ago and it's getting worse with her going without an education or having any friends. I was on my own for the past 10 years, then when we met, you made a lot of promises that we'd be in the lap of luxury."
"And you will!" Bono insisted. "Once we find the right Valentine and once this makes money. It'll just take a little time."
"I bet," Mary rolled her eyes. "You just better hope it happens soon... Otherwise, I don't think I'll be able to keep Darla with me for much longer..." she then said with a weary sigh before looking out to the car as Darla was on her way there before smiling and was about to pet an orange tabby cat and white Persian cat who she seemed to know. "They keep threatening to take her away and send her to a proper home... She needs me and I need her... We're the only family we have for each other."
"Look, it's going to be okay," Bono replied. "We're gonna sell this project, no matter what!"
"Hmm... We'll see..." Mary replied firmly before storming off after Darla.
Bono sighed to himself before taking a deep breath and followed her out to go and see Darla.
"Oh, you two look so hungry," Darla said as she sat with her cat friends before she took out a box of her favorite snack. "Animal cracker?" she then offered to the two feral cats.
The cats mewed and nuzzled up to Darla, both of them purring.
"Here you go, Danny," Darla smiled at the male tabby cat, then fed the female Persian cat next. "You too, Sawyer."
The two cats proceeded to eat the crackers and purred in response. Darla smiled as she hugged them both.
"Scat!" Mary scolded, scaring off Danny and Sawyer as they mewed and hissed before running away. "Darla, those animals could have fleas!"
"I'm sorry, Mary... But they were hungry..." Darla frowned softly.
"I'm sorry too, Darla, but they could make you sick," Mary replied. "They'll be fine."
"Sure... Right after I see them again and let them know you won't hurt them." Darla whispered to herself before she put away her animal crackers for now.
Mary and Bono got into the car, and drove off soon afterwards. Darla looked out from the backseat as Danny and Sawyer went back to the alleys that they had come from.
"So, where do you plan on taking us now, Bono?" Mary asked.
"I think I have another idea on getting us Valentine since you won't do it and Darla seems too young for the part." Bono replied calmly.
"Well, then let's hear it." Mary suggested.
"Well, I heard of this man named Wawan who works in the fashion industry." Bono began.
"I heard of him!" Darla piped up before she made her voice sound suave and smooth. "He's fab-u-lous~"
"Uh, yes, thank you, Darla." Bono smiled bashfully.
"Fashion industry?" Mary asked. "Bono...?"
"Just trust me, okay?" Bono replied. "He's bound to have someone we could use for Valentine. He also happens to be a friend of mine."
"We need someone who can fight." Mary reminded.
"Yes, and we will, someone's bound to be beautiful and know martial arts." Bono defended.
And so, Bono, Mary, and Darla went to their next stop while Darla nibbled on her animal crackers in the backseat.
We are soon shown backstage somewhere where girls were getting made up and dressed for something special.
"Okay, girls, girls, girls, five more minutes to runway, okay?" A "fabulous" man said as he looked at the girls who were getting ready while Mary and Bono came in to visit before arranging one girl's hair as it was a little messed up.
"Mr. Wawan?" A helper called, coming towards the man.
"Yes?" Wawan replied.
"There are some people here for you." The helper said, pointing at Mary and Bono.
Wawan looked over and looked wide-eyed at the man who had come over. "Oh, my God... Bono?"
Bono smiled innocently as he stood with Mary.
"And who is this?" Wawan asked before looking up and down at Mary's lavender dress. "That outfit is so 1955, I'm sorry, baby~"
"Hm..." Mary narrowed her eyes.
"This is an associate of mine: Mary Louise Dahl," Bono introduced. "We'd like to talk to you about something."
"Yes? What is it?" Wawan then asked.
ONE PRIVATE CONVERSATION LATER...
"What?! Superhero?!" Wawan gasped.
"Come on... Look, we're trying to make a movie," Bono told the male fashionista. "We need your help and just keep it down."
"We're looking for a beautiful girl, young, good at martial arts," Mary informed. "Unfortunately I'm not a very strong fighter."
"I know this doesn't seem important now, but believe me, these people are about to create The Dark Avenger in that graphic novel of yours, Malissa." Cherry's voice then narrated.
"...You don't say..." Mal rolled her eyes.
"Don't take that tone with me." Cherry scolded.
Back with the group, everyone was studying together at the Fudo household until it would be time for dinner. Cherry checked her phone before she got a new message.
"You gotta go now?" Atticus asked.
"Probably soon," Cherry replied before she checked her message. "Ah... Aunt Selina says we have to come home soon and get a little dressed up. She thinks we should have dinner with the Waynes tonight since Bruce invited her over for us to be her plus-ones."
"Never been a plus-one before," Lionel replied. "Sounds... Exclusive, and very important."
"So... I guess this would be your version of a family dinner?" Atticus asked.
"Pretty much, yeah," Cherry replied. "As long as Damian isn't being a pain in the ass, though there aren't very many odds in that probability."
"Heh... Look who stayed awake in Math Class this time." Atticus smirked.
"Whatever..." Cherry rolled her eyes before smirking back. "Maybe he'll be too distracted with Teen Titans thoughts tonight anyway... I think he's getting pretty close with Raven~"
"Yep... Those two got sparks a-flyin' between them," chuckled Lionel. "Same case for Yang and Riley... Or Todd and Yin."
"How are those guys by the way?" Thor asked Lionel. "I feel like we never see them anymore. Aside, from ya know, seeds of romance blossoming."
"Love... Yuck..." Patch rolled his eyes from the floor.
"Don't be like that, Patch," Thor replied. "I'm sure puppy love is bound to come your way in the near future."
"Sure, if you say so." Patch rolled his eyes before smirking.
"So, Yin, Yang, Todd, and Riley?" Thor then asked Lionel.
"They're doing alright," Lionel replied. "Still part of the team, and doing whatever they can to help out."
"Maybe they could help out a little with this crime wave from that Shadow guy," Thor suggested. "I think we might have all the help we can get."
"Yeah... The League and our Toon Force can only do so much," Cherry added. "Not to mention The Avengers Grimm have their own hands full with Boogeyman cases terrorizing the children of their world of Once Upon a Time."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about that too much," Atticus said. "I'm sure we'll all be fine if we all stay strong together."
"Hope you're right on that, dude," Lionel nodded. "We sure could use another hero."
"Especially... After what happened..." Thor said softly.
"It's okay," Cherry said, taking his hand before squeezing it. "She wouldn't want us to be upset after losing her."
"You're right. You're right." Thor smiled sadly before nodding.
Everyone else shared a smile before they all had a group hug before they split up for the rest of the evening.