The Greatest Japanese Hero
Disclaimer:
Danganronpa is owned by Spike Chunsoft and Lerche
The Greatest American Hero is owned by Stephen J. Cannell
First off, many thanks to those who reviewed this fic, I really appreciated it and this gave me inspiration to work on the next chapter and this time a new story arc commences as Celestia Ludenberg becomes the focus of this arc, in which she gets in the faces of some mobsters, while at the same it features a Danganronpa 2 character who would become a semi-antagonist of this arc, and this will keep you fans glued in.
And now...the Celestia Ludenberg arc begins...
The scene shift to the district of Roppongi, where the place is bustling with people, and the establishments are full of customers and sellers, and nearby you can see a lot of casinos being opened and a lot of rich patrons flocking in an attempt to try and win a lot of money, though not much won due to "bad luck", and some of the patrons were forced to cash out a lot of money in a bid to continue, but in the end, they lost, and the casino owners are pleased at the revenue they earned, but their joy was short-lived as a certain customer came in, and the casino owners and staff members are rather shocked to see whop the person came in.
"Ah...!"
"Oh no!"
"It's her!"
"No! Anyone but HER!"
"Quick...someone do something!"
"Call for emergency!"
"Damn! I'll be bankrupt!"
"Damn that gothic gambler!"
The customer in question was revealed to be Celestia Ludenberg, and she rubbed her hands as she is ready to gamble, looking forward to amass another round of winnings as the casino staff members are nervously accommodating her, fearing that if she wins she would reap all of the casino's money, and soon their worst fears have been realized as Celes gambled repeatedly until she won, driving several casinos bankrupt and are forced to close down. Celes smiled as she took her winnings and left, and the casino owners were forced to lay off their workers while several men in business attires watch Celes leaving and decided to head towards a specific meeting place as they are revealed to be connected to the affected casinos.
Believe It Or Not by Joey Scarbury
(Opening Song from The Greatest American Hero)
Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself;
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
Should've been somebody else.
Believe it or not,
I'm walkin' on air,
I never thought I could feel so free;
Flyin' away on a wing and a pray'r,
Who could it be?
Believe it or not, it's just me.
Just like the light of new day,
It hit me from out of the blue;
Breakin' me out of the spell I was in,
Makin' all of my wishes come true.
Believe it or not,
I'm walkin' on air,
I never thought I could feel so free;
Flyin' away on a wing and a pray'r,
Who could it be?
Believe it or not, it's just me.
Ch. 18: Gyanburākurabu
The next several days, Celes was seen attending classes at Hope's Peak Academy, and is in high spirits after having won a lot of "collections" from the various casinos she went, and by now she amassed a lot of Yen and it was enough for her to be considered rich, and because she lied about her age and name, she was able to elude questioning from various casino owners who are attempting to smear her so that she would be forced "return" the "prizes" she won. However, she kept this a secret knowing that a "minor" can't go inside casinos since such establishments allow those who are of "legal age".
Her classmates are also unaware of her "other activities" and she casually interacted with them and there she decided to "tease" with other schoolmates by playing "mild gambling" which involved some "lesser items", and there Naegi sweat-dropped at seeing Celes winning those matches and claiming the "prizes" much to the other students' dismay, in which they were upset at losing to a girl flawlessly. Naegi saw this and wondered how and why Celes got to win and puts her opponents' money on the line and when he got the chance to see her, he talked to Celes and there she told him why she got the "title".
"Um...Celes-san..."
"Oh, it's you, Naegi-kun..."
"Hi..."
"Care to gamble with me...?"
"Ah...sorry...I don't have anything to gamble with...and I don't gamble...anyway...can I chat with you?"
"Sure..."
"I want to ask you something..."
"Okay...what is it?"
"Well..."
"Oh, that...you see..."
Celes told Naegi that she an experienced gambler, and that she appears collected and cunning by nature. She then told him that she possesses the ability to manipulate others into her bidding and can lie with a straight face, but despite these traits, she said that she is fairly intelligent, referencing several aspects of game theory such as Prisoner's Dilemma or Zero Sum Game, in which Naegi heard of those games.
Celes then mentioned to Naegi that her continuous winnings, which she claims to be a very successful trait, was due to her "luck", and even admits at one point that her great success as a gambler is partially due to sheer luck, teasing Naegi that she might have the same titles as his, but then Naegi told her that she could earn the ire of the people she crossed path with yet she assured that they couldn't do anything, yet their conversation was cut short as a teacher came and told the two tens that the next class is about to commence, and both Naegi and Celes went back to their classroom where the others are waiting.
-x-
Later, at a house somewhere within Roppongi, several casino owners went there and are talking to some men dressed like gangsters, and there the men are rather displeased at the "commission" they receive, which are "little" and that some of the casino owners reluctantly told the men that they were forced to shutdown their casino due to bankruptcy, in which they began beating up the casino owners for their "weak" and "baseless" alibi despite the casino owners begging for mercy.
"AAIEEE!"
"GGGYYYAAHHH!"
"OW-OW-OW-OW-OW!"
"PLEASE! HAVE MERCY!"
"IT'S NOT OUR FAULT!"
"WE DID ALL WE COULD!"
"STOP BEATING US!"
"GIVE US ANOTHER CHANCE!"
The men who are beating the casino owners, are being ordered to give the hapless owners a severe beating, and then two men are seen giving the commands, and their faces are shown and are identified only by their codename as Al Capone and John Dillinger, and there they ordered their subordinates to have them executed and the casino owners were pleading for their lives, but to no avail as the gunmen began shooting down the hapless victims until they are dead, and there the two gangsters began calling their other "clients", the other casino owners whom they have connections with, and told them to entice more gamblers to gamble their money so that the gamblers would lose and increase the casinos' earning so that they can give the gang a high share of commission.
"Yes, sir..."
"Will do..."
"We'll do all we can..."
"Please..."
"Okay..."
"As you wish..."
"Okie-dokie..."
"At once..."
-x-
The next few days, Celes went to Roppongi and is looking around to pass up the time and saw one of the well-known casinos and went there, managing to trick the owner into thinking she is of legal age and allowed her to gamble, and the owner is confident that she would lose her money as his previous gamblers bet their money and lost, in which his casino earned a higher percentage of commission, but what he did not expect that in the next several minutes Celes would win and half of the casino's earning was depleted, and the owner is shocked and attempted to persuade her to gamble all of her winnings.
"Miss...you...won..."
"Of course..."
"May I...make a request..."
"Which is...?"
"Would you like to gamble once more...?"
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Okay..."
Celes smiled and politely accepted on the condition that the owner bet all of his remaining money, in which he accepted and there she gambled again, and to the owner's shock, she won the the games thrown at her, and he fell to his knees as Celes stated that she won "fairly" and demanded that he keep his word and he tried to rebut and rebuke, but in the end he couldn't do anything as she collected her winning and left the casino, leaving the owner a "broken man" as he is unable to grasp the fact that he went bankrupt.
Celes then deposited her winnings to a nearby bank and then went to another casino, and there the owner offered her to play rather difficult games, such as the following games which Celes took the liberty to see which games she believed would offer her a challenge. The games that the casino owner offered Celes are:
- Bauernroulette
- Big Six wheel
- En prison
- Labouchère system
- Le multicolore
- Martingale (betting system)
- Russian roulette
To the owner's surprise, Celes played all of the games and won, and the owner was shocked that he lost all of the casino's money and attempted to "bribe" her out of taking her winnings but she manipulated the owner into submission and he had no choice but to give her the winning, which in turn led to the casino's bankruptcy, and Celes walked away a happy girl, becoming richer in a matter of half an hour, and soon she went to other nearby casinos and won, driving every establishments to go "broke".
In a matter of hours word broke out about several casino going bankrupt and soon several "collectors" from a secret mafia organization came to "collect" their commissions but were taken by surprise when told about the several casinos going bankrupt and upon verification the collectors conformed this and are now asking the casino owners about who "jinxed" them of their money and soon they managed to get an "artist's sketch" about Celes and the collectors left to head back to their headquarters.
-x-
The scene shifts back to a posh house where various gangsters are assembled and are holding a meeting on how to prevent their "client casinos" from going bankrupt and are trying to know more about Celes, in which it resulted in bickering among the gangster members which eventually led to finger-pointing and accusations for neglecting their duties which became loudly inside the house while the mediator tries to clam them down.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"ME?!"
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH, YOU BASTARD!"
"ARE YOU THREATENING ME?"
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
"YOU'RE TOO LAZY!"
"YOU'RE THE ONE TO TALK!"
"HOW DARE YOU! WANT ME TO HAVE MY MEN SHOOT YOU ALL DOWN?!"
By then someone came in and the gangsters stopped bickering with one another as the figure who showed up puts them in their place as it turns out that the person who appeared turns out to be the leader, and there the gangsters stood up to pay respect, as the person proved to be an imposing figure and accompanying him was a girl in a high school dress with tights, carrying a sword and she appeared to be a high school girl while the person is also revealed to be a high school boy, and they are identified as Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu and Peko Pekoyama, and there the gangsters became terrified of his "imposing presence", having known him.
Fuyuhiko is a small, slim boy known for having a "baby face". Because of his rather childlike build, Fuyuhiko generally presents an overly aggressive demeanor to assert that he is in fact, a big tough gangster. He has dusty blond hair that is cut very short, with a distinct pair of curved lines shaved on each side of his head. He also has freckles along the bridge of his nose and a birthmark near his mouth on the left side. His eyes are gold and he has permanent blush marks on either cheek.
Befitting his title, Fuyuhiko dresses in traditional yakuza fashion, well tailored suits. At some occasions, he wears a two piece suit consisting of a dark pinstripe jacket and pants over a white dress shirt. His tie is dark brown with an animal skull emblem on it, and he wears white dress shoes with a platform heel. On his left lapel is a pin that is in the shape of the emblem of the Kuzuryuu family, and he wears two silver rings on his right hand.
Fuyuhiko asks them why they are bickering over someone who drove several casinos bankrupt while pinning the blame on one another.
"Why are you all pointing fingers at each other over someone who drove several casinos bankrupt?"
"Well...you see..."
"It's like this..."
"It was his fault..."
"No...it was you..."
"Hey, stop blaming me..."
"Why are you looking at me..."
"Everyone...STOP blaming each other and focus on the topic at hand!"
Fuyuhiko then told the gangsters to stop blaming one another and instead work together by gathering information about Celes and use it to find her whereabouts so they can apprehend and take back what she took from the casinos so they can get their "commissions" back in which the gangsters nodded as they do not want to earn Fuyuhiko's ire, having seen what he is capable of if he starts to lose his cool and punish those who offended him. And so the gangsters began talking and eventually came to an agreement to pool their resources and do a search and capture on Celes if they ever encounter her.
-x-
Later that night, Fuyuhiko is at his room studying the artists' sketches on Celes, and he is rather intrigued that a girl like her was capable of driving various casinos bankrupt and managed to outwit the casino owners into risking their money just to get it back and yet Celes won all of the difficult casino games and finds challenge in bringing her in and have her surrender her winnings so that the Yakuza syndicate can "retrieve" their commissions.
To Be Continued...
And this ends the first part of the "Celestia Ludenberg" arc, and though it showed Naegi, the spotlight focused on Celes as she showed her talents as the "Super High School-level Gambler" and used it to win a lot of Yen and drove many casinos into bankruptcy, and Celes is someone not to be taken lightly when it comes to gambling games, and she showed that even the difficult games in casinos are a piece of cake for her.
Lastly, two characters from Danganronpa 2 appeared here, and they are going to be the antagonists of this arc, and they will be given some screen time in the next chapters.
Preview:
The next chapter will focus on Celestia Ludenberg, in which the "Super High School-level Gambler" gets in a tussle with some mobsters, and this will soon get Naegi involved once he learned of what danger befell his classmate...