(Heavy voice) I LIVE!
Hey ya'll! I'm terribly late aren't I?
Boy Jesus howdy was last semester the most stressful in my life. It was like dealing with cockroaches. You crush one assignment and there are like two more assignments behind it. Or three. Or a dozen.
Or hell.
And I didn't quite catch a break during the… er, break, either. It turned out to be busier than I thought. Would have had this out earlier otherwise.
Regardless, I'm back now, and ready to continue the story. But first I'd like to answer a few questions and respond to some viewers.
Matt, the nice guest reviewer- Kaiba's manga backstory is his background at its most unadjusted and least watered down, and I felt it really helped him relate to Pacifica, even if he'd still be Kaiba about it.
Guest who was wondering about Kaiba and Bruce- It's not this chapter, but I will bring up why this "encounter" came off as if they were familiar with one another next chapter.
Lord Razer- I never got to say thank you for the encouragement for these semesters. So thank you. Every word counted.
JTD3- Yes, unfortunately since I've already added DC into the mix, putting in Marvel would just make things just an eensy weensy bit crowded. With other characters though, I may not put in ones other people know well, because I myself might not know about them well. For instance, a long while back someone requested Adrien Agreste, but I know very little about that character. Besides, all of the guests were already predetermined.
Ok, for this chapter, I'm going to start breaking away from what I usually do. Last four chapters I would start with Pacifica first, then introduce the guest character, then have them and her meet. But now that we have all the main guests out of the way, we're gonna stop using that pattern and start mixing things up.
A head's up for those who know Yugioh, but don't know the manga, the names are different.
Yugi's still Yugi, but…
Tea Gardner is Anzu Mazaki
Joey Wheeler is Katsuya Jonouchi, and
Tristan Taylor is Hiroto Honda.
Tien: #%& -ing Weaboo…
Quiet you. Anyway, let the chapter begin!
Heroes, Villains, and Duelists- Oh My!
Day 1- 4:45 P.M.
"ALRIGHT!" Jonouchi shouted into the afternoon air rather loudly. "Finally outta that stuffy plane and onto solid land! Ultimate vacation, here we come!"
Honda slid up beside him. "No kidding! Look at all that high-class stuff just waiting for us!" He said, gesturing out to the rest of the resort. The two stared at all the lit-up buildings, twinkles in their eyes.
"And yet you two look like you're ready to go to a fast food place." The two of them turned to see Anzu walking towards them, in a beautiful yellow dress. "Was it really too much for you guys to put on tuxes? We're going to stand out like a sore thumb with the both of you in such casual clothing."
Jonouchi shrugged. "What? It's not like it's against the rules. Even if it were, we're practically VIP's! They aren't gonna throw us out cause we're a little underdressed. Besides, I don't do tuxes."
"Yugi's the VIP Jonouchi. We were only able to come because he invited us. If anything, he's the one they won't dare kick off the island." Anzu stated.
"They aren't wrong though, Anzu." Yugi said, stepping out of the plane. He was wearing his latest "usual attire", including purple dress shirt, white vest and pants, and a tie. "It's not a written rule to wear a tux. But Anzu's also right. You two don't want to get into too much trouble. Even Whimsley's staff have their limits."
"You wound me, Yugi." Jono clutched his chest in mock hurt, and Honda did the same. "Hear that Honda? Our friends have no faith in us."
"It's tragic how little they believe in us." The two of them hammed it up.
"Oh, that's enough." Anzu interrupted their performance. "This is the first time we've been all together in a while. We don't want it to be cut short."
They wiped off their "tears" and smiled at them. "Don't worry Anzu, we're only kidding. Trust me, neither of us want to ruin our reunion night." Jonouchi stated.
Honda nodded. "Yeah, we'll be on our best behaviors."
Anzu raised an eyebrow. "I don't know… the release party of Yugi's big game tells me different."
"Hey, that old lady was asking for it." Joey defended himself.
"So many chickens…" Honda shuddered. Yugi and Anzu sweatdropped.
"Well, now that we're together again, we can catch up on what we've been doing. Which reminds me Jonouchi… On the American news sites, I noticed that they call you "Joey Wheeler". What's up with that?" Yugi asked in genuine confusion.
"Yeah, I heard that too, when I was in my dancing class in New York. In fact, they seem to love you up at the big apple." Anzu added.
"Oh, that. I'll tell you about it, but let's head to the party in the meantime." They made their way to an island limo that had been expecting them. Once they got in, Jono continued. "Yeah, that was actually because of something that happened in New York. Remember? I was in town for a tournament, but you also had to play a part in a big show, so we couldn't meet up." Jonouchi noted to Anzu, who snapped her fingers in response.
"That's right, I remember hearing that you made a pretty clean sweep of the competition."
Jono sighed. "Well, almost. The guy I fought in the finals was giving me trouble. And he was a jerk too, in every way."
"Wait, don't tell me you're gonna explain every turn in explicit detail like you always do." Honda stopped Jonouchi before he could start.
Jonouchi tilted his head. "Uh, yeah? Why?" Honda and Anzu groaned.
"Jonouchi, we keep telling you we remember how the game works. You don't need to describe every single move and card effect to us." Anzu explained.
"Oh, come on! You can't tell me you remember how each and every single card works after all this time! Besides, I've gotten new cards since we met last." Joey replied. Yugi simply chuckled at the small argument his friends were having. Truth be told though, he had to admit they had a point.
Honda sighed. "Regardless, it just really doesn't 'sound' as exciting as it might've looked."
Jonouchi put his hands up in defeat. "Alright, I'll compromise with you two. I'll only explain the last few turns, okay?" Honda and Anzu looked at each other before nodding in acceptance. "We good? Alright then, as I was saying…"
His name was Jerry, and well… the audience actually kinda hated him too. Probably cause he was one of America's most hated players. And I could tell why during our duel. He had a lot of frustrating cards. It earned him the "great honor" of being called the "Cheap-Shot Duelist".
Now it was one thing to have these cards, that I could handle, but boy did this guy have an ego. He was an elitist jerk who thought he was the next big name in dueling. He even said he could beat Yugi and Kaiba if he wanted to (He rambled pretty long on that point). And to top it all off… he kept demeaning me by calling me "Joey". With all of that added up, I knew I had to beat him. Even if he did have me in a tight spot…
"What's the matter 'Joey'? No more strategies?" Jerry taunted (LP: 2600). Currently on his field was a Dark Blade in attack mode and a Giant Soldier of Stone in defense. He currently had no spell or traps on the field, as he had already used them in Jonouchi's last turn. "Too bad. Your Rocket Warrior just lost its chance to take out my Dark Blade."
"Would've gotten him if you hadn't played that trap card." Jono's (LP:500) said Rocket Warrior was surrounded by two Scapegoat tokens in defense. One spell was face down on his field. "But this duel isn't over yet."
"Tough words "Joey", but they're wrong." Jerry drew from his deck. "Because now I have all the cards I need to crush you. And the world will finally know how incompetent you really are. I play polymerization! I combine my Dark Blade with my Pitch-Black Dragon in my hand to create Dark Blade the Dragon Knight!"
"Eh, I've seen better Dragon Knights."
"You won't be so snarky when I add Fusion Weapon to him! It increases his attack and defense by 1500 points!" Jono watched as the monster's life points grew immensely, dwarfing any monster he had in his deck. His face however, remained undeterred. "Now 'Joey', I think it's time we showed the world who the better duelist is!" At this comment, the audience began booing, and throwing things in Jerry's direction. Said duelist was now grumbling. "Bunch of ingrates… Go, Dark Blade! Attack Joey's Rocket Warrior! Slice him to shreds!"
Jono smirked. "Not so fast! I told you the duel wasn't over! Activate Quick Play Spell- Roulette Spider!" The digital form of the card tilted up, and a light burst out. From that light, a small spider with an arrow on its back end emerged, and flew to the middle of the field. Beneath it appeared the image of a large spinner, with numbers from 1 to 6. Meanwhile, Dark Blade had become frozen by an aura of energy.
"Roulette what now?" Jerry questioned, wondering what was happening. The audience had gasped, and grown silent in tension. "What's going on?"
The spider began spinning around, each spot flashing as it went by. "Let me show you, Jerry. See, when you declare an attack on me, I activate Roulette Spider and target that monster. This card has six different effects, depending on which number it lands on. Three of those effects could mean the end of me… but the other three will mean the end for you. All you got to worry about is which number it lands on. It's a pretty risky gamble… but you know what they say- go big or go home." By the time Jono was done, the spider had already begun to stop. Jerry sat there, sweating a bit. Meanwhile, Jonouchi was stone-faced again, focusing intently on the result.
The spider slowed to a crawl, until it stopped… on the number six. Jonouchi smiled deviously. "Hehe… Ok, Jerry! Say goodbye to Dark Blade!"
"What?!"
"The effect of number six is that your monster is automatically destroyed!" Said Dragon Knight exploded into digital pixels, unable to resist the spell card's effect. The spider disappeared soon after.
Jerry grumbled again, this time gritting his teeth. "Hrgh… Whatever! My Soldier of Stone is enough to keep your Rocket Warrior at bay, at least until I get the next card of your destruction. I end my turn."
"Sorry Jerry, but I can say that the duel really is over now. I draw…" Placing the card in his hand, he then took a different one from his hand, and placed it on his duel disk. "…and sacrifice my two scapegoats to summon a brand-new monster of mine! BATTLEGUARD KING!" As the two spherical goats disappeared, a large ogre in armor burst from the light on the ground, wielding a giant metallic club.
Jerry was sweating again. "An… intimidating monster to be sure. But my Soldier is still in defense! I won't take damage when your Battleguard destroys it. And Rocket Warrior doesn't have enough attack points to end me this turn! I'll be safe long enough for me to turn things around on my next draw!"
"Do you ever shut up?" Jonouchi sighed. "I activate Battleguard King's special ability! By sacrificing any number of Warrior type monsters on my field, my Battleguard gets to attack that many more times!"
"…Huh?" Jerry said, a terrified look on his face.
"Well, that sure got you to be quiet. So yeah, heads up? I'm sacrificing my Rocket Warrior. You know what that means, right?" Jonouchi said with another evil grin. "Battleguard King! Attack Giant Soldier of Stone, then attack Jerry's life points directly!"
The giant ogre swung his club around, gaining a pretty high velocity with it until it finally smashed it right into the stone soldier in front of it. The soldier burst into tiny little pieces, and the ogre directed its attention to Jerry, who was now sweating buckets. Swinging its club again, it decided to slam it down on top of the elitist. It was a hologram, so it didn't hurt him physically… but watching his life points fall to zero certainly hurt his pride. "No… I had this in the bag…" The audience began cheering.
Jonouchi snorted. "You're kidding, right? The moment you started acting all high and mighty, there was no way I was gonna lose to you. I don't take any crap from people who think they're better than everyone." The audience seemed to have heard his words, and cheered even louder.
"After that, my popularity in America skyrocketed. From what I heard, two well-known fans in the duel monsters fandom took Jerry's nickname for me and the Roulette Spider I used and coined it into my new nickname- Joey Wheeler. They brought it to my attention on an AMA, uh… 'PinkieTech' and 'IshiyamaFan10'. And it just kind of stuck." Jonouchi finished.
"Huh. I guess being the underdog really helped you out." Anzu teased, and Joey stuck his tongue out at her. "What about you, Honda?"
"Well, turns out after fixing Jonouchi's duel disk for so many years, I gained a knack for it." Honda followed up the teasing on Jonouchi, earning him a glare. "I left my dad's factory and started a Duel Disk Repair Shop. I've gotten pretty handy with the things, even the newer ones. Doesn't hurt that I actually like tinkering with them. Which is good, since business is lively." Honda gestured to Jonouchi. "And since he likes to come back home to have me repair his duel disk, his popularity gives me popularity."
"Eh, what can I say? I trust you." Jonouchi then proceeded to start grappling Honda in the limo. "Plus, I'm not able to get back at the other mechanics if they throw snarky comments at me!"
Anzu sighed. "I guess it's good they didn't wear tuxes."
Once the two had stopped trying to beat each other up, Jono looked at Anzu. "How about you, Anzu? Any interesting stories?"
"Not really. Dancing school's been pretty good. But I suppose life in New York has been… interesting. Living arrangements went off to a creepy start. When I got to the school, some jerk from a motel across the street started hitting on me."
Jonouchi and Honda grew a bit agitated. "Some creep giving you trouble?"
"Not anymore." Anzu calmed them down. "But yeah, for a while, he had a disturbing fixation on me. He would go onto campus and keep trying to get me to go out with him and would often follow me when I went places."
Jonouchi fumed a bit. "Geez, what an asshole. So what happened?"
"Well, I had a restraining order placed on him obviously. But he kept breaking it. Eventually, I had a friend help me get him caught by police."
Yugi was beginning to shuffle uncomfortably in his seat. He looked rather unsettled by the story. Jonouchi and Honda took notice. "You okay, Yugi?" Jonouchi asked.
"Oh, uh-it's just… I kind of hoped we'd stop encountering people like that after High School. I especially wish Anzu would stop getting bothered by perverts. I don't like seeing her so distressed." He said in a sad tone.
Anzu placed a hand on his shoulder, in an attempt to tell him she was fine now, but also to prevent him from beating himself up. She looked at him sincerely and smiled, which Yugi returned.
Jonouchi and Honda watched the encounter, and Jono begin whispering to Honda. "Oh boy. Sexual tension's beginning anew…"
"No kidding." Honda replied.
Unfortunately, Anzu seemed to have heard that, and shot them an irritated glare. She turned back to Yugi. "So… what have uh… you been doing since last time?" She asked, though her tone of voice made it seem as if she already knew the answer to that.
Yugi looked a bit nervous. "Oh, well… nothing big. Kaiba and I have just been working on improving Spherium. Nothing… nothing else is happening."
The somewhat strange reply got him strange looks from the two other guys in the limo, but they simply shrugged it off. As if on cue, the limo stopped, having arrived at the mansion.
The four of them stepped out, taking in the view of the large building. "Holy crap. How does one guy live in such a big building by himself? It'd just feel weird to me."
"Maybe, but the number of bedrooms does make for a lot of sleeping options." They heard a voice say, and turned to see Mokuba waiting for them. They greeted him with joy, glad to see another old friend.
"Awesome to see you Mokuba!" Jonouchi stated, then looked into the mansion. "So, Kaiba's in there trying to yell at the host?"
"Emphasis on trying. Apparently, the host is off looking into some issues on the island, so now he has to wait. Come on, let's walk inside while I message Seto."
The interior of the mansion was fancy, to say the least. Jonouchi wondered if every single corner of this place had been dressed up. He certainly wouldn't be surprised.
"By the way, where's Ryou? I would've thought he'd be joining you." Mokuba asked.
They all grew a bit sullen at that. Anzu was the one to speak up. "Bakura's been staying with Marik's family. He's been trying to make sure he no longer has any connection to Dark Bakura or the Millenium Ring."
Jonouchi continued. "Poor guy… why couldn't that spirit ever find someone else to possess? We barely see him anymore cause he's so concerned that the spirit will come back somehow."
Yugi spoke up. "He'll be able to move past the pain eventually. We all will. It's only a matter of time before we finally get rid of Dark Bakura's influence on our friendship. Until then, we just have to believe that Marik, Ishizu and Rishid can help him."
Mokuba wiped away his comical tears. "Well, that news made me a little depressed at first, but as usual Yugi, you know how to bring hope back into the picture." Yugi gave him a thumbs up.
As they moved through the ballroom, Honda looked around. "Did we really have to come around the mansion first? Seems pretty boring to me."
"Well, Mr. Whimsley did want me to make an appearance here when I got to the island." Yugi replied. "I didn't want to disappoint him."
"Once again proving that you are far too nice for your own good." Seto Kaiba suddenly said, emerging from the crowd.
"Hey Big Bro!" Mokuba walked up to him.
"Well, well, well. If it ain't rich boy himself." Jonouchi stated. Kaiba simply ignored him, already getting on Jonouchi's nerves.
However, Kaiba did shift his eyes to Anzu in a quick glare. "Anzu."
"Kaiba." She said back without flinching. Kaiba's eyes shifted back to his brother.
"Still waiting on Whimsley?"
"Another one came to me on my way over here. Issues happening elsewhere are taking longer than he thought, according to his employees. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole evening consists of them telling me that "he needs more time"." Kaiba wasn't in as much of a foul mood as Mokuba thought he'd be when saying that. Did something else happen? "Coincidental how it only started when I arrived."
"Wait, wait, wait…" Jonouchi started. "Are you telling me the "Great Seto Kaiba" just admitted to being duped?"
"I was aware he'd do this." Kaiba said without batting an eye. He then gave a smug look. "But it's also only a matter of time before he comes back out. It's not good manners for a host to avoid greeting an important guest."
"False alarm. Still devious as usual." Honda said, as Jonouchi muttered to himself.
Yugi gave a small smile. "Well, I hope you're successful. God knows how hard it must be to find a single person in the middle of all these people here."
That statement seemed to remind Kaiba of something, and he turned his head back to where he came from. Out from the crowd behind him came a young blonde teen in a purple dress. The rest of the group grew understandably confused.
"There you are… Sorry, I got a little lost in my thou-" The girl started, until she noticed the other people near Kaiba. "Oh, uh… hi."
"Uhhh… Kaiba, who is that?" Jono asked. Pacifica noticed they had started to whisper to Kaiba.
"An associate. We were discussing her knowledge of an American game, so I could see if it was a possible prospect."
Anzu asked another question. "Is… is she part of a gaming industry in America?"
"No."
Honda finished up the round of questions on everyone's minds. "So… why are you talking with her?" He glanced at the girl.
"She's the only one who had an inch of dignity in this place." Kaiba said, and left it at that. The three friends looked at each other and shrugged, feeling content with that answer for now.
Mokuba wasn't one to question his brother's methods or choices, so he just decided to introduce himself. "Nice to meet you, Miss…" He asked, walking forward.
"Pacifica Northwest." She curtsied.
Mokuba smiled and took a bow in response. "And I'm Mokuba Kaiba. You were just talking to my big brother, Seto. Don't mind the secret conversation all of them just had, it's just… we weren't expecting my brother to be on okay terms with anyone here."
"It's alright. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be either."
Yugi and his friends decided to introduce themselves as well. Jonouchi was the first, rushing up and pumping his fist. "The name's Katsuya Jonouchi! World Renowned Duel Monsters player! I've actually gained a lot of popularity in America, ya know."
"I find both of those statements hard to believe." Kaiba added in, though this time Jonouchi ignored him.
Pacifica was a little taken aback by the greeting, especially with the weird face Jonouchi had. Before she could answer, Honda slid in beside Jonouchi. "Hiroto Honda, at your service. Don't worry, I'm the guy who keeps this knucklehead on a leash."
Jonouchi glared back at him. "You know, I could always show you those wrestling moves of mine again." Honda put his hands up while grinning like a madman.
Pacifica finally had a moment to reply. "Uh… good to meet both of you."
A hand came from behind them and pushed the two guys out of the way, as Anzu revealed herself. "Ease up you guys, you're freaking her out." Turning to Pacifica, she extended her hand. "I'm Anzu Mazaki, a dance major. Sorry about those two, they can get a little rowdy, but they're good friends nonetheless."
"Don't worry, I know someone like them from back home. Well, kinda like them anyway…"
Yugi was the last to come up and introduce himself. And the first thing Pacifica noticed was his insane hair. Seriously, how did someone go through life with a hairstyle like that? It had to be weirder than like, 40% of the stuff she had seen in Gravity Falls alone.
"I'm Yugi Muto, game designer. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said with a bright smile.
Whoa. Short guy, deep voice. "So, you're all Kaiba's friends?"
"Well…" Yugi scratched the back of his head whilst chuckling nervously.
"No." The other three friends, as well as Kaiba himself, stated flatly.
That just left Pacifica confused. Why were they so familiar with one another then?
Jonouchi noticed her confusion. "Look, we've been through… a lot together. But we were never on good terms with each other. I'd say we were allies, at best."
"Kaiba can be… very difficult to work with. He's not really a social person." Anzu added. Kaiba simply grunted off to the side.
Pacifica nodded, realizing what that meant. It was like her and the twins against the golf munchkins, or whatever. She had still been in her stuck-up attitude, but perfectly willing to team up with the Pines if it meant not getting killed.
"So yeah, you'll have a better time now that we're around. The four of us had some really insane adventures back in the day. I'm sure we'll have one here too! Maybe you'll even get to see a duel monsters match." Jonouchi cheerfully said.
"Good… to know?" Pacifica said, still not sure what that was.
"It's a card game." Yugi interjected, snatching Pacifica's attention. It seemed he could tell she didn't know what this "duel monsters" was. "A bit complicated, but fun to play once you get the rules down."
Pacifica shrugged. "Eh, probably not my thing. But I know this guy who would be like, super into it."
Before the conversation could continue, the group began to hear shouting in the crowd. "I said go away!"
"You have already proven you are unable to be trusted on your own."
"Yeah, well, I sure ain't entrusting myself to you."
Jonouchi scratched his head. "Now whaddya think is going on over there?"
Honda tilted his head. "Whatever it is, it looks like someone beat us to the disrupting."
As if on cue, Billy Billions burst from the crowd, devilish grin on his face. Unfortunately, he wasn't looking where he was going… and ran straight into Pacifica. "Hey, what's- Pacifica!" He stopped himself before going off, realizing who he ran into. "L-l-look, I'm sorry, but Wright managed to get away from me. He's probably searching-"
"Billy, Billy!" She said, getting his attention. "It's like, okay. I took care of him thanks to Kaiba over there."
Billy hung his head slightly in shame. "I'm sorry, Pacifica, I would've kept him busy but then… wait, did you say Kaiba?" He changed to a surprised look. The Seto Kaiba? His eyes scanned the are around him till he found his target. Sure enough, there he was, paying little attention to the situation.
"Don't worry, I know. Wright told me how he got away from you, and it apparently involved like… cat people? Whatever, I know you were trying your best." She smiled. "Thank you."
"Oh, well, I…you know… s'nothing." Billy said, barely able to keep on the ground.
"Cat people? We missing something here?" Jonouchi whispered to his friends.
"I dunno…" Honda said. Suddenly he adopted a blueblood stature and began talking like a "sophisticated" man. "Let us observe and inquire, shall we?"
Jonouchi matched his accent and stance. "Indeed."
"Oh brother…" Anzu facepalmed, as Yugi chuckled.
"Idiots." Kaiba stated under his breath.
"Ma'am! Please step away from that young child!" Everyone was suddenly stunned at the sight of a tall cat-like man with armor walking towards him.
His words had snapped Billy out of his stupor. "For god's sake, I'm not a little kid! You of all people know that!" He shouted back at him.
"Huh. A cat person. Guess… guess that answers that question." Jonouchi said. Everyone besides Billy had adopted shocked looks on their faces. Even Kaiba's eyes had widened slightly. "It… raises a few million more, though."
He walked up to the group. "I apologize, but I must warn all of you that this person is a dangerous criminal. I would advise you to keep your distance, to be safe."
Jonouchi raised an eyebrow. "Dangerous criminal? How the heck can this kid be dangerous, Mister…"
"Rook Blonko. Though most on earth call me Rook."
"Most… on earth?" Anzu blinked.
Jonouchi had focused on something else. "Rook… Blonko… why does that sound familiar?"
"Not the point. What do you mean by him being like, dangerous?" Pacifica asked, not fazed by Rook being an alien.
"Billy Billions is a known criminal. He has attempted to inflict harm unto my partner numerous times using his knowledge of robotics. In fact, he had been arrested last week for teaming up with several other well-known villains, whom he then proceeded to fight with over… leadership issues." Rook looked over to Billy, looking like he just had his hand caught in a cookie jar.
Jonouchi was still thinking to himself. "Okay, I know I heard that from somewhere…"
In the meantime, Billy's attention turned to Pacifica, who had a hurt expression on her face. Before he could try and say anything to her, another voice rang out.
"Rook! There you are!" Ben had emerged, yelling out to his partner. Julie was close behind. "We got your message and ditched the robo-cheerleader."
"I found him trying to converse with this group." He gestured to Pacifica and the others.
Julie herself looked over the group, until her eyes stopped on Pacifica. "Ben, that girl…" She whispered to her boyfriend. "I recognize that hair and dress. It's the girl that bumped into him earlier."
"You're right… man, I was kidding when I asked if he was going after her. Didn't think he held grudges that bad." Ben sighed.
While that conversation was going on, Mazuma jumped out over the three of them and landed next to Billy. "Forgive me, Mr. Billions. I could not prevent them from finding you."
"Uh huh." Billy replied half-heartedly. Mazuma noticed how he was lacking his usual energy.
"Mr. Billions…"
Throughout all of this, Yugi and his friends (and Kaiba) were simply watching all of this unfold.
"Well…" Anzu broke the silence among them, despite not being able to comprehend this. "This party certainly got livelier. I guess…"
Yugi tilted his head slightly. "And I thought all of the stuff concerning Atem was complicated."
Honda had gone completely stiff, as if frozen in place. "Jonouchi… Jonouchi, are you seeing this?" He nudged his friend on the shoulder.
"Hang on a sec, I'm trying to remember where I heard all that stuff from before." Jonouchi said, clearly not paying attention.
"How bout you look over here instead?" Honda placed his hand on Jonouchi's head and turned it to look at Ben.
It took him a few seconds to fully grasp who he was looking at. At first, Jonouchi thought he was just looking at some random guy. But as he recognized the various traits- the shirt, the green eyes, and most especially the watch on his wrist- realization dawned on him.
"HOLY HELL!" Jonouchi shouted, causing everyone around him to jump. "IT'S BEN TENNYSON!"
"Ah, crap…" Ben said under his breath, cringing. "And here I thought I'd get away from this while I was here."
"Uh, Jonouchi?" Anzu asked. "Who's Ben Tennyson?"
"You're kidding, right? C'mon Anzu, you've been living in America for the last few years! You're telling me you've never heard of Ben 10?" Anzu shook her head in response. "He's only one of the greatest up and coming superheroes in the field! The guy who can transform into the right hero for any job!"
"Heh. Yeah, that's me…" Ben confirmed, putting on a weak smile. He was interrupted by his girlfriend tugging on his sleeve, her face looking like a deer in the headlights. "Hmm? What is it, Jules?" He followed her line of sight to the excited fan, whom he was now finally getting a good look at. His face went through the same spiritual journey that Jonouchi's had, until he adopted the same excited look. "No way… NO WAY! YOU'RE JONOUCHI KATSUYA!"
Jonouchi whirled his head around. "You know me?!"
"You know me?!" Ben responded.
"Honda and I have seen you duke it out with the bad guys on TV all the time! You're like a card game all on your own with all the heroes you have!"
"Me and my girlfriend Julie have seen all your matches! Even the ones back in Duelist Kingdom! You're like the greatest underdog ever!"
Honda pointed at Julie. "That must mean you're Techno-ranger Julie!"
Julie pointed back. "And you're Jonouchi's duel disk engineer, Honda!" The four of them proceeded to continue geeking out over each other, as their friends looked on.
"…What am I watching right now?" Mokuba asked, not sure what to make of it.
"I don't know, but I hate it." Kaiba said, getting fed up with the constant yelling.
Yugi looked at Anzu. "I guess even celebrities can be star-struck with one another."
Said girl looked exasperated. "It's like one strange event after another right now."
"Your reaction is very similar to mine, actually." Rook walked over, observing the situation with an equal amount of confusion. "I have never seen the two of them act this way before. Perhaps you could enlighten me as to who your friend is, so that I may understand better."
"Of course." Anzu agreed. "But… can you tell us who Ben Tennyson is, in return? Neither of us really keep up with all the superhero stuff."
"I will be happy to." He gestured to Ben. "That is Ben Tennyson. Around 7 years ago, he found the alien device known as the Omnitrix. It allows him to turn into different aliens with their own unique powers. And next to him is Julie, his girlfriend. She…" He paused for a moment, as if hesitant to go on. "…has a substance on hand that allows her to bond with mechanical objects. She can upgrade and control them as she sees fit. As for me, I am a Revonnahgander from the planet Revonnah, and a rookie Plumber."
"Plumbers?" Anzu found that strange for a moment. "Wait, no… in New York. There was some kind of special force working alongside the superheroes when they fought off an alien threat once. They called themselves that."
"Yes, they are the one and the same. I believe you are referring to an Incursean attack about a year ago. Ben himself actually worked with a few low-ranking Justice League members to defeat them. And of the numerous world-threatening attacks in recent years, Ben and his allies have had more than a hand in stopping a few."
"That's pretty amazing." Yugi looked back to his two excited friends. "I can see why Jonouchi and Honda are so ecstatic to meet them."
"Jonouchi and Honda… I apologize, but may I ask who whom is?"
"Jonouchi is the blond one. He's a professional Duel Monsters player. And Honda, the one with the triangular hairstyle, is his duel disk engineer." Anzu stated, then pointed back to Yugi and herself. "I'm Anzu Mazaki, a dancer in training. And this is Yugi Muto, professional game designer. The aloof guy over there and the young man next to him are Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, respectively. They own one of the biggest gaming companies in the world."
"You mentioned… Duel Monsters? Is that why my partners are so excited?"
"It's a card game." Yugi took out a deck he had on hand and gave it to Rook. "It's become quite popular as of recent. And thanks to Kaiba's technology, the duels can be projected with holographic monsters. It can get very exciting."
"I see. Intriguing artwork… and many in-depth descriptions." Rook noted as he analyzed each card. "I can understand why they would be so interested in this card game. Though I do wish I could see one myself, to understand fully."
Yugi smiled. "You might be able to. I was invited to face the winner of a tournament later this week. From the looks of it, your two friends will probably be attending."
"I will treat it as a learning experience." Rook smiled back. However, he was also thinking something else. "This man has a very deep voice for his size."
They had finished introducing each other just in time to jump back into their four friends' conversation. "Aw, come on, that victory was nothing. I've beaten creeps like him tons of times." Jonouchi said, trying not to seem very flattered, despite obviously being very flattered.
"Yeah, but he had an underhanded strategy that duel. And you still won anyway!"
"Well, you know…" Jonouchi's eyes popped open in surprise. "Say! That's where I remember all that stuff!" He pointed at Rook. "You're that rookie guy that joined the team recently! You beat those crooks up with your bare fists sometimes!"
"…Is that bad?"
Anzu smiled. "Don't worry. I can't speak for everyone that would mention it, but coming from Jonouchi, it's a good thing." Rook seemed to relax a bit.
Jonouchi continued to refresh his memory. "And Billy Billions! He's that villain that got stuck in a killer robot dimension for five years!"
Pacifica's head perked up, stunned by that info. "Huh?"
Julie noticed her piqued interest and went on to clarify. "Yeah. So what happened is, he got jealous of Ben's popularity back when they were kids, and decides to shoot him with a dimensional transportation ray. But Ben ended up turning into Diamondhead and reflected it right back at him by accident. So instead, he's the one who got transported to Dimension 12 for about five years. When he got back, his body growth was stunted by the weird time distortion in Dimension 12, and he blames everything on Ben."
Ben continued. "He shot me and my team with a kid ray, then tried using an army of Dimension 12 robots to intimidate all the people he believed wronged him. He lost control of them instead. And just last week, he teamed up with a bunch of old enemies of mine to act as a hero team and make me look bad."
Though a few words threw her off, she mostly got all of that. Pacifica went into deep thought about the situation. It was true, she was definitely angered by the fact that Billy was indeed a villain. She had enough problems already dealing with one sinister rich moron in her lifetime. However, something about it all struck a chord in her. There was no justifying what Billy did… but it almost seemed as if he was extremely desperate to get some form of attention. She could've been wrong… but as a kid, she would often bury herself in the attention she got from others. It helped distract her from the fact that her parents never really seemed to care what she did.
Pacifica wasn't sure if she would regret this, but… she was going to take a risk.
Meanwhile, Billy looked as if he was ready to pull his hair out. Things were already bad enough, and now Pacifica knew everything. She'd never want to see him again!
"Billy?"
He jumped at his name being called. Turning his head, he found Pacifica's attention on him, and she had a slight look of distress. He gulped. "Y-y-yeah?"
"I'm a little upset at all this information. But despite that… I wouldn't mind hanging out with you again. On ONE condition." She emphasized.
Billy's heart and joy suddenly elated. He had to keep himself from bursting out in joy. "Yeah?!"
"You call a truce with Ben over there."
"Ye-huh?!" Billy's face twisted into that of confusion. Now he didn't know how to feel at all.
"Look, I get the feeling that either directly or indirectly, he's going to be hanging around with me or one of the other people here I just met. And that means that if you hang with me, you're gonna see him a lot. I really hate it when guys start pointless fights, so I need you to promise me you won't start anything…" She looked at Ben. "…on the grounds that he won't either."
It wasn't just that, though. As she learned herself, hanging out with your worst enemy on neutral terms could turn things around. If the two of them had to hang around the vicinity of one another, there was a possibility that maybe, just maybe… they would manage to bury the hatchet, and Billy could change for the better.
Granted, it was hoping for a miracle. The instances she had with the Pines twins could have been special cases. There was no certainty that things would get better on any angle, never mind them becoming friends of any kind. But, well… it was something. At the very least, it would show her if Billy realized exactly what his villainous actions had entailed.
Ben snorted, as Rook moved over to his partners. "Sorry, but there's no way Billy would agree to that. He has it out for me." Ben was confident in that… until he noticed Billy walking up to him. The boy genius was shaking, as if struggling. Ben raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"You heard her." He said through a clenched smile, bringing his hand out for a shake. "D-d-do we… do we have a truce?!"
Ben and his team went completely slack-jawed, and Mazuma sparked a little. None of them could believe that Billy was going through with this. It didn't make sense.
"Well? My arm's getting tired."
Ben snapped out of it and shook his hand. "Uh… I guess?"
Billy yoinked his hand away. "Good enough for me." He walked back over to Pacifica, and gave a thumbs up.
She smiled. "Thanks, Billy." Almost immediately, Billy became very imbalanced, and swayed in a daze.
"Oh, you know… It's no problem."
Jonouchi was slightly bewildered, since he knew who Billy was, though not to the extent as Ben and co. "Huh. Don't see a villain do something like that every day."
Julie looked back and forth from the exchange between Pacifica and Billy, and specifically noted how Billy was acting. She slowly pieced everything together, realizing exactly what had happened to the billionaire. "Ben…" She whispered in her boyfriend's ear, letting him know what she found out.
Ben's look of confusion changed to a slight smirk, amused at the situation. "Huh… whaddya know."
As he traversed the halls of the massive mansion, Danny Fenton grumbled to himself, much of it having to do with Vlad and how frustrating he was. He'd been called by Sam earlier about her encounter with the insane fruitloop, and things already weren't looking good. Not only did they not know where Vlad was at this point, but they had lost the element of surprise, and Vlad would start to take full advantage of the island's security now that he knew they were here. They were losing their chance to catch whatever Vlad was planning, and fast.
To top it all off, there'd been a subtle tone in Sam's voice, one Danny knew too well. Something stressful had happened to her while she was searching for Vlad, and she was obviously trying to hide it. The two of them were already dealing with his arch-nemesis, and now some assholes had gone and upset Sam? If it were any other place, he'd have possessed them and made them do something embarrassing. But for now, he'd have to settle on just helping her feel better.
He had decided to stop and think about just how screwed the plan was. He'd been trying to find Vlad, in hopes of possibly salvaging what advantage they had left, but since they didn't know where Vlad had gone, he might as well have been looking for a needle in a haystack.
While he was deep in thought, he wasn't aware of the billionaire looking at him out of the corner of his eye.
Bruce had been monitoring calls and other communications around the island on his phone, which had been outfitted with his own personal tech. It could easily go unnoticed even by Whimsley's best security measures. With it, he had been able to eavesdrop on his targets, and their various texts and calls between each other. However, the other thing he'd picked up was a strange background signal. It could almost go unnoticed by most radar… almost. With Bruce's tech it was perfectly traceable. And it seemed someone else was trying to lock on to that frequency- Whimsley's machines most likely. Kaiba did mention that Whimsley had ducked out of the party for a short time. Likely, his engineers needed his assistance tracing the signal.
At first, Bruce wondered if he should ignore it. But if there was anything he learned over the years, it was that even small unforeseen factors could cause massive consequences. Whimsley might be spooked into increasing security if this person were to be caught. He traced the signal to determine whether that source would cause trouble. He was expecting another supervillain, planning their own schemes while at the party. What he wasn't expecting… was Danny Phantom.
He knew Danny well, even if the teen didn't really know him. The Justice League had spotted him among many other young superheroes and listed them as potential future league members.
And if he was here, it was no secret why. Even before this whole venom shipping incident, Batman had discovered exactly who Vlad Masters really was. Danny was likely here to try and stop his nemesis from whatever evil plot he had.
How he was able to get here was obvious too. The Mansons had been listed as one of the families invited to the party, and Danny clearly saw that as an opportunity to get up close to his enemy. But that had proven to be overconfidence. Fenton had no idea how in over his head he was. Preston was little to worry about, but Vlad's other two partners were both dangerous veterans in the business.
The first was Princess Morbucks. She was only a little girl when she first started out, and a spoiled one at that. She would simply ask her father for high-tech suits and weapons, never really knowing how to use them to their full potential (which was a good thing). All she ever cared about was upstaging the Powerpuff Girls. But as the Powerpuffs got older and wiser, so too did some of their enemies. Princess in particular had a strange encounter with Lex Luthor himself. Whatever Luthor said to her that day, and whatever it was the man saw in that spoiled brat, changed her for the worse. She reportedly left the country for a boarding school afterwards, before coming back a few years later. Suddenly, her father died of a "mysterious ailment", and she inherited the company. Putting on a good girl act, she won over much of the town, all the while fighting her old enemies from the shadows. And that was only the tip of the iceberg…
The other was one of the members of freelancer hero Kim Possible's rogues gallery, Monty Fisk. Or as he preferred to call himself- Monkey Fist. The man was obsessed with the various monkey artifacts of the world, and the mysterious powers that could be endowed with them. He had gone on multiple excursions to steal these artifacts, whether they be from museums or the very countries they belonged to. His case in this operation was a bit more complicated however. The other rogues in Possible's gallery had actually pitched together to operate in this plan, with Fist acting as their "wealthy benefactor". He had yet to work out what the others were doing in this plot, but he could guess that it had to do with the venom shipments.
Both of them were far more experienced in dealing with superheroes, even more than Vlad. Not to mention that whatever equipment Danny was using was sending Whimsley's staff into a mass frenzy. If this kept going, Danny would be caught, and trouble would be sure to follow. Luckily, he had a plan.
Danny had been so wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't even realize who he was about to bump into. And then, tragedy.
"Oof!" Danny was sent onto the floor by the collision, as if he had hit a human wall. While he rubbed his head, wondering what just happened, a hand extended out to him.
"You alright there?" Danny finally regained his bearings and took the hand. "Sorry about that. I guess my posture is stronger than I thought."
"It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." Danny said, finally back on his feet. "I'll make sure it won't happen again, mister…"
"Wayne."
"Mr. Wayne." Danny repeated. Suddenly, he did a double take. "M-Mr. Wayne?!"
"Yes."
"Welp. I'm dead, and now I'll have twenty generations of familial shaming." Danny thought to himself. "I'm honestly sorry, Mr. Wayne, it was an honest accident."
"Now that doesn't seem right. Clearly by bumping into me, you must've been up to something. What are you doing at this party, young man?" Bruce said with a scrutinizing stare.
"Uh-I-um, I mean…" Danny stuttered, starting to sweat.
Mr. Wayne chuckled. "I'm only messing with you. Don't worry, young man. I'm not here to chastise anyone for taking a simple misstep."
"Oh." Danny felt just a slight bit foolish.
"I will say though, you do look familiar…" Mr. Wayne raised an eyebrow. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"
"I'm… sure it's just a coincidence of some kind."
"No, no, I remember your face…" He closed his eyes in thought. "…That's it! You're Maddie and Jack's boy. Danny Fenton."
His head shot up. "You know my parents?"
"They went to a Gotham science expo a little over a year ago. Their technology and research were quite fascinating. I was surprised that they were able to use those ghost's own energy source as weapons against them."
"Ah, well, you know." He scratched the back of his head. "Ectoplasm kinda works like snake venom."
"So it seems. Does that mean that you know Vlad Masters as well?"
"No." Danny said bluntly, taking Mr. Wayne aback slightly. "Uh… I mean, our family doesn't really talk to him. My parents aren't in the ghost hunting biz to capitalize on weapons trading and aren't too fond of him for doing so."
"Hmm. I suppose I can understand that." He looked around the room of the mansion. "Though there are places that could use it. For instance, Vlad actually donated some equipment to Horace Whimsley to assist in the security measures of the island."
Danny's heart dropped into his stomach. "He… he what?"
"You heard right. From what I've been told, he believes that there's no telling when or where a ghost can show up. Perhaps a little paranoid, but I guess you can never be too sure."
"R-right." Danny said calmly. In truth, he was panicking on the inside. "That means this whole time we might not have been as secret as we thought! Tuck made the equipment to be untraceable, but that was only concerning regular radars! It might still be hard to find it, but if Vlad gave them any kind of ghost tracking equipment, it won't be too long before they'll be onto us. This is bad…"
"Still, I just can't understand why he would pair himself with a world-renowned criminal, and a former one." He shrugged. "Perhaps he believes he can help them."
"I mean, if there's one thing we Fentons know about Vlad, it's that he's capable of handling himself." Not exactly a lie, as he was pretty sure Vlad could handle the two villains under his employ.
"Even so, I'm not sure I could ever feel easy being around his two partners. Preston Northwest, definitely. But Monty Fisk? The man has been all over the world, stealing priceless artifacts for their mystical powers. He's even gone toe-to-toe with Kim Possible, the famous freelancer agent. Who could ever feel easy around him?" His eyes trailed off to the side. "And I would feel even more nervous around Princess Morbucks. The girl goes to a boarding school funded by Lex Luthor, then comes back and takes over her father's company when he suddenly dies. Considering the circumstances, I'm inclined to believe the Powerpuffs' accusations against her."
During this ramble, Danny's confidence had begun to plummet. He had been so sure about Vlad's involvement, that he was the brains of the operation, and the other two villains with him were little more than extra muscle. But as Mr. Wayne mentioned more and more about them, he slowly began to realize… these weren't just bad guys being paid by Vlad. These were expert hardened criminals, who had more than enough experience dealing with heroes. They weren't his lackeys, they were his partners. And with that, it became very evident to Danny that he was in over his head.
He needed to rethink his approach.
Mr. Wayne noticed him staring into space, knowing full well what he was thinking about. He had to know what kind of situation he was really in, and just how dangerous his enemies were. He got his attention again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble. I tend to go off when it comes to business matters."
"H-huh? Oh, uh, it's no issue Mr. Wayne. I was just thinking. I see your point though." Danny said, unsure where to take the conversation next.
Luckily for him, Mr. Wayne checked his watch. "Well unfortunately, it looks like my time is up. There's an old friend I've been planning to meet up with again. It was nice meeting with you, Mr. Fenton." He offered a hand.
Danny shook it, looking a slight bit happier. At least he got some good information out of this encounter. "Ah well, I'm good with being called Danny. And it was nice to meet you too." Mr. Wayne nodded before taking his exit. In reality, he was still paying attention to Danny's actions, as he started whispering into his earpiece. "Sam. Sam! Meet me in the ballroom. We need a plan B, and fast!"
Bruce looked at his watch again. It had been outfitted with tech meant to track certain frequencies, those of his targets, and route them to his own phone. That way he could observe the conversations and plans of Vlad and his associates. However, it was also capable of hiding frequencies, like that of his own devices. The conversation he had with Danny was not only meant to deter him from rushing into a bad situation, but also so the watch could lock onto the frequency of his earpiece. As he looked on the small holographic screen emitted from his watch, he hid Danny's communications from the island's detection equipment. With any luck, Whimsley and his crew would believe the extra signal to be a glitch of some kind and become less suspicious of it.
With that out of the way, he knew it was time to find his "friend". He hadn't been fibbing about that. Monkeyfist had yet to arrive at the mansion itself, so he still had time. Danny hadn't been out of the woods just yet, and he knew just the person that could speak to the ghost hero face-to-face.
Preston was sweating as if it had been 100 degrees. Across from the table sat Vlad Masters, who was currently staring him down. His face was seemingly emotionless, but Preston knew it was really silent rage.
He stared at Preston for what seemed like hours, stirring the drink he had gotten for himself. Preston had started counting, in an attempt to make himself less nervous. He had reached about 37, when Vlad finally spoke.
"Interesting party, isn't it?"
Preston gulped. "Uh, yes. It sure is, Mr. Masters."
"However, the atmosphere is quite… sickly. Unpleasant. Unbearable, even. Shall I go on?"
"N-no, sir."
"And Preston… do you know why the air around feels so sickly?"
Preston noticed Vlad only seemed to get angrier when he took more than a second to reply. But he honestly didn't know why Vlad found the party so bad. "N-no. No, sir, I don't know."
Vlad immediately slammed his fist onto the table. "It's because everywhere I go in this mansion, I keep hearing nonstop talk of how Preston Northwest "jumped back" from nothing! You blabbering idiot! You were supposed to keep a low profile!"
Preston had shrunken in his seat a bit. "B-b-but Mr. Masters, it was nothing but idle chitchat… just a conversation piece."
"No, it's trouble! Let's pretend that there aren't a sizable number of goody two-shoes billionaires who have a sense of "honor", and would become very suspicious of your story, shall we? The rest of those morons out there are prone to gossip and will spread your story around like wildfire. The more you put your "victory story" in the limelight, the more attention it gets! Which is exactly what we don't need!" Vlad pointed at Preston accusingly. "You were brought onto this project to make it look inconspicuous, not drive more attention to it!"
"Right…" Preston tugged at his collar. "Is… there anything I can do to-?"
"No, you've clearly done enough. Which includes attempting to keep your daughter within arms' length."
"What? But sir, I must keep her on a leash! She's become so rebellious as of late, I have to prevent her from tainting the family name!"
Vlad stood up. "That's exactly the reason you need to have her as far from our meetings as possible! She doesn't exactly hold our interests right now, does she? If she were to find out what we were doing, she may try to expose us!"
"That won't happen sir, I swear!" Preston said, in an attempt to calm Vlad down. "I have her under my thumb."
"I have very many reasons to doubt that." Vlad turned away. "You know, Preston, it occurs to me that you might not be taking this seriously. Perhaps I won't help you tighten your grip on that backwater town of yours after all."
Preston went into a panic. "No, Mr. Masters! Please! I will keep my mouth shut from now on! Oh, and I'll keep my daughter a good distance away from our meetings! Just please, don't break our deal!"
Vlad whirled back around, moving right into Preston's face. "Get. It. Done. Tell your daughter she's free to do whatever she wants. I'm sure she'll be more than eager to do that away from you." Preston had almost reached the door when Vlad stopped him. "And keep your damn mouth shut about your wealth. Got it?" Preston nodded furiously before quickly exiting the room. Vlad gave a sigh before taking his drink and walking over to the nearby window. Before he could begin drinking it, he heard the door open again. "Oh, what is it now, you blithering idiot?"
"Call me that again, and not even your ghost form will regenerate from what I do to you." The young, feminine voice replied.
Vlad turned to see a curly, red-haired woman, giving him the glare of a lifetime. "Hmph. Apologies, then. I thought you were that Oregon Oaf."
She crossed her arms. "I kept telling you it wasn't worth it to have a fall man on a job like this, Vlad. Are you really going to let him off easy, and risk letting him mess everything up for us?"
"Of course not. I'd had my limit with him a long time ago. I've already begun setting him up to be framed for "stealing" from me. The public will divert their attention to him, while we mop up any signs that we were part of it, and any signs that he had a hand in something bigger."
"That still doesn't change what he's already done. If we hadn't picked him up in the first place…"
Vlad placed his drink back down on a nearby coffee table. "He seemed decent at the time. Dumb enough to be manipulated, yet smart enough to follow orders. I hadn't realized that feeding him fame and wealth would be like giving a reforming addict some heroin. Regardless, I'm handling it now, so drop the subject, your royal highness." The last word was lined with slight ire.
"I told you to stop calling me that."
Vlad put his arms up in mock defense. "Oh, I'm sorry. But you'll forgive me if I think the name "Princess Morbucks" isn't any more dignified of a title."
"I suppose that's understandable, Vlad Masters." She stated with a smug grin. Vlad gave a scowl in response.
"In any case, we have to wait until that buffoon gets back before we continue. He's still part of the plan." He took out his phone. "Speaking of waiting for someone to arrive, where is that simian-obsessed fool anyway?"
"Monkeyfist is making some calls to the rest of Kim Possible's rogues gallery. You know, to make sure everything is running smoothly on his end? Like what I've been doing? And what you were supposed to be doing?"
"Ah, forgive me. Perhaps next time I'll have one of you babysit Northwest and see how well you handle it." Vlad was quickly becoming fed up with Princess' attitude, though he buried his irritation to stay professional. "But I digress. Don't stray too far away. The sooner we meet, the sooner we can discuss the actual problem I told you two about."
"Fine. But I'm warning you, Vlad. If this goes sour, I will drag you down with me. Be sure of that." She threatened, before slamming the door.
Vlad massaged his temple. Thanks to an encounter with a certain Metropolis megalomaniac years ago, that girl had gone from 'idiotic spoiled brat' to 'Luthor's greatest student'. He knew very well that Princess' threats were more than just bark nowadays.
"My migraine is only going to get worse before it gets better..."
Aaaand that concludes this chapter. I highly doubt it was worth the wait, but hey, whaddya gonna do…
Before we end off on today, I'd like to say a few things...
1. I am actually very unsure about keeping Jonouchi's duel flashback. If you guys feel like it's unnecessary or disrupts the flow of the chapter, feel free to let me know, and I'll simplify it.
2. I have decided on what continuity to use for Batman. Back in his introductory chapter, I only kinda glossed over it, saying that Bruce had gone through Barbara and Dick, but no one else. As of late however, I just felt like that wouldn't work with the story I'm going with, and I just personally didn't like how hastily made that decision was.
So, here's the surefire continuity I've decided to go with. The D.C. universe I'm taking from is far more heavily inspired by the Young Justice tv show, with a slight bit of the Teen Titans series on the side. The Batman of Young Justice seemed just as intense as other versions, but also had a softer side when it came to the issues of family, and kids. I felt it would be fitting for this fanfic. Thus, when Bruce speaks, you should think of Bruce Greenwood in the role, rather than Kevin Conroy.
Now, I know for sure that Tim Drake has already up and gone, and that he's Red Robin at this point. What I'm still slightly unsure of, is whether I should go completely up to Damian Wayne. If I do so, I'd probably have to go back to a few instances in the story and rewrite them slightly to support that continuity. My question is, would you all be alright with me integrating that element in, and making small adjustments to the last few chapters? I want to emphasize that Damian's not at the party still (if i do add him), just that I want to make sure what continuity is clear.
Other than that, I just have to say that it feels great to be back, and I'll do my best to get the next chapter out within this lifetime.