Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor do I own Batman. I just noticed that Kaiba is a lot like Bruce Wayne, and decided to run with this story. So sue me (on second thought please don't)!
Author's Note: Yugi! Yugi! Yugi! I really can't wait until he arrives…
The dark shape moved soundlessly along rows of metal shelves behind a wire mesh gate. An enameled sign fixed to the mesh read: EVIDENCE LOCKER: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
The shelves held a dozen pawnshops' worth of assorted items, including televisions, luggage, and firearms of all shapes and sizes. Several rows were devoted to plastic envelopes containing papers of one sort or another. A black-gloved hand followed a narrow pencil beam of light to grasp a particular envelope and remove it from the shelf.
Batman opened the envelope carefully and extracted a small bundle of paper. His eyes narrowed as he inspected first a series of canceled checks, each with Mahado Gordon's signature on the back, and then an airline ticket made out to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Dark Knight looked up at the sound of a soft footstep.
A uniformed officer selected a key from a wide ring containing about a dozen, pushed it into the lock on the mesh gate, and swiveled it to the right. Pushing the gate open, she entered the evidence locker and subjected the area to a casual inspection with her flashlight. As the yellow cone of light swept the upper shelves, it just missed catching the drape of black fabric disappearing up a narrow ventilator shaft in the ceiling of the room. A second later a worn metal grid was silently lowered into place at the shaft's opening. The officer stifled a yawn, made a final sweep with her flashlight, and exited through the mesh gate. Pausing to lock the gate securely behind her, she yawned again and headed whistling down the dark hall.
~*(KC)*~
The cells of the Domino City jail were located three stories above the basement-level evidence locker. Wan lights shone from several of the barred windows as Batman swung on a narrow line to land noiselessly on a fire escape clinging to the brick wall of the abandoned kaleidoscope works located behind the jail. He straightened on the grid of rusted metal, cape billowing in the wind. The blue eyes behind the black mask scanned the building across the narrow alley. His gloved hand emerged from the cape, carrying something that suggested a futuristic handgun. Batman aimed carefully at one of the lighted cells and pressed the trigger. With a hiss of compressed air, a small device shaped like a scalloped black wing streaked across the alleyway.
Inside cell 21, prisoner Mahado Gordon paced slowly, his head bowed in thought, his hands thrust deep in the pockets of his county-issue grays. He looked up, startled, as the small black wing shot between the close-set bars of his window and smacked against the opposite wall, where it remained, quivering slightly.
Mahado stepped over to the wall and stared up at the small device. A transceiver. He smiled thinly. "I was wondering when you'd get around to me," he said softly.
"I got a look at the evidence." The voice that issued from the batlike machine was deep and husky, with an eerie quality to it that Mahado always found a touch unsettling. "I don't think Dartz's behind this. Those deposits were perfect forgeries, dated months ago."
Mahado squinted out through the cell window as he listened, barely able to discern the dim shape on the fire escape. "Not Dartz?" he said. "Then who-"
Across the alley, the Dark Knight cupped on hand to his ear and held a small microphone to his lips with another. "Word on the street is a new syndicate may be trying to move in. Could be a connection. I'm also planning a little visit out to Arkham. There's just a chance one of our friends up there could be pulling the strings. I'll check it out."
"Thanks. Turn up anything new on Two-Face?" Mahado asked.
"That can wait," Batman said firmly. "You're my priority right now." He leaned back, blending seamlessly into the shadows of the night as a squad car rolled by the end of the alley. "Anything you need?"
Mahado stood in silence for a few moments as a guard strolled down the corridor past his cell. "Yes," he whispered. "Check on Mana for me. And keep her out of this, will you?"
When no reply came, he turned back to the window and narrowed his eyes at the outline of the fire escape. It was empty.
~*(KC)*~
"But you have to come to the rally tomorrow night." Mana Gordon's face was flushed with emotion as she pleaded with the figure who stood framed in the open French doors. Outside, the backyard was washed in pale moonlight. "The public respects you. If they see you there - even for a few minutes - they'll know Dad's innocent!"
The eyeslits in the dark mask seemed to narrow as Batman took a step backward. "Sorry, but there's more to this than a simple frame-up. And I'm not going to find out what's behind it by appearing at pep rallies."
Mana gave a sigh of frustration. "But don't you see how-"
"Mana, listen to me. The best thing you can do for your father is to stay out of it. The people behind this are dangerous." Without another word, the Dark Knight turned and melted into the night.
Mana walked to the French doors and searched the shadows, furious. There was nothing but the wind, lifting and pulling at the long dark curtains. "Right," she said under her breath. "I'm a professional, kids, don't try this at home." She shook her head in disgust. "Sorry, Batman. Your appearance at the rally could help decide if Dad goes free. So you're going to be there." She stood staring out into the darkness, the wind billowing the curtains behind her like a shadowy cape. "One way or another…"
~*(KC)*~
The Dark Knight left the office of the director of the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane with a thoughtful look on his face. He took the long route to the outside, passing through a section lined with specially constructed cells required to hold some of the institution's more unusual inhabitants. His review of the director's files had accomplished little, except to virtually eliminate the possibility that the mysterious figure behind the attack on Mahado's good name was based at the asylum. The watch logs confirmed that there had been no recent breakouts, while every inmate on Batman's list had been accounted for - their behavior carefully monitored and their access to the outside world restricted - leaving little chance that one of Mahado's enemies could be controlling the frame-up from his or her cell.
Batman ignored the insults and catcalls that followed him as he strode down the long corridor, his eyes fixed on the far exit door and his mind sifting through the remaining possibilities.
"Batman?" He was almost past her cell when the soft voice stopped him in his tracks. "Is he going to be all right?"
The Dark Knight moved slowly to the reinforced glass window.
The woman who stood on the other side had short hair the color of melted chocolate. She was dressed in shades of green, rendering her nearly invisible in the dimly lit cell, which was crowded with plants and vines of every description. Her bright glance wavered under his stare, returned.
"Will Ryou Bakura be all right?" Her voice was the quiet whisper of wind through an ancient forest. "You know, he and I went out a few times before he took up with that lawyer. It seems like such a very long time ago." She stroked the leaves of a tall potted fern with one hand as she spoke. "Things certainly do have a way of changing, don't they?"
"Tea-"
She lifted a finger. "Ivy," she corrected him. "I told you, things have changed."
"And sometimes they can change back to the way they were," the man in the black mask said. "If we want them to. I'm hoping that's what will happen to Ryou." He paused. "And with you."
She reached for a leaf-studded vine and draped it loosely around her pale throat, retreating slightly into the miniature jungle. "Ryou always seemed so big and strong," she mused. "My oak, I called him." She gave a bitter laugh. "He should have been more flexible. A willow can survive a bad storm, you know. But a strong wind will tear an oak out of the ground - or break it in tow." She cocked her head at him. "You're looking a little broken right now yourself."
"I'm thinking about the ones I haven't been able to save, Tea," he said after a long moment. "I don't want there to be any more of them."
"Forget the past." She lifted her hand from the fern and pressed her small palm against the thick pane that separated them. "Visit me again," she whispered. "Come back inside and stay for a while. Give us both something to look forward to."
He lifted his gloved hand to the glass opposite her bare palm. "I don't think that would be a very good idea," he told her.
"But it's what you need," she said. "It's very cold out there in the world, and I keep it quite warm in here." She gestured with her other hand to the green darkness behind her. "You can't say you haven't thought about it."
Batman said nothing. Finally the woman in green gave a short nod and lowered her fingers to the fern again. "I understand," she said, peering at him through the glass with a small, distant smile. "Bird's still got you tongue, hasn't he? Maybe some things don't change, after all…"
Author's Note: He's coming next chapter… I'm SO excited (and I'm not even reading this lol) Keep an eye out for him and the SetoxYugi moments (they are very brief… but there).
~*(Cazuuki)*~