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: Thanks for the reviews I REEAAAALLLY appreciate it. I also thought that I would post a list of the main cast and what Yu-Gi-Oh character's playing them (to make things more clear).
Bruce Wayne/Batman - Seto Kaiba
Dick Grayson/Robin - Yugi Mutou
Alfred Pennyworth - Roland
Harvey Dent/Two-Face - Ryou/Yami Bakura
Harvey's Fiancé - Serenity Wheeler
Commissioner Gordon - Mahado (Dark Magician)
Deputy Commissioner - Yami Yugi
Commissioner's Daughter/Batgirl - Mana (Dark Magician Girl)
Rupert Thorne - Dartz
Thorne's Right-hand Girl - Mai Valentine
Lanky 1 - Valon
If I think of anymore or if you think of someone else you're not sure about comment and I'll add them to the list next chapter.
All Domino is talking about the mysterious Batgirl who foiled an assassination attempt against acting commissioner Yami Mason to-"
Vivian Wong froze in mid-syllable as Yugi Mutou hit the Pause button on the VCR remote. On the screen behind the newscaster, a blond young woman in a black and gray costume hung suspended above the pavement in front of the police headquarters. Yugi hit the rewind button, frowning thoughtfully as the scene reversed itself through the moment when the blue sedan had careened into view.
"It appears that you and Master Seto may have some competition in the crime-fighting business." Roland entered the room with a tray of cookies and lemonade.
"Yeah, right." Yugi pressed Play and the action began again. "And if I find out who this meddler is, I'll - hey!" He broke off, leaning forward in fascination. "Look at that!"
On the big screen, the top of Yami Mason's head could be seen disappearing behind the podium as the blue car began to fishtail toward the speaker's platform. Yugi hit Rewind, then started the scene again, this time in slow motion.
"Most interesting." Roland set the tray on an end table and narrowed his eyes at the screen. "Mr. Yami appears to have ducked before it was possible for him to have seen the gun."
"Right…" Yugi nodded slowly as he reached for a cookie. "And why would he do that - unless he was expecting the attack…?"
~*(K.C.)*~
Detective Taylor shook his head in disgust at the headline blaring across the top of the afternoon newspaper. Bold letters demanded WHO IS BATGIRL? above a picture of the mysterious woman, her blond hair clearly visible beneath the ripped cowl. Officer Renee Montoya stood behind him, reading the accompanying article with a small grin.
"Jeez - first we got Catwoman, now 'Batgirl,'" Tristan muttered. He crumpled the offending newspaper between his palms and dropped it into the wire mesh wastebasket at this feet. "What's next - Weasel Lady?"
"Hey!" Montoya knelt and retrieved the paper from the wastebasket. "Some of us aren't finished." Smoothing it out, she carried the newspaper to her desk, the grin returning to her face as she resumed her reading.
In a nearby room, Mana Gordon sat at a scarred oak table and poured over a wide notebook filled with sheets of photographs. She turned the page and peered closely at one of the mug shots. "Aha!" she said triumphantly. A name was printed beneath the photo of a tall man with shaggy blond hair and a curiously childlike expression: Joey "Slug" Wheeler.
"Gotcha," Mana said, as she closed the book on Mr. Wheeler.
~*(K.C.)*~
The drinks were watered down and the felt on the pool table had several jagged rips. Rats from the waterfront were too often found making their nests in the corners. There was no widescreen television, and the ancient jukebox had a selection limited to fifteen country and western tunes from as many years ago. Yet none of these factors seemed to have much effect on the brisk business done by the ramshackle drinking establishment known as the Stacked Deck. Its faithful patrons consisted largely of individuals living on the wrong side of the law, and they came to the bar primarily to rub elbows with their own kind and to make new contacts among Domino City's underworld.
Matches Malone leaned against a wall with a brown glass bottle in his hand, his blue eyes on a pair of thugs who were attempting to shoot pool on the warped table. A tall man with one arm shot him a suspicious glance as he shambled by. Matches rolled the kitchen math to the far side of his lips and took a hefty swig from the bottle, belching convincingly and wiping his mouth on his ragged sleeve. To all outward appearance, his attention was riveted on the unexciting game of billiards.
Actually, his senses strained toward the old-fashioned wooden phone booth that stood on the other side of the dark room. When the small sticklike figure he had been monitoring for the last half hour finally left her perch on the barstool and darted into the booth, Matches reached his hand up casually to the back of his head and massaged his neck. Faint words came into his ear from the quarter-sized microphone he held cupped in his palm.
"Yeah, chief - just like Batman, only a girl," said the thin, piping voice. "She almost screwed up everything. Me and Slug hadda separate, but he knows ta meet up with me tonight at the hideout. Say what-?" The small, birdlike head poked out of the booth and scanned the barroom. Satisfied that no one was nearby, it disappeared again. "Naw, don't worry, chief. No way anybody could hear me. Right, I'm takin' off now…"
A few seconds later, the little woman left the phone booth and headed out the front door. Matches stretched and yawned, slipping his palm into his pocket for a moment Then he turned and sauntered out the door.
~*(K.C.)*~
Evening was approaching as the taxi deposited Mana in front of a row of upscale condominiums in midtown Domino. She located a door that displayed 129 in elegant gold numerals and punched the doorbell. She stood tapping her foot impatiently till she heard footsteps. When the door opened, she darted inside.
"Yami, you know those guys who shot at you?" She ran the words together in her excitement. Yami Mason stepped back from the doorway in surprise as Mana pushed her way into the hall. "Well, I think I know who one of - oh!" She glanced past the deputy commissioner into the living room and broke off.
Yami raised his eyebrows. "Something wrong, Mana?"
"No-nothing." She cleared her throat. "I - didn't know you had company." She tried not to stare at the man who was rising from Yami's sofa.
"Oh, no problem." He held the door open as the other man came into the foyer. "As a matter of fact, my friend here was just leaving."
"Heh. Yeah, gotta run." The tall man settled a hat on his shaggy blond head and edged past Mana out the doorway. He had thin features and an ugly bruise on one cheek. "See ya at the, uh, business meeting," he said to Yami. He tipped his hat to Mana with a little boy's smile. "Evening, Miss."
"So…" Yami swung the door shut and turned to Mana. "Welcome to my humble abode. I've been hoping you'd get to see it eventually."
"Ah, I just came over to make sure that you were okay." Mana backed up toward the door, her eyes searching Yami's pleasant face. "I was - worried about you."
"I appreciate that. I really do." Yami's smile widened hopefully. "Drink?"
"Gee, no - I'm sorry." Mana groped behind her for the doorknob. She gave an apologetic smile. "I was just on my way to see Dad. But I'm sure I'll - catch you again soon." Her fingers closed on the knob and she yanked the door open. "Take care, Yami!" She ducked out into the evening.
"Yeah, sure, Mana. You, too." Yami closed the door after her with a puzzled frown.
~*(K.C.)*~
Matches had lingered by the door of the Stacked Deck long enough to watch the small woman hop into the driver's seat of a battered-looking dark blue sedan. As the engine growled to life, he darted across the wharf and slid into a nondescript black roadster. He waited for the blue sedan to pull away from the curb before turning the key. The blue car left the waterfront and led him deeper into one of the seedier neighborhoods of south Domino. They drove down the streets of gutted buildings, past fires that flickered like orange beacons in rusted trash cans.
The blue sedan slid to a stop at a garbage strewn curb, and the little woman jumped out. Moving furtively, she mounted the steps of an ancient-looking brownstone and disappeared inside the front door. Matches stood in the shadows of a half-collapsed wall and scanned the building. As he watched, a yellow light appeared in the single large window on the top floor. He slipped out from behind the wall and moved purposefully toward the brownstone.
The street was deserted. Matches reach into his baggy sweater and pulled out a small grappling gun. He took aim and fired the hook into the air. A second later it was clamped onto the ledge just below the lighted window.
Matches glanced right and left, then touched a stud on the side of the gun. Instantly he was lofted into the air as the thin cable rewound into the gun with a faint humming noise. He reached the ledge and pulled himself up, then moved slowly to stand in front of the dusty casement window. He grasped a small metal latch and nudged the window open.
There was a flash of white illumination and a crackle of electricity. Matches cried out, his face contorted in surprise and pain. He stiffened and fell forward through the unlatched window, landing with a heavy crash on the wooden floor.
Inside the room, Birdy removed her hand from a red plastic switch on a small panel labeled PROXIMITY ALARM. She gestured to the tall man standing behind her. "Better tie 'im up, Slug. I gotta phone call to make." She smiled at him thinly. "I think is gonna be real interested ta hear we got ourselves some uninvited company…"
~*(K.C.)*~
Mana sat cross-legged on the edge of her bed. A newspaper was at her side. A small sewing kit sat on the night table by the bed, and in front of the table was a chair with a black and gray costume slung over its back. Mana reached to lift a tattered stuffed bear from its place of honor on her pillow. It had been a gift from her father years ago, and he had been touched when little Mana decided to give it her mother's middle name. "Woobie" had been the closest thing she could come to pronouncing Ruby, and "Woobie" the bear had remained. Now she held it cradled in her arms and stared glumly into its dull glass eyes.
"What am I gonna do?" she whispered. "If Yami's involved in this somehow, there's nobody I can trust." She glanced down at her picture beneath the headline on the afternoon paper and sighed.
"I thought I was helping but now everybody's so excited about 'Batgirl' they've forgotten all about Dad." Her gaze fell on the discarded costume, then remained there as her expression slowly changed.
"Wait a minute." She set the bear back on her pillow. "If I can't trust Yami, and Batman's not around to help…" Mana leaned forward and lifted the makeshift costume from its chair, then held it up with both hands, eyeing it critically. She turned back to the bear. "What do you think, Woobie? Could use a little more work, huh?" She reached for the sewing kit.
Author's Note: Sorry for the late update (…again). My wireless internet has been all screwy due to Irene… at least when I asked my brother about it that's what he said. These are all on my laptop and with the sad death of my flash drive… I have no way to transfer them to the main computer. L
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this 2,000 or something worded chapter, and please review I use them as encouragement to re-type up the next chapter. I'd really appreciate the push J
~ Cazuuki