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
Birdy - Tea Gardener
Slug - Joey Wheeler
Sorry I haven't updated in a while (boy, do I say that a lot lol) I have no excuse not to other than I haven't really felt up to it L I'll try to update bi-weekly from now on (the week I don't update this story I'll update my other story Vampyre Story)
"So, it appears we have a prowler." The voice had a strange, distorted quality, almost as if it were issuing from a machine rather than a human larynx. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The pitch oscillated from high to low and back again. Was it young or old, male or female? Matches couldn't tell.
At first he thought he was dreaming the voice. He lay curled up on his right side on the floor, still half stunned. His arms and legs were securely half stunned. A massive shoe swam into his range of vision. Then a hand the size of a child's appeared close to his face and delivered a surprisingly forceful slap to his left cheek. He grunted when the second slap landed, and managed to jerk his head away before the third could connect.
"I imagine you've got his attention now." The voice had returned, wavering eerily from alto to bass. Matches shook his head, trying to clear his senses. He squinted around the small room. Table, lamp, chair. Windows set high on the wall. The window… He remembered pushing it open, his hand on the latch. Then there had been a powerful jolt and a bright flash and he had fallen. He couldn't quite remember the end of the fall, but it must have been hard, judging from the distance between the window ledge and the floor - not to mention the condition of his aching body. He turned his head at a flicker of movement.
Two individuals stood not far from him in the room. One was tall and broad-shouldered, the other small and birdlike. "I think you're right, chief," piped the little one. He recognized the voice, recalling the tiny woman in the phone booth at the bar. "Looks like he's comin' around."
"So, I'm going to ask you again," said the weird distorted voice, recalling the tiny woman in the phone booth at the bar. "What's your name and why were you trying to break in here?" Matches turned to look at the tall man. To his astonishment the other's lips were not moving. The blond man was staring at something. Matches followed his gaze, squinting at the tabletop. He saw a telephone with a small speaker attachment. "Slug," the disembodied voice continued, "maybe our guest needs a few slaps from you this time. I think Birdy's touch may've been too delicate to get my point across."
"Heh. Sure, chief." The man began to lumber across the room. Matches rolled groggily onto his side.. "Name's Malone," Seto croaked, "Matches Malone…" He raised an arm to shield his face. "Heard talk… 'bout a new mob… thought I could make some more dough…" His head slumped back wearily.
The room was silent for a few moments, then the speakerphone crackled. "Is that so? Well, you heard right. In fact, you could probably double your normal take on the jobs we're pulling - assuming, that is, I let you live long enough. Birdy - what's he look like?"
Matches lay back on the floor and tried to recover his strength as the little woman recited a detailed description of him into the speakerphone.
"And the name's Malone, huh?" the weird voice mused when she had finished. "Matches? Never heard him. And I don't recognize the description. But there's something about his voice that I don't like. Nothing I can put my finger on, but I trust my hunches… Tell you what, bring him along to our conference site. I'm going to be tied up for a while - you'll excuse the expression, Matches - but I'll send somebody down who can finish the interrogation for me in style. If he's satisfied our friend's on the level, we might just find a place for him in our little association. If not-"
The rest of the sentence was lost under a wash of static, then the connection was broken and the line went dead.
~*(K.C.)*~
Police Commissioner's office was dark except for a thin shaft of silvery moonlight from the window. A shadowy figure moved near the commissioner's desk, opening and closing drawers with a minimum of noise.
A slender hand wearing a black glove passed through the shaft of light as it reached into the top right-hand drawer. It withdrew first a tear gas canister and then a pair of compact binoculars. A search of the next lower drawer produced a tight roll of strong cable and a small, collapsible grappling hook.
"So the Dark Knight's .too busy to help me? Fine, in that case…" The figure stepped into the light for a moment. Though the dramatic black and gray costume was a careful duplicate of Batman's, the form beneath it was unmistakably that of a woman. She hefted the items with a smile and squared her shoulders. "Let's see what Batgirl can do!"
~*(K.C.)*~
The solitary figure stood on a smooth platform carved out of rock. He was bending over a table in a small circle of light. Stretched across the tabletop was a belt made of flexible golden metal. The figure carefully inserted various items into the small compartments built into the belt, his green-gloved hands passing in and out of the circle of light as he worked. A faint rustling sound could be heard occasionally from high above, as the other occupants of the Batcave went about their own preparations for the night.
A pulse of yellow light traveled down a large cylindrical structure several yards from where the young man stood. A curved door at the base of the cylinder slid open soundlessly and Roland emerged from the elevator. He was carrying a small parcel on a silver tray. Robin lifted the belt from the table as the older man approached.
"There's been no word?" Roland asked.
Robin shook his head. "Nothing. Not that that means there's anything to worry about. You know how Seto gets - he's probably just immersed in his role. Still, I think it's time I launched a little investigation of my own."
Roland pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Perhaps he's had a run-in with our new, Batgirl," he said.
"I hope not, Roland - for her sake, I mean," Robin amended hastily, blushing lightly. "Seto doesn't have what you'd call a wonderful history with women in costume."
"True, but he has you to set him straight." Roland gave Robin a small smile. "Have you decided upon a starting point for you investigation?" The butler ran his fingertip along the top of the table and inspected it with a frown.
"Yami Mason seems like the logical choice. Plus, that videotape clearly showed that he ducked before those shots were fired." He wrapped the belt around his waist and buckled it. "If he knew he was going to be shot at, he might also know a lot more about what went on at that rally. It's starting to seem a little too convenient that he sent most of the force on a wild-goose chase to the other side of Domino just before the attack." He left the table and mounted a small stairway to a larger platform. On the platform stood a futuristic motorcycle that looked more like an abstract rendering of a black jungle cat than a vehicle. Its sleek lines leaned, like a hunting beast straining at the lead, toward the ramp that would carry it out of the Batcave. Roland watched as the young crime fighter mounted the Batcycle.
"Then perhaps he also knows more that he has let on about Commissioner Mahado's unfortunate situation," the butler offered. He handed the parcel to Robin, who stowed it in a small compartment concealed beneath the cycle's sheath of black metal.
I sure hope so, Roland." He started the Batcycle and revved its powerful engine. "If this lead fizzles I'm fresh out of ideas…" Roland took a step back as the cycle leaped from the platform and zoomed up the exit ramp.
~*(K.C.)*~
Masses of dark clouds obscured the full moon. Deputy Commissioner Yami Mason paced fitfully on the softly lit patio terrace outside his condo. Just inside the sliding glass doors sat a small plastic table that held a telephone and a cocktail glass.
The building next to Yami's condo was several stories taller. Its gently sloping roof afforded an excellent view of the patio terrace.
Robin swung onto the rooftop on a thin cable, landed in a silent crouch, and crept to a the shingled edge. As he watched Yami pacing on the patio, a flicker of dark movement caught Robin's eyes. He looked down. Someone was climbing quietly up toward him on the building's fire escape. The figure was dressed in dark colors, but Robin could make out no details of the shadowy garments. A cat burglar? He withdrew silently from the edge of the rooftop and crouched in the shadows.
Moments later, the slender figure reached the roof and hauled itself onto the slanting surface. The intruder righted itself and turned to scan Yami's condo. Robin crept forward, swiftly covering the distance between himself and the intruder.
He was reaching out his hand when the newcomer sensed his presence and spun around, one gray-clad leg rising in a vicious kick. Robin blocked the kick with a forearm, but still knocked back a step. He recovered quickly and retaliated with a sweep of his own leg. He dived on the stranger as the other fell onto the roof, and the two rolled across the rough shingles, a tangle of arms and legs. Both of them were trying their best to keep the noise of their struggle to a minimum. The mass of dark clouds drifted from in front of the moon at that moment and Robin's eyes widened in amazement. "You again?"
He braced himself against the slope of the roof as the two untangled themselves. "Listen, under other circumstances this could be fun, but I've got a job to do."
"Don't flatter yourself." Batgirl rose to her feet, ignoring his outstretched hand. She straightened her cape and glanced back at the condo.
"Well, I don't have time to baby-sit amateurs, okay?" Robin reached out and tapped the young woman's shoulder. "Okay?" he repeated.
Batgirl snorted without taking her eyes off Yami. "Look," she said over her shoulder, "I may not have a diploma from the Famous Costumed Crime Fighters Correspondence School or anything, but I can do just fine on my own, thank you." She crouched down to continue her surveillance as Robin stepped alongside her.
"What're you doing here, anyways?" he asked.
"Same as you, I imagine," she said. "Looks like we both have reason to suspect Yami of -"
Across the gap the telephone in Yami's living room began to ring. The deputy commissioner slid open the glass doors and stepped inside.
Robin drew a small device from his utility belt and aimed it carefully at the opening. He pulled the trigger and a bat-shaped transceiver arced through the air, landing on the terrace floor centimeters from the edge of the door. The young man fitted a small earpiece to his ear and narrowed his eyes in concentration.
"You want to meet?" The earpiece gave Yami's voice a slightly tinny quality. He sounded surprised. "Okay, sure. But where?"
On the rooftop, Batgirl leaned her head close to Robins, straining without success to hear the voice through the tiny receiver. "What's he saying?" she whispered.
"Shhh!" Robin leaned away from her, shooing her away with one hand.
Batgirl glared at her companion. Then she pulled a pair of compact binoculars from her own belt and trained them on the terrace. As she adjusted the focus, Yami was turning to a pad mounted on the wall above the phone table. He pried a pencil from its slot under the pad and began jotting down letters, nodding as he wrote. Mana squinted through the binoculars, her lips moving as she made out the words: S. Domino subway - old river entr.
Robin sat a few feet away from her, his eyes closed and his head tucked down in concentration. "Right," he heard Yami say. "South Domino subway, the old river entrance. In one hour. I'm on my way."
Yami hung up the phone and tore the piece of paper from the notepad. He stuffed it inside his jacket as he reached to slide the glass door shut.
Robin removed the receiver from his ear and tucked it back into its compartment on his belt. Batgirl slid the binoculars out of sight as he rose from the rooftop and turned to her.
"Well, show's over," he said. "You can run along home now." He started to move toward the opposite edge of the roof.
Batgirl nodded meekly and headed for the fire escape. "Okay," she said.
At the sound of her voice, Robin stopped short and turned back. "Okay?" he repeated skeptically. "Just like that?"
Batgirl shrugged as she lowered herself to the topmost rung of the fire escape. "You're the professional," she said in a tone of resignation. "If you won't let me help you, there's not much I can do about it, is there?"
"Oh." Robin studied the young woman with a small frown. "Good. I guess you've got some sense after all." He turned and walked to the far edge of the roof. Batgirl heard a whipping sound as he fired his cable gun. Then he was gone.
She shook her head with amusement. "Nice guy," she murmured. "But if he bought that story, he's definitely a few bats shy of a belfry."
~*(K.C.)*~
Five minutes later, she was using the grappling took filched from her father's desk and a conveniently situated flagpole to catch the crosstown bus. Her landing on the roof of the broad vehicle left something to be desired. Details, she thought to herself as she sprawled on the grimy metal surface. She could work on style later - results were more important at the moment. Batgirl settled down comfortably and gazed up at the cloud-framed moon. At least it was a better view than she'd ever gotten from inside one of these things!
Two blocks to the east, the Batcycle sped on a parallel course through the maze of city streets.
Again sorry for not posting anything in a while. Have lots of family problems and stuff going on, which has dampened my desire to upload… that and lack of comments L Remember comments stoke my writing flame… so the more comments the more likely I'll remember to post bi-weekly.
BTW, I really do appreciate all of my readers and am highly grateful that you continue to read my stuff. I love you guys
~ Cazuuki