justinq719: Daaaaaammmmmmnnnnn! What inspired you to write this chapter! Not only that, I almost died laughing cus Jarvis is a FRIGGIN RIOT!

Re: My Beta Spaceman mostly. He is very good at what he does, because Sky-Pirate was his creation by and large. I took some liberties with how Virgil used the "Iron Lad" Armor, and obviously, Tony doesn't have the same compunctions about killing as most "career" superheroes do.
As for Jarvis being a riot, I re-watched Iron Man and Iron Man 2 on Disney+ (Not a paid endorsement.), and he does in fact have a bit of sass with his sick burnes.

MagicalGeek: Well... Virgil is in need of le couch

Re: After his "working vacation"? Definitely.

Xenozip: Honestly I really hate the direction Prototype 2 went, I mean seriously, he lost hope in humanity because some random a** girl betrayed him... really? He didn't go crazy from his own girlfriend betraying him, but the random girl causes it? It's total b***, at the very least Dana still loved him before he went nuts, I don't buy that he made the sacrifice play in 1, then went tyrant in 2.
The only way it somewhat works is if we assume that Greene took him over partially, but that's about it. They would've been better served if they used PARIAH as the antagonist in the second game.

Re: Technically, Mercer isn't really "Mercer", the one we know as Mercer from Prototype is "the Blacklight Virus that thinks it's Alex Mercer". After realizing he wasn't "an amnesiac Alex Mercer" but something new with inherited memories, his "vulnerabilities" to betrayal increased exponentially.
But yeah, Greene's own "influence" could easily be a part of it, slowly corrupting him without him realizing.

Jamius: Nice chapter, I like it. Also Stark is probably gonna get Fury involved at some point, even if only unintentionally. Virgil's life is so crazy I am not sure if Hecate can even be to blame for most of whats happening. Also Virgil has probably the best resume: Fashion model, zombie survivor, assassin/spy, soldier, nano suit pilot, mecha pilot, ironman suit pilot, mage, and a Highschool graduate with honours(getting there). And he wants to learn hacking(remember, maybe he gave up on that). He's got skills, boy gonna need five different business cards.

Re: Hmmm… I think Virgil would be more "Infiltrator" than "Spy". It's a small difference, but subtle. Basically how he is used would influence whether he's a Spy or an Infiltrator. Assassin? Possibly, but officially, America doesn't "sanction" murder. Also, Athena's "Power Armor" is only softcore "mecha". If it has a cockpick, it's a mecha. If you still use your arms and legs, it's power armor. As for Hacking… I think Virgil is smart-enough to recognize he isn't nearly that smart, but is willing to delegate that task to the specialists.
Of course, the reason he learns new skills so fast has been subtly hinted at, but not outright state thus-far. I've been subtle, but if you go over it with a fine-toothed comb, you'll find the patterns in the sand.

Rakaan: Super curious to see what Tony decides to do with that knowledge. I could see arguments for both repudiation, and recruitment. The first because knowing someone can kill and lose no sleep would (rightly) be a bit disturbing to most people. I see a possible recruitment because - regardless of what Tony chooses to do, Virgil has proven himself to be a dangerous young man and he's only going to get better with time. I could totally see Tony wanting Virgil under his wing to some of artificially instill some kind of "Code" of conduct and try and guide him.
Even aside from that, I wonder what the Director's organization might do with Virgil gaining such scrutiny. Will they choose to make their presence known and stake their claim on Virgil? Maybe try and use Virgil as a spy by joining any of the myriad of groups and peoples starting to notice him? I doubt the spy route will fly since that would take a mentality and training that he just doesn't possess and I doubt he could acquire in a short enough timeframe to matter.
Anyways, another great chapter and looking forward to more!

Re: The ability to kill someone "without losing sleep" is NOT how the "Two Percenter" gene works; I went to great lengths to point that out while he was still in the Red Zone after killing a big chunk of his would-be graduating class. No, when it comes to people like Virgil (and Raiden in Metal Gear Canon), when it's TIME to kill someone, their "Shoulder Angel" conveniently steps out to take a smoke break. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that "Shoulder Angel" won't bitch at them about it after-the-fact. In summary; Virgil will still have to live with the lives he's taken, but in the moment he's about to kill, his brain won't "stall". On the inverse, as long as he believes he's killing "for a good reason" and tends to his mental health, he won't be "the guy who went nuts".
As for The Director noticing that Virgil has "ins" with figures like Luthor and Stark, as well as the superhero community… I imagine he'd keep his association to the boy a secret, but instead use that "in" to his advantage in the future. As for how he's used in the future, that's all situational. When it comes to Luthor, Hargreave might plant Nanobots on his clothes without him knowing, using him as a Trojan Horse. For the superhero community, he doesn't explicitly ask Virgil to "spy" on them, but trusts Virgil to share certain details with his OWN discretion; like certain clones of certain super-powered aliens being addicted to performance-enhancing drugs, or anything like DC's "Identity Crisis". Basically, he's giving Virgil enough slack to form his OWN connections OUTSIDE of his direct influence, but by influencing Virgil himself, Hargreave influences how and why Virgil would use those connections. As long as Hargreave makes Virgil's end-goals align with his own (readying the Earth for certain extraterrestrial invasions being one of them), then Virgil will promote his interest without being ordered.
It's a gamble, but it's a gamble that can and will pay off if Hargreave plays his cards right; as in, doesn't make Virgil his enemy. Giving Virgil the freedom to make the friends he has goes a long way in "ingratiating" him to Hargreave, because he doesn't feel like a "slave" in the relationship, but an Employee who's being given the freedom to do whatever he pleases in his off-hours.
All in all, love the thought-provoking questions. Keep them up!

Jebest4781: I swear... I swear I had to stop reading every other minute as I was laughing hard and wheezing for air due to how great you wrote the jokes.

can't wait for the Thanksgiving chapters so Virgil can watch over Artemis, M'gann and Zatanna as those three will become friends with Gaige and Athena.

Re: Thank you. Honestly, I think the jokes were so great because I got into each characters' "headspace", so that instead of writing what I wanted them to say, I'd write how they would say it.
And yeah, Virgil being a big brother for his two cinnamon rolls will be fun because, thank god (for Virgil), Bludhaven is currently a villain-dry zone.

superpierce: what series or franchise is sky-pirate from. also hope that last scene with Tony means were getting closer to the truth of Vergil's origins.

Re: Sky-Pirate is an OC off a pre-existing theme in comics. Piracy, and floating bases, with a little bit of Iron Man lore thrown in and one Star Wars reference that never seems to die. Also, Tony only learned that Virgil is a "Two Percenter", his trail's already been laid out by his Cover ID.

Blaze1992: Dammit tony don't involve them that's just gonna bring more s**t in knowing fury.
So curious here since this fic makes references or uses a lot of things not native to marvel, would the recent Cyberpunk 2077 be a option in here? Like V or Wells being the kid's cousin or Athena goes there for her big invention showing?

Re: Cyberpunk 2077 has a lore all its own, since the video game was based off the tabletop game of the same name. It took nearly a century (and four Corporate Wars) for the world to go to shit in the way it did in Night City and the rest of the world, so no, the events of Cyberpunk 2077 won't be part of the main timeline.
Imagine the ugliest parts of Batman Beyond, Borderlands, Deus Ex, Ready Player One, and other post-near-apocalyptic franchises ruled by Megacorporations, and that's the world of Cyberpunk 2077. A perverse, disgusting, depressing "world of tomorrow", but only when it's framed from our Early 21st Century perspective; for those born into it, the world of Night City is all anyone really knows because the whole world is like that. "That's the way it's always been." -to them.
And within the context of the DC Universe, the lead-up to the events of Cyberpunk 2077 couldn't happen either because Meta-Humans throw too much of a wrench "into the works" for Megacorporations to come to power, because in a competing world between Tech and Meta-Humans, it's an arms race between Mutant and Machine. LexCorp is the closest to the "all-powerful Megacorporation", but the existence of people like Superman/Kal El and Lois Lane keep him from "absolute power".
And also! Johnny Silverhand's raid on Arasaka Tower in Night City to end the Fourth Corporate War (or at least the reason Militech lent them the hardware; he just wanted to drop a Mini-Nuke down their throat) happened in 2023. Before that, the [Soulkiller] program was developed in 2013, and within Earth-16, which Earth-16H (Hunterverse) is based off of, Ghost in the Shell-style brain mapping doesn't yet exist, so the timelines are incompatible with one another.
In Metal Gear, Punished "Venom" Snake awoke early because the Patriots caught onto him, 5 years early in fact, but the events by and large can still occur to be congruent with the Cold War.
With an IP with so much lore as Cyberpunk 2077, the timeline can only be stretched in either direction so-far when trying to blend it into a completely different IP.
Some of the tech might appear, the Monowhire being my favorite, but the Lore won't.

LuckyShadowWolf: Welp this chapter was pretty straight forward! Although there are two points that caught me unawares there towards the end. The first being a lack of reaction from Tony in regards to Vergil using his tech to actually purposely deal a kill shot against sky-pirate. And the second point, which is closely related to the first, is what will Tony looking into two percenters entail for the future and is Vergil, either his current or previous identity, listed in SHIELD's files regarding two percenters? Other then that I can honestly say I did not expect the events that occurred in this chapter at all!

Re: Well, Tony did key him in to use it after learning of his aptitude for that sort of thing from Lex Luthor, and Friday was a big help with Pilot Assist. And besides, he totally killed all those Ten Rings guys in the 1st movie so of course there's a certain amount of lethality in his armor. Hell, even the "flight stabilizers" can kill people, 'cause those non-Newtonian energy beams hit like trucks.
As for Tony learning what Two Percenters actually are, all that really tells him is that Virgil's constitution for battle is better than others, because he "won't hesitate" in the big moment where any hesitation can mean the difference between life or death. If a Terrorist wearing a suicide vest is running toward an ordinary person with a gun, there'll be just-enough hesitation that they'll take the shot, but still get hit with shrapnel. Virgil on the other hand wouldn't hesitate, and thus he'd be able to walk away from the explosion in slow motion looking like a badass because he didn't hesitate and there was enough space leftover.
But yeah, Sky-Pirate coming out of nowhere was meant to be that to both the readers, and Virgil because I didn't foreshadow the ever loving hell out of it. Glad my story is still wildly unpredictable, unlike most Naruto crossovers which get done-to-death.

Fallendemon248: I wonder if tony will find out he was in the red zone I mean there has to be a record or video something that'll prove he was there

Re: No, Blackwatch scrubs all that so no-one finds out they're White Supremacists. I'm talking total Information Blackout. Otherwise the US wouldn't keep hiring them. Also, New York doesn't have nearly the same kind of coverage as London, so the task is only easier.
PLUS! As long as there's an Information Blackout, GenTek and Blackwatch can sell whatever "narrative" they want. Information is power, and in New York Zero, they're the closest thing to God. Mercer, would be the Devil.

Raidentensho: very nice. though why do i have the feeling that Virgil will be exposed to a strange energy explosion at some point in time that will cause the benefits to stack again, or maybe run into an artifact that isn't well known, yet still quite potent. like maybe the "Sword of Summer"(Norse legend)? still, this has a lot of potential. looking forward to seeing how Virgil reacts seeing Captain America in the flesh. can't wait for it and more. until then, later!

Re: Well, Virgil will get A sword sometime in the future, but nothing specifically from Norse Legend. Not sure what you mean by "cause the benefits to stack again", but in terms of magical artifacts, at the very least he'll be smart enough not to handle anything with his bare hands.
Just look what happened to that dumbass Blonsky when he handled science stuff with his bare hands!
By and large, Virgil will actually appraise whatever magical crap he's about to pick up BEFORE picking it up, in case there's a curse-on-contact kinda dealio going on.

IceNeo2: Ya know for once I think the MC should have a decent break perhaps a week or two without any super incident since I worry about his mental health. Despite what people think repeated super incident isn't healthy for anyone.
That said I can't wait for the Thanksgiving arc and what it will bring. I fear that Tony may have inadvertently brought SHIELD attention to the MC which isn't good since Fury is way too heavy handed and causes alot of his own trouble.
Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year since I doubt you will have more chapter ready for the month so keep up the good work and stay safe.

Re: Well, it is a comic book universe, and he is Hecate's plaything, sooo… Maybe a hard sell. And no, Virgil acknowledges that the back-to-back comic book nonsense isn't healthy, hence why he's clinging to a "normal life".
As for SHIELD, all Tony did was look up Two-Percenters; "Vincent" being one isn't part of official/standardized records. Also, Fury has more-important things to worry about than any remotely-talented teenager out there.
Don't know when this chap will come out, but thank you, and have a happy holiday too.

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

Bludhaven Airport
November 25, 21:55 EST

"It wasn't that funny…" Tony grumbled, back in the Iron Plane as they prepared to leave Bludhaven.

"Oh, I think it was pretty fucking funny," Pepper disagreed, still doubled over with laughter. "Look at your fa-a-a-ace!" she cackled openly, now that there weren't any impressionable witnesses to her conduct.

"Contrary to what you believe, I am not Satan," Tony said irritably as he rubbed at the crucifix-shaped marking left on his face from him getting bible-bitch-slapped.

"What I want to know is, who even carries a crucifix anymore?" Happy asked from the cockpit.

"Well, I'm sure if he runs into a demon or something, he'll be happier to have it than not and really wish he did," Tony hummed aloud, the Iron Plane taxiing onto the runway.

"So we're really going to do this?" Happy asked from the cockpit.

"Yep. Next stop, Gotham City!"

"Oh joy…"

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

Wayne Manor: Master Study
November 25, 22:54 EST

Bruce Wayne was a man of duality, not all that dissimilar to his friend, Harvey Dent.

On the one hand he was Bruce Wayne, "billionaire playboy philanthropist"; men wanted to be him, women wanted to be with him, and everyone else wanted to be as-rich as him. On the other he was Batman, "The Dark Knight", a man who was feared by the superstitious criminal lot, respected by his super-powered peers, and at times, both from either side of the law. Both were identities he juggled, one swapping for the other when the mood suited him, just like Two-Face.

All that separated him from his estranged friend however, was that one wore a mask to hide their face, and the other, their mask was their face.

As for why he was still in the house despite the late hour, the Batcomputer was at-the-moment compiling information on an ongoing case he was pursuing. He was just-about to venture into the Batcave for a progress report when his stalwart friend, mentor, and father figure, Alfred Pennyworth, intruded upon his solitude.

"Master Bruce, you have a visitor."

"Send them away," he responded in his usual business-like tone, an indicator of what he planned for the evening.

"Unfortunately sir, that's something I cannot do."

"Why not-"

"Heeere's Tony!" a handsome man with stylish glasses said poking his head in through the door. "Heya, Bruce. Brooding by yourself before putting on the cape and cowl?"

"Tony! It's so… great to see you again," Bruce said pulling his best smile, while on the inside he was dreading the conversation to come.

It wasn't that that he disliked Anthony "Tony" Stark. If anything, meeting him back when he was eighteen had been a real eye-opener to how-smart he could be if he applied himself in more than his bodily disciplines. Were it not for that, he might've wound up settling for being the kind of ham-fisted hero that Golden Agers like Wildcat were; a hammer instead of a scalpel.

No, what he disliked was that every time they'd met up since his return from Afghanistan, Tony would poke fun at him for being Batman, completely ignoring his denials no matter how much evidence he submitted to the contrary, including but not limited to the times where Batman and Bruce Wayne were seen at the same time. Maybe not at ground level, but... Because in Tony's mind, Bruce was the only one who had the means, motive, and the "Wayne Family Jawline" to be Batman.

He wasn't wrong, and he had the decency to only call him out on being Batman when they were in private and not make a spectacle of it out in public, but having someone that-smart actively suspect him of his dual identity… It put his every ounce of thespian talent, restraint, and self-control to the test whenever they crossed paths, because if he knew Tony, any "tell", any sign of weakness, and he'd wind up proving Tony right despite his denials.

Sometimes, he wondered if it'd be easier to just admit to being Batman, bring him into the fold, and put the whole thing to bed if not reap the benefits of a potential partnership. But then that would mean Tony would win, and "billionaire playboy philanthropist" Bruce Wayne hated to "lose"; no matter how tempting it was to have someone with Tony's resources in Batman's corner.

As for why the Justice League hadn't interfered on Tony's behalf after what happened in Afghanistan…

After the raid on that military convoy, the US Army had no reason to believe Tony was still alive; even though they'd never found a body, Americans disappeared in the middle east all the time and were never heard from again.

Another reason was that the Justice League couldn't participate in the middle east for political reasons; even if the UN Charter didn't explicitly forbid it.

If the "Justice League of America" were to begin making forays in to the middle east, the middle east in turn would begin fielding Metahumans of their own; the only reason they weren't fielding Metas now was because if they caved first, in their eyes, there would be nothing stopping The League from interfering on America's behalf and having the backing of the world. And even if it was heretical to think so over there, Superman's existence was still treated as god-like, and unless they had a mountain of magic kryptonite lying around, League intervention wasn't something they wanted to risk, even to the point that they actively suppressed their own super-powered members from acting out, both there and abroad.

Thus, the hotly-contested warzone between the free world and the middle east had kept Metahumans by and large out of the conflict.

Eventually, one side would cave first and send in a Meta to do the heavy hitting at a critical juncture, but as long as he held controlling interest of the League and what direction it took, it would not be the Justice League that caved first. No matter how-tempting, no matter how-many lives it would save in the short-term, they could not under any circumstance be the instigating factor in a war where Metahumans took center stage as living weapons.

Atomic Skull was already a walking nuclear reactor, and Parasite could fill the role as well if he got his hands on either him or Captain Atom; and those were just the American Metas who could become WMDs. China, Russia, and Japan with their abundance of nuclear power probably had a whole slew of nuclear-fueled Metas just itching for the opportunity and justification to cut loose and fart mushroom clouds.

It was a miracle he'd managed to keep Superman and Wonder Woman in line this long, but it was just a matter of time… Superman loved the American way of life, faults and all, and if Lois Lane ever got the idea to report on something in Afghanistan, there was no way the "Big Blue Boy Scout" would remain objective long-enough to let someone a little more discrete rescue her if she ever got into hot water. Wonder Woman on the other hand, coming from a matriarchal society that hated men, due in no small part to the galivanting of Herackles back in the Hellenistic Age, would eventually meet her breaking point due to the wanton mistreatment of women in the-

"Hey Bats, you're spacing out. Coming up with more contingencies in case Superman goes to the Dark Side and starts wearing a silly Pope hat?"

"No, of course not, I'm just surprised to see you here so suddenly and unannounced. Why are you here? You're a long way from Malibu."

"Oh, you know, just thought I'd let you know I found a sidekick of my own, maybe set up a playdate between Iron Lad and Robin."

"Iron Lad? Really?" Bruce asked incredulously. "And I keep telling you, Dick isn't Robin."

"And yet, Robin can perform the Flying Grayson's patented Quadruple Backflip. I wonder why~" Tony returned cheekily.

"Would Mr. Stark maybe prefer a nightcap?" Alfred asked, dutifully diffusing the situation.

"No, no… I'm, trying to cut back," Tony said idly rubbing at his cheek.

Was that a crucifix mark on his face? -Bruce wondered.

"Anyway, I'm here on business, but it's not like we can't get the pleasure out of the way first," Tony grinned. "Come on, Bruce! Let's go out and paint the town! I've chartered a limo and everything!"

"I… can't think of a reason to refuse such an appealing invitation…" Bruce conceded, since doing so that late at night would just give Tony more ammunition for later.

And just because Tony didn't make ammunition anymore, didn't mean he didn't know how to use it.

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

For the first time in a long time, Alfred Pennyworth got to enjoy riding a limo anywhere other than the driver's seat… even if professional courtesy had him riding shotgun beside Tony's personal chauffeur. He and Happy had crossed paths a few times in the past, exchanging pleasantries, and thankfully, Happy wasn't privy to the ongoing war between Mr. Stark and Master Bruce.

Discretely, he'd texted Dick telling him his "nightly activities" were postponed for the night, and that instead he should "tuck in early". It being a school night, such a message wouldn't raise any eyebrows even if Tony intercepted it with that high-end smartphone of his or some other science-fiction device he cooked up in his garage.

"Sooo… Do I even want to know about Mr. Stark's allegedly new 'sidekick'?" Alfred found himself asking, taking note of Gotham's upper side in a way he couldn't while driving. Tending to Bruce both day and night, the man rarely had any time for himself, even to the point it became a health issue.

"Well, apparently the bodyguard of Tony's new hire has a bit of talent for flying super-suits," Happy hummed. "Mr. Luthor highly recommended him, and you know how those two get along."

"I can't say that I do," Alfred hummed.

Alfred had always been worried about Mr. Stark's association with Lex Luthor since he was simultaneous associated with Bruce, but as far as things went between "Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor", they were healthy business rivals, and Batman's ongoing crusade to put Lex away for all he'd directly or indirectly done against the Man of Steel was completely unrelated.

Of course, it was easier for Bruce to put up with Lex because he didn't actively suspect Bruce was Batman.

Still, Tony made for an interesting buffer between the two whenever the three were in the same room, and it was always nice to have someone around who could drag Master Bruce out of the cave and galivant about the town like a normal billionaire playboy philanthropist.

Any time that Bruce wasn't running around in a bat-themed Kevlar uniform was time Alfred's heart could rest easy.

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISSTS GONE WILD*

'Endure… Endure… He'll be here for a few hours at most, and then he'll leave,' Bruce chanted to himself like a mantra as Tony dragged him about the city.

While he'd rather fight any and/or all of his "rogue's gallery" than spend the night with Tony Stark, he couldn't let it show on his face, and he was sure the "night off" from his own "extracurriculars" would do Alfred's heart a bit of good. The man may've been spry for his age, but he wasn't getting any younger, and barring any sudden advances in medical science, he wasn't going to be around forever.

Even with every contingency he'd planned out over the years, he still didn't know what he'd do once Alfred was gone. Alfred was half the reason he could even attempt to juggle this double-life of his, and even if most of the meals Alfred made wound up going cold and having to be tossed in the microwave after a long night of beating the stuffing out of mental patients and the poor, it didn't change the fact that the man's fatherly presence helped him stay… human.

Sure, you'd think that would be an easy feat, being one of the few members of the active superhero community without metahuman powers, but holding onto his humanity, what made him good, and just, was always and would continue to be a hard act to follow, and every little scrap of normalcy Alfred could provide went a long way in stopping him from becoming the sort that went in and out of Arkham's revolving doors.

Maybe he should invest in A.I. like Tony, since Jarvis was a facsimile of Howard's personal butler, also named Jarvis…

"Well, Bruce, I hope you got your dancing shoes, 'cause it's time to party!" Tony whooped as the limo pulled to a stop in front of one of Gotham's ritzier night clubs, a line of well-and-expensively-dressed hopefuls with more money than they knew what to do with stretching down the sidewalk and around the corner.

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

The next few hours for Bruce Wayne went by in a blur of sound and color. Between the two of them, they had no shortage of eligible young women with varying levels of artificiality who wanted to party with them, and Bruce had to use every trick in the book to keep from losing his sobriety.

By and large, it was amazing how many drinks you could fake with a few cubes of ice or the occasional spill and still "keep pace" with heavy drinkers. Of course, compared to what he was like before Afghanistan, Tony had cleaned up his act a great deal. Sure, he still drank and took the occasional "actress slash supermodel" home with him to do things he wouldn't want Dick to do until he was twenty, but the morning news wasn't nearly as-filled with stories of the man's sexual escapades as they were in the past.

That said, Bruce had to play the part as long as he was going to juggle being a "billionaire playboy philanthropist" and Batman.

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

After leaving the night club whose name Bruce couldn't care to remember, he and Tony proceeded to make complete jackasses of themselves as they hooted and hollered up through the sunroof with drinks in hand. Tony had declined taking any of their tagalongs with them saying it was a "boy's night out", so Bruce had hoped that Tony was taking them back to Wayne Manor where he could sleep in until noon… much like after any night he ran around as Batman.

When they pulled to a stop before the Peregrinator's Club, Bruce knew that wasn't the case.

"Tony, come on, it's late…" Bruce groaned, trying to play the part of an exhausted billionaire playboy philanthropist who was partied-out.

Which he was, actually.

"Last stop. Then you can go back to your little cave and stare at the giant penny."

How the hell had Tony figured that one out?! That'd happened back in the 90s!

"Mr. Wayne! Mr. Stark!" the greeter said in surprise. "So good to see you this evening."

"Hey there, you got a couple of seats for a couple old college buddies?" Tony asked.

"Of course, of course, see yourselves in," the man said waving them inside.

The Peregrinator's Club was an exclusive lounge for the wealthiest citizens of Gotham City. In the past it had been a haunt for adventurers and explorers, back when the world was still a big, mysterious place. Later, as satellite technology made the world a smaller place, and adenturers/explorers less-prevalent, it became home to the city's rich and affluent bluebloods. Ronald Edwards, the club's majordomo, oversaw day-to-day affairs. The interior… exactly what a haunt for adventurers and explorers of a bygone era would look like, down to the massive brass centerpiece of the world with an immaculate peregrine falcon roosted atop it, wings out like it were ready to fly the coop.

"So, Bruce, what's new with you?" Tony asked as they found a couple of seats near the back wall.

"Just a few corporate embarrassments that need to be sorted out," Bruce hummed, wondering how the hell someone had created quasi-sentient lunch meat; let alone letting it leave the lab and infiltrate the cafeteria.

"Oh right, the possessed lunch meat episode. Heard all about it from my new hire."

"New hire…?" Bruce asked aloud playing up his act, though in actuality he knew whom Tony was referring.

The child prodigy he'd tried to bring in after her power armor design last Halloween caught his and Lucius' attention, only for Lucius to be told she wouldn't support an alleged "self-destructive" lifestyle with her work.

Plenty of people thought he was either Batman himself, or just funding the man, a rumor that got traction when one considered how-often Batman swooped in to protect Wayne Enterprises and its subsidiaries almost entirely without-fail. Tony was just the most-ardent of those, smart enough to find the evidence he needed and prove it, but free-spirited enough to give another "billionaire playboy philanthropist" enough room to twist in the wind.

And then there was the man himself…

Tony Stark as "Iron Man" had what it took to become a "heavy hitter", despite not having any powers; or rather, he could probably enter the League in spite of not having powers. Out-of-armor, Tony Stark had a genius-level IQ, multiple doctorates, and enough money to fund himself without cutting into his company's bottom line with the kind of transparency that he didn't need to hide his spending. His "Mark III" suit gave him the capability to lift cars, punch through concrete, withstand tank shells, and fly at supersonic speeds as well as stopping on a dime.

And that was just the Mark III. If rumors and hardware acquisitions were anything to go by, Tony Stark had been amassing an arsenal of Iron Man suits, many of which weren't being sold in some capacity to the US Air Force. Like Batman himself, Tony could make a suit for any contingency, and with as-smart as the man was, "any contingency" literally meant any, contingency.

If enough of the League got behind the idea, there wasn't much he could do against it without tipping his hand that he had some sort of personal bias against him.

As it stood now, Tony at the moment was just living the celebrity lifestyle and raking in the money from the government contracts he'd been getting ever since he started selling flight-capable power armor. However, it would only be a matter of time before Tony got the idea into his head to become a superhero, and as-irresponsible as the man seemed, with the responsibility he'd taken for his company's direction after his abduction in Afghanistan, he had the means, motivation, and money to become one of Earth's mightiest heroes.

The man having to bring his mile-a-minute thoughts to a grinding halt as a server with the wine selection came up to them, before Tony could order something wildly expensive for him-

"HAAAAA hahahahaaaa!" a giddy, mad voice cackled, all eyes turning to the double doors as a tall, slender man with chalk white skin, ruby red lips, and a head of bright green hair appeared. The cackling man was clad in a purple suit with a flower on his lapel, skinny leg pants, a skinny purple tie, and a silver chain at his waist.

In other words, the joker.

Following behind was a curvaceous woman with a gymnast's build, her hair was blond and in pigtails, one end dyed blue the other pink, her skin a chalk white with black eyeshadow around bright blue eyes. Her attire was predominantly red and black in alternating patterns featuring stars and diamonds; knee-high socks and kneepads with sneakers, tight cut-off shorts, a bustier, and a jacket thrown over her shoulders.

In other words, Harley Quinn, her current style a significant departure from her original one-piece harlequin-inspire costume. A tangent his mind went on was that her attire wouldn't be too out-of-place at a women's roller derby, one of which he'd infiltrated under his alias, Matches Malone for the crime-of-the-week.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Peregrinator Club members! I'm here to collect donations for all the little snots who can't afford a traditional turkey dinner this year, so let's all dig deep into our hearts, and our wallets, and give, give, give!" the Joker announced as he swung an over-sized Winchester .45 revolver about.

The rich-and-affluent club-goers muttering amongst themselves, a single powerful discharge blowing one man out of his seat was enough to send the patrons and staff into a frenzy, hurriedly digging into their wallets lest they be next.

"HA! A Discover Card? And here I thought I told the jokes!" the Jocker cackled at one man's offering.

"Oh no, I dropped my fork!" Tony said aloud, Harley rolling her eyes as Tony ducked down under his table, Bruce getting dragged under the table cloth the moment her eyes were turned. "Bruce, you wouldn't happen to have your 'work clothes' with you, would ya?"

"Tony, this isn't the time for jokes!" Bruce hissed.

And even if it weren't, there wasn't any time to sneak a Batsuit onto Tony's rented limo, and even if Alfred were holding, Happy would definitely know something was up if he snuck a briefcase in and Batman appeared literal minutes later.

Wait…

Where the hell was Ms. Potts?!

"Well I guess it's a good thing I brought mine," Tony said pulling out his smartphone, lines of code sweeping over his glasses. "Cutting power in three… two…"

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

"What the fresh hell is this?!" the Joker demanded as the lights flickered off and died, the shadows cast by the emergency lights giving Tony and Bruce the cover they needed to slink out of the dining hall and into the hallway under everyone's notice. "Did one of you forget to pay the electric bill? And I thought one of you owned the electric company. Literally!"

"Okay, we escaped. What now?" Bruce asked once they were out of earshot out of notice of the others.

"Tony, I came in as soon as I heard," Happy said toting in a heavy-looking metal briefcase clad in red metal with gold trim. "What's the situation?"

"The Joker and his surprisingly-attractive sidekick."

"Oh, so he's harmless then."

Only someone not from Gotham would ever consider the Joker "harmless"; let alone say as much out loud.

"Tony, whatever you're packing, I won't let you open fire in a room filled with people," Bruce said playing the part of the "anti-gun" activist.

His parents being killed by a gun right in front of him when he was eight, was as good a cover as any for that stance, and no-one questioned it.

"Bruce, please, like I'd use anything that clumsy or random anymore," Tony waved off. "This," he said patting his armored suitcase, "is a more elegant weapon, for a more civilized age," he said like he were quoting some great philosopher before setting it down. Pressing a foot down near the handle and depressing a plate, the metal suitcase immediately sprung up and split apart into several sections; two of which were a pair of armored boots he stepped into

Grabbing the pair of protruding handles, Tony thrust his hands into them, the gauntlets wrapping around his wrists before he pulled the bulk of the case toward his chest, the underlying leg mechanics and motors wrapping around his frames while parts of the main case slid over his shoulders. The next moment he pulled the gauntlets away from the main assembly and his body both, revealing yet more underlying arm mechanics and motors.

What followed was the *click-click-click-click-click*ing of innumerable small armored plates sliding down the assembly and into place before rotating flat to cover his body. As the arm plates flattened, the gauntlets fit into place and the Repulsors began receiving power from the ARC Reactor in Tony's chest. The chest plates sliding across and flattening to provide torso, waist, and back protection, the shoulders and neck plates slid and locked into place as the helmet pieces were brought up from the back and fit around his head.

Despite himself, despite everything he'd seen, supernatural or opposite, and especially despite his own cutting-edge technology which he implemented nightly, Bruce found his jaw dropping at the sight of a fully-functional suit of power armor transforming from a suitcase like something out of Hasbro's Transformers in roughly 18-20 seconds. Sure, it was obvious that Tony was immobile and vulnerable during that timeframe, but that shortcoming could be easily circumvented by deploying it when a safe moment was found and properly utilized, and the tradeoff of having that kind of equipment ready on-the-fly was worth the risk.

Bruce didn't know how-powerful this "Suitcase Armor" made him, but between the palm-mounted Repulsors and the amount of Gold/Titanium alloy Tony had been producing as-of-late, the man could only conclude that this portable suit of red-and-gold armor at the least could contend with low to mid-"tier" Metas. Anything stronger and he'd need his more-specialized armors; one of which was rumored to have routed a Ten Rings cell out in Afghanistan, near the very site Tony Stark had been held hostage by the same organization.

There were only so many "unfortunate training accident" cover-ups the US Air Force could make before people of the more paranoid variety started to get suspicious; mainly himself, and the Question out in Hub City.

"Alright. Time to deliver this clown's punchline," Tony said as he rounded the corner, the light from his ARC Reactor shining brightly in the room before the lights switched back on, the eyes of the Joker and all others on him as metallic footsteps echoed into the opulent room.

" . . . Well that's not fair at all," Joker said as he eyed the red-and-gold armor plating.

"Oh I'm sorry," Tony said as his armored visor slid into place and his eyes lit up. "I don't give a fuck."

Walking forward into a volley of reactionary .45 caliber gunfire, Tony gut-punched the Joker a quick one-two before Sparta Kicking him so hard he flew through a decorative wall, legs poking out as the Clown Prince of Crime was laid out. As a hunting trophy of a wild boar plowed its nose into the clown's crotch eliciting a pained- "Oi!" -, a large wooden mallet with red and black accents came down upon Tony's head in an overhead strike that would've laid lesser men just-as-out as the Joker was now.

Against proprietary Gold/Titanium armor, all it did was ruin her implement. And earn the armored celebrity's undivided attention.

The man looming over her as he mechanically turned his head, eyes and ARC Reactor humming with power, the former psychiatrist quivering in fear as he took a single step toward her, the tension that was mounting was swiftly defused by Tony's utterance of-

"This is confusing… Is it sexist to hit you? Is it more sexist… not to hit you? I mean the line gets real… blurry," Tony said clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Well, there's actually two schools of thought on that," Harley said drumming her fingers together, her doctorates shining through as she entered a rare state of lucidity. "On the one hand you could be 'chivalrous', aka Misogynistic, and not hit me because I'm a woman since societally, hitting a woman is 'wrong', even though I'm a costumed criminal whose broken multiple laws on a daily basis for the past few years and possibly killed dozens of innocent people."

"Sweet… multi-… kill…" Joker groaned from his hole in the wall, barely lucid.

"On the other you could be 'progressive', hitting me regardless of what my gender is and show me the same kind of gender equality that Susan B. Anthony fought and died for. Because at the end of the day… if Susan B. Anthony were here… She'd want you to hit me too," Harley said proudly with her fists on her hips and a newfound confidence.

" . . . Okay," Tony shrugged.

Sure, Susan B. Anthony didn't technically die for women's rights, but whatever…

The next moment he hauled Harley up by the scruff of her jacket and the back of her shorts, laying her atop the bar before sliding her down the polished wood, alcoholic drinks and accompanying snacks flying in all directions in her passing.

"Thaaaank youuuuuuu!" Harley called out at the progressive treatment she was receiving (in light of that specific topic coming up) as a criminal before she flew over the edge as the bar curved right, landing flat on her face with no more will to fight.

The waving of a little white handkerchief tied to a fork signified she wasn't knocked out, just surrendering after her primary weapon failed to place Iron Man in a catatonic state.

"So," Tony hummed as he clapped imaginary dust off his hands before his visor flipped up. "You ever tried Shawarma?" he asked Bruce. "There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

Bruce for his part could only dumbly nod his head.

And not just because he was playing the part of a billionaire playboy philanthropist.

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

All things considered, finishing off their wild night on the town with something as pedestrian as Shawarma was not was billionaire playboy philanthropist Bruce Wayne had been expecting.

Tony's Iron Man Mk. V aka "Football" needed a bit of finagling for where some of his eveningwear had gotten pinched between the interlocking plates, but overall it wasn't all that difficult to get him out of the suit and the suit back into its own carry-on. And hell, the eveningwear hadn't even been that damaged.

Bruce guessed Tony must've left enough leeway for the armor to conform over whatever he was wearing. A shortcoming that unfortunately, he didn't quite have with his Batsuit variants. Any cut-off of circulation could prove detrimental at the worst-possible moment if Vext had anything to say about it.

Ordinarily, Bruce Wayne wouldn't be caught dead at a little hole-in-the-wall like this, no matter how good the food was. Tony Stark on the other hand, he was an ardent promoter of small business, even the back-of-a-truck variety, and for that the people of Malibu loved him. Tony didn't even have to try to be cool, everything he did just… was.

"Bruce Wayne" on the other hand was more "classy" than "cool", and because of it, he hadn't really eaten street food since he was a young man, girding himself for his eventual crusade on crime.

Oh sure, he ate street food as Matches Malone, but it was the principle of the thing…!

"Hey Bruce," Tony hummed between bites of lamb, inclining his head out the window. "Isn't that your pager?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Bruce Wayne didn't have to be a genius to know Tony was trying to "catch" him responding to the Bat Signal.

'Note to self: Donate heavily to the Gotham City Police Department.'

Because for some reason, it felt like the GCPD were always understaffed…

Bruce wasn't arrogant-enough to think Gotham remained functioning solely because of his intervention, but at times it felt like he was the only one who actually did anything.

"Alright. Don't blame me if another eight-year-old loses their parents because they walked down a dark alley in the middle of the night with all their valuables out for everyone to see."

. . . Dammit.

"If you'll excuse me, I really must get going. I have a long day tomorrow."

"But you sleep in 'til noon every day."

Rrrrrrrgh…!

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

Batcave
November 26, 05:02 EST

Like many nights before it, night turned into "tomorrow", the Batmobile pulling into the Batcave at the ungodly hour of 5 o'clock in the morning. Give or take.

Batman climbing out of the Batmobile's latest incarnation, cape fluttering in the wind, the man drew back his cowl, spying Alfred dutifully awaiting his return.

How the man could wait up on him every night and carry out his butlering duties in the waking hours, he would never know.

"Welcome back, sir. As usual, your dinner has gone cold and is awaiting you beside the Batcomputer."

"Thank you, Alfred."

"Also, I thought I'd let you know, Mr. Stark picked up Ms. Potts and has returned to Malibu."

'Thank god for small miracles…' he thought to himself. "That reminds me, what did she get up to while unsupervised?"

"She drew herself a glass of water and awaited Mr. Stark's return in the lounge. Mr. Grayson happened across her while getting himself a midnight snack, but she shooed him back to bed for a good rest."

"That's good."

"However…"

'I hate when he says that…'

"She seems to have left a most-conspicuous package in front of the grandfather clock in the study, under Mr. Stark's instructions," he said indicating up the stairs, which led to the mansion's interior. "I figured it was another part of Mr. Stark's ongoing game with you, but didn't want to assume."

*Siiiiiiigh* "Bring it in," Bruce groaned tiredly. If the man could deduce one of his entrances to his headquarters, there wasn't much point trying to play it off, lest Tony do something even more conspicuous.

As far as he was concerned, bringing Tony's package into his lair was like ripping off a band-aid from a hairy leg. Best get it out of the way quickly.

"Of course, sir."

Bruce taking the night's now-cold dinner over to the "Batcrowave" (as Dick jokingly called it), by the time it'd been heated to an acceptable level, Alfred had returned with an ordinary-looking silver case in hand, a biometric lock holding the contents secure. Placing it atop a scanner, once the case was deemed safe, Bruce asked-

"How does Tony expect me to open this?"

"He said he already keyed it in to Batman's, hmhm, 'Batometrics'," he chuckled.

"I don't put the word 'Bat' in front of everything…" Bruce pouted.

"You put that prefix before everything, sir," Alfred countermanded, Bruce letting out a sigh as he removed his glove and pressed a thumb to the scanner. The security light changing from red to green, the case opened itself up; held within atop black foam padding were a series of devices roughly the size of a smartphone, twice as thick, with a single round mini-bulb and a small heating grate on it. Before Bruce could pluck one up and place it on a scanner to appraise the devices' functions, an LED in the lid of the case released a hologram of Tony's head, colored in varying shades of blue.

"Heya, Bruce. If you're hearing this message, it means the case's built-in altimeter has detected a significant-enough drop in altitude to determine your butler has ferried it for you into your 'Batlair'."

"Batcave," Bruce corrected, only to groan as the man got one over on him even without being there.

"Dragging you into town like a proper 'billionaire playboy philanthropist' and talk of sidekicks aside, let's get down to the brass tacks," Tony's hologram continued. "What you're looking at are a batch of 'Negator Packs', specially-designed to stop Stark tech. The reason I'm giving this to you is because, even though a great deal of my proprietary tech has been recalled in the wake of Stark International's new direction, there's still the occasional piece of stock that's slipped the net; most of which will likely be used to augment supervillains' pre-existing weapons and armor. Even something as small as a microchip could prove deadly if used by the wrong hands."

"Mr. Stark's tech is rather formidable…" Alfred hummed, Bruce nodding in recognition. Stark weapons were expensive, but they always gave Heroes the hardest time out in the field, and Bruce in fact was thankful for the recall; at least when it came to non-military affiliates.

"That being said, the Negator Packs won't work on my armor, so you'll need to put something else in your Contingency Plan suitcases with the Justice League members' logos on them," Tony's hologram amended.

Bruce of course, expected as much. These Negator Packs were likely meant as a countermeasure to be used against his pre-abduction stock.

Of course right now he was dreading how Tony seemed to know about the Contingency Plans, down to the containers the implements were put in.

"You don't have to do anything too crazy to get these to work. Just have the Flash or Superman slap them atop whatever armor or weapon system with Stark tech a villain is using, and the circuits will be fused together turning it into worthless scrap. Included in this case is a flash drive containing the identities of the individuals Obadiah Stane sold my tech to behind my back, as well as a manifest of any Stark tech that remains unaccounted for. The data has been packaged in the matter to which you have become accustomed," the hologram said as Bruce picked up a small gray flash drive with a black bat symbol embossed on the side within a yellow ellipse; a throwback to one of his earlier costumes. "You can call it the 'bat drive'. I won't laugh."

Bruce of course didn't have to; Alfred did the chuckling for him.

"And… I think that's about everything I came here to say. We can set up a playdate for our respective sidekicks later~"

Bruce found himself palming his face.

"I'll see you later, Bats. Tell Wonder Woman I said 'hi'," Tony's hologram said as a waving hand joined the transmission before shutting off.

"Finally…" Bruce sighed leaning back in his seat.

"Oh! And one more thing!" Tony's hologram snapped back into place making the Dark Knight leap out of his chair. "Alfred deserves a substantial raise for supporting your self-destructive lifestyle. And additional vacation days. Make it happen, or you might need that AI Butler you're contemplating sooner rather than later."

"What is he talking about…?" Alfred asked giving him a look.

"Nothing," Bruce said snapping the case shut before turning over the Bat Drive- 'Dammit, Tony!' -in his hand. "Alfred, cancel breakfast with this week's woman. I'll be busy."

"Oh my, didn't even make it to the first day. This must be a new record for you," Alfred hummed as billionaire playboy philanthropist Bruce Wayne pushed away another generic actress/supermodel prospective girlfriend "who won't last a month".

Alfred of course had the usual excuse to assuage the soon-to-be-irate woman's worries while simultaneously running damage control.

That Master Bruce had spontaneously decided to spend some father/son bonding time with Master Richard. Women at that age always bought into it.

*BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY PHILANTHROPISTS GONE WILD*

AN:
It's one thing to have movers and shakers like Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark exist in the same world when they're originally from different franchises, it's quite another to have them interact, and I really think I did a good job of portraying what they'd be like cohabitating on the same Earth.

But tell me what you think, faithful readers.

Oh, and coming up next is the long-awaited Thanksgiving Arc, which includes… more or less, more or less of the same.

Hey, if you're the only super hero in an alternate universe who has their own fanfic… every problem is your problem~