"In Any Story, The Villain Is The Catalyst. The Hero's Not A Person Who Will Bend The Rules Or Shw The

"In any story, the villain is the catalyst. The hero's not a person who will bend the rules or shw the cracks in his armor.He's one-dimensional intentionally, but the villain is the person who owns up to what he is and stands by it."

-Marilyn Manson

The night was spent getting a proper hold of their bearings. They knew where in Japan they were, but no idea how to get back. They also had no idea on how they got there, but that was a problem for later. For now, shelter and food were to two most pressing issues.

Chuuya and Atsushi had never worked together before, so they were stumbling around each other the entire night. Atsushi had been hell bent on them finding shelter before anything else, and Chuuya was insistent on getting money first. Atsushi was willing to break a few laws to keep them safe, but he was very vocal about not hurting anyone. Chuuya was willing to break every law he could think of in order to get his way. They could both agree that they'd rather avoid working together ever again after they've gotten back Yokohama.

It's terrible, working with someone so different from yourself. Stumbling over each other and getting in one another's way. It could cost a life. It could cost many lives.

"That'd be terrible for being undercover." Atsushi said. He was still holding himself under a mask around Chuuya.

Chuuya scoffed. "Since when are we undercover?"

"Since neither of us know where we are or what's going on."

"Oh? Is that snark I hear?" Underlings who sassed him never got out of it unscathed.

He was suddenly confidant in his answer, "Yeah. What about it? You can't attack me."

Atsushi isn't Chuuya's underling. "Who says I can't?"

"The truce between our two groups." Damn it. "Besides, I could go to local law enforcement and report you for assault and battery."

"But you won't." Good point. "If you did, then you'd be alone in unfamiliar territory. When you get back, the truce would be called off and you'd have the entire Port Mafia after your head."

Atsushi didn't respond, falling back into the mask of self preservation.

Chuuya sighed. "Fine. In order to keep a low profile, we'll do things your way."

Still not saying anything, Atsushi took a step ahead of Chuuya and went in search of an abandoned building to set up a temporary base in. It was late, probably near midnight, so not many were out. Those who were out were sniffed out and avoided. Despite everything, Atsushi made himself ignore the calls for help. Getting involved would mean being seen. Being seen would do no good at the moment.

Chuuya was reluctant to follow Atsushi, but he had to admit that the kid wasn't acting at all like he expected him to. He'd expected a coward or someone who would go running to help at the first scream, but he did no such thing. The kid kept sniffing at the air as they walked, leading through back allies and staying out of light.

"I can say for certain that nothing has happened to the ADA." Atsushi spoke softly.

"What makes ya say that?" Chuuya asked. He was genuinely curious. How did this kid know anything like that? Could he determine anything about the Port Mafia?

Atsushi's eyes seemed to be glowing when he looked back at Chuuya, the gold and purple covered in an almost not-there film. Eyeshine, Chuuya noted, is a thing all cats have. Helps them see in the dark. "I haven't lost control of my Ability." Was that supposed to be a reassurance? "The President's Ability is still working, so I can confidently say that he - at the very least - is okay."

"Based off of that," Chuuya added on, "Everything should be okay with the Port Mafia, too."

These were only assumptions and they both new that.

It was quiet as they kept walking, still out of light and still away from humans. It took another thirty minutes of wandering until they found a place to hole up. It was a very rundown building, but it was still standing. It didn't seem to have any other occupants, so that was a point in their book.

The interior was as rundown as the exterior. The floors had no holes, but every other board squeaked when stepped on. The lights didn't work, so it was safe to assume nothing else did either. While there was no holes in the walls or broken windows, the place was starting to show signs of life in the graffiti and plants creeping in. The stairs leading to the second floor weren't rotted through, but enough weight would cause them to collapse. Much like the first floor, the second floor squeaked on every other step. The paint and wallpaper was peeling at the corners, and the doors were falling of their hinges.

Chuuya didn't like getting dirty. He'd spent so long living on the streets that the thought of staying in this building was barely digestible. Regardless, he picked a room on the second floor and went in. "I'll be in here for the night. Don't bother me." He doubted he'd get any sleep, but it would be a good place to think.

Atsushi nodded and left the man on his own. Part of him said it was a bad idea, but the rest of him knew that they were forced to trust and rely on each other. He choose the room next to Chuuya's and curled up in the far corner. He was used to sleeping in places like this. The cellar in the orphanage was much worse than here. Colder, too. Less bright.

~~~

The new first order of business, Chuuya decided, was to sort out his thoughts. Based on the maps of Japan he'd studied when he first joined the Port Mafia told him that Yokohama was near the Chubu Prefecture. It had once been a part of it, but had declared itself independent a long time ago. When exactly, he wasn't sure, but that wasn't a pressing thing to know at the moment.

He'd gone to bed on Friday night had woken up Friday afternoon. He had a whole week missing from his memory and that was never a good sign. At least, the best case suggested a week. Without knowing the exact date, he had no idea how big of a blank was now taking up his memory.

The next thing Chuuya did was search his person. He was fully dressed in his uniform, so that meant he had woken up and gotten dressed somewhere during the missing blank. He was still fully armed with a gun under his vest and the hidden knives on his person. His phone was in his back pocket, but was dead. His wallet was inside his coat, but he had no cash. At least he still had his gloves.

The next thing to do would be to set out a plan of action, but that would have to wait until Jinko woke up. Getting their story straight was the next pressing matter, but he was gonna let the kid get some rest. God knows they both need it.

Part 1 Storyboard

Here's my dream from last night because I need to share it:

We were running security for a museum that got a new exhibit. It was the Phantom of the Opera exhibit (because the story, apparently, is a real on).

Someone had broken into the building and we were, bit chasing him down, but we were cornering him. Anyway, we managed to get him cornered and escorted out of the building and to the police. I was convinced, though, that he wouldn't stay there for long.

Anyway, here's where it gets less fuzzy:

Everyone was upstairs, but my boss pulled me aside and said, "I need to go check downstairs and make sure everything is unchanged. But, I'm not going there alone. If I'm going into the creepy ass basement, someone's coming with me." Seeing as I was the only one around, I agreed.

Now, I believe in ghosts, so I was not happy about going down, no matter how much I love PotO.

So, we go down to the basement and B says that he's not only checking on things, but he needs to make sure everything is working. Red fucking flag right there, but I said "Okay."

We get to a room designed to be a dressing room. We're alone, I'm carrying a dagger and a knife, B has s notepad and pen and his phone.

I can't remember what he told me, but he handed me some papers of the desk with an approximation of, "This is Christine's diary. You know the show, yeah? All of the lyrics were taken from the actual account. This one should be Angel of Music."

Like an idiot, I took the papers from him and start singing Angel of Music. The room around me seems to change and suddenly, Christine is the one singing. She's sitting in her chair, writing as we're both singing. She's very pretty.

Just as we're at the last few lines, B stops me and says, "I saw something back there, will you peek around and check?"

I said sure and stood up, the spell broken. When I peaked around the corner, there was a man there. The room was empty and I was watching the only exit. Naturally, I screamed and he lunged. I backed up, grabbed my dagger and stabbed the guy. He didn't react. Still backing away, I grabbed my other knife and started double stabbing this guy. B just sat back. Finally, the man disappeared. Like, I blinked and he was gone. He was a ghost, which explains why there was little to no resistance when I stabbed his gut.

I went back and sat on the desk and B was looking at his phone. "I'm going to continue now," I said because I really wanted to see Christine again. I wanted to sing with her. "Please don't look at your phone. Please focus. That was scary."

"Of course." So, he put his phone away, added to the notes I didn't notice him taking.

Then I woke up.

Every single fic update there is an author trying frantically to find the right balance between a nonchalant aside of "leave a comment if you enjoyed =)" and clinging desperately to the coat tails of a random stranger, dragging along behind them on the street wailing "Please, please! I have to know what you thought! I'm desperate to talk to people about this! Ask me about the alliterative repetition! Ask me about the symbolism!"

Apparently, I forgot that The Flash and Green Arrow fought. Flash won.

Now that I've rediscovered that little tidbit, and I'm procrastinating on sleep, here's a list of Batman fighting other heroes (a loose term that is) and who won! (All canon, btw)

Batman vs. Superman - Batman

Batman vs. Spawn - Spawn

Batman vs. Nightwing - Nightwing

Batman vs. Green Lantern (Guy) - Batman

Batman vs. Aquaman - Aquaman

Batman vs. Batgirl - Batman

Batman vs. Batgirl - Batgirl

Batman vs. Wildcat - Tie

Batman vs. Catwoman - Catwoman

Batman vs. Jonah Hex - Jonah

Bruce Batman vs. Jean-Paul Batman - Bruce

Batman vs. Robin (Damian) - Robin

Batman vs. Hawkman - Hawkman

Batman vs. Wonder Woman - Wonder Woman

Batman vs. Red Hood - Red Hood

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Batman

Batman vs. Master Splinter - Tie (I'm pretty sure)

I was gonna round it out evenly with Batman fighting all of his kids, but I can't find him fighting Steph (not his kid, but his kid), Tim or Duke.

I might add to this, I might not. Please do leave Hero v. Hero fights in the comments, though, I wanna see who wins

80% of Asexuals have experienced sexual violence.

50% of Aces aren’t out to doctors & 20% say being out negatively impacted their care.

Only 25% of Aces are out to friends.

10% of Aces have been offered conversion therapy.

Ace Week may be over, but advocacy must continue.