Visiting the City of Starling

"...Earlier this morning, Oliver Queen stood on trial for his supposed charges as the vigilante known as 'The Hood'." An african-american news reporter stated as he read off the information on the teleprompter. "He was arrested by the SCPD at his family home last afternoon, with him accused for murder as said vigilante among other charges. Targeting rich individuals, that were 'dirty', that have been harming many of this city's residents.

Laurel Dinah Lance represented him as his lawyer on the trial, which resulted of him being house arrested for such time with a $1.5 million bail on his name. Who knows what will happen next for the resident playboy and heir to Queen Consolidated. But we will be sure to find out."

"Well… You don't see that everyday." Naruto muttered as he was eating his breakfast via room service. He was in no mood to go to the cafeteria of the hotel he was staying at. All Naruto wanted to do was to look over his work documents after waking up this morning. He had a lot of things to plan out for the next several days from searching through many of this city's vacant buildings so he can acquire them for his company. Much like what he had to do while he stayed at Metropolis months ago.

"Onto other news, last night was quite the shocker at the Starling City International Airport as the Queen of Vlatava was targeted in an assassination attempt. Not much was known about the Queen, as a lot of information about her was kept quiet by her late father, King Victor, who had died a few nights ago. All that we do know, as of last night, is that Queen Perdita is ten years old.

Yes I am not joking on this folks, a ten year old Queen. And this is because of there being no other successors to the throne asides from the Queen's uncle, one Count Werner Zytle, who falls right behind the young Queen in terms of lineage. Though some argue that the Vlatavan count should be ruling the country in Perdita's stead, as a proxy leader, until she comes of age, but it's hard to fully tell on the family affair with her father's recent passing.

Asides from that, what was more shocking was the supposed battle that took place as one of Gotham City's very own vigilantes, Vanitas, was at the airport defending and protecting the young Vlatavan Queen. No one knows for sure why Vanitas was at the airport in the first place, but the Queen herself stated that she owes her life towards the hero for what he's done. All other information about the incident and why Queen Perdita is here in Starling City in the first place is kept under wraps until such time." *Click*

Turning off the TV, Naruto went back into finishing up his breakfast before hopping into the shower. Hopefully he could quickly get ready before his phone starts going off to get an earful from his girlfriends. He can obviously tell on what they might say to him if they caught wind on the news report since supposedly this event was going international with how big this was. Vanitas saving the Queen of Vlatava is extremely huge and would draw in a lot of reporters like sharks with blood or him and Ichiraku Ramen.

As he was lathering himself in the shower, Naruto thought back on what happened after his fight against Hiraishin and his accidental reveal with the child Queen.

-Flashback-

The growing lights of the police vehicles were coming in closer after the whole debacle on the failed assassination attempt on Perdita's life. Naruto guessed that with the current speed the cop cars were going at, it would be a handful of minutes before they fully arrived. The publisher could only shake his head in slight annoyance that it took them so damn long for the police to arrive onto the scene.

It's just that with Gotham, the police were able to arrive onto the scenes a bit faster than this on the areas Vanitas had been at to take care of varying crimes. He even read the past accounts on past cases pertaining Batman and Robin; with how the police force arrived at a good arrival time, depending on what crime is going on exactly. This was all done once James Gordon got a high ranking to make a difference out of things and this was even before he became Commissioner.

Hell, even the MCPD (Metropolis City Police Department) had a decent response time on things when he lived there for roughly three years. Things were doing well the last time he checked. Not much trouble occurred over there, even though a lot of crime happened at the Suicide Slums..

But this… This was odd for even his tastes.

'Then again… different city has their own way of things. Not only that, but I hardly know diddly squat of what goes on in this city anyways.' Naruto thought as he felt Perdita tugging on his torn up battle cloth. "Yes Perdita? What is it?"

"I was wondering... but what are you going to do now?"

"Well… I do need to grab my luggage, along with yours I take it, before I head into the city and check into the hotel which I'm staying at for this business trip of mine." He said before looking at his current attire. "Though not in this getup or else that'll really raise some questions when I'm getting my things."

*Giggles* "Well you could stay with me. I wouldn't mind the company." Perdita said with a bit of hope in her voice. Getting the chance to spend time with not only her favorite author, but also her savior. It's like a dream come true for her for the most part.

Naruto could only give her a raised look behind his helmet before shaking his head 'no' in response. "I don't think that's a great idea."

"B-But why not?" She asked with a hurtful look on her face. "I'm the Queen of my country and I could have security let you stay with me while I'm here for my surgery."

"I'm flattered that you'd let me stay at your hotel suite and all; I really am Perdita, but that might pose a problem."

"Which is?"

"I'm considered an unknown, even though I am a bit famous of being both a famous writer and owning my own publishing company. But still though... With me considered an unknown, it might lead to suspicion as to why I'm staying with you. Why you suddenly invited me to stay with you until such time will make many people gossip and might tarnish your name down the road. People will start asking questions and that'll draw too much publicity towards you and I don't want that to happen."

Hearing this made the young Queen process the information and realize that he is right. She was so used to not having others be near her, due to her overprotective father, that the very chance of spending time with someone she just befriended blinded her on some consequences. In response, Perdita held her head down before it was lifted up by the publisher's hand.

"Hey it's alright kiddo." He said with a small smile as his attire melted away to go back to his civilian attire. "You were just thinking like a child your age and it was an honest assumption. You're not used to having all this responsibility all of a sudden and I can't fault you for that. You just need to start thinking a little better with the new role you now have and it'll take some time on that."

The child queen could only smile back before replying. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now then…" Naruto then created a clone and had it take on his hero attire before the original was walking away. "Time for me to sell my part."

"...Where are you going?"

The Uzumaki turned around, but still walked backwards, he spoke out with a little smile. "Well a little thought came to mind that I could possibly sell my alibi that I'm 'not' Vanitas while my clone stands there and looks pretty."

"Pretty awesome and devilishly handsome I might add." The clone responded back making the young Queen giggle at the joking nature.

"Oh you.~ *Cough* But still though, it helps so that people won't know I'm Vanitas when people try and make connections on why 'he' showed up at the airport all of a sudden to save your life."

Nodding at this, Perdita thought it was a good idea. "But what are you, specifically, going to do?"

"Well~ When the police arrive, I'll come running in as a concerned friend and see if you're alright or whatever. Heh… This had actually worked one other time when I had fooled the famous Batman and Robin earlier this year. They never had a clue and they bought it."

"...Really?"

"Yes really. I'll tell you all about it if you want."

Soon the sounds of the police sirens were getting really close, making the publisher having to haul his ass so he could get into position to get things right. Even had to phase himself through several walls. So after waiting several minutes, Naruto came running through the outside of the building and was greeted with the sight of the SCPD guarding the perimeter and questioning his clone and the child queen.

-Flashback End-

It took a bit of convincing for him to get on through, but with Perdita's help of rushing towards him and giving him a hug did help sell the role a little better. There was a good amount of questioning involved, especially from one Detective Quentin Lance, on what his connection was with Perdita. Things were relatively smooth for the most part before reporters started to come onto the scene.

People questioned on who the helmeted hero was, to which the clone answered to the best of his abilities before he phased himself through the floor and disbursed so no one could find him. It was quite funny for Naruto to see this happen, though he had to keep up his appearance so no one would bat an eye towards him. The Uzumaki thanked his lucky stars and higher beings out there that none of the reporters had their sights on him since he didn't want to be fully involved in this.

Then again, him stepping away a good number of feet from Perdita helped during her little interview.

Civilians slowly came back into the airport since they still needed their luggage from most of the arrived flights while others were assumed to come back in the morning. It was complete and utter hell for what the Uzumaki could've imagined for not only the employees, but everyone else. Since it took roughly an hour for the airport personnel to hand off everyone's luggage before they went their separate ways.

During that time; Naruto had talked to her a little about his current life, due to her constantly asking him things. It was a little fun of being questioned by the young Queen until they got their respected belongings. Perdita was going to miss him, but Naruto promised her that he'll come see her before and after her surgery to help raise her spirits.

Turning off the shower, Naruto dried himself off and got dressed. His attire consisted of a nice pair of loose jeans, a light grey button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his leather jacket. With all that done, he finished getting ready and headed out to do errands for the day.

-One Hour Later, On the Streets-

"...For the last time Selina, I'm not going to ask Perdita for some valuable jewels for saving her life." Naruto spoke into his phone with a silence barrier around him. Even though most people tend to ignore most phone calls, with what was being spoken would've turned a few heads. Hence the silencing field around his very being.

For the past hour, Naruto was having individual phone calls with each of his girlfriends with Pam being the first while she was grocery shopping and Harley being second while watching Jade, Artemis and Raven at her place. Asides from asking about his flight; both congratulated Naruto on saving the young Queen, but each had their own opinions on the matter (asides from being worried for starters). Pam commented about him going overboard on the fight with what she learned on the specified damage, thus causing more problems for the environment for repairs. Opposite of this, Harley was actually ecstatic and wanted all of the details of the fight.

As for Selina, she was quite similar in response to the whole thing like with her two girlfriends. Commenting about both the flight, the fight that took place and voiced her concern of how the child Queen was after the whole ordeal. When everything seemed fine and dandy, Selina ended up asking the most unusual requests that made the Uzumaki facepalm in response.

"But darling~" Selina responded with a vocal pout. "You saved her life and the least she could go is giving you a nice reward. And last I heard, the royal Vlatavan jewels are just so lonely inside that secured vault of theirs."

*Sigh* "You and your jewels Selina." He muttered with a shake of his head. "I highly doubt Perdita will part with her ancestral, family jewels. Not only that honey, but asking her for such reward would leave a bad impression on her. The man who not only saved her life, but someone who befriended her in the short time together."

"Now you're just making me look bad."

"Selina…"

"Okay, okay. I was only joking Naruto. Sheesh."

*Chuckles* "Good…"

"Still though, you should get a reward for-"

"Really?" Interrupted the publisher as he thought she was going back onto the jewels.

"If you let me finish… I was going to say a nice reward to possibly benefit us." The ravenette spoke with something on her mind. "If I remember correctly, though I might be wrong, there are some areas in Vlatava that has some rare species of plants and animals due to them in the border area of Russia and some other countries. Possibly talk to the little Queen if she could help make a nature reserve over there, just so no one would ruin those places."

Naruto hummed in thought as he was waiting at the stop light for the 'walking' sign to turn on. The idea Selina proposed could be nice to consider, but he'll need to bring it up to the child Queen when he goes and visits her. There wasn't much about said country to his knowledge so he'll have to ask it's young ruler for a better source.

"I'll see what I can do Selina. I don't know if she'll allow it, but I'll try my best."

"Great. And besides I think it might be a great gift for Red's birthday coming up."

That…. That made the publisher pause his movements the very moment he got onto the other side of the road.

"H-Her birthday?"

"Yeah… Don't tell me you forgot her birthday honey."

"O-Of course I wouldn't forget such an important day." He defended as he was opening his mental filing cabinet to remember the details. Selina's was back in March, which the two really enjoyed that experience, Harley mentioned hers being somewhere in September and Rachel's was on Halloween. Naruto had remembered a lot of important dates for both his work and personal lives, but he can't remember Pam's birthday… unless…

"She didn't tell you, didn't she?" Was the thief's response towards his extended pause.

"...Yeah." He said in a bit of realization. Not once in their entire relationship did Pam mention her birthday once. Why was that?

"Possibly ask her when you get the chance."

"...Andy why can't I ask you, since you obviously know when it is?"

"Because I'd like to see you squirm on finding out."

Naruto's eye started to twitch at the bit of annoyance he was now experiencing. There were times that he can handle her playful attitude, but this was not exactly one of them. So with a sigh, he realized what he'll need to do to get the information out of her.

"If you tell me Selina, I'll get you something really nice by the time I get back. Will that be enough."

"Hmmm~ Maybe… Depends on what it is exactly you'll get me."

*Sigh* 'Figures.' Naruto thought before he heard the chime on his phone that someone was calling him. "Anything else before I end the call Selina? Someone else is trying to get ahold of me."

"Well… Since you're in Starling, mind seeing if my old teacher is still in the city?"

"Ted Grant?" The Uzumaki asked for a little confirmation. He briefly remembered the name in a past conversation. "Sure, I'll see what I can do if I have the time."

"Great. Well have a good one and try to get those things done for me. Chao~"

With Selina ending the call, Naruto pulled away his phone and pressed the 'answer' button on his phone without checking the caller ID.

"Hello. This is Naruto Uzumaki."

"So… Why are you in the west coast Whiskers?" A feminine voice spoke out, making Naruto realize that it was Lois.

"Oh hey Lois. How are things?"

"I'm doing well on my end. Stories to write and investigate. You know, the usual."

"Good to hear on that."

"Though that isn't why I called." The reporter said with the tone of voice that sent a chill down his spine. "And why didn't you answer my previous question?"

"Um… Well… I had to fly out here for work Lois. My board told me they wouldn't let me do a 'road trip' to get over here so I had to fly out."

"And how was it? The first flight you took in roughly eight years."

Blinking at this, he relaxed a little before answering his old Metropolis friend. "It was actually better than the last one Lois. Nothing bad really happened and it made me appreciate flying a bit better."

"Well good for you Naruto. I'm proud of you." She cheerfully said at this. "I told you it wasn't so bad Whiskers. You just had to get over the little fear of yours."

*Chuckles* "You can thank Pam and some of our friends for the added support."

"When I get the chance to meet them, I just might."

"You'll probably like them a lot Lois. They're pretty great in my opinion."

"I'll have to see that myself."

Naruto nodded at this since just giving opinions about someone else can only go so far without fully experiencing them first hand. As the publisher was going to a nearby food cart, a thought came to mind: How did Lois know he was in the west coast?

"Um… Lois."

"Yeah."

"How did you know I was in the west coast?... I didn't tell you that at all."

"Oh you can thank the news for that." The dark haired reporter responded with a possible smirk on her lips from what Naruto could tell. "I was enjoying my day off from the office and the moment I got home from running errands, I saw the world news report going on at Starling. To my surprise, you were in the video shot of being a bit close with the Vlatavan Queen."

'Damn… Should've stayed a bit farther away than I realized.' The former shinobi thought before speaking into his phone. "Lois, I can explain."

"Oh you better mister, because this can be pure gold on what you might have here and I'd want all the juicy details. Not only that, but I got really worried when I heard of the attack at the airport. And for that matter, are you alright?"

"First off Lois, yes I'm fine and I was out of the area when the attack happened. Second, I'm on the other side of the country and you can't lay a hand on me. So there is no way you can get any information from me about Perdita."

"Oh~ Perdita was it?" Lois coyly said making Naruto pale a little. "First name basis already? Did you befriend the young queen?"

"So what if I did Lois? There's nothing wrong with that."

"And why is she in Starling?" Questioned the reporter.

"I'm afraid that I can't tell you that."

"Oh please Naruto. You can tell me."

"Uh huh. And you'd report it right away to get a good headline." Naruto stated as he hit right on the nose on that one. Working with his old friend for so long would get him to know certain things about her. "Well I've got news for you Lois, I don't know all the details on what's going on. And what I do know, I promised her that I'd keep it underwraps until such time and that won't be for a while."

"Ugh, you and your promises."

"And you know how I am with them." He responded back with a smirk. The publisher was imagining his old friend's eye twitching like crazy at this, making him chuckle in the process.

"Don't think this is over Naruto. I'll be getting that information out of you one way or another."

"Heh. I'd like to see you try."

"Oh we'll see Naruto. We'll see soon enough." Lois stated before ending the phone call, leaving an ominous feeling around the Uzumaki.

"...I'm going to watch my back for a while, aren't I?" He muttered to himself. Lois tends to do what she can to get the information she desired. Roped him along in many of her misadventures along the way and it almost killed them in the process. So if she could possibly show up out of the blue, it'll show how dedicated the Daily Planet reporter truly is.

Shaking away the feeling and thoughts, Naruto had just placed his order and stood off to the side to wait for his meal. It was going to be a very long day of checking out a few places for a new work location, so he'll need all the energy that he can get before checking up on Perdita. After five or so minutes, Naruto's order was called when his phone started to go off.

'Wonder who it is this time.' Naruto thought before he checked the caller ID and saw that it was Cat Grant. Smiling a little, he answered the call. "Hey Kitty Cat. How's it going?"

"Why didn't you call me beforehand that you were heading out west?" The 'Media Queen' demanded with a stern voice, making him wince in response. "You know I don't like surprises all that well and you appearing on the news made me very worried on what happened."

"Sorry Cat, I wanted to call you but it must've slipped my mind before I came out here." Naruto answered as he took his meal and went to find somewhere to sit to eat his meal. "A lot happened in the past two weeks since I got the call from my board of directors to make me head to Starling."

"Hmm… I would've imagined you doing a road trip instead of a flight. Not only would've saved you the problems with flying; but that way it would've given me more preparation for your arrival, if you plan to come to National City that is."

*Chuckles* "I'm actually planning to head over there once my business in Starling is done and over with Cat. I promised you that I would show up at National City someday and we could spend some time together."

This seemed to please the 'media queen' as she gave out a pleasant hum. "Ah yes. I had hoped that would've been earlier after that specific phone call last year, but didn't want to have my hopes up. But better late than never."

"Yup and while I'm down there, we could maybe talk more about a partnership between our companies." Naruto pointed out as he opened up the first container of food. "We have talked a little about the idea over the past phone calls we had, but nothing concrete. I told my board of directors about it and they seem to like the idea… though they need to finish discussing about it among themselves before they could maybe move forward on it."

"Really?" Cat questioned as she sounded pretty interested with the idea possibly moving forward now. "Then this'll really get us to interact more than from before."

"I hope so too." The Uzumaki simply said with a smile. "We aren't that close anymore and this could maybe help fix that in some way." He took a small bite out of his meal before a little thought came to mind. "I'm guessing you found out of me coming out west because of the news coverage of Queen Perdita being here?"

"That... and as much as I wouldn't want to admit it, but Lois called me."

"...Did she now?" He questioned with a raised brow. "I couldn't imagine you talking despite how much I tried to make that happen through our past calls."

"Yes and it's understandable, but Lois reached out to me to inform me an interesting detail that you and Queen Perdita are considered friends."

*Groan* "Not you too." Why did this have to happen now? Why were his two old friends ganging up on him on this?

"I'm afraid so Whiskers." Cat responded with a smirk that Naruto knew she was currently wearing. "But when this piece of information comes across my way, I want the opportunity to find out more and inform the public on what needs to be learned."

"Cat… I don't know if I want to tell either you or Lois on what's going on with Perdita right now." He said with a somber tone and placed his food to the side for now as his main focus was on the call right now. "She's in a delicate state at this time, with not only having her father passed away the other night but also the assassination attempt and her becoming Queen of her country in such a short amount of time. It's a lot for a ten year old to handle, but the interviews that people would want to have could possibly be too much for her."

There was some moments of silence over the line as nothing was said from the media queen. Processing on what was spoken from one of the few close friends she has left in the world. Naruto was going to say something, just in case the line was disconnected or something when Cat spoke out after the bits of silence.

*Sigh* "Sometimes I wonder how you can say the right things to bring both Lois and I down from our high horses."

"Consider it apart of my charm Cat." The publisher stated with a small smile as he went back into nibbling on his meal.

*Chuckles* "Keep telling yourself that Whiskers."

"It has worked well so far as long as I've known and worked with you two. Not only you two, but others that I've interacted with in my current line of work."

"Uh huh. So let me know what else comes up and when you'll make your way to my neck of the woods." It wasn't much of an order, but a demand given the slight tone Naruto picked up. "If you do that, then I'll call Lois back and tell her to lay off for a while due to current circumstances."

"Thanks Kitty Cat and I appreciate it." The former shinobi said before adding in one last thing to end the call. "Oh and give Adam a little 'hi' from me, if that's all fine and dandy with you."

"Will do and hope to see you soon Naruto."

Once that was done and over with, Naruto went back to his meal. It was a bit large, but he didn't know how long most of his stops will take. He only planned to hit three or four locations today and possibly spread things out over the next several days if possible. He highly doubted that things will go as smoothly like of what happened when he last visited Metropolis.

-Hours Later, Starling City General Hospital-

'Man the security must've really picked up more than I expected it to be.' Naruto thought as he scanned the area to see the various police personnel, both in and out of uniform. 'Then again with Perdita being here, why wouldn't security be this tight.'

For most of the day, Naruto has been checking out three of the eight locations on his list for a possible Starling City branch location. For obvious reasons, the Uzumaki did not want to check out any possible locations in both Iron Heights and the Glades. All due to how said areas reputations from Iron Heights containing a prison within its borders, while the Glades is the highest crime ridden place in the city. Sure there are opened spots at both areas, but Naruto had to think of the safety of both his current and future employees that would want to work there.

So far Naruto has hit Orchid Bay, South End and Southern Boulevard. Each location seems alright and a good price range, but he needs to hit the other locations over the next few days to have good assessments. The other locations he needs to hit are the Triangle, Pennytown, North District located in East Starling, Lamb Valley and Castlefall. Once everything is done and over with, he'll send his assessments towards his board of directors and let them choose which one is the best out of the others.

Once he got the first few locations looked over today, Naruto thought it would be a good time to finally check on Perdita at the hospital.

'Now I wonder where she's been placed at.' Mused the former shinobi as he did quick glances of the hospital's exterior. 'Probably not a room where her bedding placement is vulnerable through a good enough window view.'

While walking into the building, Naruto looked around to see where some other police detail were located as he saw some here and there in the whole hustle and bustle of hospital activity. He knew that he couldn't just wander around to find the child queen, making things seem suspicious on his appearance. So Naruto went up to the nurse's desk to properly be sent on through.

"Hello there ma'am."

Looking up from her work, the nurse saw the attractive whiskered male in front of her and blushed in response. "H-Hello."

He smiled a little at her reaction and didn't mind it at all. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I was wondering if my name was on the possible guest list to see Perdita of Vlatava."

Blinking in confusion, she didn't expect someone requesting to see the newly arrived patient already. Though with procedure, she rolled her chair towards the other area of her station to find the assortment of guest lists for the other patients. Took a few minutes of searching, but the nurse was able to find the documents she was looking for.

"Ah, here it is." She stated as Naruto saw a clipboard with a stack of papers attached. "Now let's see….. Perdita….. Perdita…. Perdita…. Ah here she is."

"And…. is my name listed there nurse?"

"Well let's see." The nurse said as her finger went to the guest names. "Huh… very short list apparently. But yes, your name is indeed on the guest list Mr. Uzumaki."

Naruto smiled before asking his desired question. "And where might Perdita's room might be exactly?"

The nurse looked up the room number for a moment before speaking towards the publisher. "It's on the top floor and go through the right hallway to go through several corridors. It'll be the last door on the left from there."

Hearing the directions, the Uzumaki thanked the nurse and made his way to the elevator. Once inside, he pressed the button for the desired floor when a man soon entered the small compartment. Naruto recognized him as he was questioned by him last night being one Detective Quentin Lance of the SCPD.

Quentin was a man that appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties with his thinning, wild dark hair with traces of grey appearing on the sides. He had strong features on his face with hints of a 5 o'clock shadow to compliment his steely brown eyes. Showing a man who has struggled throughout the years, yet worked himself to the bone for the safety of others. The detective was currently wearing a pair of grey pants, a black jacket with a plaid blue button up shirt. To finish off his look, his badge was presented on a visible part of his belt.

It took a moment for Quentin to realize, as the doors closed, who was in the same elevator as him and gave the publisher an odd look. "Huh… Didn't know you'd actually show up."

"Well I promised Perdita that I'd come and see her before her operation." The Uzumaki stated with a small smile before continuing. "And I wouldn't want to break a promise to the young Queen of Vlatava. I'd make me feel bad if I did."

*Chuckles* "Then it's good to see one celebrity that wants to help out a little girl, regardless of her status."

"Doesn't hurt that I became friends with her during the flight over here from Gotham." Naruto pointed out as they reached the top floor.

"That's fine and all, but still odd to see that you'd actually show up." Quentin started off before explaining to the slightly confused publisher. "The kid requested you to be on her guest list while she was admitted to the hospital last night. Didn't know why'd she do it, but…"

"Given the reputation you had to deal with such 'celebrities' made you weary." The Uzumaki finished off as he gave the detective a knowing look. "Trust me detective, I have my fair share of celebrities back in Gotham and I've grown used to how most act at times."

Detective Lance could only snort in response as the two made their way to Perdita's hospital room. "Like of what I've heard through the rumor and gossip columns that you're friends with the playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne." Naruto gave the older man a look that made him respond back a little. "My daughter reads them from time to time and I end up hearing the garbage at work. It's a nightmare at times if you ask me."

*Sigh* "I hear that. Yes I'm friends with Bruce, but that's besides the point. Reason why at my company, we go for the facts in our magazines instead of that tabloid trash most people see everyday at newsstands. Though we do things on a lot of other subjects that deals with literature and various forms of art for an added bonus."

*Chuckles* "Nice to know on that."

"Speaking of daughters; I heard your daughter, Laurel, had worked as Oliver Queen's lawyer in the trial earlier today." This only got a dark look from the detective, causing Naruto to try and quickly fix things. "Sorry if I ruined your mood sir, I didn't mean to. I only heard the bare minimum from the news this morning."

"Well apology somewhat accepted Mr. Uzumaki." The detective said with a sideways glance as they walked through the halls. "Though sorry for the bad mood, but with what's currently going on, of me and most of the police force here guarding the queen, on top of what happened at the station earlier wasn't doing all that great if you ask me."

"...Mind if I ask what happened detective? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Quentin only looked at the publisher for a few moments before shaking his head in response. "I'd rather not talk about it. Police business."

Naruto nodded in acceptance as the two eventually made their way to Perdita's hospital room. As they got closer, they heard a man speaking with the queen inside of the hospital room, with a pair of guards standing outside of it. When Naruto opened the door, both he and the detective were greeted with the site of seeing not only Perdita in the hospital bed, but also an older man standing not far away from her.

He appeared to be a Caucasian male in his mid to late thirties with blue eyes, with white hair slicked back and a widow's peak hairline. He wore a lime blazer on top of a brown waistcoat and a dark green ascot with a golden brooch. He also donned a dark green cape and matching pants and gloves. To finish off his appearance, he had an ordinated pommel for the cane in his hand.

"Oh hello Naruto, Detective Lance." Perdita spoke with a small smile on her face. "Uncle Werner, the whiskered man was the one who I was talking about earlier."

"I can introduce myself, my young niece." The now identified Werner Zytle spoke out with a thick, eastern European accent. "But why bother introducing me to a peasant?"

'A peasant?' Que eye twitch from the publisher. He didn't take much offense to being called a peasant, he had been called worse back in his childhood. But the manner in which the word was used seemed to irk him to no end.

"...And what's wrong with being a peasant?" Naruto asked with a small smile that he tried to keep on his face. "Peasants are people too you know, since they help provide for one's entire Kingdom. No matter where they reside in the world."

Werner huffed in response as the answer was so obvious to him that he didn't even care if it was a proper answer. Neither Quentin or Naruto liked that. Not one one bit as they didn't like the implied message. But for the detective, he wanted to defuse the situation a bit.

"Now now, no need for violence." Detective Lance stated as he somewhat missed the glaring match between the publisher and the Queen's Count of an uncle. Quentin barely sighed as he needed to end this now. "I'm sure you know your way out sir as I believe Mr. Uzumaki would like to see your niece."

"Again, Peasant." The Count pointed at Naruto. "Not worth my time."

"Then it's quite fortunate that this peasant is your niece's friend." Naruto coldly stated with a similar thought spoken in his head. 'Also saved her life you ass.'

The count only snorted at this as he fiddled around with the pommel of his cane. "Of course… A peasant, such as you, would just be a man-in-waiting after such short time. Would even want to be in close to her royal highness to gain favors when things would be convenient for yourself."

"Okay, what the he-heck is your problem?" Naruto asked while keeping his language better in front of the ten year old. "I have nothing to really gain if I'm in Perdita's good graces, since I'm just trying to look out for her."

"Hmm… I see now. You're just acting the part, aren't you?" Werner snidely asked as he made his way out of the hospital room.

'Cool your head Naruto, just cool your head.' The Uzumaki thought as he tried to calm himself down. He didn't want the Count to provoke him and cause any more problems than he has to. Though something didn't get filtered all that well when it came to his mouth. "Do counts play jester, Count Zytle? Because I believe I see one in front of me."

This got the Vlatavan count to still his movements before turning towards the whiskered male with a narrowed glance. If looks could kill, then Naruto would've died a thousand deaths all at once. "You dare say such things towards me peasant?"

Mentally sighing, Naruto berated himself on letting that bit slip but decided to just roll with it now. "In most cases, yes. Yes I possibly would."

*Growl* "Why you little-"

"Enough." Came the command from the young Queen in the room. "I will not tolerate you calling my guest a peasant uncle."

Not wanting any more of this, the Count stormed out of the room before he sent a glare at the publisher.

Seeing the man gone, Detective Lance couldn't help but comment about it. "Has he always acted that rude your highness?"

*Sigh* "In a way, yes." Perdita answered as she rubbed her fingers on the hospital sheets. "From what my father told me, Uncle Werner has acted like that for years; with the mindset of everyone below his status should be considered 'peasants' or 'servants'."

*Groan* "Great… One of those people." Muttered the Uzumaki as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Are you sure he's related to you Perdita?"

"Yes he is, though he was adopted closer into the family due to him originally being a second or third cousin from my father." She added in for the little bit of information. "Werner and my father were close since they were children after the 'jump' in the family line. But with relations with others, he only pushed them away."

"Well with that attitude, him being a proxy leader wouldn't give him any good light on his public image." Commented the detective with a shake of his head.

"He means well since he wants our country to be strong, a world power, to help back up our illustrious history of mighty rulers." The child queen explained with a small smile before looking away from the two older men. "Werner supported my father during the times leading up to his rule, in hopes of having a better future from most of the darker parts of Vlatava's past. But after my father took the crown, my uncle became bitter against him."

"And why's that?" Questioned the publisher as the detective soon answered it.

"I don't know much about Vlatavan history as much as the next guy; but all I know was that during King Victor's reign, things have become sour in terms with relations with other countries." Quentin started off with a shrug. "Something about treaties no longer stabilizing different groups, among other things. But then again, Victor was crowned king during the later half of the Cold War and Vlatava was partially under control of the Soviets at that time. Victor was in an awkward spot of appeasing both the Commies and his people that, long story short, things didn't go all that well."

"You're correct I'm afraid detective." Perdita replied with a small frown. "My father shielded me from most of our country's problems, but they always seemed to come through the palace doors. *Sigh* Over time, my uncle became enraged with my father on how he was treating the country and both argued on how to run it with their ideals and approaches clashing.

Though when the Cold War was starting to end and the Soviets left our country's borders, deep scars remained. Relations with countries we used to be allies with became enemies, like Kasnia for example, as thoughts of them overtaking and crushing us. My father did everything he can to fix things and he did as much as he could to make things better for everyone."

"Though I doubt your uncle sees that way." The detective commented as the two men digested the information given to them.

"Unfortunately so… And now my uncle thinks that I'll end up inheriting my father's traits, possibly dragging my country through the mud." Was her response with a downcast look, making the two men feel uneasy as they looked towards her. So Naruto acted and came to Perdita's side to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay Perdita." Naruto softly said in a comforting tone. "I told you before that you're young and you've got plenty of time to deal with these new responsibilities on your plate. You obviously can't work on them all at once. Try to be child first and a queen second, if you can."

"But how can I?" She innocently asked with curiosity in her eyes. "How can I take hold of my responsibilities as queen of Vlatava and be my regular self Naruto? I… I don't know if I can handle that much strain and difficulty."

Naruto didn't respond right away as he thought things over, even Detective Lance thought if he should cut in and say something to help the little girl out. The older man was going to say something when the young publisher spoke. "Well Perdita… I believe you've finally come across one of life's most annoying questions, yet you're so young that you didn't even realize it: How do you juggle it all?"

Naruto got up from his position and took off his backpack before unzipping the top. Reaching his hand in, he formed a few plain rubber balls before bringing them out for his little demonstration. "It's simple really, you learn."

The Uzumaki held out his hands to present the young queen with the toy balls he formed. "Now… think of these as your responsibilities, duties, or whatever you have on your plate and take things slow on your approach." Naruto then tossed one up in the air and caught it with the other before repeating the process until adding in another ball into the mix. "You start with one and then two before adding in more and more as you go."

As seconds pass, more toy balls started to appear to make Perdita look onward with an adopted look of joy across her features. Part of her innocence was coming to the surface to enjoy the little spectacle before her to really show that she was child. It helped her to briefly take away her thoughts on her new challenges on life, if she made it through the upcoming heart surgery.

Quentin, though, looked onwards with a small smile as a bit of nostalgia kicked in as he thought of doing a similar thing with his two daughters when they were Perdita's age. He and his ex-wife, Dinah, would do what they can to cheer up their baby girls when they had a bad day. Either by taking them out for ice cream or playing whatever games Laurel and Sara wanted to do when the parents had free time. Though this made him feel a bit depressed on remembering such fond memories.

"When I was starting out my publishing company, I had to figure out how to be brilliant in business with what experiences I gained while working at the Daily Planet. From there, I had to figure out how to balance my work life and my social life. Even more so when I eventually met the love of my life and started to date her late last year. And after that, becoming a foster father to a little girl that's your age some months ago." Naruto stated as the juggling increased and he was doing little tricks here and there to make Perdita's eyes sparkle a bit. Things eventually ended as he used his foot to lift his backpack off of the floor before the toy balls soon fell in one at a time to finish off his trick. "Far too many people I've come across have burnt themselves out trying to do too much before they're ready."

Snapping out of her focus on Naruto's previous actions, she fully digested what he said and questioned him. "So… So you can handle it all?"

"Of course. Though it takes time to properly manage it, since you can't do it all at once and not right away." Naruto stated as he placed his bag back on the ground. "Just do things one thing at a time and you'll get the hang of it that it'll become second nature to you."

The young queen can only nod with a smile on her face as she accepted the lesson given to her. She was going to say something when her stomach started to growl. This made Perdita blush on how loud it seemed to make the older men chuckle in response.

"I'll go see if I can get something for you Perdita."

"Thank you Naruto."

The publisher nodded as both he and Detective Lance exited the room for their own devices. A bit after closing the door, Quentin turned towards Naruto and spoke to him. "That was nice of you doing that for her."

"Think nothing of it detective." The former shinobi simply said with a fox-like smile with his hands behind his head. "I had to do what I can to cheer her up. After all, I'm the guardian of a ten year old girl with a troubled past under my care. So it's a little easy to help out a child of a similar state."

"Still though, thanks."

"Then you're welcome." Naruto said with a small thought came to mind. "So out of curiousity, how much longer till Perdita's operation gets underway?"

"When her replacement heart shows up." Quentin said, getting Naruto to stop his movements and look at the detective with surprised curiosity.

"Excuse me but 'when her heart get's here'?"

"Yup."

"But I thought her heart was already here in Starling. Hence why Perdita flew out here in the first place." Naruto said getting Quentin to nod at this.

"That was what I was told earlier before the majority of us were sent here. But in truth, the donor was on her deathbed the other day and her heart had to be properly transported here from the other side of the state. So long story short, the heart is supposed to show up later today and we have teams guarding the heart on it's way over here."

Hearing this little explanation made Naruto feel uneasy as the detective left for his own duties. He had a feeling that whoever had the assassination attempt on Perdita's life wouldn't have ended it at just at the airport, hence the added security at the hospital. But if an attempt at Perdita's life would be made, it would possibly happen at the transport holding her donated heart.

So with that in mind, Naruto was formulating plans to help out said transport get to it's destination to properly deliver the heart. Problem is that he doesn't know what the transport will look like and how the police officials will guard it, without making it seem too suspicious to give away their positions. It's going to take a lot of effort so he can help protect Perdita's life. But for now...

"Where the hell is the cafeteria?" Naruto muttered as he went towards the nearby hospital map to find Perdita some food.

-Jade Dragon, Chinatown-

The restaurant has been a little busy with the amount of customers it is currently holding for the lunch hour. Chatter was abuzz and meals were either being prepared or eaten… Well all except for one table as the only occupant was currently alone at the corner of the restaurant. With the person's seating arrangement, he was facing the wall with his back towards everyone else. He was patiently waiting for the other party member to arrive, given the show of his hands resting on the menu and the glass of water needing to be refilled.

*Sigh* 'Shouldn't take this long for her to arrive.' The man thought before someone entered his field of vision and said person sat in front of him. "Took your time, didn't you Chien?"

Chien Na Wei, or China White as her alias goes by, was a very attractive Chinese woman that showed features of her strong heritage. Despite the amount of clothing on her, the man knew she had a body built for killing and seduction. Chien's hardened brown eyes keeping focus at both her surroundings and at the man in front of her, despite the restaurant being a front for the Chinese mob. To finish off her appearance was the striking silvery blonde hair, that one could argue was fake but it was very much all natural… Then again, one had to check the drapes to see if the curtains were real.

'And I checked it all.' The man silently mused while he had a facade in place.

"Well when I got word from one of my men that you of all people arrived here, I had to make it across town to see what business you have here." Was her response with a little frown on her face.

"It would've been better if you've given me a better way in contacting you instead of coming here all the time." The man said with a dry look. "Not that I mind at this particular place. Serves a pretty good cuisine with authentic oriental food."

"So why are you here exactly?" Questioned the silverette. "I doubt it's just for that former associate of yours that was on the airport attack last night."

"True… but what makes you say that I'm after Minato."

His words sank in, making Chien's eyes widen slightly in a surprised fear upon realization. "Are you out of your mind Monkey?!" She asked in a hushed whisper.

"Possibly, but I do what I must for my new master. If I have to work for a disgraced member of the League of Shadows, then I'd suck it up for my own personal goals in mind."

"But by doing that, then Ra's will be after you're head!" The silverette stated as she knew, in fact, many rules placed on the league members. After all, the man in front of her was a former lover of hers and she learned a lot from him to make her assassination work much better than before.

"Not if I have gotten stronger and been given better protection from my new master Chien."

The Triad assassin narrowed her eyes in suspicion and voiced it towards her former lover. "You sound really confident in your new 'master' if he can make such things happen."

"Oh... but he has."

"And while you're at it, mind telling me why you are here in the first place? Why speak to me about all of this anyways?"

Her answer wasn't immediate as she saw him bring his head down a bit to rub his temples from slight frustration. *Sigh* "As much as I'd hate to say it Chein, I need your help on my assignment."

This got a raised brow look from her on the answer, making said woman smirk a little. "And here I thought you were pretty confident earlier on your 'boast of power' Monkey."

The now identified Silver Monkey, outside of his assassin attire, glared at the silverette before he elaborated. "Normally I would, as I am very confident in my abilities, but with the new addition on the board will cause complications." Chien didn't say anything as she ushered Monkey to continue. "The contract was originally given to Minato and he would've completed it flawlessly, if it wasn't for him showing up."

"Him?" She questioned before remembering on the news earlier this morning. "Oh… You mean-"

"Yes… him." Quarrd Alfidd growled out as he remembered the hero from Gotham that humiliated him on the Zephyr assignment. "Vanitas showed up and stopped the assassination attempt. Not only that, but he literally maimed Minato of his arm and one of his eyes at the end of their fight. So because of that, the contract got transfered to me to complete since Minato is out of commission for who knows how long."

China White could only owly blink in surprise on the supposed new hero from Gotham doing such a thing. But given the reports of what happened of the ruined area of the airport would give Chien a 'pretty' picture. The helmeted hero must've done it as a last resort to defeat Hiraishin, but who knows for sure.

But there was still one thing that wasn't answered.

"You still didn't tell me why you wanted to see me."

"Yes… That… There is one thing I'd like to ask of you Chien. Consider it of me calling in one of your favors to me."

"...Which is…. What exactly?" The silverette assassin asked as he leaned forward with a small smirk on his face.

"How would you like to steal a Queen's heart?"

-Evening, On the Streets-

The sun was starting to set across the city, to slowly show the nightlife that is in Starling. Naruto didn't have much time last night to really appreciate it, due to not only tiredness but also the craziness at the airport. This time however, he was able to slightly enjoy the sites a little from his current position on top of the Queen Consolidated corporate building.

Keyword slightly… especially with his current task at hand.

"Oh where, oh where are you?" Vanitas muttered as he focused his vision, having the three purple circles zoom in at various locations. "Give me something, please. Don't know how long it'll take for the Dusks to report back, but I'm getting bored here."

After coming back to Perdita's hospital room, with the recommended meal for her by the doctors, the two chatted with one another for a good amount of time to help lighten her spirits. With a sound barrier up, Naruto answered a lot of Perdita's questions to the best of his abilities, with some information kept away for good measure. Like any generic little fan girl, Perdita asked if Naruto had any upcoming works on the way along with what inspirations he had when writing his books. Thank Kami she didn't know or ask anything about Icha Icha or else that would've been one very awkward conversation in many aspects.

Naruto then told her part of the story on how he fooled Batman and Robin on his identity, like he promised, which involved the three of them fighting against Pam. Perdita was confused on why they fought against his girlfriend, but the publisher gave a brief explanation of Pam not being herself and towards the end of the fight she came to her senses. Even when he had a clone pose as his alter ego while he, personally, showed up to really drive things home in the end.

Time passed throughout their conversation and Naruto wished her the best of luck for her surgery before leaving. He did leave a clone behind and hide away near her hospital room, just in case if any assassins showed up to take the young queen's life. From there, he headed out to somewhat familiarize himself with the city before getting into his hero attire when the sun started to set. After all, he needed to hopefully reach certain areas at a moments notice and wouldn't want to run around like a decapitated chicken, now would he.

Once situated at Queen Consolidated, Naruto summoned a good dozen Dusks to help him out on the search. So far his reconnaissance team hasn't reported back on anything at every entrance/exit of the city's limits. Even used his 'zoom' ability, or Hawkeye in a better term, to see how far his vision can go, but it's been giving him a headache on how far it could reach. It apparently can reach about 4 kilometers (about 2.5 miles); but he tried to push further than that, hence the growing headache.

Nothing much has happened…

"Sire!" A Dusk yelled out in his head.

Until now that is.

"Yes. What is it?" Vanitas asked as he stood up from his spot.

"We've spotted an armored transport coming from south of the city." The Dusk stated as it's master waited for more information. "Thought it was going to be something else, but some vehicles are distancing themselves from it in a protective formation."

"Good to know." The masked Uzumaki simply said as he summoned a Kazekage spear. "All Dusks, out and about. Head towards the south and do what you can to protect the transport if any enemy's arrive."

"Yes sire!"

Once the command was given, Vanitas leapt off of the building's rooftop and landed on the lance before steadily speeding up towards the direction of the armored transport. It was rough to say on terms of where exactly the truck was exactly, but Naruto started to play with the radio frequencies in his helmet. Nothing much happened until he got something that sounded urgent.

"This is unit #52, needing immediate assistance on 3rd Street!" A man yelled out over the radio. "Four armed bikers blew up our back up and we're sitting ducks! We can't let them have the precious cargo!"

-Insert Kingdom Hearts 2.5: 13th Dilemma Extended-

"I hope that's my target or else I'm wasting time in protecting Perdita's heart." Vanitas muttered as he locked onto the frequency and headed at the location. Took about a minute in getting there, but it seemed that Naruto made it to the right spot as several Dusks were hovering above the ground to distract some of the armed cyclists.

As he was getting closer, Vanitas heard something in the air and turned towards the source.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Out of instinct, Vanitas leapt off of his lance and dived out of the way just in time for a rocket to come in contact with his airborne weapon.

*BOOM*

"Who the hell brings a rocket launcher to this kind of thing?!" He yelled out as he was plummeting towards the streets below. He guessed that he was roughly a mile from the destination, so he summoned another lance to at least help him get there in time.

As he was heading down; his eyes tracked where the rocket originated from, especially since another one was fired again. Vanitas was prepared this time and summoned another lance to send out another wind attack to intercept the rocket. Both came in contact and exploded, leaving a large cloud of smoke in its wake. The hero used this opportunity to shoot towards the man on the rooftop, who fired the rocket, and smacked the launcher away before knocking him out with the blunt end of one of his lances.

With that man out of the way, Vanitas turned his attention towards where all the action is and made his way over there. By the time he showed up, the hero saw armed cyclists pointing their weapons at the drivers of the armored transport. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Vanitas dispersed his lances and threw daggers at the cyclists' weapons before landing on the ground with a recovery roll.

All this got the people's attention as Vanitas dashed towards the cyclists. Each of them were too slow in pulling out their sidearms when the hero came in close and delivered blows onto each of them. With some of them taken care of for the time being, Vanitas turned towards the drivers and yelled out to them.

"Make your delivery now!"

They nodded as they were about to start their vehicle, but something was shot through the air and came in close to piercing the drivers' necks. They would've died if it wasn't for Vanitas moving in the way to block the attacks. But this seemed to cost him as several daggers flew through the air and pierced the vehicle's tires, rendering them useless.

"So you're the hero I've heard so much about." A female voice called out, getting Vanitas to turn towards the source. Seeing a silver haired asian woman that seemed to give off a vibe of being a top assassin made the hero be on his guard. "Wonder how I can fare against you, given your reputation of being supposedly ruthless."

The masked publisher could only glare at the assassin and spoke out. "And who are you?"

She smirked in response at this before answering. "You may call me China White, as it possibly might be the last name you'll ever hear."

"I highly doubt that."

Nothing else was said as China White ran towards Vanitas. She delivered a roundhouse kick at his head, but was countered when it was caught. He tried to strike towards her head, but she used her free leg to kick his midsection to get herself free from his hold. Rolling out of the way, she threw several throwing stars at the hero but they phased right through him.

'The hell?' China White thought on what she just saw.

Seeing her reaction, Vanitas smirked a little. "You need to do better than that if you want to beat me."

*Growl* "Xiànzài ràng nǐ de pìgu zài zhèlǐ!"/"Get your asses over here now!" China White yelled out in Chinese as Vanitas saw several dozen men arrive into the battle ground. Even more seemingly showing up on the rooftops. "So what will you do now with being outnumbered?"

"...Are you compensating for something?" Vanitas questioned as he gazed at the enemy numbers. "I feel like you are."

Without warning, many of the men started firing at Vanitas. On reflex, he quickly moved out of the way and went behind the armored truck. Though that seemed useless as other men of China White's forces had a clear shot at him, even with a few trying to pry the door to the armored transport. Vanitas had to quickly take care of those men so they wouldn't get inside and take the heart. But even then, Vanitas was outnumbered as he pulled up his barrier to block the enemy fire.

"You should just surrender now Vanitas!" The silverette assassin yelled out over the gunfire. "Leave now and you'll be left alone!"

"And leave the heart to you guys?! Fat chance!"

Vanitas didn't know where he could turn to at the present time. He could possibly phase his way into the transport and take the heart, but that'll leave the drivers vulnerable to the assailants. Even if he left the drivers all by themselves, Vanitas would also be partially vulnerable in having the heart being put at risk. Hell he didn't know how the heart was being kept in the first place, so there's that.

'For the drivers and the heart to be safe, I need to take care of these goons.' Naruto thought as he tried to maintain the barrier. 'But even if I summoned clones or Nobodies, then they'd be taken out too soon with these amount of baddies. *Sigh* What should I do?'

As his eyes scanned the area, his sights soon landed upon some objects not far outside of his barrier. Naruto soon realized that it was a pair of guns that the latest goon dropped before the shooting started. Vanitas was about to look somewhere else when a voice spoke inside of his mind.

'Pick them up.'

'That voice… I heard it before.' Vanitas thought in remembrance of the Man-Bat incident. It was the same voice that came out of nowhere when he first got his Kazekage lance.

'Pick up. The guns.'

"...If you say so." He muttered in a low tone as he prepared himself for what's to come. Wishing himself the best of luck, he dropped the barrier, rolled towards the guns on the ground and aimed at the nearest thugs.

In an instant, Vanitas saw things slow to a crawl as he felt his energy pulse through his arms and onto the guns. Energy enveloping them, morphing them into something that he didn't expect out of this. What was once a pair of simple, black handguns; they now appeared to be odd arrowguns/crossbows being primarily purplish with silver in various areas on the elongated weapons. The top of each gun bears a pattern similar to the Nobody symbol with the guards having metallic diamond shaped spikes.

Once things went back to normal speed, Vanitas' fingers already pulled the triggers to fire upon China White's goons. Instead of normal bullets, it was a complete surprise to see the projectiles being magenta colored laser arrows. The 'arrows' impacted the goons and sent them flying into the people behind them.

Not wanting to lose this chance, Vanitas kept firing onto the crowd of goons. Many of the laser arrows struck each of them; but with the sudden recoil from the new weapons, the arrows ended up in odd places on the human bodies. Each good cried out in pain with some falling back and bleeding out or even a few falling over dead. With the ones that ended up dead seemingly disintegrated into nothingness as it caused many viewing goons to freak out.

"...Well shit." Vanitas muttered as he ran away to fire upon the other thugs. 'I wanted to immobilize them, not kill them.' With that in mind, the hero did his best to aim for vulnerable areas that wouldn't endanger the thugs' lives. Though with the strength of the kick back made things a bit hard, but Naruto was trying his best in not leaving fatal blows.

Using his speed, Vanitas swerved through the crowd and pulled the triggers on his weapons. At one point, the resounding *click* was heard making the helmeted Uzumaki realize that he ran out of ammo. This got a few thugs to come in and attack the 'unarmed' hero, but they forgot that even without ammo, the arrowguns could be considered as blunt weapons.

*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*

'This is gonna take some getting use to.' Vanitas thought as he swung his guns around to smack the nearby thugs across their heads. Out of instinct, the hero swung his guns like escrima sticks but on a few instances the sharp ends of the weapons imbedded themselves into the foes. This made many of China White's men cry out in pain before being kicked away by the black and white themed hero.

'Time to reload.' He thought as he focused energy into the weapon clips to refill them. A lot of his power was leaving him, making Vanitas feel like he was running out of breath. 'Man… these things are taking a lot out of me. Need to use these arrows sparingly.'

Vanitas dodged out of the way from some sniper fire from the rooftops. With careful aim, he fired a few laser arrows, but only one missed with it hitting the rooftop below the sniper. The missed arrows weren't wasted as they ricocheted off the surface and went straight towards a man on the street below.

'This thing can do that.' Naruto thought with widened eyes. 'Well this gives me a few ideas.'

He ran towards the nearby wall and leapt off of it before firing at several other goons before flipping over to fire at a stop sign. Bouncing off it's surface, the projectiles landed on their marks as they made several thugs fall onto the ground to hopefully pry off the arrows off. With most distracted, Vanitas ran towards them and leapt over them to kick their heads before using them as human shields from the remaining snipers from up above.

As this was going on, the silverette assassin was weighing her options on what she should do now. She could try and make her way into the armored transport to nab the heart, but that would get her in the way of Vanitas' onslaught. Whatever weapon the hero now had was decimating her forces, with some results looking not pretty at all.

'This is getting too hot for me.' Chien thought as she saw the scene before her. 'Screw Silver Monkey on this favor. I need to get out of here or else I might be next.'

With that in mind, she ran off so she wouldn't get captured and questioned on her motives this evening.

Back with the hero, he was wrapping things up with the thugs as he was jumping off of one of their heads and fired at the remaining rooftop forces. While still in the air, Naruto focused more energy into his guns before firing. The singular projectile glowed for a brief moment before it exploded, launching out rope like energy to hold the remaining men in place.

'Well ain't that interesting.' He thought on that interesting moment. Disbursing his guns, he came straight down from the air and summoned his lance. Once striking the ground, Vanitas shot a gust of wind on all sides to knock out of the goons.

*Panting* "Damn… This really took a lot out of me." Vanitas muttered as he held onto the lance for support. "Need to figure out on how to use those 'arrows' sparingly or else I'll burn myself out."

It was then that the doors to the transport opened up and the drivers ran towards the hero.

"Thank god you saved us."

"If you haven't showed up, we would've been goners for sure."

*Panting* "No problem." The hero said as he eyed the two drivers. "Is the Queen's heart safe?"

"I think so." One of the drivers said as he went towards the vehicles back and unlocked it. With the doors opened, Vanitas saw a metallic container strapped down onto one of the seats. "Yup, it's still good."

"Though I think we have a problem here." The other driver stated as he eyed the tires. "With those gone, we can't make it to the hospital in time."

"...I think… I can get it there in time." Vanitas said getting their attention.

"You sure about that? You look pretty exhausted to me."

This got the hero to wave him off before replying. "Nah.. This is nothing."

"If you say so."

The one driver came back out with the heart container and handed it to the hero. In response, he formed several grappling scarfs and had them wrap around his body before latching onto the container. With it securely in place on his back, Vanitas nodded to the two drivers before using his lance to ride into the night's sky.

-Starling City General Hospital-

The site of the city's hospital made Vanitas smile as he was coming closer to the building's entrance. He was absolutely tired from what he had to deal with earlier, but it didn't matter now. Once landing near the building's entrance; the hero was greeted with the sight of a doctor, who was patiently waiting for the heart's arrival.

"Eh… Where's the transport carrying the heart?" Questioned the doctor. "I was told that there was supposed to be an armored convoy or something that was supposed to arrive."

"Sorry doc, but they got held up by some thugs." Vanitas answered as he took the heart container off of his makeshift backpack. "Though I made it. Here's the heart." The reaction he got out of the doctor wasn't what the hero was expecting, as the man showed a downcasted look. "Is something wrong?"

"We-We tried to call it in to the transport, but there was no response at all."

"...What happened?"

"I'm sorry sir, but…. But you're too late."

This got a hidden, wide eyed look from the hero as the news had hit him rather hard. "W-What? What do you mean I'm too late?!" He yelled out as he grasped the doctor with one of his available hands. "I thought Perdita had plenty of time!"

"She had a heart attack earlier and we rushed her to the ER to stop it, but it didn't work out." The doctor replied as Vanitas let go of the man. "I'm sorry, but we did everything we could."

"...How long?"

"Excuse me?"

"How long ago… did this happen?" The masked publisher asked as his eyes stared into nothingness.

"About twelve minutes ago." The hospital employee stated, making the hero tighten his hand into a fist. "Please. Don't blame yourself. I'm sure you got here as fast as you could." The doctor then grasped the packaged heart from Vanitas and brought it closer to his body. "Maybe another recipient can be found." There was no response at all as Vanitas walked through the hospital entrance, with the doctor right behind him.

Though if the hero were to look, he would've seen the doctor have a smirk on his face with a dark twinkle in his eyes.

'Twelve minutes… Twelve minutes…. I'm sure the fight didn't take that long with the added time of getting over here.' Naruto thought as he berated himself. He sat down near one of the hospital decorations to wallow in his misery. 'I should've been better…. I should've been faster.'

"Vanitas!" A doctor yelled out, getting the hero to turn his head to see a couple of doctors jogging towards him. "We got word from the transport that you were coming."

"Well I'm too late apparently." The hero sorrowfully said as he realized the transport must've told the hospital all too late.

"...What do you mean by that?"

"I was told that Perdita died about twelve minutes ago by a heart attack."

This got odd looks from the hospital staff before one of them replied that. "Who the hell told you that? Perdita didn't die, we were getting her prepped for surgery at that time."

Vanitas was clearly surprised by this, though he didn't show it due to his helmet. "You-You mean she's not dead?"

"But she will be since she's running out of time."

'Shit!' Naruto thought with hidden, widened eyes. 'I've been conned!' With his widened gaze, he searched for the 'doctor' he gave the heart container to. It was brief, but Naruto saw the man smirking right back at him from the elevator.

Vanitas growled at the man as he ran at the elevator. Despite the doors already closed, he used his powers to phase right through to end up in the elevator shaft to land on the container. Vanitas phased once again to see a hole on the bottom with a doctor's outfit to the side, along with a face like mask to hide his appearance.

'The hell is this thing?' He briefly thought before jumping into the hole. After a bit of falling, Vanitas saw an opening and dived right through to end up at the hospital's parking garage. Once coming out of the safety roll, he saw someone he didn't expect to see after the Wayne Manor incident near a parked limousine.

"You!" Vanitas yelled out, getting the man and several thugs' attention.

"Well hello Vanitas." A certain monkey themed assassin dryly said as he focused on the new arrival. "It's been quite some time."

"What the hell are you doing here Monkey!"

"That's Silver Monkey to you hero." Was all the assassin said as he threw a handful of shuriken towards Vanitas. The hero could only run away from the shuriken, along with the added gunfire into the mix.

'Dammit. I need to get the container away from him.' Naruto thought before he summoned a few Dusks to distract the assassin and his lackeys. The summons flew towards the assailants and gave Vanitas enough time to run in close to Silver Monkey. Once close enough, he slid on the ground and gave the assassin an upward kick to dislodge the container from his grasps.

"I believe this is mine." The hero said as he used his grappling scarf to snag the container from the air and strap it onto his back.

Some thugs tried to get in close, but some exploding cards were thrown to send them back and possibly incapacitate them. It seemed to work as some fell onto the floor with the rest confused from the smoke of both the cards and disbursed summons. Needing to get them out of the way, Vanitas dashed into the smoke and made quick work out of them.

With no one else, but Silver Monkey standing, Vanitas stared down at his opponent.

"I'm taking a wild guess that the attack on the transport was your doing." The hero stated as the two encircled each other in a standoff. "Am I right?"

"Pretty much as I expected to possibly have it delay and tire you out if needed."

'Well it worked, I'd give him that.' Vanitas thought before Silver Monkey dashed towards him. He blocked the monkey's strike before pushing him away to duck from a spin kick. From his placement, Vanitas swept kick the assassin. But in the momentary fall, Silver Monkey used his arms to perform a somersault before delivering a kick towards the hero's helmet.

With the hero down on the ground, the assassin jumped into the air to strike Vanitas' head. That failed once the hero rolled out of the way, but the assassin landed a successful kick across the side of his helmet. The ringing echoed inside of Naruto's helmet, causing some momentary discomfort, until he ran at Silver Monkey, grabbed his torso and ran without stopping to slam his opponent to the garage wall. This attempt failed as the assassin momentarily moved around to place his feet onto the wall and run upwards to evade the blow.

"Is that the best you can do Vanitas?" Mocked the monkey themed assassin once landing on the ground. "I thought you could do better than that."

Vanitas gritted his teeth in frustration, but had to focus on his task at hand. So he dispersed his scarf before catching the container behind him. Placing it down on the ground, he pushed it away to let it skid some distance away so the heart won't get harmed.

*Sigh* "You know," Vanitas started off in a calm tone. "I already had beaten you once Silver Monkey."

Said assassin could only glare behind his mask at this Before speaking, he wiped out a pair of hand claws. "You were lucky last time Vanitas."

"Well let's see how far I can push it."

With the worded bait, Silver Monkey took it as he leapt at the hero with his claws in the air. In a quick moment, Vanitas summoned a pair of knives that unbeknownst to him seem to give out a small spark. From there the hero kicked the incoming monkey before bringing down his daggers to deal some damage onto his opponent. With the brief flailing, Vanitas delivered a few punches and kicks at the assassin.

Silver Monkey recovered and went to strike down Vanitas; but in a brief moment, the hero summoned and aimed his arrowguns which surprised the assassin.

*Click*

"Huh? Jammed?" The hero voiced as he glanced at his guns before quickly throwing the jammed weapons at his opponent. They smacked hard against the assassin's mask before they came back into the hero's hands. "Ah there we go."

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

"GAH!"

"Hope you liked my surprise!" Mocked the hero as he dashed at Monkey before holstering his guns. Pulling out his daggers, he came in close and slashed at the assassin to end up seeing the electric coating on the small blades. 'When did that start?' Was his thought before shaking it away to deliver more blows onto the hired assassin.

After the last hit, Silver Monkey retreated back a bit before snarling at Vanitas. "You'll pay for that!"

"Heh. Sure I will." The hero responded back with a hidden smirk before it went to a frown. 'I need to finish this quickly so I can save Perdita.'

Vanitas then ran back as Monkey came towards him. Going up one of the support pillars, the disguised publisher pulled out his arrowguns and fired at the assassin. Several came in contact with the assassin's back before exploding, causing much pain onto him. He whirled around and sent punches and kicks at the hero, but each were either dodged or batted away by his new weapon.

Before long, Vanitas grew tired of the assassin and fired several laser arrows at the man, causing him to fall down. For added measure, the hero smacked the assassin across the masked face a few times before kicking him away. Seeing the assassin panting on the ground of the arrows causing great pain onto him, Vanitas thought that he now had Silver Monkey on the ropes.

"It's over Monkey!" Vanitas yelled out to the fallen assassin. "You've lost!"

"It… will never be over Vanitas!" Was all the assassin growled out before grabbing handfuls of smoke pellets and threw them on the ground to make his escape. Even a pair of flash and concussion grenades he had hidden away helped to cover his tactical retreat.

"Seriously? That again?" Questioned the hero as he dismissed his arrowguns. He looked around for where the heart container was at before making his way towards it. With it soon in his grasps, he made his way towards the stairwell with no one in his way now.

"If you want something done right…" A male voice started off, causing Vanitas to whirl around to see the source. "You've got to do it yourself."

And without warning, the man shot his hand out towards the hero and something crashed into him. Vanitas was unprepared as he let go of the heart container, letting it bounce on the floor, before grabbing his helmeted head in pain. It felt like nothing he ever experienced before. It was like a dozen migraines went off all at once and his vision seemed to become distorted, with everything seemed wonky and slowed to a crawl.

The helmeted Uzumaki fell onto the ground and could only look at the figure coming closer to him. His features looked familiar, despite how odd everything appeared to be in Naruto's vision. Focusing a bit better, Vanitas recognized who the attacker was.

"...Zytle?" Vanitas rasped out as he glared at Perdita's uncle. "You're… a meta?"

"It's Count Zytle to you peasant." Werner stated with a sneer. "Soon to be King Zytle, once I deal with the likes of you and the little bitch of a niece of mine. But to answer your question, yes… I am indeed a meta. Though I do gotta enjoy the effect I have to make one go in a vertigo state."

'Well that makes sense.' The hero thought as he tried to navigate himself to the fallen package. 'Not only on... his power, but Perdita… is the only person in his way... to the throne. Very much like Doto and Koyuki back at home.'

*Chuckles* "Crawling away I see." Werner mocked as he slowly made his way towards the hero. "Is that what you're reduced to?"

"I'm not… proud of that… you know." Vanitas rasped out once he grabbed the heart container.

"Apparently."

'Well I'm not... defeated either.' Thought the hero as he tried to get away from the Vlatavan Count. 'I can't use any of my powers... with my head literally killing me. But I think I have one weapon left: my mouth!'

Turning his head back slightly, Vanitas stared at the Count and spoke. "I'm guessing you have a great view... from where you're standing."

"What do you mean peasant?"

"On your high horse." The hero answered with a hidden, narrowed glance. "I'd pay... good money to see you fall down hard... Seeing your world crashing upon you... as you try to comprehend the failure you might have after this."

The Count could only scoff at this as he got closer and closer to the fallen hero and glared holes at the back of his helmeted head. "You talk much for a hero that clearly lost this battle. My hired assassin and peasant thugs tiring you out to the best of their abilities so you would fail to save Perdita."

"And why?... Why do all this... Zytle?"

"Because Victor was bringing our country to ruin!" Werner growled out as he stopped his movements. "Everything I've done in the past was for the country to prosper again like in the good old days. Getting us out from the Cold War that plagued our country, but my 'brother' kept making it worse. I grew tired of him not acting accordingly and I had to get rid of him."

'Oh yeah… He's very much like Doto.' The hero thought before speaking to confirm something from the man. "So you had... King Victor killed? Is that it?"

"Why of course I did." The Vlatavan answered with a darkened smirk. "Poison in small doses actually. His body would grow ill over time and no one would be more the wiser. Even helps when I handsomely paid the peasant doctors to falsify the reports."

*Growl* "Bastard! And I bet… you're the one that made... Perdita's heart start to fail."

"Oh no… That was all natural actually." Was the honest answer coming from the Count. "Born with a weak heart, hence the extra measure as to why Victor sheltered her more."

"So… when her heart was getting worse… and needed a new one… Count Heartless heard opportunity knock." Vanitas stated in slight realization.

*Chuckles* "Right on the nose, as the peasants say." Werner stated with a smirk as he stopped his psychic onslaught. He got closer to the hero and pulled the pommel of his cane to reveal a hidden sword inside. Rising it up into the air, the Count was ready to strike on the nauseated man. "Now, shall we see if I can kill two hearts with one blow?"

"Well take your best shot Count."

Vanitas tossed the container towards the side, distracting the Vlatavan Count. And at that moment, Vanitas used what strength he had in his legs and sent an upward kick towards Werner's chest. This sent the Count flying back towards the nearby stone pillar.

"Heh… Glad the man loved to chat and be so full of himself. But I got the better out of him." Vanitas stated as he got up from the ground, feeling the vertigo effect fully leaving him, to look for the packaged heart.

*Growl* "You think you're better than me?!" The Count yelled out from his position, making the hero glance at him.

"Hmm… No, not really." Vanitas uncaringly said as he walked towards the fallen Count. "I already know I am. And as much I'd love to continue this chat Count, but you're not my priority." Once said, the masked publisher kicked the man's head hard enough to render the man unconscious.

Running towards the heart, Vanitas swooped in and grabbed the package and ran towards the garage exit. There were a few conscious thugs in the way, making Vanitas leap over them to kick each of their heads to knock them out. Once landing, he continued his run around the building towards the entrance.

With not enough time and power inside of him, Vanitas crashed through the glass entrance. This caused the nearby occupants to startle in their places as they saw the exhausted hero. Coming out of a recovery roll, Vanitas looked up to see the doctor's running towards him.

"Take it!" Vanitas rasped out as he held out the package. "Save Perdita!"

"R-Right! Right!" One of the doctors said as he grasped the package. He turned towards the other doctors and yelled out to them as the one doctor ran ahead of them. "TRANSPLANT TEAM TO O.R. TWO STAT!"

After all the struggle that went on for the evening, after everything Vanitas had to endure, he collapsed onto the lobby floor and passed out.

-Morning, Starling City General Hospital-

"...This just in. Despite the best efforts of Gotham City's Vanitas, and a team of transplant surgeons, young Queen Perdita of Vlatava died on the operating table at Starling City General Hospital." Was what was spoken from the TV's and radios echoing throughout the hospital as many on staff workers and patients heard. Many were saddened to hear this of learning a ten year old child had died in such a horrible manner.

Though out of all of this, one man was smiling as he made his way towards his destination. He opened the door to the hospital room and walked towards the foot of the bed of the unconscious hero. Nothing much could've been done to the helmeted man as none of the medical equipment could pierce the man's body suit. But the conscious man didn't care one bit, as only one thing was his primary focus. He wanted to wait to see the hero wake up so he can gloat on his little accomplishments, but it seemed he didn't have to wait long as he saw Vanitas shift on the bed.

*Groan* "Damn… My head." Vanitas muttered as he held his helmeted head. As his eyes focused from waking up, he was greeted with the smirking face of… *Growl* "Count Zytle."

"That's King Zytle to you, peasant." The male Vlatavan stated with a narrowed glance.

"...King?"

*Chuckles* "Perdita is dead hero. And the beauty of it is, I never laid a hand on her."

Vanitas could only grit his teeth in anger as he glared at the man standing at the foot of the hospital bed. "And now, no one can lay a hand on you Werner."

"Well as King of Vlatava, I'm untouchable."

"Then let's test that theory!" The masked hero stated as he leapt off of the bed, only to be blasted by Vertigo's psychic wave attack. Vanitas struggled to get back up, but the meta's attack was becoming too much for him.

"Now, now peasant. You wouldn't want to harm a royal, do you?" The King stated as he smirked at the 'groveling' man on the floor. "Besides, who exactly are you mad at, hmm? She died on the table. So all that planning, all that effort. Neither of us need have bothered."

As the attack ended, the masked Uzumaki glared at the King as he struggled to get back up. "Right… And now it must kill you to know that you owe whatever amount of money and possible favors to whoever you hired for the assassination attempts, for I assume nothing?"

Werner could only chuckle in a dark tone while he played with his cane. "Not at all I'm afraid. They played their roles perfectly in my attempt to rid Vlatava of Perdita. Her father should've made me king instead of giving the title towards her bitch of a daughter, who was quite unwell given her condition. Though we couldn't know it was unnecessary."

"So you would just be credited for attempted murder then?"

The King only smiled at this and spoke out at the failed hero. "It's called regicide peasant. Then again, I had my 'brother' Victor killed to help get things moving." Once that was spoken, he had expected to just have Vanitas to sieve in his place as he couldn't do anything at all. But all that the hero could do was chuckle, making the King question him. "What the hell is so funny?"

"I actually believe it's called 'You're busted, jerk face!" Vanitas yelled out as the curtain for the hospital room was pulled to the side to see several officers there alongside with one Detective Lance and… "Now I believe you know the young Queen. All alive and well Count."

Werner could only stand there in shock at what he was seeing. Eyes widening as he shook in his place to see Perdita glaring at her uncle with a tape recorder in her hand. With a few quick actions, the young Queen rewound the recorder and played the tape.

"...And now it must kill you to know that you owe whatever amount of money and possible favors to whoever you hired for the assassination attempts, for I assume nothing?"

*Darkly Chuckles* "Not at all I'm afraid. They played their roles perfectly in my attempt to rid Vlatava of Perdita. Her father should've made me king instead of giving the title towards her bitch of a daughter, who was quite unwell given her condition. Though we couldn't know it was unnecessary."

"So you would just be credited for attempted murder then?"

"It's called regicide peasant. Then again, I had my 'brother' Victor killed to help get things moving."

When the tape ended, Perdita placed the recorder down as she glared at her uncle with hate filled eyes. "Count Werner Zytle, as Queen of Vlatava, I hereby accuse you of high treason against the Crown and for the murder of King Victor. As such, I revoke your diplomatic immunity, your titles, your assets and hereby banished from Vlatavan grounds for the rest of your days."

"No… NO!" Werner yelled out as he dashed towards the Queen with the intent to kill her. But with quick actions, Vanitas leapt at the Count restrained the man before slamming him onto the floor. That was all done before the officers pulled out their guns and aimed it at the fallen Vlatavan Count.

"Send this clown away boys." Quentin stated as the officers pulled the man up before placing a power dampening collar on the criminal. Werner tried to use his powers, but was only met with the painful shocks of the collar to render the man unconscious.

As the SCPD carried the criminal's limp body out of the room, Quentin grabbed the decorated cane off of the floor before he and Vanitas turned towards the Vlatavan Queen.

"Thank you. Your plan worked perfectly. And justice has been served." Perdita said with a small smile.

"Yeah well, when I woke up earlier and found out you were in recovery; I knew Werner would make another attempt on your life, with or without any other assassins he hired." Vanitas started off before the detective picked up from there.

"Of course I'm glad that you came to me and told me what was going on to get in on this little plan of yours." Quentin stated as he was indeed surprised earlier from the hero's arrival. The helmeted hero woke up earlier than expected and came out of nowhere while the detective was in a secluded hallway, drinking a little from his flask for a bit of celebration of the successful operation. "Though it would've fully worked if your uncle thought you were dead and that he lost that da-darn immunity of his to be sent away for good."

"And I thank you both for that." Perdita said as the two men nodded their heads.

"So… What do you want to do with this, your highness?" The SCPD detective asked as he held up the decorated cane.

"That sword is an heirloom belonging to my country, not to the count."

"A sword?" Vanitas asked as Quentin messed around with it to end up pulling a blade out of the cane. "Oh…"

Putting the blade back into place, the detective handed it towards the young Queen as she nodded towards the two men. "I would offer this to either one of you as a reward or a souvenir, but I'd want to hold onto this for physical support in my recovery."

"That's fine with me Perdita." The detective said with a smirk on his face. "I'd rather have my well deserved reward being your smile on your road to recovery."

"Mine as well your highness." The masked publisher stated before adding in one last thing that could've possibly ruined the mood. "Well that and some props of helping save an entire country."

"Really?" Was all Quentin asked as he glanced at Vanitas.

"What? I'm just stating the obvious."