The two ships returned to Beyond City\u2019s shipyards. Everyone departed the ships and were greeted with cheers when the crowd met them. Batman shook hands with Gandalf and they both introduced Wonder Woman and Galadriel to one another. The Elf and Amazon seemed to hit it off. \u201cThat rope compels anyone to tell the truth?\u201d Galadriel asked Wonder Woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA gift from the gods of my people,\u201d replied Wonder Woman. \u201cUnfortunately, it\u2019s considered a polygraph and any evidence taken from that won\u2019t be admissible in court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Sounds rather counterintuitive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSadly, can\u2019t change a man\u2019s mind that easily, especially when they\u2019re in charge of more than half the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat IS true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Elf Lady and Amazon Princess spoke, Batman and Gandalf shook hands. \u201cThanks for joining up again,\u201d said Batman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy pleasure, Mr. Wayne,\u201d replied Gandalf. \u201cSo, you and Wonder Woman married and had a child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPersephone, the current Robin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow big IS your family, just out of curiosity?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe biggest in Gotham. Gotta say, I think I prefer you in gray robes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d feel better if I had my hat, but the only color they had was gray instead of blue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Death grinned as she found Bounty. The two Horsemen hugged each other tightly. \u201cIt\u2019s been too long!\u201d whispered Death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo Vortech\u2019s been beaten, I hear,\u201d said Bounty. \u201cChaos has been avenged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had to find a new Chaos quickly, though. Frankly, a little too quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet me guess, it\u2019s someone from the Thanatos line in that universe where everyone has yellow skin and an overbite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t look like that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReally. In fact, here she is now.\u201d Lacey arrived and bowed her head to Bounty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWelcome home, Bounty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd what was your name, Chaos?\u201d asked Bounty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, I still go by my usual name. I\u2019m Lacey Thanatos Atmadja.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReally?\u201d Bounty grinned. \u201cYou\u2019ve settled in well as the new Chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBig shoes to fill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou wear them well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAh, Lacey, there you are!\u201d called Anansi\u2019s voice. \u201cI just need to-\u201d Anansi stopped when he saw Bounty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course. The spider has to be involved in the behind-the-scenes work!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYOU?!\u201d yelped Anansi. \u201cLacey, please tell me you aren\u2019t bringing the Horsemen of Flourishment here! PLEASE tell me that!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, yes. We\u2019ve updated the security of this universe, so we\u2019re bringing them here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you and your friends had half the sense you pretend to have, you\u2019d get them out of here at once and leave their Sources here! If you like,\u201d Anansi then turned into a giant spider, \u201cI\u2019d be more than pleased to expedite their departure!\u201d Bounty raised her hands as if she were going to fling fireballs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHold on, no one\u2019s leaving!\u201d protested Lacey as she got between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTheir presence here,\u201d urged Anansi, \u201cis the biggest security risk!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not your decision to make!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cANANSI!\u201d called Richard. The spider looked at Richard. \u201cWe said we\u2019d get the Sources of Flourishment here, that also included their respective Horsemen. Why didn\u2019t you raise any objections when Life was brought here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLife\u2019s here too?!\u201d asked Bounty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s at our mansion right now,\u201d explained Lacey. \u201cI can-\u201d Bounty then breezed past Lacey and Anansi in the general direction of the Horsemen\u2019s mansion. \u201c\u2026I guess not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLacey,\u201d said Anansi as he returned to his human-ish shape, \u201cI REALLY urge you to get her out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour advice is noted, Trickster,\u201d replied Lacey. She then left Anansi to his thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he was being congratulated, Richard noticed something odd. \u201c\u2026Somebody\u2019s missing,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that, Daddy?\u201d asked Kaitlyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI said somebody\u2019s missing.\u201d Kaitlyn then looked around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Where\u2019s Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s who\u2019s missing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomeone asking for Mama?\u201d asked Kaede as she strolled up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKaede, where\u2019s your mother?\u201d quizzed Richard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s back home, talking on the phone with Ms. Nonsu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my old boss\u2019s secretary. What does she want with her?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cActually, she wanted to talk to you personally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe?\u201d Richard was a little worried now. \u201cLet\u2019s get home then.\u201d They took Kaede\u2019s car and made their way home. Richard then dashed into the house and found Megumi on the house phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAh!\u201d she said to the caller. \u201cThe man you want to talk to has just arrived.\u201d Megumi then handed the phone to Richard. \u201cMs. Nonsu for the man of the house,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d replied Richard as he took the phone. He then spoke to the caller. \u201cHello, Ms. Nonsu. How are you today? \u2026That\u2019s good to hear. \u2026Oh, I\u2019m fine as well. Just saved a universe as usual. \u2026Yes, I\u2019d like to know why you called. \u2026Oh, that rat\u2019s fired? Good riddance. So, who\u2019s your-? \u2026YOU?! You\u2019re in charge of MNN?! That\u2019s wonderful! \u2026Hold on, that means you need a- \u2026Oh, you have one in-? \u2026ME?! But I was-! \u2026That\u2019s three times what I was-! \u2026Well, if you REALLY think I\u2019m worth that much\u2026all right, I accept! When can I get the additional training? \u2026Well, I just finished a mission and teams without me will be saving other universes for the foreseeable future. \u2026Wednesday morning, it is, then! See you then! Bye bye!\u201d Richard hung up, then punched the air! \u201cHEAD ANCHOR, BABY!\u201d he cheered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had a feeling your luck would turn for the better,\u201d chuckled Megumi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDaddy, did MNN rehire you?\u201d asked Kaitlyn. Lisa then came into the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d she quizzed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy dears, the matriarch of the house already knew about the details, so it pleases me to fill the rest of you in,\u201d said Richard. \u201cMNN\u2019s board of directors were a bit alarmed at their station\u2019s sudden change from actual news to Khan-centric propaganda, so they went down to the station and fired all of Khan\u2019s supporters and had Ms. Nonsu take over as the one running the place. She hired some new people, even an anchor to fill my old timeslot. The reason for that is because she wants me to be trained as Head Anchor for MNN and, in her words, \u2018put MNN\u2019s fact-checking abilities back on track\u2019. This new job comes with a salary triple to what I used to make. To sum up, the one man in this house\u2026is back among the working crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd with Ms. Nonsu at the helm, MNN will be the shining example of news broadcasting it once was!\u201d cheered Megumi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThank you all for your help,\u201d continued Richard. \u201cI don\u2019t know what I did to deserve this family, but I thank whatever gods are out there that we\u2019re together now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, Emily DID kind of get a bit pushy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell her that, she\u2019s got a big enough head as it is.\u201d Richard and Megumi then wrapped each other in a hug and kissed. Kaede opened her mouth to object to how blatant they were being, but Kaitlyn put her hand on her sister\u2019s shoulder, shaking her head and pulling her out of the room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The two ships returned to Beyond City\u2019s shipyards. Everyone departed the ships and were greeted with cheers when the crowd met them. Batman shook hands with Gandalf and they both introduced Wonder Woman and Galadriel to one another. The Elf and Amazon seemed to hit it off. \u201cThat rope compels anyone to tell the truth?\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[754,880],"tags":[482,9,146,337],"class_list":["post-6479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journey-through-wonder","category-story-journey-through-wonder","tag-fantasy","tag-kamen-rider","tag-sonic","tag-transformers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6481,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions\/6481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}