It was Feburary 12th, 2007, and a lot has changed in the three years that I've been here. I tried not to think about any of it and instead focused my attention on having a good meal. In Michigan, there were changes that never occurred before, and this was mostly due to my influence. New homes, companies, and highways were being built in various cities. Detroit being a main one, which is where I was today on this cold day. It was still snowing outside and the heat inside the restaurant was comforting.

This was not a five-star restaurant, it was a pizzeria that recently sprung up. By recent, I meant within the last five months. The owner was Italian and moved here from New York, and I did not blame him. He was nice enough, but old so his children and nephew helped him out around the restaurant.

I wasn't here today alone, I was actually with a friend.

"Why do you look so serious, aren't you excited?" The blonde woman sitting across from me asked. She was dressed casual but what she wore was still stylish, compared to me. I simply wore jeans with a black shirt.

"I don't look that way... do I?" I asked as I became unsure myself.

There were many thoughts racing through my mind, but that shouldn't have anything to do with my facial expression.

"Yes, you do. You should be excited, your movie releases in two days. There's been a ton of talk about it and the screening went well." She said.

"That's true, but there were only a hundred people that saw it. As much as they gave it praise, I am still worried about how well it will be received in the eyes of the public. I'd at least want to make a hundred million in profit. That in my eyes would be a successful first movie." I replied to her.

"It was rated an eight out of ten, it will be fine. Shouldn't you be thinking of the sequel?"

"It's already been finished for some time now. John wrote it as filming was being done on Icon, but we still need to see how well this first one does. Even if they did give it such a rating, that won't be the same for everyone. There is a lot of hype behind this film..." I paused as I rubbed my temple.

"Did you know that WarnerBros wants to meet me next week?"

Her eyebrows moved, and I could see the confusion on her face. WarnerBros Media was a huge media conglomerate situated in Califorina. They had the rights to the DC Universe characters and even produced a variety of films based off those superhero. Granted, majority of the films they released were either about Superman or Batman, but still.

"Why do they want to meet you? Is this about the characters in the Dakotaverse?"

I nodded.

"I believe that to be so. They have a few crossovers in certain issues but it's never anything major. The Dakotaverse is pretty contained throughout the universe, with only a few heroes ever interacting with those from DC comics. But, because the Dakotaverse is in the universe of DC, I think that is where the issue will appear."

"So, what are you going to do? I mean, you have the rights to make productions of those characters. They can't take that away from you, can they?"

I shook my head at that. Sandra already informed me that was the case, but there were other things they could do to me.

"No, they might ask me for a percentage of the movie, take me to court over mentioning a character, or something along those lines. Best case, they'd offer to buy the universe, scripts and such from me after seeing if the movie is a success or not. Worst case, they'll pressure my studio and try to force me to the table to become one of their subsidiaries."

I sighed just thinking about it.

"Anyways, enough about me and my issues, have you looked into what we last talked about?"

"I did but there isn't a character like that in Marvel at this time." She told me.

I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again. That was strange, didn't she appear in one of the earlier films? I tried to recall and could have sworn she was in one of those Iron Man movies.

"I'll ask on my end to make sure, but with the trailer releases of Iron Man and the people's interest, it shouldn't be long before the call is made to make a sequel. Try not to take on any major films or shows, and let's see what happens. We still have to shoot Static anyway, so around the time production is done with that we should know about any future releases by Marvel." I told her.

She nodded in agreement. "I did a bit of reading, and found that Black Widow is a really cool character. She's badass in every way, I wouldn't mind playing this character."

I smiled and barely held back my laughter. "I'm sure you'd be perfect for that role Scarlett."

A few minutes later, our pasta arrived with another small basket of breadsticks. We were here early, one hour before the place was open for business. But because of my fame, I tried not to go to too many restaurants in broad daylight. It got annoying after a while, but this was the added benefit of the path I was going down.

Once we finished our food and headed out, someone popped out of nowhere and started taking pictures. The flash was so bright it felt blinding.

"Alex, is it true that you and Scarlett are now dating? Is this the reason for your breakup with the Romanian model Diana? How do you feel about the breakup now that she is dating Method Man? She is also set to star in the film Sprung, is that because of you?" The man who started taking pictures in rapid succession began asking questions just as fast.

My 1970 black and purple dodge challenger was parked out front, so Scarlett and I swiftly walked toward it. I rarely drove this car so I did not think people knew I had it. Turns out, I was wrong, they did know.

Outside the window, the man began taking more pictures of us inside the car. We quickly drove off, but I knew it was only a matter of time before news articles started spreading.

"I hate the paparazzi," Scarlett said.

"Same."

We ended up driving back to the studio. I glanced out the window and saw no construction workers outside, but there was the start of three new projects. An apartment complex, a hotel, and another studio. That is what they would all become in the future, and I was already signing deals for various animation projects. I started this project for one reason, because my film studio would be busy for the next few years with upcoming movies. There would not be enough people to focus on the animation of the other projects I wanted to do. 

Most of my deals were for television shows, and I had to travel to Japan to secure some of them. Wada one of my artists that worked on Project K came with me, to help translate. I managed to get the rights for Claymore, Beserk, and Kingdom. All while investing in Madhouse studios. Somehow I found that the more I ventured out, the more companies I wanted to get under my wing.

But as long as I never lost sight of my goal, I didn't mind spending a little.

After we parked, the two of us headed into the studio and went our separate ways after bidding farewell. The team that worked on the movie Icon wanted to have a small celebration before the official release in two days.