Long chapter ahead guys so please excuse any grammar mistakes I may have missed. I really wanted to get everything in one chapter so I hope it's not too long. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!
( Robo Reader 21: I'm afraid to say I'm not too comfortable with that. There's a certain image of Batman I'm trying to create and having another writer write him based off of mine kind of ruins that for me. I hope you can respect that, though and we can still maintain a good writer-reader relationship.)
"Ha, ha, ha...!" He panted as he ran, sprinting through the streets, knocking over bystanders and carts. He ran through the alleys, trying to lose his persistent pursuer. "Piss off, friggin' big-boobed cop!" The man turned a corner while above, his pursuer, known as Konomi Suzue AKA Oracle, chased him. She was on the job, catching a criminal she and her partner had cornered. Using moves of parkour, she jumped from balcony to balcony, jumping from the fire escape and landing with a recovery roll. The man ran through a workshop where people were fixing cars. He pushed people out of his way, with Konomi quickly closing the distance.
"Breathe! Keep on him. Focus... Jump here! Kong vault! Move!" She pressured herself, pushed herself, sprinting as the man began racing down the stairs. Konomi jumped from the railing, kicked off a wall before kicking off another and landing safely. She was now in front of the man, where he was backed in a dead end. He turned around and regarded her with scorn, pulling out a knife.
"Stay back bitch or I'll gut you!"
"Such language." She tsked, holding her ground.
The man charged her but she remained focused, kicking his shin and sweeping him at the same time. As he went down face-forward, she pinned him with her knee and pulled his arm around his back.
"Game over, sucka." She cuffed him as her partner came running down.
At the scene, the officers watched as the police put him in a car and drove him to prison. Tatara lit up a cigarette, blowing it into the wind. "Those were some pretty impressive moves, Suzue. I never thought you to be the athletic sort."
"Well, I'm still no Olympian but I do what I can. Me and my boyfriend have been really active lately."
"Boyfriend?"
"Mm-hm. Maybe I'll introduce you two sometime."
"Huh..." He took another whiff. "Want to get lunch?"
"Sure! Your treat, right?"
"Wake up."
Rousing from her sleep, the purple haired woman's eyes slowly opened and she realized that she was somewhere dark and the Batman was standing over her. She was cuffed to a bed and her mask wasn't on her face.
"I have some questions I'd like to ask... Who do you work for?"
She remained silent. Batman put his thumb and index finger near a pressure point on her collarbone. He pressed on it tightly, causing her to squirm and bite her lip to distract herself from the pain.
"I'll ask again. Who do you work for?"
She still refused. Batman removed his fingers and glared down at her. She paralyzed upon his fierce stare. He looked as if he would devour her, like a monster in the wild.
"I didn't want to have do this but you leave me no choice." Batman raised a bucket of cold water and poured it over body. She shivered but still remained defiant. Batman wasn't done and pulled out a taser, the electricity emitting from the device. He brought the taser near the liquids, the small electricity enough to completely shock the purple haired woman, causing her body to convulse.
"AAAH!" Her body reacted violently to the shock before relaxing again in the bed. She was panting, her breath crackled and hard.
"That was a light shock. I've run your face through facial recognition software and found out the basic information about you. Nothing explicit, simply birthdate, family, age, height, name. Nothing of your history nor of who you are affiliated with. So, we can stay here all night until you give me answers. And I'll shock you until your heart stops. Then I'll revive you and do it again!" He turned up the voltage on the taser before bringing the weapon down on her again, the pain much more intense than previously. She trashed and jerked, the cuffs scratching against the metal railings of the bed as her vision became near black and her hair began to stand on ends.
"Who do you work for?!"
"I..." She panted. "Will never give him up..."
Batman shocked her again, the girl unable to prevent herself from screaming in pain. She could feel heartbeat slowing and she was very much pain.
"This last shock will kill you, Chikage. Tell me what I need to know or I will end you."
"N-never..."
Batman brought the taser down, her back arching towards the ceiling above. She didn't scream but her pain was most certainly felt until her sight went black and her heart stopped. Batman leaned over her body and ripped opened her jacket, exposing her chest.
He put the taser to her heart and shocked her. By now, the water had evaporated from the intense heat of the electricity. Chikage showed no response. Batman growled, turned up the voltage slightly and performed it again. This time, her eyes flew open and she tried to sit up as she gasp for air. Before she could get accustomed to living, Batman socked her in the face, sending her head back down to the pillow.
"Wake up, woman. I'm not done with you yet."
In a facility somewhere in Tobioka, Yuko was bound to a wall by chains on her wrist and ankles. She had bruises, cuts and burns on various parts of her body. However, she had resisted all forms of torture and was currently catching her breath. Marco was good, a professional at what he did but Yuko prevailed. The room was dark, tight and cramped. She's been dehydrated and hasn't eaten anything since yesterday.
The door opened, allowing light to fill the room. A roach ran away from the door as Yamamoto walked in, clasping his hands. "Hello again." He greeted. "How are we today?"
"Go to hell..." She uttered weakly.
"I'm afraid that's your fate."
He stepped off to the side and allowed another person to walk into the room. Yuko slowly looked up to see a woman, wearing dominatrix-like clothing, standing before her. She wore a black jacket around a dark purple shirt that exposed much of her cleavage. Around her waist was a black skirt that was split at the sides, allowing you to see the purple string of what lay underneath. She wore leg warmers that came up mid-thigh and had a diamond pattern on the side that exposed her skin along with heels on her feet. She wore dark grey gloves, a black belt around her waist, had a mask on covering half of her face and had her hair tied in a kunoichi-style ponytail. Her dull purple eyes stared down at Yuko unsympathetically.
"Is this the woman?" Goryu asked.
"Yes." Yamamoto replied. "We need to find out what, or if, she knows anything relating to the Batman or the Iron Mask gang."
"I see. Such information would be useful to my master as well."
"Quite loyal to your master, are you?"
"Bring her to the torture chambers. I'll take care of it from there." She walked out the door, taking one last glance at Yuko before walking off.
The next thing Yuko knew, a bag was thrown over her head and she was being dragged to another room. She felt herself put on a chair and her arms strapped onto the arms of the chair. The bag was pulled off her face and she realized she was back in the room where Marco had tortured her. She could still see a bit of her old blood on the floor. She glanced up to see Goryu walk into the light.
"Leave us." She commanded. "And take down the cameras."
"What?" Yamamoto asked incredulously.
"My torture methods are a precious commodity and one of the reasons I was employed to this task in the first place. It would be a detriment to me if you were to replicate them."
Yamamoto sighed in dissatisfaction. "Fine. Take them down."
After doing so, he and his men left the room, leaving Goryu and Yuko alone. Goryu reached behind her back and pulled out a whip. "Now..." She began. "How shall I play with you?"
Konomi, after having had lunch with her partner, was now trailing a suspect. He was seen by witnesses stabbing a woman in the gut.
"Damned sicko..." Konomi angrily thought as she blended in with the crowd, Tatara and her keeping an eye on him as he walked in the streets, looking like your average citizen. His hands in his pocket, he turned a corner and began walking down an alleyway, Konomi and Tatara watching him from the corner. The man looked right and left before entering the back entrance of an underground bar.
At this time, Konomi's mind wandered back to the detective skills she had picked up at this time. She wondered what he'd say. "He'd probably already know whether or not this guy has done it and would have the evidence to pin him. He'd probably see all the clues and-"
"Let's go!" Tatara exclaimed, sprinting forward after the suspect.
"And see the pattern of the suspect's behavior and realize..." Her eyes widened slowly. "It's a trap!"
She was too late, as Tatara had rushed down into the bar but as soon as he did, guns were raised at him with at least six guys ready to put bullet-holes in him. Just as the bullets went flying did Konomi dive downstairs and tackle Tatara behind cover.
"Damn, so he was onto us?!"
"No, duh!"
"Come out, little rats! Come out and let us gut ya!"
"We need to call back-up!" Konomi exclaimed.
"HQ, HQ! We need back-up!" Tatara shouted on the radio.
'Back up is on the way. ETA in six minutes.'
"We're gonna be dead in six minutes!" Konomi grabbed her gun and quickly fired back, being forced back down from the rapid gunfire.
The shooters began advancing slowly, the bullets coming at them faster as they did. "Think, Konomi, think! What can I do? What can I do?!"
Tatara pulled out his gun and shot at the alcohol behind the bar counter before throwing his lighter over there, igniting a fire that speedily spread and began consuming the counter and the other booze. Distracted by the fire, Tatara and Konomi quickly rose and shot each of them in the shoulder or leg, sending four of them to the floor. With four of them out of the game, Konomi and Tatara moved from around the counter and aimed their guns at the last two, who surrendered and laid down their weapons. Konomi shot the water sprinklers, putting the fire out.
When the back-up came, the police took all six of them away. Konomi felt a sense of pride and satisfaction. She wondered briefly what her boyfriend would think of her accomplishments before being brought out of her thoughts by a pat on the back from her partner.
"Nice work, Suzue. Thanks for having my back."
"Well, we're a team, aren't we?" She smiled, giving him a thumbs up.
He scratched his neck, a small smile on his face. "Yeah... I'll see you tomorrow, kiddo."
"Ciao!"
Chikage's will had all but broken by now. After reviving her, Batman proceeded to drill her with questions. Questions she could no longer resist answering.
"Tell me about your partner. Does he work for Syringe?"
"Syringe...? Who is... that? My partner... was my Sensei. He was a doctor who seeks... to eradicate the world... of evil... and injustice..."
Batman narrowed his eyes at her. "What is your partner's name?"
"His name? His name... is... Akii... Hisoshi..."
Batman walked over to his computer and input the name, but no record of that name came up on any database. Batman glanced over his shoulder, staring at her contemplatively. "She's not lying. I can tell. Which means... this man lied to her. She doesn't know anything about these people... She's just a pawn being used for others' gains."
Batman strode back over to her, standing over her bedside. "The targets you were ordered to hit... Who are they and why have you gone after them?"
"There are... the people... who want the new drug... Platinum Lily... I eliminate them... for the sake of... justice..." She was struggling to speak now, her body tired and ready to fall asleep.
"Syringe is trying to get rid of the Platinum Lily clientele..."
Chikage passed out, the torture having taken its toll. Batman sighed before turning around and leaving the cell which she lay in. He closed the cell door and locked it, his look lingering on her for a few seconds before he walked away.
Goryu unrolled her whip and lashed it at Yuko, the leathery weapon causing a gash on her stomach. Blood began to accumulate, staining Yuko's white leather pants to the bright tinge of red.
"Ah, what beautiful blood you have... If you don't want to be drained of it, I suggest you answer the questions that's been asked of you all this time." Goryu walked over to a briefcase she had brought in with her and opened it on the table. Inside were an assortment of torture devices, ranging from drugs to metal switches. Goryu pulled out a small, sharp, nail file. She bent down and slowly stuck the blade underneath Yuko's big toenail. Fluidly, Goryu into her toe, her toenail being painfully uplifted and the flesh bleeding. Yuko kept her mouth shut, refusing to give the torturer the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
Goryu eventually removed the big toe nail and repeated the painful process on the other toe. Goryu rose to her feet once more, holding the bloody toe nails in her hands.
"Who do you affiliate with?" She asked.
"I will tell you nothing..." Yuko hissed.
Without hesitation, Goryu slammed her palm into Yuko's mouth, forcing the female swordsman to swallow the toe nails. Yuko coughed violently, unable to spit them out. Goryu took out her whip and hit Yuko several times on the neck and chest.
"You're pretty tough, I'll give you that. No matter how much pain has been given to your body, you seem to take in such stride. Still, that is irrelevant. Everyone has a breaking point, even the most demented masochists. I'll break you, woman."
Reaching into her case, Goryu pulled out an iron comb. She walked behind her, holding the comb over her hair. She applied the comb to Yuko's scalp, starting from the tip of her head to the back. As she moved, Yuko couldn't help screaming in pain as blood began rushing down her face and neck. Goryu tossed the comb back into the case.
"On the edge of those racks were a certain poison that has been known to cause illusions. These illusions have the effect of making the victim feel panicked and they generally lose all touch with reality. Torture isn't just about physical pain, you see. It's an art, a terrible art, but an art nonetheless. Let us wait and see how your own mind tortures you."
Back in the Batcave, Yuu's training was being over-seen by Bruce as she hit a punching bag in the training room.
"Harder!" He shouted. "Knock it to the ground!"
"Hah!" Though Yuu was putting her all into it, she was ultimately tired and unable to continue after several minutes of hitting the bag with basic strikes Bruce showed her. Bruce walked over to the bag while she plopped to the floor, exhausted. "I guess I still have a long way to go..."
"You do. However, you have potential. Your proficiency towards stealth is impressive and we can develop that after you can properly defend yourself." Bruce dropped into a stance, holding his hands up. "You have to breathe or your energy will simply burn out faster. Keep a balance in your stance and retain good posture as you throw your strikes. You're not just trying to hit, you're trying to hit in the right manner. You can't just throw your anger forward. You have to control it, utilize it and have it take form... as your fist!" Bruce struck the bag hard, easily imprinting his fist into the bag and sending it rocketing towards the ceiling.
"A-amazing... I almost thought you were going to break it..."
"I would, but you still need it. Keep going until you pass out."
"Huh?!" She shouted incredulously as he walked away.
In the main room, Konomi had arrived at the Bat-computer. Currently, she was looking for a certain person Bruce had requested.
"Konomi," Bruce called as he walked in. "Did you find her?"
"No location but I know she is here in Tobioka. No matter how secretive the Red Vixen is, there is always someone on the World Wide Net who blows secrecy right out of the water. Thanks to Oni89, we know that the information broker you are looking for has been operating in the city for quite some time. I don't where she is though, but the last person she gave information to was a man named Hideo Sotoma. He lives downtown in an apartment by the river."
"Alright." Bruce walked over to his case as Konomi turned to him in the chair.
"Are you sure this is a good idea – joining with Black Label?"
"Someone's life is in danger. I can't simply walk away from that. I'll rescue her and then I'll bring the police corruption to light. Count on that."
"Right." She smiled at him as he leaned in and softly placed his lips on hers. No matter how many times their lips came together in union, she could never get over the tingling feeling in her lips after they parted. Her heart raced, her palms felt sweaty and her legs felt weak.
"It's official," She silently thought. "I'm in love with the Batman."
"Continue to monitor Chikage for me. I've got the information I need so I'm going to drop her at the police station later on. For now, I'll go to the meeting place that I've agreed to and see a few members of Black Label. Anything that takes place involving their operative, they want to know about it."
Bruce threw on his mask before walking towards the motorcycle and driving out in style.
"I can't fucking believe this bullshit."
Arashi and Mikoto sat on top of a roof, waiting for their "associate" to come. "We have to ally ourselves with the goddamn Batman? Are you serious? And, on terms with some agreement, we have to not kill unless in the most dire of situations? The fuck kinda shit is that?"
"If it is the doctor's decision, so be it."
"I'm surprised you of all people are so okay with this. I mean, the guy completely demolished us last time we fought."
Arashi angrily dug his gloved fingers into his palm. "Yeah..." Arashi turned his over his shoulder. "He's here."
Batman landed on the rooftop, standing up at full height. His cape flowed in the wind, his red eyes piercing their souls. "I assume the Doctor has told you the terms of the agreement."
"Yeah, he told us." Mikoto said, obviously irritated.
"Good. Let's go."
The three made their way to the targeted building, a modest apartment complex by the river of the city. On the 7th floor, in his apartment room eating pizza was Hideo Sotoma. He was watching Spongebob, laughing at the stupidity of it all.
What he didn't know was the fact that the Batman was standing behind him in the shadows. The TV turned off and when Hideo turned around, he nearly spat out his pizza.
"Woah! Y-you're t-th-the..!"
"Yes, he's the Batman." Mikoto waved off. "We have some questions for you."
"W-who are you?"
"Temporary allies. I need to ask you some questions about the Red Vixen."
"The Red Vixen? Oh, alright. I mean, there's not much information to go on. I just needed to know about someone and I found out about her through my friend. I got her number and that was the only way I could contact her."
"Do you still have the number?"
"Yeah, right here." He handed him the note. Hideo, now somewhat relaxed, turned back around to get another slice of pizza. "I don't how much you're gonna get from her number, though. You guys hungry? I got some pi-"
When he turned back around, they were gone.
"-zza."
'I need you triangulate the receiver of the phone call.'
"Got you. Once you call the phone number and get an answer, I can trace the call back to the owner. Easy-peasy."
"Who says that anymore?" Yuu was standing behind Konomi, drinking a bottle of water with a towel around her neck.
"Oh, are you done?"
"Yeah, Ryu-kun told me to keep training until I passed out so after I woke up, the first thing I did was grab some water."
A drop of sweat comically fell down Konomi's brow. "Somehow... I don't think he was being literal..."
Konomi's attention quickly turned back to the computer screen as the phone began to ring. Konomi eagerly waited for someone to pick up, her fingertips ready to fire off and track the location.
'Hello?' Came a male voice. As soon as the voice was heard, Konomi was off. She was instantly triangulating the location, tracing the phone call back to its source.
"Got it!" Konomi exclaimed. "I'll send you the address now."
"Wow, Konomi-san, you're really good at that!"
"Damn straight! I'm the best there is!"
The Red Vixen, one of the best information brokers in the world, sat on her leathery purple coach and put a pipe to her mouth. Around her were her associates, the dark room itself being lit as slow, sultry music played in the background. Her associates drank, slept and whispered sweet nothings in each other's ear. Red Vixen sat back and blew out smoke, like a red dragon. The mist from her smoke made the room foggy but fit its general atmosphere. She put a drink to her lips and sipped it as one of her secretaries came in.
He bowed at her feet. "Madame Vixen," He addressed. "We've gotten a phone call."
"Hmm... Who has need of my services?"
"The strange thing was that no one actually spoke."
Vixen narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Odd... no one calls me without a reason and it's impossible to call me without the special phone that can only be received by mine. Which means..." She blew out her smoke once more. "Someone's found us."
"Who?"
"Them." She motioned behind him.
The man rose up and spun around, aiming a gun at Batman's face, who, in an instant, disarmed him and backhanded him in the cheek. Batman stood before the Red Vixen, her associates all aiming guns at him and his own associates, who stood a ways behind him, aiming their own weapons around.
Vixen laid her drink on her small glass table before inhaling her pipe. "So you're the Batman..." She exhaled, the smoke reaching his face. "I expected you to be taller."
The Red Vixen was an attractive women. She had brown hair, which was tied in a bun, under a large red hat with a black rose on it. She wore shaded sunglasses and a blood red coat that had only its two middle buttons buttoned. On her person was a black shirt that exposed her huge bust and and black skirt and on her feet were red heels. She wore black gloves on her hands and red lipstick on her lips.
"So, what can I do for you?"
"I have need of your services."
"Oh? My services don't come cheap, my tall, dark and handsome friend."
"I need you to locate all the facilities of Yamamoto."
"The business tyrant? The same business tyrant who was rumored to throwing a guy off the top of a building and then, three days later, throwing the guy's family off that same building? How daring. I heard you played with fire but not to this extent. Finding their bases will not be hard but the price is quite costly."
"Name it."
"I want those two," She pointed behind him at Arashi and Mikoto, "dead and forgotten."
Without thinking twice, Batman said, "Forget it."
"They've committed a great injustice against me. My brother used to be a criminal and worked under a renowned crime lord. These insane bastards and their loose tactics murdered him without a thought to get to their target. The sad thing was that he wasn't even a criminal by choice. Just never graduated high school and needed the cash. I could never help but I sure as hell can avenge him."
"I'm sorry for your loss but I can't, won't, let you do that."
"You would defend murderers?"
"No... I defend human beings."
"Hmph. And here I thought you were interesting. Paulo! We're leaving. The rest of you... kill 'em."
The Red Vixen stood up and walked away, her bodyguard escorting her out the front entrance while the three vigilantes were forced to take cover.
"Well, that broke down fast." Mikoto and Arashi pulled out their guns.
"No guns!" Batman ordered.
"What? How the fuck are we supposed to defeat them then?!"
"We're not." Batman reached into his pouch and threw several pellets at his assailants. The gas flew out from it and made their eyes watery and the visibility turned to zero. "We're going after her. Let's move!"
Arashi and Batman kicked down the doors, catching a glimpse of Red Vixen driving off in her car. Mikoto came out, dodging bullets with a front roll.
"They're still chasing us!"
"Get to your motorcycles!"
Arashi grabbed Mikoto's arm and ran to their motorcycle while Batman jumped over the hood of a car and landed on the other side as the bullets were firing off.
"These idiots are going to get some civilians killed..." Batman pulled out several batarangs and with pristine accuracy, threw them into the barrels of their guns, lodging them and causing them to jam.
Having no time or equipment to waste on them, Batman took off in a speedy run, jumping on his bike and riding off after Vixen and Black Label. He wasn't far behind, eventually catching up to Arashi and Mikoto, who rode on the same bike.
"Give the signal, now!"
"Tsurugi-sensei, do it!"
From atop a building overlooking the road, Miki aimed her sniper rifle at the tire of the car. She shot the tire and the car swerved into an alleyway before stopping abruptly. Before Vixen's bodyguard, Paulo, could do anything, the front door was ripped out by a woman in a nurse's outfit wearing a demon mask.
"Sorry to interrupt your evening, but that's as far as you go tonight."
Red Vixen sighed, blowing her smoke out in defeat.
Yuko ran forward through a hall, demonic monsters flying out at her and trying to rip into her flesh. She struck at them with her sword, killing them but not before one managed to scratch her shoulder. She had been running through this hall for what felt like days. The light at the end so close but yet so far, her feet unable to reach it no matter how much she pushed herself. Tentacles wrapped around her waist and pulled her back into the darkness. She floated now in an empty abyss, dark laughter echoing around her.
"How shameful you are, Yuko..."
"Father...?"
"Pathetic. All those years of training and for what? You're not worthy of being called my daughter. Stay here and die like a dog."
"Father, wait, please!"
A sword materialized out of nowhere and stuck itself into her leg. Another into her arm, another into her gut and so on. Soon, swords completely impaled her in every way possible, her pale body floating in the air.
Yuko was harshly brought back to reality by a stun baton being jabbed into her gut.
"Awake again? That's the seventh time you've disappeared into another world. What did you see this time?"
"Shut... up..."
"Oh, am I getting to you now? All of this can stop, you know. Just answer my questions and this will end."
"Never..."
"Very well, then." Goryu picked up a steaming hot, branding stick and imprinted it on Yuko's side. She winced but refused to scream or squirm, simply taking the pain like a warrior. "Who are you affiliated with? Why were you in the underground base? Talk!"
Goryu sighed, throwing the brand item to the floor. "Fine. I never use this except as a last result. I dislike its effects and quite frankly, the user becomes pretty violent when it's administered but..." She took out a syringe of a clear liquid. "I'm running out of options. This won't hurt. You'll simply forget things like pain, like pleasure. You're enter an oblivion where such things won't matter. And, when your self has burned in the fires of nothingness, I'll extract the truth from you."
"Do what you will... I will never talk... For the sake of my comrades, on name and honor of my father, I'd sooner die before saying one word..."
Upon hearing this, Goryu paused, looking down at her carefully and almost frailly. "You would... die for something like that...?"
"Of course I would..." She breathed out. It was painful to speak now and she had a splitting headache as her vision was dizzy. Her throat was burning and her body severely ached.
Goryu put the syringe back in her case, glaring at Yuko. "Ridiculous." She scoffed. "There's no longer any such thing as honor, not in this city nor in this world. There is only doing what you must to survive and protect those you love..." She walked to the corner where Yuko's katana was leaning up against the wall. She unsheathed it before walking over to Yuko, holding the blade near her neck. "Know no honor, seek no bounds. Understand the fragility of life and embrace its perils. Run not from death and its cold hand, for we shall all know warmth beyond." She raised the sword and brought it down.
On a rooftop of a small building, Vixen and Batman stood. She had agreed to surrender and do as they asked but would only agree to discuss her terms and such with Batman and Batman alone, requesting Black Label to stay in the alleyway with her bodyguard who, if he was to admit it, very nervous being alone with those people.
"So," She inhaled her pipe. "You want to meet to find out the any facilities Yamamoto had built off-records? Sounds easy enough. I have contacts watching him and so they'll know about it. However, I still require a cost."
"I won't exchange their lives for information."
"No, that's fine. I can always try to kill them some other time. If I am to do this for you, Batman, then what I want... is to for you to let me hang out with you until this all over. You and them don't seem to get along and I would be quite interested in seeing how it turns out. Allow me to watch from afar for my own entertainment and I'll do this for you.
Batman glanced down at Black Label, specifically Arashi, and contemplated the choice. He saw Arashi glance up at him, specifically him, and they shared an odd, symbiotic stare before Batman turned his attention back to Vixen.
"Alright." He agreed. He walked up to her until he was close enough to whisper into her ear. "There's something else I need you to do for me..."
"Hmm?"
"I need you to find any information you can on several people – Yuko Sagiri, Sayo Hitsugi, Miki Tsurugi, Oriha Nashida, Mikoto Kiba and... Arashi Mikami."
"Hmm... alright. But it will cost you extra."
"What do you want?"
She looked over her shoulder before turning with a sultry smile, putting her hand to his cheek, bringing her leg around his hip and slowly closing the distance between her lips and his, their faces mere centimeters from each other. "What I want... is to see... your... face..." She stepped back and crossed her arms, a pleasant smile on her face.
Batman nodded slowly. Her smile transformed into a toothy grin upon hearing so. "Can you do it?"
"Well, it should be fairly simple, especially with the last one because you see..." She removed her glasses, her hazel eyes looking up at him. "I'm his teacher."
She walked past him, handing him a phone. "Use this if you need to contact me. This is the only phone that will allow to contact my communication lines. I'll contact you when I find your locations. Good luck."
"Why?"
On the floors were the chains that strapped Yuko to the chair. Goryu stood before her, the sword in her hand but no threatening motions were made to Yuko. Goryu looked resigned.
"Why are you helping me?" Yuko asked.
"For the sake of withholding a shred of honor instilled to me by someone long ago..." She held the sword up and impaled her leg with it, not even flinching as she did so. "You escaped from your bonds when I wasn't looking. We had a confrontation," She knocked over the table. "And you won. You grabbed your sword and stabbed me in the leg, before running off without giving any information." She pulled the sword out and handed it to Yuko, stumbling to the corner and leaning against it.
"...Thank you."
"Just get the hell out of here. Before I change my mind..."
Yuko smiled before running over to the door and cutting it down, allowing her escape. Out in the halls now, she ran off to escape, leaving Goryu in the room alone.
"I hope you can still feel a semblance of pride for me... father..."
In the Batcave, Bruce sat on his computer, going over all the construction sites Yamamoto secretly made. It wasn't long ago after meeting Red Vixen, also known as Nao Sakurada by her classmates, that she called him with several locations. He had made three facilities, two above ground and were small, usually for research and such things but another facility, built underground, was huge and had a network of entrances. She had no idea what they did down there but Bruce had a sneaking suspicion that's where Yuko was. Bruce stood up and put on his cowl before running over to his bike to ride off and inform Black Label.
Yuko had no idea where she was going. Currently, she only knew two things: One, she was in some facility where they performed experiments that tries to create superhuman people and animals and two, she was so in pain that it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on anything. Her mind continued playing tricks on her, an after effect on the drugs so brutally injected into her bloodstream via scalp. Her breathing was haggard and her stomach was in turmoil, the urge to throw up getting stronger every minute.
"I probably look better than I feel..." She grimly surmised.
She waited behind the wall, peering out of its corner to wait for some guards to continue down the hall. Yuko kept running, pushing her mind away from the pain in her legs, the pain her chest, the pain everywhere on her body. Coming onto an intersection, Yuko went down the south path, using her gut instinct which had both kept her alive and gotten her into trouble. She eventually came upon a guard who was walking away from her. Stealthily, she put the blade to his neck.
"Don't move or you're dead." She whispered threateningly.
"W-who are you?"
"The Grim Reaper with a sword. Now, if you don't want your to head to roll, tell me which way is out of the facility."
"It continues down this way and you can get out by the exit once you turn left and make a right."
"Appreciate it." She hit him with the hilt of her sword, knocking him out with a blow from the back of the head. She continued on, taking directions of where the guard pointed her. She eventually came upon a big double door made of steel and prepared to cut it when she heard clapping behind her. She spun around to see Yamamoto himself walking up to her, two guards at his side aiming guns at her.
"Impressive, woman. You've managed to escape the torture and found your way through our maze-like facility. Truly impressive. However, I have eyes everywhere, hidden in the walls. Unfortunately for you, this is where you die. Interrogating you is more trouble than its worth and to outweigh detriment with benefit is my job, you see. Kill her."
The guards began shooting at her and with nearly superhuman speed, Yuko blocked the bullets using her sword, a few still whizzing past her. Yuko jumped off to the side, recovering with a roll and began running down the hall away from them and the door. The guards chased after her, shooting bullets down the hall. Some stray ones nicked Yuko in the cheek. She continued running, turning the hall as an announcement was sounded through the halls.
'All personnel, the prisoner has escaped near the South Block. Orders are to shoot on-sight. This is not a drill. I repeat...'
Yuko clicked her teeth, her ears ringing painfully as the hall twisted and turned, her sense of reality and perception playing against her. She couldn't afford to stumble and she certainly couldn't afford to stop. She was also in no condition to be taking on a myriad of enemies. Her only options were to hide and get out unseen.
"There she is!"
If it was at all possible.
More guards began to flock her, chased her through the endless maze that was this facility. Bullets flew down the hall, guards continued to pop out of nowhere and the unending amount of running she has done was wearing on her injuries ever so slowly.
She stumbled and tripped, her mind twisting the image of the hall into a demonic one. Ghouls flew at her and she was unable to stop them. Just as she thought she was about to get ravaged, a ghoul with bat wings came down the hall. He shot out mini-bats from his arm, taking out those pursuing her before kneeling down and helping her up. Her mind slowly fazed between that world and the real, the two becoming more distinguishable by the second. Eventually, she was able to see Batman and her teammates standing over her, here to help her.
Several guards came rushing down the hallway but Batman and Miki took care of them, knocking them out with batarangs and tranquilizer darts. Miki bent down and cupped her friend's face in her hands. She had tears of happiness building in her eyes and her smile was riddled with joy.
"Yuko! Are you alright? Yuko!"
"M-Miki? Hitsugi...? Where...?"
"We can address that later. We have to get out of here. More are coming." Batman lifted Yuko up in her arms, refusing to let his sight linger on her torture wounds. They began running back the way they came, moving as fast as they could as time was of the essence.
Elsewhere in the facility, Oriha snuck through the halls, stealthily avoiding anyone rushing about and looking for Yuko. She walked into the security/surveillance room, where a guard was sleeping on the job. Oriha silently giggled before walking over to a computer that required a code. This computer held access to the blast doors that came down and trapped people between them when they crossed between the sensors that would activated once the code was inputted. Once they were trapped between the two blast doors, they would be gassed. Oriha had earlier connected Ran to the network via hacking device and so now, she had the codes necessary to complete her private mission, personally assigned to her by Mochizuki-sensei.
"And here.. we.. go."
As Batman and Black Label got to the exit, they heard an alarm go off. Before Batman could ponder what it is, he heard a gun click. He glanced over his shoulder to see Miki holding her gun and aiming it at his skull.
"Don't try anything funny. Even your armor isn't bulletproof from this close. Hitsugi, take Yuko."
Yuko, barely conscious, was unable to completely comprehend the situation and the events taking place. She felt herself switch from the arms of Batman to the arms of someone else.
"We appreciate the help," Miki said as Hitsugi walked out the exit tunnel with Yuko in her arms. "But we still have our orders. Nothing personal, but you'll have to die here. I'm sorry."
Batman glared at her. "You will be."
Miki shot Batman in the leg, forcing him down to knee before shutting the door behind them and sprinting after Sayo. Miki put her fingers to her ear and contacted Oriha.
"Now, Oriha!"
'Yes, ma'am!'
Batman heard a loud rumble and then the sound of something caving in. He growled in annoyance. "They blew up the tunnel so I can't escape... The blast door security system has been activated. If I walk through this halls, I run the risk of dying here in some gas."
Batman pulled a bandage from his belt and wrapped the wound. He then reached into his belt and pulled out a gas mask, strapping it to his face.
"According to the maps, the other exit is all the way on the other side of the facility."
Batman breathed out, mentally suppressing the pain with meditation. He walk forward, a slight limp that one wouldn't be able to notice looking at him. As he edged down the hallway, he turned on his thermal vision and scanned his path.
"There's no way to get past the sensors without triggering them."
Batman walked through invisible lasers, the alarm tripping off as a blast door came down in front of him and behind him. From above, potent green gas began speedily spewing out and filling the area.
"With gas this amount, the filter on this mask will only last me for 45 minutes. The blast doors are thick and the hand-held laser I have has only enough power for 10 minutes. I have explosives but who knows if they'll be enough?"
Batman took his laser and slowly cut a round hole in the door, the process taking nearly a minute. Batman went through and once again, another fell in front of him. The long process of getting through one hall would be tirelessly repeated far too many times for him, his gadgets running out as the doors slowly overwhelmed him in number. Eventually, Batman made it to a room where they ran tests on people. He took off his mask and walked through the place, looking for anything he can use should his gadgets run out.
He saw chamber upon chamber of human people, some with outlandish features such as gills and scales but they were all dead. Batman grimaced at the last chamber. It was shattered and it was broken from the inside. Batman didn't have long to ponder what it was as a pair of yellow eyes stared at him from above. The creature jumped down and tried to strike Batman but he had long since been aware of its presence before that and managed to dodge it. The creature landed on its feet, snarling at Batman ferally. The creature was a person but with reptilian scales riddling his body and gills on his neck. His eyes were yellow with slit pupils and his tongue was like a snake's. His skin was a faint yellow color and his nails were horrendously long. The worst part of it all was that the person looked to be a 15 year old boy. The boy pounced him but Batman punched him in the face with a right cross, knocking him to the floor. The boy puked on the floor, blue vomit dripping from his chin.
"He's dying..." Batman solemnly surmised.
The boy charged Batman again, swiping at him with his "claws". Batman twisted and shifted his body, avoiding every strike before sweeping the boy off his feet, the kid landing on his back.
"Stop this." Batman said.
The boy sprung up and nicked Batman in the cheek. Batman stumbled, his sight becoming dizzy. "Wha..." The boy tried to strike him again but Batman pushed him away, grabbing his own head as he tried to retain his balance. The boy roared and tried to rush Batman once more but his body suddenly seized, his eyes grew dimmer and the next moment, the young boy, whose hopes and dreams, no matter how ambitious, no matter how vulgar, would never be realized as he fell to the floor on his face, his mind dead but his soul long since so.
Batman's mind became twisted, his perception of reality shifting around. The room looked elevated in some places and buried in others. "He must have had... uh... some sort of chemical on his nails from the experiments they did..." Batman glanced up and, as if it were an angel, a smile graced his lips. Vents, his old friend.
Batman climbed through, his mind twisting the corridor in such a way he couldn't tell if he was up or down, moving forward or simply standing there.
"No... Focus... focus!" Batman pushed through the effects with his willpower, the vent passageway becoming somewhat clearer. As he moved through the vents, finding his way to the exit, his mind floated back to Miki's breaking off their alliance and leaving him here to die, what she said to him and what he said to her.
"It was foolish... Not to expect them to do it... Amateurish even... Being with Konomi and Yuu let my guard down, made me too trusting. I put my life and perhaps more in danger because of an oversight. Unfortunate for them... I don't make the same mistake twice."
'Ry-... Ryu? Ryu, are you there?!' Konomi's frantic voice came through the comm-link.
"I'm here..."
'Oh, good... I loss communication when you went down there. Are you alright?'
"Poisoned, shot, traversing through a vent to escape deadly gas and the facility itself before it potentially detonates... I'm peachy..."
'Poisoned? Shot?! What happened to Black Label?'
"Partnership broke down. They trapped me in here to die as well."
'Those son of a...' She heard her sigh. 'Well, to be honest, that's not the only bad news. I didn't call only to check up on you.'
"What is it?"
'Chikage escaped. Some hooded man came in and freed her, destroying your sewer base in flames.'
"Hm... I got everything I needed from her anyway."
'I guess we're just lucky they didn't try to hack into the computer.'
"The computer didn't matter either. I didn't have any files placed on there. The only files I keep are on the main computer in the Batcave."
'Heh. Always one step ahead.'
"Not this time..."
Batman eventually came to a grate. He kicked it down, jumping out from the vent and landing in front of the door. He opened it and went through the tunnel leading above ground.
"I'm surprised they didn't blow this tunnel up as well. I suppose they didn't expect me to make it out alive. They underestimated me and it worked to my advantage... Thinking back on it now, I can understand them taking the opportunity to try and kill me. As a fellow soldier on the battlefield, I can relate to taking any openings to taking out your enemy. Were I like them, I would've done the same thing. But I'm not like them and they're not like me. These are the facts."
Batman eventually made it to the end of the tunnel, ascending to the outside world.
"Freeze!"
"Great..." Batman came out in a warehouse, that connected to the facility via secret passageway beneath the river. "Surrounded."
The security guards who were evacuated were now sprawling the warehouse, aiming their guns at him. Armoured cars shining light inside the place, allowing Batman to clearly see the man he was well on his way to resenting – Yamamoto. The man stood in the middle of the crossing headlights, staring at Batman menacingly.
"There he is... the damned rat with wings. Not satisfied with destroying one facility but the another one too. What a streak."
"I won't be satisfied until you're rotting in jail."
"That won't do a thing and you know it. Besides, I'm hardly fit for your average prison."
"We'll see about that."
Yamamoto smiled but with an angry vein popping in his head. "Do you know why I haven't simply blown my facility to hell and sent you along with it?"
"I already know why."
"Do you?"
"You're arrogant enough to think you can kill me with your own two hands. Had you really been an angry man, you would have had me shot the moment I came out or blown up the minutes you saw me on your camera feeds. You want me all to yourself. Unfortunately, that's not going to end well for you."
"How smart a man you are! Yes, it's quite true... except for one thing. I am angry. So very angry. So very fucking angry that I want to rip your throat out and tear your innards to shreds! None of you interfere! I will kill this man myself."
Yamamoto stalked forward, standing in front of Batman with a threatening pose. Batman smirked and held out his hand, cockily beckoning him with his hand. Yamamoto screamed and charged Batman, swinging his fist for his head. Batman stepped to the side, parried and countered with a punch to the jaw. What Batman didn't expect to feel was heavy impact and his knuckles hurting.
Yamamoto ferally grinned before uppercutting Batman in the gut, the punch making him double over and cough up blood. Yamamoto then grab Batman's scalp and threw him over his shoulder, hard on the ground.
"Surprised?"
"That's not human strength..."
"Indeed. It's the strength of a being who is half-man and half-technological genius."
"What?!"
Yamamoto reached up to his face and ripped half of his skin off, revealing a mechanical, humanoid, metallic one in its place. The eyes were green and even the teeth glistened.
"Ten years ago, I had an accident that cost me 30% of my human body. It was said that I wouldn't survive, wouldn't live to thrive. Yet, I did! Human will preserved and achieved immortality with scientific genius! I knew this was no miracle of God but fate beckoning me to a greater calling, a greater destiny beyond that of human dribble. I will build my army, forgoing such things as 'ethics' and obtain true immortality. Any who join me are the chosen and any who don't, kneel at my feet. As such."
Batman's head blurred again, his dizziness returning. "No... not now, not here..."
"Die, mongrel!" Batman barrel rolled out of the way as Yamamoto brought his fist down, a huge thud heard. Batman got up, wiping the blood of his chin.
"Direct combat is useless. If his body is half mechanical, then I have just the thing. But his body's defenses will have to be disrupted. I need to strike him from the back, near the neck. This will confuse the brain's commands and allow me to finish him."
Batman dropped a smoke pellet, vanishing in the mist.
"Bah, toys? Do you have no gall to at least die like a man?"
"Says the walking cyborg." Batman's voice was impossible to pinpoint, the sound seeming like it came from around the room.
"So, you will hide? Pathetic! That's the only thing a weakling like you can do! A pathetic weakling who coddles woman and children, who thinks he bring hope into hell. A hopeless fool... people declined by fate are cattle, nothing more. Their deaths mean nothing and they are only given to us by fate to elevate our being into immortality! That is why-"
"Shut up." Batarangs flew from behind Yamamoto and hit him in the neck.
"Hah! What do you think such-" Electricity emitted from them, disturbing his body's functions. He started to twitch, kneeling on his feet unable to completely control his body. "W-what? What's happening?"
"I said shut up. I'm sick of hearing you speak."
Batman tossed some unknown device that emitted a blue wave. Soldiers quickly heard the vehicles fry and Yamamoto could no longer control the mechanical side of his body.
"Huh? What... what did you do? Whatdidyoudowhatdidyoudowhatdidyoudowhatdidyoudo!?"
"Short wave EMP. Anything on your body that isn't human is useless now." Batman swung down from above and used his momentum to kick Yamamoto in the face without sustaining damage himself. "You call those lives you took cattle?" Batman swung down again as Yamamoto sat back up, unable to fully stand and kicked him down again. "Is that what you consider the lives of innocents?!"
Batman came down from above, landing on Yamamoto's body. He grabbed the man by the collar and got into his face, angrily gritting his teeth. The right side of Yamamoto's face still twitched in fear, meaning that part was human. Batman would take it. He socked Yamamoto in the face, knocking him to the ground and making him bleed.
"That was for the children!" He grabbed his collar, pulled him up and hit him again.
"That was for the woman you tortured!" He repeated the process, hitting him even harder and knocking a few of his real teeth out.
"And that was for any I missed, scum."
Batman glanced over his shoulder and glared at all the shoulders, his potent anger going off in waves around the room. The guards all unconsciously took a step back.
"Run. Run as far and fast as you can. Run and hide and never let me find you. Because if I do... you won't like what comes next."
They didn't need to be told twice. Instead of going against a guy who disabled their equipment and took out a cyborg, they dropped their guns and ran far and fast. One guy tripped and made the mistake of glancing back. He thought he was looking at a demon from hell and that only motivated him to sprint away fast.
After they were gone, Batman glanced down at Yamamoto's unconscious body. For a second, while he was punching him, he had contemplated letting go of all restraint. It wasn't the first time a thought like that had entered his mind and probably wouldn't be the last. To see all those children used in such a way, to hear this man speak of them in such manner unleashed something in Batman he tried to keep locked in – a beast. A ferocious demon who lusts for blood.
"Never. I'll never dishonor the dead by lowering myself to the level of people like him. Never..."
Later that night, people all formed in a crowd around the body that hung from a lamppost. Yamamoto, the businessman, half-robot, half-human, full psychopath and delusional monster, was tied in Batman's line and hanging like the world's worst Christmas present. They all flocked around and they saw the batarang that stuck out of his back. They saw and wondered of the man known as the Batman – the hero of Tobioka City.
Hoped you liked it! If you like the chapter and the story overall, let me know in a review. Follow and fav if you haven't already and share it with friends who would like stories like this. Thanks for reading guys and see ya next time.
Green out.