Ok I'm adding the author notes right after I've already posted. Had to put it up fast quick because well Army life. :(

Well, the story is coming to a close. Thank you everyone, for taking this journey with me. It was absolutely great to reach out to so many people, despite the English.

Please enjoy.


Chapter 51: Saving Chiba

Huntsman carried Shizuka down the corridor, running down the path with his hands. Getting further away from the ballroom, he took a left turn through the level.

"Mmm." Shizuka groaned a little in his chest, her eyelids twitched and she tilted her head. "Ah, oww." She opened her eyes slowly shaking off the pain in her head.

"Are you alright?" She heard a voice asking her. Realizing who was carrying her, her eyes went wide open.

"Wah, it's-it's you! Huntsman!" She yelped, embarrassed that she was being carried by him.

Huntsman set her down and asked, "Are you alright? Can you walk?"

"Y-Yes, I can." Shizuka got back on her feet. "Thank you."

Now standing up, she started to confront him however, "What the, hang on? What are you doing here? The other person, was that Batman?"

"Yes." Huntsman said walking past her and she followed him.

"He's…he's real?" Shizuka asked.

"Yes." Huntsman answered.

"Is he with you?"

"Shh." Huntsman shushed her, getting to the end of the corridor to a right turn, he could hear the sound of button clicking.

"Goddamn Japs! Slant eyed piece of shit!" They both heard someone shouting. Huntsman held up a hand to halt her.

"Get behind me." Huntsman whispered to Shizuka, making distance between him and her with his arm. Peeking his head out at the corner, he saw the source of the noise. Tobias Whale, by another elevator hammering on the button.

"Wait here." Huntsman whispered to Shizuka before pulling out a batarang.

"Come on, son of a bitch those damn Japs!" Tobias exclaimed still pushing the button to call an elevator. Huntsman glared, turning on the Hunter's vision a sonar pulse echoed through the area, revealing everything.

In the elevator shaft, the Matriarch, her husband and their men were in the elevator going down. It looked like the Matriarch was on her phone.

The towering Whale still preoccupied with the elevator button, he did not see it coming when he had a searing pain in his shoulder, something had impaled into his shoulder. With yell of pain, he turned around, and the Crimson Shadow was in front of him stalking him down through the dim corridor. In the corner, Shizuka could not help herself and peeked.

"The hell are you freak?" Tobias taunted holding his shoulder.

The Huntsman did not answer, he just glared at Tobias. Tobias brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles, he said, "All quiet huh you Jap? Fine."

Tobias charged right for him, pulling back a fist. As Tobias threw his hand forward, Huntsman sidestepped and dodged the punch. Tobias swung the same arm back, attempting an elbow strike on Huntsman. Ducking down Huntsman got an escrima stick out, jabbing it right at Tobias's gut. Shifting around to Tobias' back, Huntsman kept striking and pounding his escrima sticks rapidly at Tobias' back.

When Tobias swung his other arm for a punch, Huntsman pulled his head back avoiding the hit. Grabbing one end of his cape he swiped it at Tobias' face. Huntsman leapt back, he planted his foot on the wall and kicked off it to gain more height. Springing his foot out, he kicked Tobias right in the mouth.

Slobber and blood splattered out from Tobias. But the criminal managed to grab Huntsman by the collar, he threw him up and Huntsman's back smashed the ceiling.

As the teen painfully landed flat on the floor he saw Tobias' foot coming down to stomp him. He rolled to the side in time, bringing his foot up to jam it right in Tobias' knee cap.

Shouting in pain Tobias stumbled down to one knee. Jumping out from the ground, Huntsman came down fast with a left fist smashing down on Tobias' head, a right cross on the chin, a left punch in the stomach, another cross to the face. With a roar of anger, Huntsman gave a left uppercut, Tobias' head knocked back hard from the punch, tumbling down on his back.

Letting out feral snarl, the Huntsman leapt up with wings spread out, and stomped both feet on Tobias' diaphragm. Standing on the larger man, Huntsman took one arm and twisted it hard, before driving a foot in the elbow with the sound breaking bones. As Tobias' shouted in pain again, Huntsman gave one final punch across the face knocking him out.

Teeth baring and growling, the Huntsman got off the criminal. He groaned as he straightened his back and it let out crack noises. Turning around, Huntsman finally noticed Shizuka witnessing the whole fight. She stepped back a bit in trepidation.

"Listen to me." Huntsman said firmly to her, "And listen carefully because there's no time."

"What is it?" Shizuka collected herself and asked.

"Get to the gardens upstairs and hide there, it's not safe down below." Huntsman said, taking Tobias' coat off. He put the coat around her, much to her surprise. He then said, "Keep yourself warm, stay hidden there and call the police, get Inspector Yin. I'll be back."

"Uh t-thanks, where are you going?" Shizuka asked as she took the coat.

"Hunting down a criminal. Now go." Huntsman commanded as the elevator finally arrived and Shizuka went in. Huntsman rushed to the stairs exit, kicking the door open. With the grapnel wrapped around the railing, Huntsman vaulted over and repelled all the way down through in the centre of the spiral stairs with his cape slowing down his descent, right to the second level.


Right at the ground level, a whole group of men in suits surrounded the Matriarch and Daishi bringing them out of the building, and the Matriarch was on her phone.

"Haruno!" She shouted in the phone. "Where are you?! And Yukino?!"

"Come downstairs." Yukari told her before instructing her bodyguard. "Go find my children now!"

"What do you mean you're sorry? Haruno?" Yukari sounded even more agitated.

"Haruno, do you realise what you are saying? What have you done?!" Yukari raised her voice more.

Her phone call had been interrupted when a Crimson Shadow flew down above them, a shroud of darkness landed in front of them.

It slowly rose up to full height, red eyes almost glowing, glaring at the Matriarch.

"Your reign ends Yukinoshita." The Huntsman's voice loomed across the lobby. Everyone kept their eyes on the Huntsman, fear was started to seep in.

"Yukari, get behind me." Daishi pulled his wife to his back. Their men stepped forward to protect the two.

"Ojou-sama, please retreat." Kichirou said to Yukari. The Yukinoshita head had moved back to elevator. While they were protected by their barrier of guards, Yukari and Daishi went back up the elevator, leaving their men to the Predator in the lobby.

Every single guards whipped out a metal truncheon, putting up an intimidating image to the Huntsman. But their eyes showed their hesitation, and a beastly snarl from the Huntsman loomed the area.

"What is that thing?" The first thug whispered to them.

"Doesn't matter just take it down. Now." Kichirou ordered, reaching for his inner coat pocket for his weapon. They all did not see it coming when all of a sudden the ground lobby went pitch black blinding everybody.

The first thug instantly felt a sharp blade stabbing into his shoulder, a batarang thrown by the Huntsman in the dark, a scream of agony echoed right before he a got kick across the face.

"What the hell!" A second guard shouted in terror, and right after a knee had been driven into his abdomen, an elbow hitting the back of his neck stunning his body. A hand gripping his hair brought his face downwards, smashing it into the floor.

The third guard was brave enough a charge into the sound of the fight despite the darkness, getting his truncheon ready. His attack went south when his hand holding the baton got gripped in defence, and he got his own face smacked with an escrima stick. The guard's arm still being gripped by the Predator in the dark, his arm got twisted around before he went out cold by an elbow to the mouth.

Gunshots started to echo in the dark, Kichirou gritting his teeth fired his pistol again. A fourth guard with Kichirou was about to pull out his own gun when a cable pierced into his calf, the guard cried in pain and right after the cable yanked him away. Tumbling and falling down on the ground, the cable pulled him into the blackness, his terrified screams were soon reduced to silence.

The lights were soon starting to flicker back on, revealing the carnage that had occurred. The fifth could only catch a glimpse of the Huntsman swinging a bo-staff smashing it on his collar bone, followed by the Huntsman leaping up high and he gave a hard kick on the chest, the thug fell back and his head hit the floor.

"There! I think it's over there!" The sixth man cried out, pulling out his handgun and the seventh and eighth guard followed. Suzuki and Kichirou aimed their weapons in the direction too, the lights continued to flicker. The Huntsman immediately dashed for cover, speeding right for a structure pillar. The second his body had been concealed in the pillar, gunshots rang all over the lobby.

The Huntsman kept himself as thin as possible while the bullets flying in his direction, his heart pounded and hammered inside him. His rapid breathing kept his chest rising and falling fast. His back could almost feel the impact the pillar received from each bullet.

"You can't hide bastard!" Suzuki shouted, firing off another round. The bullet chipped the concrete right beside Huntsman's bicep.

"Oh my God, oh my God." Huntsman gritted looking left and right, both sides had bullets flying past him. There was only one way left out of there, he pointed his grapnel gun over his head.

The remaining four men got closer to the pillar, until they finally saw the other side. And there was no one there.

"What the hell! It-It disappeared! Oh G-God! It just vanished!" The seventh guard said, stepping back in shock. "Where is he?"

The group heard a noise right at the elevator, they all snapped their heads to the direction. A batarang had been stabbed into the button controls, before a flash bang appeared, dazzling their eyes and they stumbled about. Kichirou quickly recovered and noticed the elevator buttons sizzled unusable by the flash bang.

A door slammed and everyone turned around again, this time it was the stairwell. Suzuki rushed for the door, he tried to open it but the door handle on the other side had been jammed. He tried pushing the door but it just would not budge.

"He's going after Ojou-sama!" Suzuki shouted.

"Shit!" Kichirou threw his gun in anger. "Find a way up now!"


Huntsman ran up to the third floor before taking a stop. He bent over and wheezed out panting, it took a good moment for him to catch his breath. "Shit, oh my God that was close. Now, the Matriarch is back at her office. And the police are on their way, going to have to stop her from trying to flee."

Immediately, the Predator in him came back, Huntsman let out a beastly growl.

He pointed his grapnel gun up again and fired up the cable, making his way right up. Soon enough, he got up to the top.

He then realized it was coming to the end if he could see it through alive. And he knew what this would mean for someone else.

"Too bad for you kid."

"Welcome to the Service Club. I've been requested to help you, so you're my responsibility now. Be grateful I am helping you solve your problem."

"Look what I wanted for you to improve yourself and her in this club. I wanted to help you."

"Promise me! Help Yukinon if she gets into trouble."

"Helping someone out is not a justifiable reason for you getting hurt."

"Whatever choices you make and action you take. Make sure it's worth it, and you don't regret it."

"She's got nothing to do with anything."

"You care huh?"

"I'm now beyond what I was."

"Do you still validate your methods?"

"Just who are you Hikigaya Hachiman?"


Right at the head office level, the Matriarch, and her husband reached their office door. Daishi held Yukari by her arms and said, "Get inside."

"I can handle myself Daishi." Yukari took his arms off her. "I want to get our children."

"I'll get them, I'm not going to let you-"

"I am not intimidated in the slightest by some lunatic downstairs."

"Just let me protect my wife goddammit!" Daishi harshly said.

"Yukinoshita." A haunting voice got their attention, "Your time is over."

Turning to the other end of the corridor, there he was. The Huntsman, his cape cloaked his entire body.

The Matriarch and her husband had extremely heated faces.

"Do you have any idea who I am boy?! You cast off beggar!" Daishi spat, but the Matriarch raised up her hand to him.

The Matriarch stepped forward, and seethed at him. "Young man, or whatever you are. What do you intend to gain by trespassing into my premises, damage my properties and assault my employees?"

"Your empire, built on the suffering of the innocents, end here." The Huntsman growled, stalking right towards them, almost looking nightmarish and...villainous.

"Yukari get inside!" Daishi did not wait any longer, pushing her inside her office. "Stay in there!"

Daishi Yukinoshita stepped up against his foe. "Stay away from my wife!"

The Huntsman continued to stalk, hissing, "Criminals of Chiba, you've feasted well. Preying on the innocent for your wealth. You have brought on pain and misery long enough, the feast has come to an end. Now, you are the prey."

Daishi's breathing got quicker, his pulse raised. The Huntsman was getting too close for his already perturbed comfort.

"Get away from us!" Daishi rushed him. The Huntsman simply countered, sidestepping he grabbed Daishi's shoulder and wrist into a lock, forcing Daishi to bend over. Spinning him around Huntsman threw Daishi and he tumbled, his back slamming on the office's door.

"Who are you to come and disrupt everything that's been?" Daishi said.

"Who am I?" The Huntsman growled, "I am the one that hunts the predatory. I am the reason people like you breathe better when the sun rises."

The Huntsman grabbed Daishi by his collar, pinning him on the door. The Yukinoshita had to face the eyes of the beast.

"I am vengeance! I am the night! I. Am. The Huntsman!"

The Huntsman pulled Daishi away from the door, before kicking the door open and he shoved the diet member inside the office.

Daishi stumbled away from the Huntsman, the Matriarch quickly rushed in catching her husband.

The Yukinoshita Head became even more ticked, a blizzard brew in her voice. "You will not touch him again." The Matriarch cracked her knuckles, "How dare you. Attacking my family. You have no chance of getting out of this mess you are in. I will make sure you are destroyed right down to ashes."

Huntsman glared at her and said. "It's over Yukinoshita."

"You claim me to be a criminal. I am the one who has kept order in this city. And you are the one who is the terrorist here, breaking the system and ruining everything."

That remark had no effect on the Huntsman, he knew the truth. He said, "You ran crime in this city to build your wealth, it ends here."

"You have a lot to learn boy, you have nothing on us." Yukari said, "Whereas you, on the other hand, have assaulted my employees and family. I'm rather confident to say that when I kill you, in self-defense of course, I would be seen as a hero."

As the Matriarch was about to close in and as the Huntsman was about to ready himself, footsteps were approaching.

"Yukino-chan come back!" They both heard Haruno yelling.

"Okaa-san!" Yukino's voice followed.

"Yukino-chan no!" Haruno exclaimed. The voices got closer. And a second later, Yukino skidded to a halt right at the office door. Seeing the Huntsman cornering her parents she gasped.

"Okaa-san! Otou-san!" Yukino called for her parents. "You monster! Get away from them!"

Hachiman peered at her, his clubmate, he decided to let Yukino have her way. He took one step to the side. Haruno then came in, grabbing Yukino by her arm.

"Nee-san!" Yukino said exasperatedly. "Let go!" She shook off her sister's grip and rushed to her mother. "Okaa-san are you ok? What did he do to you?"

"Yukino." The Matriarch said holding Yukino before setting her eyes on her first daughter, "Haruno."

"I'm sorry Okaa-san." Haruno could not bear to look at her parents in the eye.

"Haruno?" Daishi got confused. "What happened?"

"You would turn on us Haruno?" The Matriarch said with freezing disappointment in her voice. "Your father and I did so much for you."

"Okaa-san." Haruno shook her head, "I-I can't stand it anymore. Every horrid deed you've done, I have to see it for all my life and I can't do it anymore."

"Okaa-san? What is she talking about?" Yukino asked, her shoulders trembled.

"I'll clear the air then." The Huntsman answered, clicking on the audio recorder. Everything was going to be revealed, and so fell the Yukinoshita family.

"I'm sorry Yukinoshita." Hachiman despaired inside.

"The Yukinoshita family have been ruling this city, all for the right cause, my cause." The Yukinoshita Matriarch said in the playback. "And we need to do our part in shaping the city into our design so that Haruno, Yukino, and your son, can inherit this city, as to how it should be. We produce the benefits, and you keep the process in line. That how it's been done, and it will stay that way."

Everyone had the appropriate reaction, Yukino's jaw slowly dropped. Yukari's face appeared so stunned.

"Where did you..." Daishi tried to speak.

"Roman Sionis is the only one left and he has disrupted our lives too many times now, he thought that mere family history between the Yukinoshita and the Sionis grants him control over Chiba and now he is in a cell in Gotham. The difference between us and Sionis is that he is a crazed immature fool who wants nothing more than to show off and to get everyone to kiss his feet, he literally wears a black mask on his face and he has cost us for the last time. We on the other hand, are doing this for our children."

Silence soon filled the room, and Yukino's heart felt like it had a rock in it.

"Okaa-san...what have you...done..." Her mouth was shaking.

"Yukino please..." Her parents could not find the words. Haruno looked away, wiping her eyes.

"The police are coming either way." The Huntsman put the recorder away. "It's over."

However, none of them could prepare themselves when an explosion burst downstairs, trembling the entire building. Right out the window, thick smoke was rising up.

A loud bellowing roar followed after, frightening everyone. The orange glow out the window indicated fire down below. Another roar appeared and everyone got startled again.

"What was that?!" Haruno shrieked.

"No...it cannot be..." The Matriarch said under her breath. "Dr June Moone said it would not come to be. It could not be real."

The Huntsman faced her, and he asked her slowly, "What have you done?"

Yukari looked at him in the eye, her face looking cold again. "You ruined my family." She said. "Consider this, karma. An act of God."

Huntsman took a few seconds before figuring it out. He turned and sprinted out leaving the Yukinoshita Family in the office. Huntsman ran back down, making his way back down to the ballroom floor.

He turned on comms in his mask. "Batman? Batman, can you hear me?" The lack of response was giving him the morbid thought on what happened to his ally, his comrade. The only person that came close to him as a...brother.

"Batman!"


A few minutes ago, Batman in the ballroom was busy with the League of Assassins. Talia's multitude of guards were forcing him back away from Talia and to the ballroom door.

"I must say, the young hunter has quite a foul mouth." Talia strutted while her guards were in combat with Batman.

"Talia what are you doing?!" Batman shouted blocking off a sword slash from a ninja, before kicking her away.

"I'm truly sorry beloved, but this is the will of my father." Talia said. "But know that this does not change anything between us beloved."

Confident her guards were keeping her 'beloved' at bay, she took the case that contained the item to be sold. She got the case open and took out the ornament.

The ornament of Bishamonten.

Batman could have rushed in to stop her, but her guards leaped up high throwing a volley of shurikens at him, forcing him to bring up his cape to block the attack. "Talia! No!" Batman shouted again.

Talia set the ornament down and pulled out the sword from her back.

"By the sword of the Demon Head, the great Ra's Al Ghul," Talia said, pointing the sword of her father at the ornament. "Awaken."

She stabbed it, a second the ornament started to glow a bright orange. The League Of Assassins pulled back, and Talia immediately turned and ran.

A flash of orange filled up the ballroom, and soon it died down. A massive humanoid figure stood in the ballroom. At a height of about four metres, it had an oni-like face, it wielded a staff on one hand and a lantern on the other. On the shoulders' of the humanoid was a constant burning of fire and the back still had the sword of the Demon Head stabbed into it.

Bishamonten.

The God-like monster let out a roar of fire, swinging the staff around knocking a chandelier off. Batman tried jumping out of the way, but the chandelier was too fast, the metal frame landed and pinned Batman down on his lower body. Batman shouted in pain.

Bishamonten roared again before charging out of the window, the League Of Assassins had already retreated and left, leaving Bishamonten to carry out the Demon Head's will.

Batman pinned down tried to lift up the heavy decoration off him, he felt something was really off with his leg.

"Batman? Batman, can you hear me?" He heard the Huntsman calling over the comms, but he did not reply yet.

"Batman!" Huntsman shouted over the comms. Bruce groaned, bringing his hand to his cowl he answered.

"The ballroom." Batman said.

A minute later, Huntsman rushed back inside the ballroom, spotting Batman he quickly came to his aid.

"Hang on!" Huntsman hooked his hands on the metal frame of the chandelier. "One, two, three!" The two pushed it off of Batman, but his leg was messed up bad from the weight.

"Alright hang on." Huntsman pulled Batman away from the chandelier. Huntsman pulled a bigger man's arm over his shoulder and the two wobbled over to the window. Huntsman let out an exhausted groan as he set his comrade down.

The two were silent for a long moment. Hachiman took off his hood and took in the destruction in the ballroom, another bellow sounded off right at the ground level.

"Batman, you're going to be fine?" Hachiman softly asked Bruce. He got down one knee and shook his shoulder a little. "Mr Wayne?"

"I'll manage." Bruce answered. "Yukinoshita?"

"They're in their office, I...left them there. They can't go anywhere after this. And Tobias is out cold."

"Good." Batman groaned.

"Where're those ninjas and that Talia lady?" Huntsman asked.

"Gone, took the chance with Bishamonten's arrival to escape. That was what they were after all along, setting a monster loose in the city."

"The f- What the f- Bishamonten?"

"You know the tale?"

Huntsman's drifted to the window, hearing another bellow down below.

The two shared a look, and Hachiman said, "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Hachiman." Bruce coughed out, "That sword on it's back, it's the sword of Ra's Al Ghul. That's the key."

"Right." Hachiman nodded, he went for a moment before he said, "Goodbye."

He left Batman to rest and rushed away for his final battle. Now Batman alone and leaning on a wall pinged up someone else.

"Master Wayne?"

"Alfred...send it to him. Even his odds."

Huntsman still had one more thing to do, before his final battle. He knew what this would mean, this was not a fight he was going to walk away from. Fighting something so powerful could not be a victorious battle. He was not going to make it.

He was going to die.

"I'm going to die. I'm going to die." Huntsman dreaded, all the people he knew appeared in his head as his death kept coming into his thoughts. But he was still going to fight, to save everyone, to save Chiba.

There was just one more thing he had to do first.


At the gardens, Shizuka was watching the Bishamonten monster leaping out of the building and breathing out fire. She could not believe what her eyes were seeing.

"Shizuka." Huntsman called to her and she turned around.

"Oh my God, you're back." She went up to him, "What are you doing here? What is that thing?"

"I've come to say goodbye." The Huntsman said, his tone sounding soft. In his hand was a batarang emitting a sonic call.

"W-What? Goodbye?" Shizuka got confused.

"You know what this means." Huntsman went past her, setting his foot on the parapet. "It's the end."

Shizuka quickly tried to stop him, "Wait, hang on."

"I have to do this. I'm sorry."

Shizuka was so confused now, why was the Huntsman sorry to her?

"Who are you?" Shizuka asked him.

"It-It doesn't matter." Huntsman leaned over the edge seeing the fire down below.

"Huntsman, you're going to die to save us? Shouldn't we deserve to know who the hero is? At least your name please. Who is the hero who saved us?"

Hachiman's mouth twitched, he let out a shaky breath as he faced her. There was so much he wanted to tell her, now that it was the end. However, there was no time.

But she deserved one thing.

"Shizuka, you were my hero. You were the one who showed me that a hero can be anyone. Even a teacher concerning herself with her lonely student in school, to let him know that she would be there for him. Because she genuinely cared."

Hachiman looked at Shizuka one last time, the sound of bats swarming up to the sonic call were approaching. Hachiman leaped off the edge and was engulfed in the swarm of bats screeching all over, gliding straight down in the darkness. All the while, hearing the cries of his name and ignoring the wetness in his eyes.


Yup, one final boss with Chiba on the line. The DC world is coming in, Dr June Moone and Talia. Realizing that quite a number of Huntsman's enemies are women, whoops.

Bishamonten, the final foe with Chiba on the line, was it built up ok?

And yeah, Shizuka now knows.