A/N: Here is chapter two people. I'm so excited to be writing this story. And I hope you all enjoy it.

While the last chapter followed the plotline of Episode One of Batman Beyond, this one on the other hand won't, there may be some similarities, but I'm putting my own spin on it. Hope you enjoy it.

FYI: Ren's Batman voice will sound like when he's Joker in the Persona 5 anime. Cause if you notice, Ren's voice changes from a meek and timid voice to a strong and confident tone. Being Batman is a way for Ren to express his true self, so he's gonna sound and act more like himself as Batman.

Just one more thing: I do not own Persona 5 or Batman Beyond. They belong to Atlus and Warner Brothers Animation respectively.

After being let into Wayne Manor, then the Batcave, Ren told Bruce in full detail what had happened at the school. He then used the Batcomputer to search online and found a video a student took of the incident.

Bruce grimaced as he saw the young girl jump. He's seen a lot of horrors and death during his time as Batman, even suicide, but it didn't make it any easier to see. Especially if the victim was so young.

He then heard one of the suit containers open and turned to see Ren inspecting the last Batsuit Bruce had ever worn. "Stay away from that." Bruce said as he walked over to Ren.

"Synaptic controls." Ren ignored Bruce as he continued to observe the suit. "Neuromuscular amplification, flight capability. Hmm. This thing might be old but its still cutting edge. Bet it amplifies your strength by at least ten to one."

He then moved to grab the suit but Bruce spoke up again. "I told you not to touch it!"

Ren looked back to him, confused. "But, aren't you going to-"

"No!" Bruce cut him off. Ren had a look of disbelief on his face before it began one on pleading.

"A girl just tried to commit suicide! Kamoshida is running a drug business at the school, giving them to innocent kids! You gotta do something! You're Batman!" Ren tried reasoning.

"I was Batman." Bruce corrected. "Share this with Commissioner Barbara Gordon. Tell her I sent you and vouch for your claims."

"The cops?!" Ren shouted in disbelief. "No! No way! The cops won't do a thing about that dreg! Neither will the school, the principal only seeks to preserve its reputation! Only Batman can make sure justice is done."

"And what is justice to you?" Bruce asked, surprising Ren. "What justice do you believe Kamoshida deserves? That he answers for his crimes? That he suffers the same way that girl suffered, or worse?"

Ren thought for a moment. What kind of fate did he wish Kamoshida to have? Did he want to kill him? He certainly felt like it after he made Shiho jump off the roof. But that wasn't the kind of person Ren was.

"Regardless of what kind of justice Kamoshida deserves, he still needs to be stopped." Ren answered. "And you are the only one who can make sure that happens without the fear of preserving your reputation?"

Bruce gave Ren a long hard stare before he looked away and walked back to sit at the Batcomputer. "I'm sorry. I can't." He said as he turned back to the screen. If he looked back at the boy, he would have saw a look of great disappointment on Ren's face.

"You know when I was a kid and still living in Nippon-Gotham, I looked up to you." Ren spoke up. "I grew up hearing stories about Batman, the guardian of Nippon-Gotham. They inspired me to help people in need, to not be afraid to stand up against injustice when I see it. I wanted to be just like you."

"But now that I see you for the man you've become… I can't help but feel disappointed." Ren finished as he turned to leave. "You can just stay here and hide in this mansion till you die old man! I'm gonna go and make sure no one else has to get hurt because people like you do nothing!"

His words seemed to leave an impact on Bruce as he sighed. Before Ren left the cave, Bruce asked. "Was it a mistake?"

Ren stopped and turned back around to face Bruce. "What?"

Bruce then began to type away on the Batcomputer's keyboard. "After your first visit, I decided to read up on you." He began as he finished pulling up a file. The screen came to life and to Ren's shock, showed a picture of him and his arrest record.

"Ren Amamiya: Age 16. Charged with assault." Bruce began reading from the file. "Born in Nippon-Gotham to parents Warren and Mary Amamiya. Both died five years ago in a Jokerz attack." Ren looked down and clenched his fist in anger at the mention of that night as Bruce continued. "For the next five years, you cycled through multiple adoption homes outside of the city. You left each home because according to the adoptive parents, you never fit in and always distanced yourself from everyone. Until the most recent one, where you assaulted a man and were sent back here for one year probation."

He then turned back to face Ren. "I can tell by the look in your eyes that you never really assaulted anyone." Bruce began explaining as he stood up and walked over to Ren. "You've fought people, and you've beaten them up, but it I can see it was either in self-defense or the defense of others. You wouldn't just randomly assault someone. When you do this for as long as I have, you recognize criminals by the looks in their eyes, and you're not one of them."

Ren was surprised. Batman, the Batman, just told him that he wasn't a criminal, he believed that Ren was innocent. That gave Ren a certain feeling of happiness, despite the anger he felt earlier towards Bruce.

"If I'm to guess, you most likely tried to help the woman who testified against you and claimed that you did assault that man. Am I correct?" Bruce deducted. Ren nodded in confirmation. "Your desire to help that woman led you to be arrested and ended any chance you had at a stable future. So let me ask again: Did you make the wrong choice in helping that woman?"

Ren gave Bruce a hardened look, his eyes burning with a fierce determination. "I didn't." He answered without hesitation. "I would do it again, even if it landed me straight in Arkham, because if I stood by and did nothing, then what's the point of being free if I'm trapped in my guilt and shame. And that's why I can't let someone like Kamoshida get away with this scott free. This is my home! And sure, this city may have a lot of issues, but I know that beneath all the filth and corruption of Nippon-Gotham, its people are good. All they need is someone to inspire them to stand and show their light to the city."

Bruce took in all the words Ren was saying. He could tell from his eyes and his tone that the boy meant all that he said. He truly had the desire to protect Nippon-Gotham, and its people. It was a lot like his own drive to keep the city safe.

Unlike him.

"Very well." Bruce said, surprising Ren. "I'll help you." At Ren's radiant smile, Bruce continued. "However, we're going to do this my way."

The Next Day

As Ren walked up the steps to Shujin Academy, his mind flashed back to the plan he and Bruce came up with last night.

Flashback

"If we're gonna bust Kamoshida, we'll need evidence." Bruce said as he typed away on the Batcomputer with Ren standing beside him.

"But no one will ever speak up and give testimony out of fear for Kamoshida." Ren explained, having seen much of the fear when he and Ryuji were conducting their own investigation.

"We don't necessarily need the students or teachers to confess. Just Kamoshida." Bruce said.

Ren rolled his eyes. "Good luck with that." He said sarcastically.

"We don't need him to confess to us necessarily, just to someone he wouldn't expect to betray him. We just need to catch him in the act and record the evidence so we can make sure he doesn't get off easy." Bruce explained.

"And how would we do that?" Ren asked.

"We need to get him alone with someone he wouldn't think would do anything against him. Someone who he believes he has completely under his thumb." Bruce said. It was at that moment that Ren got an idea.

"I think I have someone in mind."

Flashback end

"Yo! Earth to Ren! Are you there Ren Amamiya?!"

Ren blinked as his mind came back to the present. He looked to see Ryuji had come up to his side, apparently he was trying to get his attention for a while now, but Ren was too into his mind to register his voice.

"Yeah I'm here." Ren said as he gave Ryuji a smile.

"So where'd you disappear to yesterday?" Ryuji asked as they entered the school. "You said something about someone being able to help us then took off. What's up with that?"

Ren faked a regretful expression on his face. "It was a dead end. They said they wouldn't help.''

"Ah slaggit!" Ryuji cursed. "Well what are we gonna do? The teacher meeting is in less than a week. If we don't try and take down Kamoshida before then, then we can kiss our lives goodbye!"

Ren hated to do this to Ryuji, but he couldn't have Ryuji be more involved and get himself hurt. "Let's just drop it Ryuji." Ren's words shocked the hothead. "We can't do anything about this. We're just kids. So let's try to enjoy our last days of school before we are expelled." Ren then turned and walked to class, leaving a dumbfounded Ryuji behind.

Ryuji couldn't believe what he heard. From what he got from his experience with Ren, the boy had a strong sense of justice and was willing to do crazy and reckless things to help someone. That was evident by his willingness to take on the Jokerz to save the Student Council President. So to hear him giving up just didn't sound at all like the Ren Ryuji had come to know.

As Ren sat in homeroom, he noticed the seat in front of him was empty. He figured Ann must still be Shiho. That was good. They both need each other right now, and when both of them come back, Kamoshida would be gone, and this school would be safer.

But first, he had to get rid of Kamoshida, and that meant he had to get him to confess. And that led him to his target: Yuuki Mishima.

While Ren could understand the kid was too scared to refuse Kamoshida when he leaked Ren's record, that didn't mean he still wasn't pissed at the kid. Though he was a victim as much as anyone else, he was also Kamoshida's right hand man, whether or not he wanted to be.

That made him the perfect person to get Kamoshida to confess. But first he had to make sure that Kamoshida heard them, that they saw them together. That was the only way this plan was going to work. But how could he do that?

He then recalled a conversation from yesterday and smiled as the plan came together.

When homeroom ended. He bolted over to the student council room. Making sure he was looking somewhat presentable, he knocked on the door.

"Come in."

He opened the door and was met with the sight of one Makoto Niijima, who was surprised to see him. "Amamiya?" Makoto said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Ren had almost said, "To see you" but he held his tongue. Now was not the time. He then took a deep breath. "Remember how you said yesterday that your door would always be opened if I never needed anything?"

"Yes?" Makoto said not sure what he was getting on.

"Well could you maybe do me this small favor?" He asked.

Mishima had no idea why he was suddenly called to the student council room in the middle of after school volleyball practice. The national championship was coming up, and with Shiho in the hospital, Kamoshida was working them overtime to make up for the lost talent.

At the thought of Shiho, Mishima felt his stomach lurch. He was just the messenger. He had absolutely no idea that was gonna happen. But he couldn't get her limp body out of his head. No matter how much he tried.

"Mishima!" Said blue-haired boy looked up in surprise, then in fear when he saw Ren Amamiya standing a few meters in front of him then begin to walk towards him. Mishima began to sweat profoundly as his face turned pale white. Amamiya learned that it was Mishima who leaked his record yesterday, under pressure from Kamoshida, had he spent the whole night plotting his revenge against him.

Mishima closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever punishment Ren would have given him, but his body jumped when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked in shock to see that Ren had a genuine smile on his face.

"I just want to say thank you Mishima." Ren said, confusing Mishima even more. What would he be thanking Mishima for? "I know you feel bad about what happened to Shiho and leaking my record. But you stepped up when you gave me and Ryuji that video file."

"What?" He questioned, not understanding what Ren was talking about.

"With your help, Kamoshida is going down." He then felt Ren squeeze his shoulder hard, as if giving him reassurance that he was doing the right thing. He then looked over Mishima's shoulder. The boy followed his gaze and froze at what he saw.

Kamoshida, who had left practice to see what Mishima was called for, had a look of pure betrayal and rage on his face as he glared at the two students. It was at that moment Mishima realized what was going on. This was Amamiya's revenge against Mishima. Turn Kamoshida against the boy.

He then gave a pat on the boy's shoulder and moved down the hall to the exit. As he passed Kamoshida, he whispered so only he would hear. "Your reign of tyranny ends tonight." And with that, Ren left without another word.

"Mishima!" The boy flinched as his name was called by Kamoshida. He turned back to the coach and was trembling so much. "Stay after practice. We need to make sure you make up for missing out. Got it?"

"Y-Yes sir!" He said in acknowledgement as he continued to the student council room.

Both of them failed to notice that there was a new addition to Mishima's clothes that wasn't there before Ren placed a hand on his shoulder. It was a black bat shaped device, emitting a red beeping.

"You managed to get the tracker on him and provided a cover so Kamoshida believed that Mishima would betray him. I have to admit, it's an impressive ruse." Bruce admitted as the both stood, or sat in Bruce's case, in the Batcave and observed the tracker that Ren had placed on Mishima on the Batcomputer's screen.

"It was all pretty simple. The hard part was making sure Kamoshida would see that I was talking to Mishima." Ren explained.

"How'd you manage to pull that off?" Bruce asked.

Ren scratched the back of his head. "I called in a favor." He decided to say.

Bruce decided to leave it at that and focused back on the screen. Currently it still showed Mishima was still at school. Ren checked the time on his watch, volleyball practice would be getting out soon, and that's when Kamoshida will keep Mishima after school to talk.

"Alright, we'll just need to get Kamoshida to confess his crimes and once he does that, you can deliver a little 'POW' and 'WHAM'" Ren said as he motioned the sound effects with some punches. "And send him off to Blackgate."

"No." Bruce said, shocking Ren.

"What?!" Ren cried. "But you said that you would help take Kamoshida down! Are you going back on that!?"

"I never said I would take down Kamoshida." Bruce said as he turned to face Ren. "I said Batman would take him down."

"But you are Batman!"

"No. I was Batman."

Ren gave Bruce a confused look with a raised eyebrow. "What are you saying Mr. Wayne?" Ren asked for clarification. Bruce then gestured to the suit on display.

Ren walked over to the suit and saw his faint reflection in the glass. The suit outlined his body perfectly, almost as if he would be looking at his own reflection in the mirror. His eyes then widened as he understood.

He looked back to Bruce, who nodded in confirmation. He turned back to the suit, a devious smirk on his face as he opened the glass and placed his hand on the suit. "Schway." He said as he pulled the suit out of the display case.

Ren, or rather Batman, flew unsteadily above the city, it was his first time flying after all, either in or out of a plane. He nearly crashed into a building but was able to pull himself up just in time. He then gripped a pole to stop himself and spun downward. When he landed, he slipped and almost fell off the roof. He managed to pull himself up.

"Woah." Batman said to himself as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down as he looked out over the city. "This'll take some getting used to." He said as he found his target destination in site. Shujin Academy.

He then jumped off the rooftop and flew over to the so-called prestigious academy that acted as a castle for a delusional king. He then landed gracefully on the roof of the building. "Better." He told himself as he activated the detective vision mode in his cowl.

He managed to see inside the building. Currently the whole school was abandoned, save for two individuals he knew were Mishima and Kamoshida. He then maneuvered himself to outside the gym and activated the enhanced audio receptors in the suit and began recording.

"What the slag did you tell that kid!" He could hear the rage in Kamoshida's voice.

"N-Nothing sir! I didn't say anything!" Mishima stuttered, trying to speak through his trembling form. He heard a loud smack, so he assumed that Kamoshida must have hit Mishima. Despite his anger at Mishima, he wanted to help the kid, but he also had to make sure he got a whole confession out of Kamoshida, or else this would have been for nothing.

"Do you understand the trouble I have to go through to keep this smuggling ring a secret?!" Kamoshida asked rhetorically. "It's bad enough our players are such dregs! We don't need it to be made even worse if the school board finds out most of our star players are using Slappers to help us in our current winning streak! This drug ring is making me thousands, and the last thing I need is some whistleblower ruining it all!"

He then saw through detective mode that Kamoshida had when and picked up a metal baseball bat and began to walk over to Mishima, who began to scoot away in fear. "Maybe we need to make sure whistleblowers like you disappear." he then gave a sick laugh.

That's it! He got all the evidence he needed! He then shut off the recorder and flew away from Shujin Academy before making a U-Turn and firing off the thrusts as he charged to the windows.

"Maybe we need to make sure whistleblowers like you disappear." Kamoshida laughed like a maniac as he raised the metal bat up high. Mishima closed his eyes and covered his head as best he could.

Was this his punishment? For not doing anything when he knew he should have? For going along with whatever evil or malicious deed Kamoshida wanted him to do? Was he gonna get the beating he tried so hard to avoid by committing all those sins to avoid it in the first place?

CRASH

The sound of shattering glass filled Mishima's ears as his eyes shot wide open and he saw the moonlight enter the gym. He saw Kamoshida's facial expression change from sadistic to annoyance to horror as a large shadow enveloped the two of them and closed in on Kamoshida.

When the shadow was upon Kamoshida, it brought its foot up and delivered a kick straight to his face, its wings spread out wide. Kamoshida was flung to the other side of the gym and rolled on the ground before coming to a stop.

The shadow landed protectively in front of Mishima, its wings folding into his arms. It then slowly stood up. The figure was all black, and had long pointy ears. The figure turned its head back to Mishima to reveal a pair of white eyes. Mishima's own eyes widened as he realized who it was who just saved him. 'No way…' He thought in awe.

"A little early for Halloween!" Kamoshida mocked as he was already up and charging Batman, raising the bat to strike. However, Batman brought up his arm blades and blocked the strike.

"But just in time for fall." Batman then threw the bat out of his hands and delivered a punch to his face followed by a roundhouse kick that sent the gym teacher into more sports equipment.

Mishima could hardly believe what he was seeing. The legendary Batman himself had come to save him. Him! Of all the people of Nippon-Gotham!

"So you like to play rough huh?" Kamoshida said as he stood back up and rolled up his sleeve. He reached into his pockets and pulled out multiple Slappers. "I can play rough too, you know."

He then put the patches all across his arms and upper body. Immediately the drug began to take effect and his muscles began to grow and expand so much that his shirt ripped. Batman's eyes narrowed as Kamoshida picked up the cart holding the sports gear and threw it at Batman.

The new Dark Knight leaped into the air to dodge and dropped kicked the drugged up teacher. However, strength enhancements caused Batman to bounce off his chest, not even making Kamoshida flinch. Batman readjusted himself midair and landed gracefully.

He charged Kamoshida and layed out a series of punches in his face and stomach, to no effect. Kamoshida then smirked as he with a swipe of his hand he sent Batman flying into the bleachers, crushing some of them. Batman quickly moved out of the way of as Kamoshida brought both his hands down to crush him.

He delivered a side kick to the teacher's face, but his face met his fist right after. Managed to backflip out of the way of two follow up punches. He ducked underneath a punch and Kamoshida hit the wall, leaving a crack. Batman then grabbed him by the legs and spun him around before flinging him across the gym.

Batman then leapt into the air and landed on Kamoshida's chest. The latter then grabbed the former by the throat with both of his hands and began to choke him. Batman tried to pray the arms off but they were too strong. He then delivered a headbutt that broke Kamoshida's hold so he could leap off of him.

He then grabbed a long rod used for pole vaulting and held it in an en garde position. Kamoshida got on his feet and charged the Bat. Batman swung the pole, though it did little to no damage as Kamoshida broke the pole and threw Batman across the room. He then threw the remainder of the pole that stuck into the wall as Batman dodged.

Batman looked back at the pole, but that moment of distraction cost him as Kamoshida had grabbed him by the leg and threw him into the wall on the other side. He struggled to get up as the drugged up coach stood over him. He raised his arms high to give a killing blow.

CLANG

Kamoshida fell forward slightly as he felt a bruise on the back of his head and turned around to the source. Mishima was standing there, metal bat in hand, dented, his body trembling due to the force he used to hit Kamoshida.

The coach had a look of pure murder on his face as he walked over to Mishima, who dropped the bat and continued to tremble. "Oh! Now I know you're a traitor. And you know what kings do to traitors?" He asked rhetorically as he raised his hands to strike.

Batman then leapt onto his back and wrapped his arms around the man's neck to stop him. "Get out of here!" He told Mishima. The boy stood frozen for a long moment before he complied and sprinted as fast as he could outside of the gym.

Kamoshida tried to reach behind him to shake Batman off, but the Dark Knight just kept avoiding his attempts to grab him. Finally, Kamoshida got tired of it and then slammed his back against the wall in an attempt to crush him. Which would have work if Batman had not anticipated that move and immediately jumped off his back.

As Batman turned back to face Kamoshida, he realized that this wasn't going anywhere. He didn't have the strength to beat Kamoshida physically like he thought he would. He needed a new strategy. He accessed the communicator in his cowl and called Bruce. "Hey boss, do you have any ideas on how to take this guy down?" Batman asked in a whisper as he dodged another strike from Kamoshida.

"After doing some research on the drug used, I was able to find its essential chemical known as venom. A strength enhancement chemical used by one of my old foes Bane. He was the only one who knew the formula but he died years ago, according to my knowledge. So he must have shared it with someone else before he died." Bruce said as he began stroking his chin

"Can we save the history lesson for later and skip to the part on how I beat the guy dose up on Venom!" Ren grunted through the speakers.

"Normally you would have to cut the tube connected to the canister that holds the drug, but he used patches instead of the tubes. You could try giving him a large electric surge to shock the venom out of his system and render him unconscious." Bruce explained. "However you would need a more powerful charge than what the suit can generate."

As Batman dodged another strike from Kamoshida, an idea came into his mind. "What about the generator on the roof?" Batman suggested in a low whisper so Kamoshida couldn't hear him. "Doesn't that provide power to the whole school? That should be enough of a jolt to shock him unconscious."

"Yes it could work!" Bruce agreed. "You would just need to get him to the roof."

"Oh don't worry." Batman said as an excited smirk fell on his face. "I have his full attention on me." He then leaped into the air and threw a pair of smoke pellets that blinded Kamoshida. He then made it seem like he was running away so Kamoshida would follow as he left the gym and made his way to the roof with Kamoshida hot on his trail.

He made it to the staircase that led to the roof and began to sprint upwards. However, he felt a large hand grab his leg and trip him. He then was swung into the wall, cracking it, and came face-to-face with the monstrous Kamoshida, who had a sadistic smile on his face.

The next thing he knew, he was thrown through the doors that exited to the roof, breaking them down. He groaned as he tried to fight through the pain to stand up. He slipped as he attempted to stand, and then he noticed that it had begun to rain.

He then felt strong hands wrap around his neck and begin to squeeze. He was dragged to the edge of the roof and his head began dangling off the side. He gasped for air as he tried to fight off Kamoshida, but to no avail.

"You think I'm gonna have my kingdom be destroyed by some clown who thinks he's Batman?" Kamoshida asked as he squeezed harder. Batman's eyes began to roll back as his vision began to darken and he lost strength in his body. He could faintly hear Bruce shouting his name over the comm, but he couldn't respond.

And then suddenly, he wasn't on the roof of Shujin Academy being choked to death by Kamoshida. Suddenly, he was a eleven year old boy again, staring down at his parents corpses, having just come home from school. The sheer horror and fear that had bound Ren then had returned, but there was something else. Something that he had kept sleeping inside of him ever since that day for five years.

Rage.

Batman's eyes widened and his vision became clear as a burst of energy filled his being. Letting go of Kamoshida's arms he then extended the claws from his gloves and digged them into his attempted killers arms. Kamoshida shouted in pain as blood oozed from the puncture points in his arms as Batman continued to dig in them.

Using Kamoshida's shock and a rush of adrenaline, Batman pried off the arms choking him and took a gasp of breath. As oxygen returned to his blood, he then sent a glare that terrified Kamoshida.

"I am Batman!" He declared as he brought his feet up on Kamoshida's chest and fired off the thrusters. The force sent Kamoshida off of him, Batman wasted no time and jumped to his feet and proceeded to charge Kamoshida. The teacher attempted to strike, but the Dark Knight was faster as he ducked underneath the punch and delivered his own followed by a swipe from his claws.

As he continued to beat Kamoshida, Ren couldn't help but feel… lighter as he did so. It was as if with every punch that connected his fist with Kamoshida's face, Ren felt that the anger and rage he's been holding inside him for five years was finally able to come out in an explosion of power and determination. Like he was finally able to express how he truly felt about the death of his parents and all the injustice that's been happening in the city he called home.

And it felt good!

He then delivered a kick to Kamoshida's face that knocked him near the generator. Kamoshida was blind to it as he attempted to grab Batman again, who leaped above his grasp and delivered a kick to his face, followed by a rocket blast from his boot. The blast sent Kamoshida tumbling into the generator, his fist broke the outer shell and he howled in pain as he was electrocuted.

Batman covered his eyes from the blinding light that came from the electricity. Thanks to his suit, he was able to withstand the shock that traveled his way due to the water from the rain. The light finally died down after a few seconds, and Kamoshida was smoking. He wasn't badly burned, but they would leave some scars. He slumped to his knees and landed face first on the wet ground.

Batman moved over and inspected his pulse. There was one, he was still alive. Batman gave a sigh of relief. While Kamoshida was a disgusting piece of crap, Ren didn't want to kill anyone.

He then fell to his knees and managed to catch himself with his hands before he fell flat on the ground and began to breathe heavily to calm his heartbeat. That was the single most exhausting thing Ren had ever done in his life. And it felt amazing!

After taking a few moments to rest, Ren began to hear faint footsteps come up the stairs. 'One last thing to take care of.' He thought as he made a call.

Mishima was so nervous as he made his way slowly up the stairs. The power to the whole school suddenly flared before it went completely dark. The only thing that could cause that was if the main generator on the roof was broken, and considering who was in the school with him, Mishima had a pretty good idea who was responsible.

As he finally reached the roof access, he was slightly surprised to see the door was broken down, almost as if someone was thrown through it. But what surprised him more was Kamoshida face down on the ground unconscious with handcuffs around his hands, and even more surprising was the Batman standing over him, triumphantly.

Batman then turned his gaze towards him, and Mishima jumped when those white eyes found him. It was almost as if they were peering into his soul and searching for any sins that he deemed was worthy of his justice. After the longest and most terrifying moment of Mishima's life, Batman actually spoke. "Are you okay?"

All Mishima could do was nod a 'yes' still too terrified to speak. "Good." Was all Batman said before he reached into his belt and pulled out a recorder. "This contains most of the conversation between you and Kamoshida, including the parts where he confessed about his drug ring in the school and threatened to kill you."

He then tossed the recording over to Mishima, who fumbled as he tried to catch it, but managed not to drop it. "I've sent an anonymous report to the police, they should be here soon." Batman told him, surprising the boy. "When they arrive, show them that recording. With that and Kamoshida's stash of Slappers, he'll be sent away for a long time."

Batman then turned and walked to the edge of the school and was about to fly off into the night, but Mishima finally found his voice to speak up. "Wait!" He cried, stopping Batman. "Why does it have to be me? Why can't you show it to the police?"

Batman knew Mishima was trying to find a way to stay as far away from anything relating to Kamoshida's drug ring, for fear of what the teacher revealed the drug dealer would do if he found out Mishima squealed, and Ren couldn't blame the kid for being so afraid. But Mishima needed this.

"I don't exactly have the best relationship with the N.G.P.D., so I think I'm gonna make myself scarce." Batman explained. "But you need this Yuuki Mishima." The boy flinched when Batman said his full name. "I know what you did, both to that girl Suzui and that transfer student Amamiya." Mishima's eyes looked down in shame at their names.

"You may not have been the direct cause of their pain, as you were forced into it by Kamoshida, but you still contributed." Batman told him. "If you want repentance for your sins, then you need to show the people of this city, but more importantly, yourself, that you're not afraid to stand against the injustice you know is happening around you. Once you do that, you can begin to stand looking at yourself in the mirror again."

And with that, Batman jumped off the roof of the school, spread his wings, and flew off into the distance, leaving Mishima on the roof to ponder his words.

Inspector Zenkichi Hasegawa couldn't believe the night he was having. After a dead end drug bust, he and his partner were assigned to inspect a 911 call coming from Shujin Academy, the school where that girl Suzui tried to commit suicide the other day. He hoped that nothing bad happened, but it looks like he was gonna be late getting home once again, leaving Akane home alone. Again.

They arrived at Shujin Academy and moved to enter the code given to all N.G.P.D. officers to unlock buildings such as this, but, to their surprise, the keypad was dead. Having a concerning look on his face, Zenkichi turned to his partner and both nodded. They pulled out their guns, then Zenkichi kicked the door open.

His partner went in first and surveyed the area, when he called clear, Zenkichi followed after him. They repeated this process multiple times as they made their way around the school. They eventually arrived at the main gym, which was currently a huge mess. It was as if a fight had happened.

Both moved in and surveyed the room. Zenkichi stopped when he heard his foot step on something that sounded like a wrapper. He bent down and inspected the plastic, and looked in shock when he recognized that these were used to store the steroid drug known as Slappers. He showed it to his partner.

"I'm going to head to the room to see if I can restore some power back to the school." Zenkichi said, having seen that the main generator was located on the roof when they passed a map. His partner nodded as he continued to inspect the wreck of a gymnasium.

As Zenkichi ascended up the stairs to the roof, he found more evidence of a struggle, a very intense and brutal struggle. When he got to the top of the stairs he looked in surprise to see that the doors to the roof were busted down and that a man was currently lying unconscious with his hands handcuffed behind his back.

Zenkichi moved to inspect the man. He was covered in Slapper patches, but his muscles appeared normal for a man of his stature, so the effects must have worn off by now. He had bruises over him, and his body was slightly cripes, most likely from high voltage.

As Zenkichi turned him over, he gasped as he recognized the man as Suguru Kamoshida, a former Olympic Medalist and last he heard the volleyball coach here at Shujin. Was this teacher a Slapper user, if so, did the school know about this?

As he pulled out his communicator to call dispatch to inform them of the events, he heard a timid and nervous voice off to the side. "Umm."

Zenkichi sprang into action as he brought up his gun and pointed it at… the harmless and bruised teenager who was now scarred still at having a gun pointed at him. Zenkichi cursed himself and his paranoia as he put the gun down and holstered his weapon.

"Sorry about that." He said as he put on a friendly smile, trying to calm the boy down. Zenkichi then took a moment to inspect the boy. He looked bruised and beaten, like he had been in a fight, but there was no way a boy this timid and meek who jumped just now could have hurt a man like Kamoshida, especially if he was using Slappers.

"Can you possibly tell me what happened here?" Zenkichi asked after a moment of silence. The boy seemed incredibly scared, but he took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. He walked up to the officer and presented a recording device and pressed play.

As Zenkichi heard the recording, his eyes widened as he looked over at Kamoshida. He wasn't just a user of Slappers, but he even sold the drug to the students in the school, all so that he could guarantee that would win in competitions, even threatening to kill a kid if he didn't keep quiet. These were the kind of men that made Zenkichi sick. And he was happy to put this man behind bars so he wouldn't hurt another innocent kid again.

But there was one more issue he had to resolve.

"I'm grateful you took the chance and shared this information with me." Zenkichi said honestly as he placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, who flinched slightly. "But could you do me one more favor and please tell me who did this to Mr. Kamoshida?"

Mishima answered, and Zenkichi's eyes widened in shock.

The sound of his new phone beeping, gifted to him by Bruce after they decided to work together, woke Ren from his slumber the next morning. He struggled to open his eyes as he looked at the phone resting on the side of his bed.

He moved to grab it, wincing as his body was screaming in pain from the bruises he received from his fight last night. But he pushed through it regardless and grabbed the phone. He looked to see that multiple texts were from Ryuji, so he opened the phone up and began to read them.

Ryuji: Did you hear? School's been canceled for the day!

Ryuji: Something about a fight that wrecked the gym and messed with the generator.

Ryuji: Think this has anything to do with Kamoshida?

Ren knew the answer, but he couldn't tell Ryuji, as much as it pained him. Bruce had told him once the importance of keeping a secret identity. So he played ignorant.

Ren: IDK

Ren: We'll just have to wait and see

Suddenly, a new message came, but not from Ryuji, but Ann, who had started a group chat with the two of them. Ren had given her his and Ryuji's number following their talk at that fast restaurant.

Ann: Guys big news!

Ann: Shiho's woken up!

Ren's eyes snapped fully awake as he read the message, followed by a selfie of Ann with an awakened Shiho, both smiling brightly. The picture made Ren smile as he quickly typed back, followed by Ryuji.

Ren: That's great to hear Ann

Ryuji: For Real! Things are looking up! Hopefully.

Ren couldn't help but smile. Things were looking up. Kamoshida was taken down, Mishima was taking a step in the right direction, and now Shiho was awake from her coma and was recovering. Things were looking up for Ren, and nothing could ruin his day.

"Hey kid." He looked to see Sojiro had come up to his room. "Get changed and come down stairs quick." He then went back down just as fast as he had come up. Ren had a confused look on his face as he saw Sojiro retreat down the stairs. What was so important? Was it about him getting back late, or something about school?

And the tone and face he had when he told Ren to come down, he almost seemed… regretful and saddened by what was waiting for Ren. Regardless, Ren shrugged and moved to get dressed, being careful to hide the Batsuit under his bed so no one would find it.

When he made it down stairs to the cafe, his heart froze at the sight he was met with. Two police officers, and a regretful looking Sojiro.

"What's going on here?" Ren asked, fear and anxiety entering his voice as he began to take a step back, almost tempted to run.

"Ren Amamiya." The lead officer, a black man spoke up, his tone authoritative and final. "You are hereby under arrest for breaking the conditions of your probation and assaulting a group of teenagers on the night of April 23rd."

Ren froze as those words entered his ears. No. No! It couldn't be happening! It couldn't be happening again! Not when he finally felt like he could start living again after feeling dead for five years since his parents died.

"B-But all I did was try to stop a gang of Jokerz as they were harassing a young woman. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone innocent." Ren tried to argue and plead his case.

"I'm sorry son, but the rules of your probation were quite strict, you are to not engage in any physical confrontation with anyone regardless if they are breaking the law or not." The officer said. "We let you off last time because you hadn't arrived in the city yet, and your probation hadn't officially begun, but we can't bend the rules now. You have the right to remain silent…"

The officer's words fell on deaf ears as Ren wasn't paying attention anymore, but merely looked down as the officer began to put the cuffs on his hands. It was just like with that woman all over again. He had tried to help someone, but it ended up backfiring on him all over again.

But he still didn't regret it. Like he told Bruce, he would do it again with the same consequences or even worse ones if it meant the alternative was that someone got hurt if he did nothing. Didn't mean it didn't hurt Ren any less that this happened.

As the officers finished placing the cuffs on his hands, Ren was led to the exit of the coffee shop, his head held low as he almost began to cry. But before they reached the door, it opened from the outside to reveal a guest.

"What's going on here?" Ren's eyes widened and his head shot up to see Bruce Wayne standing in the doorway, eyeing the scene in disbelief.

Sojiro froze for a moment as he recognized the guest as Bruce Wayne, the Bruce Wayne was in his coffee shop, before he composed himself and spoke in the most polite tone he could manage. "I'm sorry, we're closed right now sir. If you could leave and come back later-"

"Ah! Mr. Amamiya there you are!" Bruce cut Sojiro off as he looked toward the boy with a pleasant smile. The other occupants of the shop looked in shock. "I was wondering where you went off too after that night on the… what was it…" Bruce said as he then began to give himself the appearance that he was thinking hard about something before his face lightened up as he 'remembered' "The 23rd, oh yes that's it."

"Mr. Wayne, you know this boy?" the other officer said as he looked back and forth between the famous billionaire and the boy they were currently arresting. Ren began to fidget nervously, trying to come up with an explanation, but Bruce spoke up first.

"Well I owe this boy my life." He said, shocking everyone in the cafe, including Ren. "He defended me against a gang of hooligans once. I tried to reward him, but he absolutely refused." Ren was speechless as he stared at Bruce, granted there was truth in his storey, though it was more the other way around. "May I ask what's going on here?"

"We're taking in this boy on charges of assault against a gang of teenagers that happened on the night of the 23rd." The officer holding Ren stated, tightening his grip on the boy.

Bruce gave a convincing look of surprise as he then gave a smile. "Well I'm afraid you've been misinformed. This boy was not assaulting anyone, rather, he was merely trying to defend a helpless old man like me." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "I'm sure we can work something out."

After explaining the whole situation, in a light that favored Ren standing up in Bruce's defense, as well as flashing some cash around, the officers decided to let Ren off with one last warning, stating that the next time he got into a fight, would be the moment he's sent off to Arkham. They then left without another word.

"Well, that's one way to get the heart pumping in the morning." Sojiro said as he turned toward Bruce. "Can I interest you in a cup of coffee? It's on the house."

Bruce gave a charming smile as he took a seat at a booth. Ren was still standing, shocked still as he tried to process the emotional roller coaster he went through in the last ten minutes. After a few moments of standing still, he heard Bruce speaking to him.

"You can have a seat if you wish to Mr. Amamiya." Bruce said as he gestured to the seat from across from him. Ren decided to take it, to help him process what was happening.

A few moments later, Sojiro came back and handed Bruce a cup of coffee, slightly nervous. "I hope you don't mind milk, I ran out of cream last night and my delivery guy hasn't given me any more."

Bruce just smiled in gratitude as he took the cup. "I prefer it." He told the coffee maker as he took a sip. He gave off a satisfying 'hmm' as he set it down on the table. "The things I heard about this place don't do it justice. This is the best cup of coffee I've ever had Mr. Sakura."

Sojiro blushed as he tried to act all cool and failed to do so. He then cleared his throat and began to speak as he began to open up shop for the day. "So Mr. Wayne, what brings you to this small hole in Nippon-Gotham?" He asked, deciding to make small talk.

"I just decided it was time for me to get out of the house. Some time in the sun is good for old folks like me." Bruce explained. "I had heard talk about this amazing coffee shop in Yongen-Jaya, and decided I must go and try it."

Ren knew Bruce was lying. He came here to check up on him. He most likely figured out where he lived from the information from his record and came here to get his suit back.

"But I'm so glad I ran into you, Mr. Amamiya." Bruce said as the attention then shifted over to Ren.

"Why's that?" Ren asked.

"I've been thinking about a way to thank you for saving my life the other night and I think I've come up with a wonderful idea." Bruce said before taking a sip from his coffee. "I would like to offer you a job."

"A job?" Ren said, surprised. Even Sojiro stopped what he was doing and looked over at the two.

"It's not much, mind you." Bruce began explaining as he held onto his cane. "I find that in my old age I could use a part-time assistant. You know, a gofer. Go for this, go for that. An ally as it were. Would you be interested?" Bruce asked as he took a sip of coffee.

Ren was shocked dumb as he stood up. Was Bruce Wayne, the original Batman, officially asking him, Ren Amamiya, to be the new Batman? As he was too shocked to properly give an answer, Sojiro spoke for him.

"Just take the job kid." Sojiro told him. Ren looked at him with disbelief marked on his face. Sojiro sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I had hoped to have you work here for free, maybe teach you how to make the perfect cup of coffee and curry. But maybe working with someone as famous as Bruce Wayne will be good for you. Teach you a sense of responsibility."

All Ren could do was smirk as he turned back to Bruce. "Sure." He answered.

Bruce's face then became serious as he set down his coffee. "I warn you. I can be a difficult task master." He warned Ren as he stood up from his seat. "I expect nothing short of excellence from all who work for me."

"I think I can handle it." Ren said, accepting the challenge.

Bruce then smiled. "Very good then Mr. Amamiya." He said as he held out his hand for Ren to shake. "Welcome to my world."

Ren smirked as he took Bruce's hand in his own and gave Bruce a firm handshake. This was just the beginning.

A/N: The Legend is Reborn.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I know it's shorter than my last one, but I hope that's okay. I'm also pretty surprised by how soon I was able to get this out. I guess that's one of the benefits of having an outline. I don't know if the others will come out as fast, but I'll try my best.

So yeah, I made this chapter not so much like the original Rebirth Part 2, mainly the part where Bruce willingly approves of Ren taking the suit. I did that to kind of allude to the Persona 5 aspect. Bruce wanted to know how far Ren would go in order to achieve his justice, and seeing that Ren didn't regret his actions in helping that woman that led to him getting arrested, Bruce thought he would be worthy to take on the mantle of the Bat.

I hope you guys noticed what I alluded to in the fight with Kamoshida. How Ren felt free and good as he proceeded to beat up Kamoshida. Keep in mind, this does not mean he's psychotic or that he enjoys hurting people. What felt good was finally being able to let all that anger and rage he's been holding in since his parents died out. It was like a weight being lifted off his shoulders. And that's something I'm trying to do, I'm trying to make him feel more like himself when he's Batman than when he's Ren.

I included that scene with Mishima to show what kind of Batman Ren is trying to be. He's not only someone who seeks to punish the guilty but also inspires the scared and hopeless to take a stand and fight for what's right. Because to him as a child, that's what Batman was to him: a Knight who strikes fear into the evildoers and inspires hope in the innocent.

Next chapter we'll introduce one of his confidants. Here's a preview.

Brush with Death:

After walking into a trap sprangged by kidnappers, Batman is heavily injured and close to dying. However, he is saved by a town clinic who discovers his identity. How will Ren deal with this new complication.

Until next time. Stay safe everyone.

…

…

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Post credits:

As Sojiro was cleaning coffee cups to pass the time as the cafe was currently empty. He couldn't help but think back to that crazy morning. Learning how to read people from his years of serving customers, he could tell Mr. Wayne hadn't come down to his shop just for the coffee. He had been looking for Ren.

Thankfully it seemed like the old man was harmless, only offering Ren a job. Sojiro almost wanted the kid to deny it. But after remembering some stuff he read about Bruce Wayne when he was younger, specifically that he lost his parents at a young age, Sojiro figured that it might do well for Ren to be around someone who knew what he was going through. Maybe help the kid move on.

His ears perked when he heard the name Shujin from the television he had going on in the background. He turned back and turned up the volume.

"-ademy's Volleyball head coach and former olympic medalist Suguru Kamoshida was arrested today after it was revealed that he was involved with the steroid drug known as Slappers. Apparently it was revealed thanks to a witness that…."

"Ah, slaggit!" Sojiro cursed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. This would maybe cause a lot more problems for Ren, now with all the attention the would be getting, in addition to the girl that tried to commit suicide a couple of days ago. Sojiro hoped that this new job will keep Ren out of trouble.

He was pulled out of worries when the bell chimed, signalling customers. Quickly turning on his professional smile he turned to greet them. "Evening! Welcome to Lebla-" And stopped as his smile turned into a slight scowl as he saw who it was.

It was that female prosecutor, Sae Niijima. She was one of his most frequent customers, but also one of his most annoying. She only came to discuss this parental case she was in charge of with him, and it annoyed and stressed him out to no end every time she came here.

But this time, she wasn't alone, much to Sojiro's surprise. Accompanying her through the door, was a high school boy, Ren's age he guessed, if not slightly older. For a moment, Sojiro wondered why a public prosecutor would be dating a minor while that's clearly breaking the law.

Though that curiosity went away when he recognized the boy from the TV. Goro Akechi, the Detective Prince. He was a celebrity, some say the youngest detective in existence. He has participated in over a hundred cases since he started about three years ago, and he solved them all. So if he was here with Niijima, that probably meant they were working together on a case and this was purely business. That gave Sojiro some relief.

"So this is the place you usually come to." Akechi said as he observed the place, a suitcase in hand. He had a polite smile. "I must say the atmosphere is nice."

"The coffee's okay." Sae said as she got on her phone to look over a recent case. Sojiro felt like that was a jabat him, which it probably was, but he ignored it. Business was business, and Sojiro needed to make money, no matter how much this particular customer annoyed him.

"The usually?" He asked. Sae nodded. He then turned toward the detective prince. "And you?"

"I'll take black coffee." Akechi said with a polite smile as he sat down and placed his suitcase on the counter. Sojiro nodded as he quickly got to work. The sooner he made this, the sooner these two would be out of his hair. It was moments like this that Sojiro was glad Ren took that job, as he was currently out with Mr. Wayne now, getting a feel for what his duties would entail.

In a few minutes, he gave them their cups of coffee. "Thank you sir!" Akechi said as he began to dip sugar into his coffee to add some flavor. Sojiro turned around and began to clean his glasses, the news playing faintly in his ears.

"While there is currently no confirmed identity of the one who subdued Kamoshida after he drugged himself up, an eyewitness testified that the identity of his Savior was the legendary Batman who has-"

PZZT

Sojiro jumped when he heard the sound of someone spitting out his coffee. That meant rumors would spread and he would be put out of business. He turned and saw Akechi coughing as he tried to clear his throat, his suit and face drenched in black coffee, as well as his place at the counter.

"Are you okay Mr. Akechi." Sojiro asked with concern, worried to hear if he made the coffee too strong.

"No worries at all Mr. Sakura." Akechi said as he took a handkerchief and began to wipe up the mess he made. "I guess that I didn't put enough sugar in the coffee. I thought I might try being risky and putting in less than I usually do, but I guess my taste buds aren't ready for it. The fault is mine."

Sojiro sighed in relief, glad it wasn't something he did. Just some stupied kid trying to act all grown up. "No harm done Mr. Akechi. That one's on the house. I can make another one that's less of a kick if you'd like."

"That would be much appreciated Mr. Sakura." Akechi said politely as Sojiro got to work. As Sojiro had turned around, and Sae went back to her phone, seeing that nothing bad had happened to her partner, both failed to notice the subtle change in Akechi.

While it might not be noticeable to the trained eye, Akechi's posture had shifted. His body had become tighter, his face strained slightly, like it was painful to keep smiling, his eyebrows twitched, and his hands clenched as he looked at the television.

'Batman…'