Chapter 10 –Past / Future (Part II)

"The voice of Thanatos will cleanse you from your curse and send you down the path of atonement and rebirth!"

Lunatic landed softly on his feet next to the vehicle. It was an impressive imitation of the Batmobile, and after seeing it, any doubt in Lunatic's mind about Bryce Wayne being Yomotsu's kidnapper was burned away. His hands, concealed in blue gloves, seized the car door. With a soft growl, he ripped the door right off and tossed it to the side of the road.

Lunatic peered inside, and there he was—Bryce Wayne, recoiling in the driver's seat. "Wh-who are you!?" This was not the gruff voice of a thorough Batman impersonator—his voice was cracking.

"I am a servant of my own code of justice," Yomotsu's rescuer answered. He leaned his head into the vehicle, shoving himself closer to Bryce Wayne. "I am your punisher, Lunatic."

The false Batman had enough. He punched Lunatic's face with the full determination of forcing him back, and he succeeded. Lunatic took a few steps backs. "That's more like it," Lunatic cooed. "Now, what shall you do with me? Tear me apart limb-from-limb?"

Lunatic extended a hand in each direction. His body glowed a soft blue as he channeled his NEXT powers. Suddenly, a great burst of blue-green fire blocked off both sides of the street they were on. Any car that would happen to drive by would be unable to interrupt their fight, and Bryce Wayne would not be able to drive away with Yomotsu.

For that punch in the face, Lunatic was quick to return fire—quite literally. Lunatic aimed his weapon, a crossbow of great judgment, toward the man in the Batman suit emerging from the car. The bolt in his crossbow burst into blue-green flames. "Bryce Wayne," Lunatic said, "Your efforts to decrease the population of heroes in the world has led you into the depths of sin. Prepare to be redeemed through my flames."

Lunatic caught sight of Yomotsu emerging from the back seat of the car only as he released the bolt. He was powerless to stop its course as it struck not Bryce Wayne, the intended target, but the man who leapt in front of Bryce Wayne to take the blow—Yomotsu.

The blind hero of righteousness tumbled forward, the bolt protruding from his left shoulder. A fire was spreading from that spot and threatened to engulf the whole man. Lunatic withdrew the fire. He held out his hand and, as he clenched it shut, called the flames back from Yomotsu. The effort was successful; Yomotsu emerged with only a flesh wound and a bit of smoke around his body. For almost anyone else in his position, the burlap sack over his head would have been a handicap, but Yomotsu did not rely on sight anyway.

"Not… so fast, Lunatic!" Yomotsu gasped. His right hand clasped his injured left shoulder, while his left hand pointed accusingly forward. "Lunatic… You're the murderer from Sternbild. You're the man whose code of justice commanded you to kill criminals. You earned the support of the people in doing so, but you also earned the ire of the city's true heroes. I thought… I thought Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks defeated you for good? It said… It said that you took your own life rather than face being captured by your enemies, that you burned yourself into ash in front of the heroes."

Lunatic scoffed. "You can see clearly how false that report truly is."

Yomotsu's left hand transformed into a shaking fist. "While I know this Batman who has kidnapped me is a fake, you are the real Lunatic! You are the beacon of a false code of justice! Criminals ought to be captured alive and delivered to the true authorities… Who are you to judge them yourself?"

"I am a competent judge," Lunatic assured.

"The fact that people supported you illustrates how truly unjust this world is and how the world needs a true hero of righteousness!" Yomotsu declared. "I will defend Bryce Wayne, defeat you, and then bring you both to the authorities!"

"The 12th is going to help me, thank heavens!" The Batman spoke up. "I did not expect you to—"

Yomotsu stopped froze immediately. He turned his head toward Bryce Wayne. "The 12th?" He repeated. He turned his whole body and quickly waved his hands. "No, no! You must be thinking of someone else! The only 12th I know is that glorious hero of justice, the shining righteousness of our age—and I'm not him, surely!"

Lunatic glanced over at Bryce Wayne, and Bryce Wayne glanced over at him. Lunatic sighed and, with a wave of his hand, set fire to the rope that kept the burlap sack over Yomotsu's head. While the captive hero pulled his head out of the stinky bag and threw it to the road, Lunatic said, "You are free to live, Yomotsu Hirasaka. You are not the one being punished tonight. Do not interfere in this sinner's punishment."

Yomotsu laughed and then leapt into action. He soared to a great height and, flipping in the air, landed directly in the middle between Lunatic and his prey. "A 'sinner' punishing another 'sinner'? The one who shall punish him are the keepers of the law, not imposter heroes of righteousness! I may not be the 12th—who is even more handsome than I am—but as a fellow servant of justice, I will not let you do this!"

Lunatic, with a great sigh, closed the distance between them. "Yomotsu, you idiot," he hissed. "Leave, befo—"

Yomotsu crashed his fist into Lunatic's chest and, while his opponent was disoriented and in shock, seized Lunatic's head with both hands and slammed it down against his knee. It was nearly enough to crack the mask. Yomotsu then delivered a roundhouse kick that sent Lunatic to the ground.

Yomotsu assumed a fighting stance and, with bold courage, rushed forward. Even as Lunatic was rising to his feet and regaining his senses, Yomotsu released upon his opponent's body a flurry of punches. With each impact, he shouted in accordance, "Ta-da-da-da!"

This was going quite well until Yomotsu found his throat seized by Lunatic. The grasp was not tight enough to dangerously constrict airflow, but it was enough to get a point across. Lunatic maintained the hold and forced his housemate to the ground. Lunatic pressed his knee down on Yomotsu's stomach.

"I need you to stay out of this," Lunatic commanded, his face looming menacingly over what would have been the 12th's line of sight. "The only thing that cannot be cleaned is a sordid criminal… And cannot be cleaned must be thrown out."

Yuri saw Yomotsu's wide-eyes, and he knew that Yomotsu must have seen the truth. Yomotsu must have suddenly remembered their conversation on the first day they met.

"Y-Yuri? Yuri, you're Lunatic…"

They first met only 9 days ago, but a lot had happened since then. They had watched Power Rangers and talked about pajamas and drank grape Fanta and even went to the grocery store. A lot had happened, and yet, nothing had happened at all. Even as Lunatic's voice had a far more menacing tone than that of the Yuri Petrov that Yomotsu had come to know, his words were unmistakable. Yuri watched as, in Yomotsu's mind, the connections were being brought to the surface.

"Whatever you were like in the past," Yomotsu continued quietly. "Whatever evil things you did… You can still turn that around and become truly righteous. What you are doing now isn't justice. Rather, you're creating a hell within your mind. It is like you're trying to find out what color you'll burn, and how big the flames will be. You're afraid that if the fire dies, you will find that there is nothing left—but what are you trying to prove?"

Lunatic said nothing. He paused and then rose, allowing Yomotsu to do the same. He walked right past Yomotsu. Bryce Wayne had begun to run away by this point, knowing that once again he was within the vigilante's vision. Without saying another word, Lunatic shot forward and, as he steadily rose from the ground, grabbed Bryce Wayne on his way into the sky.

The man did not the resist. He was now being carried high above Graceville, over its various houses and closed businesses. They flew further and further away from the spot in the street where the blue-green fires raged, where Yomotsu had been left to face the truth about his roommate. Neither of the pair in the sky said a word, and for some time, only the wind filled their ears. Then Lunatic spoke.

"I understand killing criminals," he began. "But after all you went through, why would you kidnap and kill other heroes? All of these other small-time heroes, throughout the country, have had their disappearances attributed to you… Why do you do it?" He wanted to be justified for killing the man, for dropping him to his oblivion or even lighting him on fire while he still held him up.

Bryce Wayne responded, however, "I have never killed anyone."

Lunatic heard the silence of the night.

"I have had to resort to kidnapping, yes, but that is only the initial cause of the heroes' disappearance," Bryce Wayne explained. "They stay missing because they want to be missing. Have you also noticed that, despite the disappearance of the heroes, the crime rates in their home cities have not increased? There's a lot going on underneath the surface. Something is happening, something I am still trying to understand. Criminals are dying at a faster rate, and the world is seemingly becoming safer."

"But I have my doubts," he continued, as Lunatic continued to carry him out of town, now over the river. "I think that the small criminals are reducing in number, but even greater evils are about to arise in the world. Small pests go into hiding when a great predator is on the loose. I have been gathering heroes from all across the country in preparation. I have been trying to form a league of superheroes, bound by justice and united to form a great symbol of courage. I was inspired by the heroes of Sternbild, and I believe something even greater can happen here."

"And I have not gone this far to be killed by a villain such as you," Wayne said in a different tone. "I may not be the real Batman, but if I can borrow his courage, I can inspire at least one person… And that's all that matters, really, is the symbolic hope that a hero holds up. We will not always succeed or even live, but righteousness always wins in the end."

Lunatic glanced down at Bryce Wayne. Under the replica cowl, his exposed mouth was smiling, despite the sorrow in his voice.

"Farewell."

Wayne struggled out of Lunatic's grasp and descended silently and quickly into the great blue depths of the river they had been flying above. During the fall, his cape rose to allow him a smoother descent, and for a moment, he truly did look like the real thing. Then he disappeared into the water, and for some time, Lunatic watched the still surface. He waited for a figure to rise, but nothing stirred.

To one accustomed to the darkness, the sight of a glimmer of light is a strange thing: it can appear totally unrecognizable. "That might be the light," the person might say, but one does not know. All one knows is that it is different from the darkness he is accustomed to, and the purity and classification of the unknown substance remains to be explored.

Such was the darkness from which Yuri rose. Out of the depths of the past, the hero within Yuri Petrov emerged from the waters. The change was sudden, and observers might discount it as such. Some changes, however, are that sudden and powerful. Now it was Lunatic who needed to be redeemed through the fire, and his awareness of this had been sharply heightened.

Yomotsu apprehended this change almost immediately after Yuri returned. They discussed what had transpired and, most importantly, the secrets they had been keeping from one another during the past 9 days. Yuri confessed that he came to Graceville to investigate the strange nocturnal crime fighter called the 12th, whom he suspected Yomotsu to be. Yomotsu explained something even more spectacular.

"I have what is called the Justice Diary," he confessed. He showed the voice recorder to Yuri. "It tells me when I will be next fulfilling a righteous act. Recently, it told me that I would be victorious over a great evildoer in Graceville. I dropped everything and came here, and since then, I have been taking down every criminal I have come across. My Diary, however, has not changed. Because my Diary has not updated, it can only mean I still have not defeated the real evil. I am dedicated to remain here until the Justice Diary instructs me otherwise. I thought that you were the great evil, and as Lunatic, you matched up, but…"

"But?" Yuri was quiet.

"But I no longer believe you are evil, and if you are the one I am meant to defeat, I do not want to." Yomotsu turned his head away from Yuri. "A hero of justice is always misunderstood and lonely… And even though it has been only a short period of time, I trust you and think you might be the only true friend I've ever had."

They were sitting on the couch when they discussed these things. It was dark, but a pale morning light came in through the window. That is what Yuri said the room was like, when Yomotsu asked. It was likely 6 am, or somewhere thereabouts. Yuri let the quiet persist, until he offered, "Then let's find the real evil and stop it… together. Unless your Diary forbids you from teaming up with another, I want to help. I owe it to you, for investigating you the way I did. Also, if this is such a great evil, then I want to play a part in stopping it as well… One working alone can't always be trusted to complete such a difficult task."

Yomotsu nodded. He smiled. It was then that they teamed up, in late June. For the next four months, Yuri and Yomotsu did battle with the rising criminal underbelly in Graceville, and their valiant efforts were soon recognized by local and national media. The reappearance of Lunatic prompted speculation and questions across borders, but the heroes of Sternbild refused to comment.

A powerful symbol of justice had emerged in the United States, but it took a different form. These were not homegrown, amateur heroes. No, the symbol of justice that emerged took the form of Lunatic and the 12th, two foreign men with a real zeal for stopping evil whenever it so willed itself to appear.

Sometime later, Yomotsu asked Yuri about what happened to Bryce Wayne. Yuri said, frankly, that he did not know. He liked to believe that the man had survived the fall, but he could not confirm it. The man and his rumored league had not resurfaced in Graceville or made any attempts to contact them. Privately, Yuri dreamed that Bryce Wayne was watching their progress and was leaving Graceville up to them for a reason, as though he knew they could handle it themselves.

"But who was he, really?" Yomotsu asked.

Yuri smiled and had to answer, "He's Batman."

A notebook sat on the desk. The last entry on the page read:

"Bryce Wayne— Falls to his death at 12:00 am, June 23rd."

Pages had passed since that entry four months ago. A lot happened in the meantime. It was enough to raise a few questions.

"Lunatic and the 12th… Are they destined to go with me into the new world, or should they be extinguished? They've started a fire in my field. What do you think we should do, Ryuk?"