From atop a building overlooking Tobioka City, four figures stood. There was a man dressed in a wolf mask, a blue haired girl sitting on the shoulder of another man, who stood in a white suit and dressed in a red mask, and a woman who stood near the wolf-man.

"It seems like he's got the girl." The wolf-man commented, watching Batman ride off from above.

"It looks like it." The girl replied. "I wonder if she'll be okay in his hands."

"She's quite resilient. She'll be fine." The wolf-man put away the binoculars in his coat. "There's much work to be done. Shall we go, Your Highness?"

"Let's." The girl replied.

"...And so they sicked innocent enhanced children on you?"

"Yeah. They killed one during an experiment right in front of my eyes. I saw the child kill a scientist and the others shrugged it off, like it was nothing."

Konomi was currently stitching up Bruce's wound, after having taking the bullet out. She was wearing her pink tank top and light blue short shorts. "This city is so f-ed up. So, did you at least get what you went there for?"

"I did." Bruce winced as she stitched.

"Sorry. I'm not too good at this. I've only done it once."

"It's alright. You're doing fine." After she cut the string, she began applying the bandage, wrapping it around his shoulder. "I've got enough evidence from the facilities to pin it on Yamamoto. I've even taken a blood sample that I can analyze and try to conjure up a cure."

"What about that girl you captured?"

"I want you to monitor her. I placed her in my secondary operation center, in the sewer. Its smaller but it's a home away from home that we can use to keep an eye on her." Bruce stood up and walked over the computer, inputting a code. "With this code, you'll be able to watch her and let me know if she tries to escape. I'm close to her from where I work so I can intercept her if she tries." He stared at the screen blankly and hollow for a moment, something Konomi noticed.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

"...It's my fault." He uttered.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I told her not kill them, not to defend herself and what resulted was her nearly dying. They were going to die anyway but I wanted to hold on to the hope that maybe I could do something, anything to help them. In the end, I was only able to escape with her and leave them all to die in that explosion. Innocent children, kidnapped from their families for sick experiments and then left to die... Turned into monsters that tried to kill me and her..."

"Ryu..." She grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "What you told her to do wasn't wrong. What you wanted wasn't wrong, either. You may be a stubborn mule, but your heart is purer than gold. How you look into the depths of despair and darkness and still see the light at the end of the tunnel amazes me without end. You'll put an end to it. You'll give them justice. I believe that, Ryu." Konomi softly placed her ear on his chest. His heart, proof of his bright humanity, beat in its unbreakable rhythm. "I believe in your symbol but more importantly, I believe in the heart that drives the symbol. You weren't wrong."

Bruce smiled down at her, wrapping his arms around her frame and embracing her. "...Thank you."

He sat down in the chair, with Konomi on his lap and her head on his chest.

Yuko woke up groggily, her mind still fuzzy on what happened before she passed out. Sensation replaced her numbness and she immediately felt that she was chained to a cold chair. It was dark but she knew people were around her. She couldn't say a word as her mouth was gagged with some type of cloth. Suddenly, lights were shined above her, allowing her to see the table of torture weapons beside her. She remained calm, analyzing the situation.

"Please, you must excuse the bonds." The voice of the man who ordered her tranquilized came into the light. "But careful measures must be taken."

Her only response was a defiant glare.

"I see you have heart and heart is good. But heart always gives way... to pain." Yamamoto back-slapped her in the face, the rings on his fingers adding to the effect. "We'd rather avoid hurting you if necessary, you see. Now, I assume you work for or with the infamous Batman. That, or you're with that group, the Iron Mask gang. Regardless, you seek to destroy me, otherwise you wouldn't have contributed to the destruction of my costly experiments. So, who do you affiliate with?" He reached down and pulled the gag from her mouth and without hesitation, she spit in his face. Angered, he slapped her again, but despite the pain, she had a confident smirk on her face. "Damn witch. You leave us no choice then. Marco!"

A bald man in a surgeon's outfit came and took one of the torture instruments from the table. He had burn marks all over his head, a nail in his right earlobe and the right side of his cheek was stitched up. His right eye was yellow and his left was green.

"Convince this young lady to cooperate with us. Make her scream."

"As you wish, my lord." He eerily replied.

Yuko maintained her rebellious, fearless look even as the man glowered over her. "Do you worst." She dared him.

"Gladly." He smiled sadistically.

"Did Yuu execute the plans I laid out for her?"

"Yes. She contacted the number you gave her and I told her to wait for further instructions."

"Alright. I think she's proven herself. I can trust her."

"I'm surprised you even set up those plans in the first place. I thought you were against putting her life in danger?"

"I was, but she convinced me otherwise."

As Bruce and Yuu walked back home from their nap, he began laying out the conditions of their partnership.

"You'll be monitoring them at school, trying to discern anything about them that could be useful. Ideals, history, anything. That will be the extent of your involvement. I don't want to put your life in danger-"

"No!" She exclaimed, suddenly in front of him. "I don't want to simply be a bystander. I can do more than that."

"I don't like the idea of putting you in harm's way."

"I want to devote myself to this cause, even if I am put in danger. Let me prove myself! You can test me and I'll show you I'm worthy enough to stand by your side."

For a long time, Bruce's ocean blue eyes stared into her forest green. His long, nearly obsessive stare made her cheeks crimson but she never blinked nor averted her gaze. The leaves rustled, falling down over them. They never reached the ground as the light wind blew them away on a journey beyond. Bruce sighed to himself, his breath going away with the wind and so, too, his reluctance.

"Alright." He finally said. "Alright, Yuu-chan. I won't directly put you in harms way but you can be more involved if you prove yourself with this first mission."

"Of course!" She hugged him tightly, pressing her face in his chest. He smiled down at her, his mind wandering back to her determined eyes, the same look Konomi gave him that night.

"They both looked beautiful with those eyes..." He off-handedly thought, not quite realizing why that thought even crossed his mind in the first place.

Bruce had Yuu waiting on a bank near the river. Yachts and sailboats were ruling the waters, with corrupt, privileged men and women onboard, no doubt. Bruce walk up down the grassy banks where Yuu sat, looking out at the water. The sun was rising, its yellow hue adding to the ocean's serenity.

Bruce sat beside his new partner, said partner smiling upon noticing his presence. "I've done as you said."

"Exactly as I said? Word-for-word?"

"Word-for-word. No mistakes. They did exactly as you said they would, no exception."

"Alright, Yuu. If you want to help me, you'll need to obtain hard evidence of Black Label at a crime scene."

"How am I to do that?"

"A cocaine dealer, Takazaki, has been gaining in notoriety ever since he's obtained several neighborhoods for business and claimed them his turf. If I'm judging their pattern of killing correctly, the organization goes after criminals when they're either notable enough or affiliated with those who are notable enough. Assuming this, he would be a prime target as he is quickly rising in rank. His base lies in the South District of Tobioka City, in an abandoned slum building. He'll be on the fifth floor and guards will be sprawling the place. Infiltrating the base with their type of methods would probably lead them to direct a frontal assault. You'll go in after that and only after that. Call the police before going in. They will arrive by the time you and Black Label are finished. Most, if not all, of the criminals will be dead. On the east side, there will be an emergency escape stairway and you can enter through here. Climb to the second floor, where by that time, Black Label will quickly be mowing down enemies. Take a few flashless pictures of them through the glassed window in the door and continue on. On the third floor, there will be a vent. Climb into it and proceed upwards. It will be a tight squeeze, but you'll be able to do it. Continue until you're at the fifth floor. Crawl until you see them take out the remaining guards on this floor. Snap more pictures. There should be a vent passage that allows you to spy on the room of Takazaki as well. He will die and there's nothing you'll be able to do to prevent that. Record them in action for five seconds and then leave. Rush down the way you came as fast as you can, the police sirens should buy you some time. The team will be forced to send one of their own to distract them while the others get out. The police won't send anyone inside after they do this. You can get out unseen and then proceed to make as much distance between you and that building as you can. It will explode, burning all evidence, except what you procured. Follow these instructions word-for-word."

"How-how do you know all of that? About what they would do and about the layout of the building?"

"I make it my business to know." He handed her a phone. "Take this. It's a burner phone. I'll give you a number to call. At some point in the day, Mikami will get called for his duties. You will monitor and follow him from afar, notifying me by phone call when he leaves. Afterwards, you will execute the plan after confirming he is going after Takazaki and when you've completed the mission, you are to immediately call this number again. Understood?"

Yuu looked him solemnly. "Understood, sir."

"Here," She handed him the photos she had developed. "I can't believe it though... my own classmates killing all those people... even if they're criminals, it's just so... and they have the pop star, Oriha Nashida too? This city... is evil."

"It won't be forever." Bruce replied, looking through the photos. "You, Konomi, and I will fix this city with our own two hands."

She smiled at him, nodding firmly. "Right."

He stood up, holding his out to her. "Come. I think it's time to show you something."

"I see... Yuko hasn't reported back. This is bad news, indeed..."

Miki and Sayo stood in the meeting room, where Mochizuki stood behind the desk with Ran by his side. His fingers were interlocked and his eyes were grave.

"I think she's been captured. She was most likely able to escape the blast by accessing the blast door on the other side of the room." Sayo explained.

"Most likely." Mochizuki agreed. "Yuko is far too strong to die. It would be more likely that she is being kept somewhere. However, all clues that could have led to her being found have been destroyed and the facility collapsed, leaving us unable to go after her."

Miki crossed her arms in a thoughtful manner. "We can't attack Yamamoto directly... if he finds out we're looking for Yuko, he may have her killed."

"Agreed." Ran replied. "We'll need all operatives on this case. We'll start by interrogating the most well known information brokers. We'll find more of his hidden bases throughout the city, rescue Yuko and shut him down."

"Right." Miki and Sayo replied in union.

Miki walked out of the meeting room with her head down, memories of the days with her friend flashing through her mind. "Damn it, Yuko... I'll never forgive you if you die on me... so please... please... be okay! Alive and okay!"

Bruce and Yuu arrived at the old shipment yard. It had been abandoned for several years, with crates all over the place, growing rust.

"The shipment yard? What are we doing here?" Yuu asked.

"You'll see in a second." He walked inside a crate and slid open a panel in the wall, revealing a number pad. Bruce punched in the code and soon walls erected themselves in the openings of the crate to block them from view and the floor beneath them began to descend.

"Woah!" Yuu stumbled slightly. "Where... what is this place?!"

"The Batcave."

Bruce stepped off the lift and allowed Yuu to take in the room herself. It was extremely spacious, with white lights overhead. The entire room was white in fact and at the very end of the room was a giant computer. Near the wall was a case that held within it the Batsuit itself. The underground facility also had another door that lead to other rooms.

"Is this... are you...?"

"I decided that if you hold the same resolve as Konomi and I, then you're trustworthy enough to hold my secret. I'll take a leap of faith, just as I did by sending you on that mission."

"Oh, my God..." She let out, still reeling from the shock of the reveal. "You... really are... amazing..." Tears began building in the corners of her eyes. "Can I... ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Can you do it? Can you save our city from its corruption?"

"I can." Bruce responded without hesitation, without pause. "I will." He affirmed.

Yuu smiled brightly as Konomi came in, a towel wrapped around her body and head and a candy bar in her mouth. "Huh?"

Yuu stepped up to Konomi, holding her hand out. "I guess we'll be working together from now on!"

"Uh... okay?" She shook her hand.

Bruce chuckled at her dumbfounded look, the fact that she wasn't at all expecting people to be down here amused him far more than he'd care to admit. He walked over to the computer and sat down, bringing up an article of the TCPD (Tobioka City Police Department). "This comes next." He laid the photos out on the counter top. "We'll take down the corruption of the police and Yamamoto. Then, I'll finally use justice to put an end to Black Label."

"Is that why you had me take those pictures?" Yuu asked, Konomi and her standing on either side of Bruce.

"No. I have another idea. I'm going to pay a visit to the doctor and discuss a few things." He stood up from the chair, fixing his tie. "When I return, we'll start your training immediately, Yuu-chan. I'll personally pay for your finances so you'll never have to work again. This will allow you more time for school, your brothers and work here. When you go out in the field, I want you to have training to back you up if things go awry. Your codename will be Hunter. Welcome to the team."

"Thanks!" She blushed. "I'm gonna do my best!"

Mochizuki was currently on the roof of his hospital, overlooking the world below. His mind was focused heavily on finding his apprentice but despite him, he had no way of finding her. No leads, no witnesses. He sighed, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. He often wondered if the path he walked was a mistake. He had come this far, retained an illness for it and no matter what, he would keep walking until his vision was realized. His vision of a world that he forged with his own efforts, his own ideals. The effort made true by followers he himself had crafted and he would be absolutely damned if he didn't see his dream come to fruition because of the Batman.

"We need to talk."

Speak of the devil.

Mochizuki, without even checking, already knew who stood behind him. "What are you doing here... Ryu Komori?"

Bruce walked up beside the man in the wheelchair, looking down at the world as well. The corrupted, dirty, polluted world. "I've procured these." He tossed the pictures of Ampule One onto his lap. "I've now got hard evidence that your team was murdering criminals. The tracks you worked so hard to cover have been exposed. I have the ability to blow the whistle on you anytime."

"And? Why haven't you?"

"The police are too corrupted. They would easily overturn a decision of the law for money. I can't put this organization in jail if they can get right out with bribery. However, even if I went to the police now, it would be still be a large enough case, where they would have to put pressure on you and shut you down, at least temporarily, for public appeal. Your entire life hangs in my hands. You're going to stop murdering people and stick to expanding your hospital."

"Oh? Are you blackmailing me?"

"No. I'm merely giving you the chance to focus on saving life rather than taking it. To actually be a doctor rather than an instrument of murder."

"I do save life. I save life through Black Label, by excising the tumors that plague this city. By using my skills as a surgeon, I prevent scum from ever rising again, from ever hurting others. And you call me evil for that? You would start war with me for that?"

"I once knew a man. He was a good man but an even greater doctor. He loved humanity, probably more than humanity deserved. He saw the good in people and abhorred the idea of killing and violence. A true pacifist at heart. One day, he was gunned down along with his wife by the very people who he was fighting to save. A bitter irony. That man was ten times the man and twenty times the doctor you'll ever be. And because of those ideals he spouted so passionately, I can say yes... What you do is wrong and I'm willing to start a war with you over that. I'm willing to start a war with a doctor who knows no passion for humanity."

This made Mochizuki frown heavily. "My passion for humanity comes from upholding its good and shunning the bad. Such is the path of a surgeon. You, who allows the disease to run wild while simply attending the symptoms, can never understand that. I won't stop and even with the evidence you have over us, we have something over you. We were told about a red-haired woman by the name of Konomi Suzue. A detective at TCPD and your significant other, correct?"

Bruce glared down at him. "You would go after an innocent just for your own agenda?"

"I'm willing to amputate an arm if it means saving the whole body, yes. I'm not against killing a few to protect the many."

"You're sick." Bruce spat.

"I am. But only in body, not in mind nor in spirit. If you take us down, then we'll take her down. For now, we're at a stalemate. Instead, to alleviate hostilities, what say you we call a truce?"

"Truce?"

"One of our operatives is missing. We believe she's been captured by a man known as Yamamoto but we have no leads and we can't directly interrogate the man because he holds her life in the balance. Work with us and save our operative."

"I don't enjoy working with madmen." Bruce began to walk away.

"The operative is Yuko Sagiri." Bruce stopped short, frozen and immobile. "Whatever happens after the truce, happens. However, for the time being, we'll hold off all conflict."

"...Fine. However, one word of warning before I go... If you ever come after Konomi Suzue, if you ever hurt her or step within 10 feet of her... there will be no place where you can hide from me. No place where you can run, nowhere I won't hunt you down and deliver you fates worse than death. Remember that, doctor."

Mochizuki smirked daringly. "Very well."

And like a ghost, Bruce was gone, leaving Mochizuki on the roof alone once more.

"Woo hoo!" Kyoji licked the neck of a poor girl he had kidnapped, drugged with Platinum Lily and now held in his room of "dolls". "So pretty, so soft and so mindless!" A pleasant shiver went down his spine as he took his shirt off and prepared to unbuckle his belt, whistling happily. His pleasant mood was interrupted by a knock at his door.

"WHAT?!" He yelled angrily.

"Kyoji-sama," A henchman announced from the other side. "Yamamoto-sama requests an audience with you."

"Yamamoto? Well, shit." He pushed the girl to the floor casually, the poor soul unable to feel a thing, unable to perceive the difference between illusion and reality.

Putting on his clothes, Kyoji walked into the grand hall where Yamamoto and two of his bodyguards stood waiting. In the center of the room was a throne and next to it was Goryu, dressed in her dominatrix-like clothing. He strode up the stairs before plopping himself down on his chair, staring down at Yamamoto in a somewhat bored fashion.

"Yamamoto, what do you want?"

"It's been a long time, Kyoji. How have you been?"

"Screw the pleasantries. I don't feel like engaging in conversation with you. Just tell me what you want."

"I have a prisoner whom I believe is associated with the man who is trying to take me down. The vigilante known as the Batman."

This peaked Kyoji's interest a bit. "Really? The Batman, eh? That bastard has been after my Platinum Lily. So? What is it you want from me?"

"She's proven to be quite resilient to our torture and that's why we would like your own interrogator to help us."

"And what do I get for loaning Goryu to you?"

Yamamoto clicked his fingers and a henchmen walked up to Goryu and handed her some pictures, which she handed to Kyoji. "This is the woman. If Goryu can get the information we seek, then you can have her as one of your... dolls."

"HOLY SHIT!" Kyoji's eyes were popping out of its sockets as he stared at the pictures they've taken of Yuko with his tongue out of his mouth and drool trickling his chin. "Goryu!"

"Yes, Kyoji-sama?"

"I want this woman. Go with Yamamoto and do whatever it takes to squeeze that information out of her. Just don't hurt her too badly. I want to rip off her clothing and play with her afterwards myself." He ordered with a disgusting, lecherous smirk.

Goryu nodded stoically. "Understood."

A.N.: Chapter 10: Done! Hope you guys enjoyed it. If you did, please share it, fav it, follow it and review. Also, to new readers, be sure to list your harem preferences. Til next time, Green out.

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