The police precinct of Musutafu was always in a state of slow activity. Then again, the fact applied to all police precincts around the globe.
In a generation of quirk powered heroes being the main forces in keeping the city safe from malicious individuals, the role for the standard police officer was small and dull.
Nowadays, there were a few things that considered the standard law enforcement officer useful: hauling the bad guys to their jail cells, giving the pro heroes information that may help them track down a hiding criminal, or possibly tagging along with a hero on a mission.
Nonetheless, being a police officer in this era made them feel absolutely undervalued.
And they couldn't do anything to change that reality.
However, despite the massive amount of heroes the city bred every year, there were still a few vigilantes going up and around every once and a while.
A hundred and something years later since quirks became a commodity, and the law still had to deal with the annoyance of law-breaking vigilantes.
It seemed that even the pro heroes couldn't keep things such as vigilantism down to a slim level.
So on a early morning in Musutafu, a pair of policemen brought in an extremely wounded thug. Along with his "buddies" that were left in a less than, but similar wounded state.
Apparently, the one responsible for their injuries was a man wearing a skintight black suit with pointy ears sticking out.
That alone told the police that they were going to deal with the annoyance of another vigilante. Hopefully headaches weren't in bound.
Unbeknownst to the police, they would soon get a glimpse of how different this pointy eared vigilante operated...
...
In the interrogation/confidential interview room of the Musutafu City Police Department, a lone man of a scrawny build was sitting on the steel chair that faced the door of the room.
His hands handcuffed into the steel table.
From the scrawny man's position, it was evident that he wasn't a law-abiding citizen. Much less a clean one.
And by the recent bruises decorating his face, it was clear that his time as a petty criminal was way past overdue.
Leaning his head down, his bandaged hand rubbed against the hairs growing under his chin. He did it to relieve himself from the itch that suddenly formed, and to pass a little bit of time in the concrete enforced box that was closed off from the real world.
The click of the door brought the man's head up, face shifting into a scowl. "Well you took your sweet ass time, officer!" He spat.
"Sorry for that. Today has been pretty busy." The black-haired detective, Naomasa Tsukauchi, apologized to the petty criminal with a bow before he took a seat.
"What in the world keeps a useless cop like you busy?"
"People like you." The detective quipped back, sending the thug a neutral expression.
He wasn't here to hear the impending snark of a low-life scumbag.
The petty thug scoffed under his breath, muttering out "wise ass" to the cop.
"How about we start from the beginning." Detective Tsukauchi said, grabbing a sharpened pencil and hovering it's tip over a blank page of his notepad. His gaze boring into the man in front.
"Fine..." The thug conceded, shoulders slumping down.
"So in your statement, you said that you and your associates were attacked by a pointy eared male wearing an all black suit. Is that correct?" The detective started with the thug's claim he presented after his arrest.
"Yeah. Son of a bitch showed up from nowhere and kicked our asses into next day." He crudely answered.
Detective Tsukauchi wrote the response down, wording it in a less crude sentence.
"Emphasize on him suddenly appearing. It may help us figure out what his quirk is." The detective suggested.
A scoff was released from the thug's mouth "I highly doubt the guy even used his quirk while he was giving me and my boys a beating."
Tsukauchi's eyebrows raised in curiosity "The vigilante wasn't using his quirk against your group?"
"Hell no! He used good ol' fashioned street brawling to knock out all of my boys. And the last thing I knew, I was the only one around to face him."
The thug's face turned sour at that last detail.
The detective stopped the movement of his pencil, his eyes focusing on the sour expression the thug was displaying.
While it was clear that the vigilante was the one who left him in his wounded state, there seemed to be a more deeper reason as to why he left him that way.
"Why did he decide to leave you with those wounds?"
The scrawny man's head rose to meet the detective's. The hardened expression he wore told Detective Tsukauchi that what was he going to hear next was something he wasn't ready to hear just yet.
Either it's because it was a gruesome moment for anyone to be able to stomach, or it would be way too hard to believe.
But given the circumstances the thug was in, he ultimately complied with a frustrated sigh.
"Let me tell you what was goin' on before I arrived here..."
...
A few hours back in a less than well cared for hotel, a hasty patter of footsteps could be heard from a single open window in a room on the top floor.
Inside, the scrawny thug paced back and forth, his patience running thin.
He has counted four hours since he called his emergency contact for an escape out of the city.
The son of a bitch claimed that he would've gotten here under an hour.
"I swear if he ditched me for some random chick I'm gonna hang him from Tokyo tower..." He muttered
"You mind calming down! God you're just like my mother." A man of an average build and height called out to him. The guy was laid out on the crappy couch that faced the TV.
"Well excuse me for not being scared for my damn freedom!" The scrawny man retorted.
His roommate let out an amused laugh, breaking his focus away from the TV. "Says the one who screwed up his revenge plan."
"I did not screw it up! It was just bad luck that a random hero was nearby."
The annoying roommate rolled his eyes, bringing his attention back to whatever channel he was watching. "Keep telling yourself that."
He grabbed the remote and pressed the right arrow button, changing the channel to the daily news.
["Good night Musutafu City! Tonight we're bringing you the news of the sudden explosion that occurred last night at the working district."] The face of a long horned male announced.
"Look man! You're famous!" The annoyance enthusiastically shouted out to his scrawny roommate, who sent him a glare before he reluctantly brought his attention to the screen.
["...We'll now be bringing you a close up interview with the former occupants of the destroyed building. With Mrs.Kagura on the scene. Take it away."] The anchorman said as the scene switched from the studio to a brown haired woman wearing a full blue piece suit holding a microphone in front of her. The destroyed building, now covered in thick clouds of smoke, visible in the background.
["Thank you, Tokuda! We are here at the aftermath of a horrifying event that would've ended in catastrophe if it wasn't for the intervention of an unknown hero that appeared just in the nick of time to save the lives of the occupants."]
She turned to the occupants in question, who had their upper bodies wrapped in a plain blanket.
["Could you tell us what was happening before the fire started, ma'am?"]
["I-I can't say for sure what was the cause, but when I heard glass getting smashed I instantly woke up and headed to the room where my children were sleeping. To see if they were okay. The second I came out of my room I saw fire spreading everywhere and-"]
For the past few minutes, the scrawny man stared at the screen with eyes filled with mortification. The results he so desperately wanted to achieve were ruined, and this broadcast was just adding salt to the wound that has just formed.
The only thing that brought his sorry consciousness back to reality was the slap his roommate gave to his shoulder.
"Don't die out just like that! You'll have plenty of time to get your payback to the idiot that caused what we're seeing right now." He motioned his hand to the live interview between the curious reporter and the shook, yet relived state of the mother.
This time, the scrawny man could look at his failure with a straight face. His self-loathing instantly slipping away from his head.
His roommate was right, he still had the time to get revenge on the asshole who ruined his only shot at revenge against the husband and father of the family that was getting interviewed.
Once he was away from this damned city, he would try to regain back his ambition.
["...Could you perhaps tell us how this unsung hero looks like?"]
["Well he was tall. Wore a dark skintight suit that had pointy ears. A-and a red symbol of a flying animal on his chest."]
The roomate let out a humored laugh at the physical description of the unsung hero. "A guy with pointy ears!?" He slapped his knee, his laughing growing slightly louder. "Who in their mind would wear a suit with pointy ears!?"
"Me."
[Noisecream-Red Eyes]
The sleazy men instantly got off the couch by the deep voice that suddenly appeared, turning to face it's source.
The unexpected, unwelcome guest was a tall man donning an all black skintight suit with pointy ears. A red, bat looking symbol placed on the center of his ches-
"W-Wait a damn minute... isn't that the guy the girl on the screen described?"
The realization prompted the scrawny man's eyes to widen in shock.
There was no way in hell this was a coincidence. The guy who was staring into them with completely white eyes was the guy who ruined his act of revenge.
"W-What do you want from me?" He couldn't help but ask in a shaky voice, all of the anger he had previously felt disappeared.
Whether it was the pointy eared man's physical appearance or how he just stood still with a stoic expression, his inhuman eyes piercing straight into his core that caused him to feel scared was anyone's guess.
Why did this pointy eared freak decide to intrude into the privacy of his home?
"Answers." Was his only response.
The scrawny man's feet began stepping back in response to the pointy eared freak slowly approaching him.
Unfortunately, his roommate had to be an idiot for rushing at him without even thinking about how dangerous this freak could be.
And he learnt it firsthand when the pointy eared freak ducked under his wide hook and sent him across the shithole of a living room in a single uppercut.
No doubt he was knocked out cold as his body was slumped against the wall he just crashed into.
A muscular man wearing some ovaries and an angered face stomped into the room, his large feet causing the wooden tiles to creak.
"COULD YOU IDIOTS KEEP IT DOWN!? I'm tryin' to get some sleep-" He took notice of the black cladded man who did not belong here.
"Why is there a pro hero in our house!? Who was the genius that led him here!?" He shouted to no one in particular. It was quite clear that he wasn't keen on going to jail.
The scrawny thug took the entrance of his other roommate to escape, his skinny legs carrying him away from the hero that stalked him down.
Empty white eyes trailed the prey that was attempting to escape. Though he wasn't as worried as one would think, the Dark Knight was an expert in efficiently pinning down scum.
"I'm talking to you!"
The shout of the muscular occupant broke Batman's hunting trance and brought his attention to the obstacle that appeared.
With a new objective formed, he approached the large man, making his intention clear that he was going to fight him.
"So you wanna die!? Fine by me!" The jagged nails of the obstacle grew in length, proceeding to pounce at the target.
Batman dodged the sloppy attack with a back step before reeling back his left leg and slamming it to the center of the enemy's face, sending him back. The extra generated force caused his nose to break.
"You'll pay for that!!" The long nailed man roared out, pressing on his broken nose that had blood flowing out.
He rushed at Batman with his arms reeled back, swinging them in a flurry of claw swings. The attack would surely tear the pointy eared man to shreds.
But that wasn't the case when the pro hero swiftly weaved through his swings with ease.
Grunts of pain came out of the muscular man whenever he felt one of two fists shooting into his sides. The Dark Knight countering his claw swings with the skill and finesse only a professional boxer would possess.
And this exchange went on for a moment longer until the enemy swung his arm in a backwards motion, the black cladded hero ducked down, balled both of his hands together, and swung them up.
The muscular man recoiled back by the combined fists hitting his chin, left in a position where the pro hero had the chance to land a powerful attack on him.
The Dark Knight of Tomorrow striked by unleashing an onslaught of punches to his enemy.
Sounds of flesh getting slammed against a strong force came out from every hook that landed on the cheeks of the muscular man. A spot nobody would be able to escape from.
The assault was finished with an uppercut to the chin, prompting a body and a couple of teeth to fly backwards until they hit a hard surface.
White eyes looked in curiosity at the jagged nails retracting back into normal length.
("So those are the quirks Bruce researched on. Pretty neat.")
A door hitting a wall brought his focus back on the main prey, no doubt running back here with a solution that was likely to end the problem.
The scrawny man came back, a short barreled shotgun in hand. "Take this you freak!" He cried out, shooting a hot shell to the Dark Knight. The pro hero dodged the hot metal pellets with a graceful backflip.
The armed thug unloaded all of the ammo the shotgun had to the pointy eared freak. His fear causing him to miss the majority of the shotgun's shots.
It wouldn't have mattered if he did have a decent aim as the pro hero dodged all of the gunshots with flips that only an expert athlete would possess.
It made him look far more horrifying in the eyes of the petty thug. The situation played like a horror scene of a dark demon easily evading all of the efforts of the sole survivor... that would only end in the prey getting consumed by the predator.
That was a spot the scrawny man did not want to be in.
Throwing the empty gun at the freak in a last ditch effort to try and slow him down, the scrawny man ran for his threatened life.
That last effort was futile as the Dark Knight casually moved his head to the left to evade the thrown weapon.
Turning to a short hallway that led to the only exit of the apartment room, the scrawny man banged on the door with whatever strength he had.
Batman smirked. The scumbag didn't know that the door's other side was blocked with heavy furniture.
A fear filled scream came out of the mouth of his prey, forehead pouring out thick drops of sweat with eyes further showing his fear.
"W-We can work out s-something here? Right?"
The Dark Knight narrowed his eyes at the pathetic suggestion for mercy.
Scumbags like him didn't deserve to have mercy. And they never will.
The petty thug pressed his body harder against the door, the black cladded demon walking him down with slow steps that notified an inevitable doom.
Another scream of fear echoed throughout the room before it was silenced.
...
Detective Tsukauchi's stern face dropped to a more worried look as he saw how the thug's arms were trembling uncontrollably.
Whoever this vigilante is did a good job in leaving the man traumatized in a way the detective has never seen.
"If you don't mind me asking," He started, bringing back the previous pace "what happened after the vigilante knocked you unconscious?"
The scrawny man breathed for a moment, trying to quickly compose himself so he could properly give his answer.
An answer Tsukauchi wasn't prepared to process.
"He dangled me from the top of a building."
The pencil dropped from the fingers of the detective, eyes widening. "He did what!?"
His raised voice was a rare moment that nobody in the precinct would've believed if they were told about it. For them, it was unusual hearing the composed detective raise his voice in an instant, yet it would cause worry to arise as to what caused that increase in volume.
"You think that was the worst part!?" The injured thug shouted, his anger and humiliation showing. "What I said before was just the beginning for the number one most painful night I had to experience!!"
...
"Come on man! Let's talk this out!" The scared thug cried, desperately trying to reason with the pointy eared freak that was dangling his scrawny body over the edge of a tall building.
A knee shot at the right section of his ribcage, knocking the wind out of him that was shortly followed by pained filled coughing.
The pointy eared freak had that intimidating stoic face like always, worry over the thug's life nowhere to be seen on his facial features.
The scrawny thug managed to bring his attention back to the matter at hand. His eyes laying on the notepad, tilted so his upside down position could see the question written on the paper: "Why did you go after the family?"
"W-What family?"
That earned him another knee to the ribs. Painful coughing following shortly after.
The notepad was brought closer to his face, signifying the pointy eared man's impatience.
If the scrawny man didn't want to go home with broken ribs, then it was wise for him to comply. That, or he would fall down to his demise.
"O-Okay man. Just... just don't hurt me, alright?" He pleaded. Not feeling any sort of relief to the narrowed eyes of the pro hero.
If anyone was in the current predicament of the scrawny man, then a scary glare was the best outcome that could come out.
With a long, shaky exhale he began. "I... I wanted to get my revenge on the husband and father of that family. When I was in high-school... that jackass would taunt me every single day because I wasn't born with a quirk. Saying all sorts of things that made me feel like a deadweight." He let out a sob as all the painful memories he tried to bury were surfacing back.
"He was right... I really was a deadweight. How can a failure like me ever become a hero if I don't even have the one thing that makes one? But a couple of years later, when I saw that son of a bitch and his family hanging out, I knew my time has finally arrived."
The ecstatic smile that came after disgusted the Dark Knight. The intention and morally questionable happiness created the urge to drop the bastard to his death.
Thankfully, there was an alternative to sate that urge: another knee slam to the ribs.
"A-Are you trying to kill me!?" The scumbag cried out in between his coughing.
The black cladded hero responded with a shrug of his shoulders.
The nonchalant gesture made the thug proceed to spit out every single swear word that has ever been made official. His body thrashing around Batman's grip with every word that came out from his mouth.
A hard slap across the face instantly silenced the vulgarity spitting session.
Before more vulgar words could be spat out, the next page was flipped.
The bloodshot eyes of the criminal processed the following question written on the paper: "Where did you put the family's money?"
The dangling thug shifted his sight to the paper and to the glaring vigilante. He knew the meaning, but he had to carefully word his next answer if he wanted to get out in one piece.
And he did just that... for a few seconds.
"Wanna share?" He suggested with a faltering smile.
...
"So the vigilante utilized brutal interrogation methods to get information regarding your motives..." Detective Tsukauchi muttered, scribbling down notes as the thug continued with his story.
The thug scoffed in hearing the detective's muttering. "That's a blessing compared to what he was going to do if I didn't."
"I could imagine that." The detective sympathized. The show for sympathy earned him another scoff.
The rest of this interview was definitely going to be a tiring process to go through for both people that were on opposite sides of the law.
Just why did vigilantism have to be a long-lasting headache for everyone?