Song: 【Lyrics AMV】Dark Gathering OP Full『Kakuriyo - luz』
POV: Bruce Wayne/Batman.
He could feel the soft brush of the wind, which also blew through his cape, as he observed through the edge of the building. Along with him were The Children, wearing their B.A.B.E.L. uniforms. Most of them had military berets on their heads, except for Kaoru. Dark purple (Shiho), dark blue (Aoi), and brown (Yuuri). Each color, including Kaoru's red colors, was found and seen on their respective ties worn around their white collars. Their jackets and skirts were light blue, with white stylizations; on their upper shoulders were attached light blue capes with white interiors.
Using his Detective Mode scanner (*1), an old classic function found in practically all of his suits - its basic usage being for forensics because he was completely aware of the limitations of the human eye and needed a practical aid to gather evidence, he would scan what appear to be a large humanoid with a horse-shark head (*2).
B.A.B.E.L's files on Quirks have been quite useful for this current investigation.
The subject's name is Shark Bait. Real Name: Ryou Aikawa. His power is to primarily grow gigantic, at least taller than a three-story building per minimum, along with super strength. Criminal records include stealing and evading arrest. Early life pre-arrest shows parental abuse, specifically from the father who suffers from almost daily alcoholic consumption. Graduated only in high school level. Couldn't afford college.
Though, based on my recent observation, either this file would need to be updated or a possibility of enhancement is to be considered. Now, he's capable of demonstrating heat vision via his eyes. Sharp retractable claws, made of pure steel, and similar abilities found on a mutated erethizontidae where he could launch sharp edge steel thorns through a 360-angle.
Multiple hit squads of Pumpkin Heads are currently engaged in a fire fight with the police. Hacking through the security feeds, heavy concentration of firepower coming from the southwest. The Pro-Heroes responding to Shark Baitt are too busy to deal with the latter to help the former.
Batman thought grimly.
He analyzed the Pro Heroes that were responding to the scene.
Punching Hero: Death Arms
Kamui Woods
Mineyama Hero: Mt. Lady
Eyeing the surroundings with his digital map, he could think of options of how to proceed. However...
Considering the on-going investigations about my body, I may have to take much safer yet practical approaches this time. I can't afford to be reckless because this isn't my body, but someone else's. Charging in against distinctively powerful opponents would have to be a last or necessary option when all options are exhausted.
Batman was still a little mindful of his current dilemma. He still has no idea if he truly is Shinichi Kudo or not. One of the reasons why he is here, with his Batsuit on, besides obviously wanting to stop a villain from rampaging through the streets and protecting innocent people, is for him to get practical experience in this new environment. The more he knows about the villains and how they work and operate, the more safety precautions he can think of.
"Akashi," Batman spoke to the red-headed psychokinetic esper of the team. "Do you think you can handle the muscle and take care of that shark-head?"
"Hmm, leave it to me," Kaoru nodded grimly.
"Then I suppose we would need to divide our tasks. Some of us would need to take care of the Pumpkin Heads and assist the police," Batman said.
"I and Yuuri will help with that, sensei," Shiho proposed.
"Meanwhile, I'll act as hidden support for everyone on the ground," Aoi proposed.
"Right," Batman nodded. "Akashi, if you're planning on engaging the opponent, I'd suggest that you keep a watch for the eyes. While it may not hit you, you should be mindful of your surroundings. His heat vision appears to be capable of penetrating through the interior of the buildings, so a minimization of property damage and preventing unnecessarily civilian casualties can certainly help. Subdue him quickly, but do it carefully."
"Hmm," Kaoru nodded.
Batman contacted Minamoto on his comm-link. "Minamoto, this is your team, do you think this current proposal is acceptable?"
"Yes, it is," Minamoto spoke grimly. "Also, there are reports and security footage of a few nearby civilians just a few meters southwest who are hiding from Pumpkin Heads that are preventing them options for possible escape routes. B.A.B.E.L's Spec-Ops Forces are already en-route to provide assist and rescue."
"That's something that I'll personally deal with," Batman said before looking at Aoi. "Nogami, send me there, now."
"Hmm," Aoi spoke as she raised her hand - forming a gesture, of a few fingers touching, with only her pinky and index fingers open. It glows with a light bluish color, which sends Batman somewhere else, in another building.
There were a few Pumpkin Heads within range. And he would spot a young man with fluffy dark green hair around the corner along with a little girl of about five years of age, with black hair, who was holding an All Might stuff toy. About two Pumpkin Heads had recently spotted them. He could see the young man, with tearful yet defiant eyes, would look at the Pumpkin Heads while shielding the girl.
"Well, what do we have here? A bunch of kids, and one of them's playing the hero."
"Hehehe. Guess it isn't their lucky day."
That alerted him. He needed to hurry.
He dropped from the building, using his cape to balance his landing before using his right wrist to fire a steel wire that would allow him to fly overhead with a kicking maneuver. It hits them suddenly, with a "Kah!" from the Pumpkin Heads. As they were tackled to the ground, Batman would bring their heads to the ground and knock them out.
He stands up and looks at the young man, scared yet courageous, looking at him with wide open-eyed awe, along with the little girl.
POV: A young man with fluffy dark green hair.
His name was Izuku Midoriya. And ever since childhood, he had always wanted to be a hero.
But he doesn't have any abilities. All of the superheroes he knew, including his favorite, the legendary All Might, had powers. Him? He practically had nothing. However, this did not deter him from that goal. Recently, he was now under All Might's tutelage, and is only one month and a few days into taking the entrance exam of U.A. High School, the top performing best heroics education in Japan, despite having no abilities of yet - his body still undergoing training under All Might's schedule - though he may have been somewhat guilty in part of skipping and hurrying. Of course...
"You idiot! Why bother trying when you don't even have a quirk?! Are you damn stupid?!"
...Not everyone was supportive of him, particularly and majorly speaking. His long-time bully and sort of childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo, would summarize it as much. Even considering that dream to be nothing but a fantasy.
Izuku knew that. He knew it too painfully well. He was also aware of the downside of people born with natural powers - the ones that are called espers. For whatever nonsensical reason, they get discriminated against. Why? Fear of unchecked superpowers? Quirks are pretty much just that. Easy to target for hate? Maybe. But then, that doesn't exactly explain much, considering some Quirk users get thrown with that as well due to being "villainy" or "too different". But discrimination and racism aren't exactly known for following actual logic.
Izuku knew that he had no powers. In a world where seemingly might makes right. In a world of gods, superheroes, and legends. He was a powerless human, and not much else. In a world where men aren't all created equal. But that still didn't deter him from his goals.
Nevertheless, he had questions. He had doubts. On whether a hero could actually exist - who didn't have powers or abilities. Some part of him, the rational part, would have to say yes. It is an unfortunate fact. But another part of him, as of right now, said no.
Now...he was playing hero, despite having no abilities.
He doesn't have anything with him. All he had was, despite clearly being afraid and knowing he could die, never seeing his parents again, he couldn't leave the little girl behind.
If he simply ran away and abandoned someone in need, then how would be truly a worthy successor of All Might's power?
He's already risked his life before, playing hero, almost getting possessed by a sludge villain of all things. But he still responded. And he still does.
He thought that the last thing he'd ever seen was getting riddled with heated bullets.
But no.
For whatever reason, he got saved.
But it wasn't any superhero that he'd be able to recognize. And that says a lot because, as an avid fan of superheroes, he'd practically be able to know anyone. He's memorized them all by heart. But the one standing before him was someone he didn't know.
As the moonlight shone, he saw a man wearing a suit and a cowl that resembled a bat. In fact, his entire outfit was bat-themed. For some reason, he didn't feel very scared when he saw him. He didn't know why.
"...Are you both alright?"
Perhaps it was that tone of voice. Despite how deep it was, it had a sense of gentleness and concern about it that couldn't be replicated by someone of a rough exterior.
"...Ye-Yes, we're both alright," Izuku spoke.
"Good. I want you both to know that you're going to be evacuated to a safer place. One of my comrades would provide for your extraction," The man said.
"Th-Thank you," Izuku spoke gratefully.
As the man was about to raise his hand towards his right ear, Izuku couldn't help but speak up. "Umm," He got the man's attention. "Who-Who are you?"
"...I'm Batman," He introduced himself.
"...Bat...man," Izuku muttered softly.
No hero had that name. Why the name: Batman? Is it because of his bat-themed costume? Does he have the abilities of a bat? It didn't seem like it. He never demonstrated his powers when he kicked the Pumpkin Heads and crashed their heads to the ground. Perhaps he didn't choose to use an ability at that moment. But then again, that wouldn't make much sense for most heroes, as those with abilities would by instinct be able to make use of them.
"Nogami, I found two civilians, I need immediate evac for them," Batman spoke from the comms.
And that was the last thing that Izuku and the girl would see before being transported to a safer location, being greeted by a black-haired teenager in glasses.
"Are you both alright?!" She asks, concerned.
While the child mumbled with a positive answer, Izuku widened his eyes as he pointed at the woman.
"You-You-You?!"
"What? What? What? Are you referring to me?" The woman looked bewildered, backing away for a bit as she pointed at herself.
"You're-You're-You're one of B.A.B.E.L's Special Level 7 Espers, Nogami Aoi - the Lightspeed Goddess!"
Aoi Nogami
Superhero Alias/Codename: Lightspeed Goddess
"Huh?!" The woman looked shocked. "But how do you know that?! That's top classified information?!"
"Ah...oh, right," Izuku felt dumb as he just recalled that part. "Umm...would you believe me if All Might told me about it?"
"All Might?!" The woman was shocked even more. "But, hmm?"
The woman scrunched her eyebrows a bit, putting one of her hands to her communicator. "Alright, I'm on my way. ...Umm, Minamoto, we have a little problem... Alright, I'll let you handle it. You. Stay. Right. Here." She ordered, leaving the two behind.
"...Wow, I just met a superhero spy from B.A.B.E.L.!" Izuku spoke excitedly, with the little girl tilting her head a bit.
POV: Kaoru Akashi.
"Aoi! Fast Ball Teleport Special!" She called out at the top of her lungs as she burst forth, flying with all of her power, as her body was dyed in pure crimson emanating energy.
As she burst flying forward, she spotted her target, who was boasting out loud, amidst the flames and destruction, and the bruised and almost down-for-the-count Pro Heroes who were grimacing and thinking about what to do with this situation. She is well aware that she needs to end this as quickly as possible.
"Hahaha! What else you got, you stupid heroes! Hm?"
The villainous Shark Bait would notice a flying redhead that would be coming at him in hot drive. And her body's energy seems to resemble a phoenix (*3). As Shark Bait would fire at the fast-approaching esper, she suddenly vanished, just as the heat vision would land - and the horse-shark was surprised from behind as a blast wave of energy managed to knock him down, sending him crashing a few meters just near the wall.
Karou was mindful not to cause too much collateral. This was a far cry from her younger, rebellious days. Though she doesn't really fully consider herself better than she was now, she was a bit too irresponsible for her own good when she was ten. Or rather, before Yuuri came along, when it was only just her, Shiho, and Aoi, they were the irresponsible brats that put Minamoto in a very hard time and spot, and by extension, B.A.B.E.L.. How they managed to get away with all of that is something she still wonders to this day.
But right now, she was focused on one thing.
Protecting fellow superheroes. Protecting any civilians that were nearby.
"Tel," With a broken English word, a callsign, Kaoru was transported by Aoi towards the top where she was a few meters on top of the knocked-down villain. Cupping her hands together, she fired a barrage of crimson energy balls that would be aimed towards the chest of the villain, giving him tremendous damage, and a painful scream. She performed a twisting maneuver and started performing a closed fists twister dive, as sparks of crimson thunder would be seen from her twisting body.
She dives straight to the villain and performs a smashed attack towards the solar plexus, which knocks the villain out. Her body twists as she brings her body upwards and lands on the chest of the knocked-out villain. The Pro-Heroes that were present were rushing towards the scene, finding Kaoru standing tall as she turned back towards them, with a thumbs up and a reassuring smile forming.
"...Hey, that girl? Isn't that?" Mt. Lady spoke with a curious expression.
"One of B.A.B.E.L's Special Level 7 Espers, Akashi Kaoru - the Queen of Catastrophe," Kamui Woods spoke in awe and respect.
Kaoru Akashi
Superhero Alias/Codename: Queen of Catastrophe
POV: Shiho Sannomiya.
Along with Yuuri Kumoi, it was a simple tactic of divide and conquer, enacted firstly by the beloved daughter of the Police Commissioner of Esper Affairs, Shiiho Sannomiya.
"Kaah!"
"Ehehehe, sorry boys, but is this a private affair?" She teased darkly as she shot the two Pumpkin Heads behind the back with her gun - set to stun.
The sound of a telekinetic blast would resound from the front, sending multiple numbers of the Pumpkin Heads down to the ground, knocking them out. All of which came from Yuuri, who was standing on the checkpoint gap of police cars, and seen smiling knowingly.
Among the police officers who were seen taking cover from the car was Police Detective Wataru Takagi who exclaims to the Special Assault Team members, wearing S.W.A.T. tactical gear and equipment.
"Men, now's our chance, let's push forward and retake these streets!"
"Yes, sir!" They all said.
With Aoi providing teleport-support, Shiho would find herself in specific locations, providing decisive in breaking the hard stalemate between the police and the Pumpkin Heads. It almost felt as simple as housecleaning for her. Then again - with the power of psychometry, natural talent and practice - she was bound to be as familiar with handling a gun as it was with being in tune with your other two arms.
Though the concept of a gun made her a little sober, as she gets reminded of their new bat sensei.
"Shoot that super-bitch down!" Exclaims one of the Pumpkin Heads as he aims his rifle at her.
But Shiho shoots him down with a stun. The rest of the Pumpkin Heads try to shoot her, but Shiho casually dodges the shots by simply walking through and picking them off with perfect point-blank accuracy. She never really needed a scope to aim perfectly either.
Even though all of the Children are generally aware of who the Batman really is, they don't know him as much as Shiho did. Something told her to keep such a thing a secret for the time being. That's not to say that Batman was suggesting it. She was just naturally considering it.
"Hey, who are those two?" One of the police officers present spoke as he bore witness to what may as well be a stun-massacre of stunted Pumpkin Heads.
"Huh?" The SAT officer would raise an eyebrow at the man. "Oh, you must be new here. Well, what you're looking at are two of B.A.B.E.L.'s Special Level 7 Espers. That girl over there, who's quite good of a shooter, that's the daughter of one of our Police Commissioners, Sannomiya Shiho - the Untouchable Empress."
Shiho Sannomiya
Superhero Alias/Codename: Untouchable Empress
"WAAAAH-UGK!"
"And that other girl over there, the one knocking the Pumpkin Heads out of their heads, that's Kumoi Yuuri - the Dazzling High Priestess."
Yuuri Kumoi
Superhero Alias/Codename: Dazzling High Priestess
POV: Bruce Wayne/Batman.
It was a little reminiscent of his earlier days in Gotham, now that Batman thought of it, especially when he's put on one of his more older suits - which he recalled first using back in Year 2 of his time in Gotham, the same frame when the Joker first showed up and left his mark on the city's history. Hiding behind the shadows of various buildings and their attached corners and objects, while performing secret takedowns on the thugs. It's a similar case with these Pumpkin Heads. The only major difference between then and now is that he had the advantage of being a teleporter who could perform immediate evac for the civilians, which provided fewer risks to their safety.
Much to his relief, he heard from the comms that Kaoru had fully taken care of the main villain and is helping the Pro-Heroes provide the necessary restraints just so that he wouldn't cause any form of havoc. These espers, young as they are, were quite coordinated and experienced. Some part of him thought however that it seems to come out of a few factors that his wife's information had been indicating. They were forced to grow up too fast and mature for the sake of their world's futures. Futures. Plural. That was no coincidence.
With each jump and making use of his Grapnel Gun, he was taking down the thugs and making sure the civilians left were quietly evacuated. Now, he has the last Pumpkin Head hanging at his mercy.
...Literally in this case, because said thug is now dangling, kicking and screaming upside down with a steel wire on the leg, keeping him from falling.
"...I can keep doing this all day, where you get to experience every second of a near-death experience, unless you tell me everything I need to know, starting with your current operation," Batman grimly added.
"Alright! Alright, man, I'll talk, I'll talk!" The man exclaims, with flailing arms.
Just as Batman thought, this entire rampage, mostly on the supervillain's part, has been a major diversion. The police had been on to the Pumpkin Heads due to the information that he sent, as Shinichi Kudo. The distraction was mostly centered around something that even this thug that he was interrogating had no idea of, only that they needed to provide some kind of distraction before the heroes and the police could arrive at their location, given that it was only a matter of time.
"...A couple of shipping crates?" Batman asked.
"Yeah, man," The thug spoke in terror. "That's literally all that I know! And I've got no clue what's in those boxes either! And I don't know where the trucks are taking them either! Nobody told us anything!"
"And that's literally all that you would know?" Batman asked.
"Yes! Oh god, please man, mercy! Mercy!" The thug begged, feeling the fear of being brought down from high up and getting splattered.
"...If you're lying, I'll know where to find you," Batman spoke grimly.
"Wha-Urk!"
Batman would knock the Pumpkin Head out with a strong punch to the face and make sure that the man was tied up accordingly.
"Minamoto, I've successfully interrogated one of the Pumpkin Heads. It seems that my suspicions back at the mansion were correct," Batman replied from the comms.
"What did he say?" Minamoto asked.
"Something about a couple of shipping crates. There's no name on the crates, as far as the thug could remember, unfortunately, but I did manage to locate their safe house. Perhaps we can find traces there," Batman explained.
"Alright, I'll trust you to find out more on that end, Batman," Minamoto said. "However, I thought to inform you that a Pro-Hero - alias: Eraser Head is apparently on a similar trail as you discovered, and is currently engaged with a large group of Pumpkin Heads somewhere on 72nd Avenue. I'd advise taking Shiho with you in order to provide evidence of B.A.B.E.L's approval of your participation."
"I'd generally understood that the general law enforcement has a low opinion of most vigilantes," Batman surmised.
"Unfortunately, most vigilantes in our world aren't like you, Batman. When they take the law into their own hands, they usually end in a lot of unnecessary bloodshed. One infamous example I could cite would be someone called the Hero Killer Stain. He is as the title says, a hero killer. But he also appears to generally target criminals as well. Recently, he's practically killed at least 72 Pumpkin Heads before a police raid could be conducted not too far from Beika. Five of those are confirmed to be Quirk Users."
"Hero Killer Stain," Batman narrowed his eyes. "I'll have to look more into him after this. In the meantime, Nogami," He switches comms to Aoi. "I and Sannomiya would need transport towards 72nd Avenue."
"You got it, Batman," Aoi answered.
Then, Batman disappeared.
With Shiho Sannomiya with him, they would walk slowly towards the place where the warehouse was nearby.
They noticed the knocked out and tied bodies of the Pumpkin Heads. The fabric cloth that they appeared to be bound with was cloth made from steel wire alloy woven with carbon nanofibers.
Passing through, they spot someone who had recently finished tying up a tall-looking panda-face humanoid.
"Hmm?" That someone, a tall and slender man, noticed them, eyeing them underneath his bright yellow goggles.
Batman observed the man in front of him. Black baggy outfit, consisting of a long-sleeved shirt and matching pants. Tired eyes that were hiding underneath the googles. Messy hair. Odd. For some odd reason, he seems to feel a sort of familiarity with this person. Deja vu?
"Eraser Head, I presume," Batman spoke grimly.
The messy-haired man raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Who wants to know? And I don't think I've seen a Pro-Hero like you before. Though," He eyed at Shiho. "If you're with this kid, then that means B.A.B.E.L's vouched for you, so I don't have any right to complain."
"I'm Batman, and I'm no Pro-Hero," Batman explained.
"Hoh," Eraser Head looked at the man with an undecipherable expression. "Then you're a Vigilante, then?"
"He's neither!" Shiho defended passionately, making both of the heroes look at her, making her realize the slip-up. "Ah, I mean, well, while he is a person who has experience working outside the law, he is more than willing to cooperate with authority, and he is more than willing to allow criminals and supervillains to be given a fair trial."
"Hmm, if this girl's defending you, then you must have left quite some impression on B.A.B.E.L.," Eraser Head noted.
"There's one other thing that she's forgetting to mention," Batman, while looking at Shiho with a subtle yet gentle expression, would switch to a grim expression when he looks at Eraser Head. "Vigilantes are usually classified as people with superpowers. I don't have any on me."
"Hmm...I may have somewhat noticed a little, otherwise, I would have been able to cancel whatever abilities you possibly have," Eraser Head noted. "And that suit of yours...probably handmade."
"For confidential reasons," Batman finished that discussion. "In the meantime, we should focus more about our current investigation, such as what is lying within that warehouse."
Eraser Head looked at Batman for a bit before shrugging his shoulders. "Well, not complaining about that. The sooner this gets done, the sooner I can get a bit of rest on me."
Then the three would walk towards the warehouse.
Batman would hack the door open quietly with one of his tools, which would allow access to the door.
"Going through the door, huh," Eraser Head muttered.
"Sometimes, criminals expect superheroes to come up from the rooftops. That's where they're wrong," Batman opens the door. "What they should do is watch out for every door. And besides, the place is empty. I've checked it myself."
"Because of your cowl's eyes I guess?" Eraser Head noted. "Must be quite advanced tech. Who funds it?"
"Me," Batman simply said.
Batman examined the large warehouse and found it completely empty. Except for a couple of boxes that have been emptied. Using Detective Mode, he would try to quickly scan any trace - chemicals, fingerprints, some markings - to find evidence, and replicate it.
Hmm. Replicating the place's last known activities - over the past twenty-four hours, there seemed to have been traces of footsteps that gathered here, trying to ship something. No sign of any chemicals. Quite organized and precise. Someone either doesn't want whatever it is that happened here to be easily found out, or the chemicals or objects were just contained and sealed within something else to prevent easy contamination or leave unnecessary traces.
No sign of any tire tracks - no identifiable number - nothing. There should be traces of it though. Unless someone had managed to make it so that the tires don't give off any markings or tracks. Certainly, technology like that is plausible to exist. Either that, or hovermobiles.
"...Have you found anything of import?" Batman would ask Shiho, who was touching the ground with one of her hands, her eyes closed, concentrating.
"...Hmm. Nothing. Except a couple of random locations. Many of which were places the police or B.A.B.E.L. have already raided," Shiho muttered, concerned, as she stood up.
"Probably anti-esper tech," Eraser Head shrugged. "At least we know that something shady's going on here, since the crooks took great pains to conceal them."
"...Perhaps we can find our answers from our recently captured villain," Batman proposed.
And then...
Something felt very, very wrong.
"...!"
Batman would immediately glance at Shiho, who had her eyes widening and her voice gasped, as if she felt something. She turns around. He and Eraser Head turn around. They spot a young woman, short blonde hair reaching the neck, blue eyes, wearing ordinary clothing.
"...Umm, excuse me, but...I'm quite lost you see."
"Who are you supposed to be?" Eraser Head looked a bit suspicious.
"...Wha-What are you?!" Shiho immediately drew out her weapon, looking at her with extreme caution and...a trace of disgust, grimace, and fear.
Batman noticed a little of the reaction. His Detective Mode could detect the presence of a chemical compound, identified as sulfur. Patterns seem normal though. But...
...Of course. Batman narrowed his eyes at the young woman. I was wondering when they'd eventually get involved, and it's through an unconnected case like this.
"Umm," The young woman looked afraid at the sight of Shiho's gun. "Wh-What the hell are you-"
Batman would immediately speak the words. "Iesus Nazarenus."
...Then, something definitely changed the mood of the air. A sound of glass cracking immediately. The young woman's voice shook and flinched a bit - including body movement, smiling. But Batman noted that the woman stopped approaching. "Umm, what...what are you?"
"Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum," Batman spoke, completing the sentence.
"Grr-click!"
And suddenly, the once blue eyes would eventually turn into a pure black-like abyss, with the smile now turning into a malicious angered snake's.
"You must really feel like hot shit clever for saying it, detective," The woman spoke.
"And who is this supposed to be?" Eraser Head now looks very cautious and battle-ready.
"Trouble in inferno, literally," Batman explained simply, unphased, though concerned more for Shiho, who seemed to be sweating a little. Calculating and analyzing the trajectory of her eyesight + erratic pulses, he could understand one thing.
Shiho can see her. Or rather. The thing behind the body. Batman thought.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! That's an understatement of the week, you second-rated Sherlock," The black-eyed woman spoke in a mocking tone - drawing out a knife.
"And what brings someone like you here?" Batman asked.
"Oh? Just the simple - loyal to the good cause, plus probably some healthy bit of spite against the slutty whore in a top hat," The black-eyed woman said.
"Fine, don't tell me, I'll figure it out myself," Batman spoke simply. His face lacking emotion, his mind blank and locked.
"Oh, that's kind of assuming I'm simply gonna let you and your tag-along meddlin' kid and discount Shaggy alive and hopping with only four of their legs," The black-eyed woman pointed out.
"I'm not assuming," Batman spoke grimly.
"Then I guess we have a stand-off, partner..." The black-eyed woman smirked.
All of a sudden, there were multiple numbers of people, acting as if like zombies, with black-eyes, all surrounding them.
Shiho looked a little terrified, while Batman and Eraser Head narrowed their eyes.
"...But forgive me if I'm the first to give you a Marty McFly welcome," The black-eyed woman commented, maintaining her smirk.
Then, it was simply a stand-off.
Between a Man shrouded and uncovered with darkness, and something born from the darkness.
Trivia For Chapter:
(*1) - A reference to Batman: Arkham which is a superhero action-adventure video game series based on the DC Comics character Batman, developed by Rocksteady Studios, WB Games Montréal and Camouflaj, and published originally by Eidos Interactive and currently by Warner Bros. Games. The continuity established by the games is often referred to as the Arkhamverse.
(*2) - The main villain that Batman and The Children are facing is the unnamed Giant Villain seen in My Hero Academia - the Shinji Nishiya & Yu Takeyama vs. Giant Villain is a battle fought between the Pro Heroes Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady against an unnamed Giant Villain.
(*3) - A hint for Marvel fans and casuals. Take a guess. And no, it's not a reincarnated/reborn Marvel Hero.