A black and white panel appears on the screen with the silhouette of a bat as the title "On Leather Wings" appears
A police blimp flies over the night sky on patrol, two pilots signal in the control center saying how calm the night was
"A police blimp? Was that even a thing to begin with?" Kaminari asked in a bit of confusion, he never heard of such a thing ever being used outside of advertising.
"Can't imagine it being very effective" Ochako didn't see how such a large and slow vehicle such as a blimp could be of help in something like a car chase or robbery, but maybe it had another purpose, like illuminating the skies for the people below?
"What a waste of tax dollar payments" Bakugou scoffed with a roll of his eyes
Their radar beeps briefly as one of the pilots notices it, he tries to make his partner believe but he is dismissive of it
"Could be anything, might be a bird" Mina commented since a lot of stuff is up there and most aren't a problem
"It would need to be a big bird for the radar to pick up" Momo responded as those type of scanners would have been built to ignore something so small as a bird
Suddenly a brown bat silhouette bolts across the screen, the pilot tried to show his colleague but he didn't catch it and didn't understand what he meant by batwings, they agreed to fly above the clouds just in case.
As the dramatic music becomes more prominent, the camera goes below the clouds to focus on the city as a shadow silhouette of a bat passes through buildings, only this one was much more human looking.
"This must be Batman, his Quirk must give him a bat-like appearance and the ability to fly" Izuku began writing this information down as he assumed this was the reason Batman was called as such, his quirk must be similar to Hawks and that could be... The young boy noticed Bat-Mite chuckling for some reason as he gave the green haired boy a look before continuing to chuckle, did he say something funny?
"The architecture in this place looks old, when is this taking place?" Jirou commented considering how everything looked, it was pretty gothic which the likes of Tokoyami appreciated but some of the others also took notice of the old timey look.
"Around 1992 - 1993 give or take, the architecture and technology of Gotham is inspired by the '30s, '50s and '90s all meshed together for that noir look." Bat-Mite comments as the rest of them realize how old the thing they were seeing considered their world was almost 2 centuries ahead.
"So the events we are seeing take place in the pre-Quirk era?" Momo said a bit flabbergasted, which most of the class also were, Aizawa and All Might were as well to be honest but their shock wasn't in the same level as the kids.
"In comparison to your world? I guess, but this is a completely different universe where various events have and will play out differently, for instance people born with powers are called metahumans and not Quirk users." Izuku wrote that information down, it was interesting to learn this little bit of world building for this other universe and he wondered what else was different.
The camera focuses on Phoenix pharmaceuticals as the figure flies towards it but only the shadow can be seen.
A night guard is walking around the building with a cassette tape to record to improve his amateur radio host skills, clearly a hobby of his, suddenly the sound of broken glass is heard.
"Someone broke in, was it Batman?" Ochako said as she wondered why would the hero they are following break into this normal building, could it be hiding something shady?
"He's a hero so I think he knew a breaking in was going to happen, and came to stop it" All Might gave his answer considering they were told Batman was a hero, so he would naturally go out to stop a crime and a break in sounds like the sort of deal he would stop
The guard goes to investigate the noise but finds nothing, taking a breath of relief as he continues walking, but the shadow of the bat creature appears shortly after.
The man turns around and screams as he is attacked by the creature, trying to defend himself from it by tossing a chair that is dodged and breaks the window instead. The monster grabs him and lifts the man up above it's head before throwing him from the building
"What the hell? Isn't he supposed to be the good guy here, why did he attack the guard?" Bakugou exclaimed as he was confused at this seemingly random attack, crossing his arms at the act
"Yeah that doesn't seem very hero like" Mineta commented as well
"You said he was a hero, but Batman clearly broke into a private property and attacked a night guard who was only doing his job, I can't imagine such a person to qualify for the title of hero" Iida began ranting of how unbefitting such action was from the supposed hero and Bat-Mite was just looking at him confusing with slight annoyance
"It might not be him, we never actually see this Batman so he must be a red herring? Someone trying to frame him for a crime" Izuku spoke a small theory, considering how they were intensionally kept in the dark about the appearance of the supposed 'Batman' then this should be some form of setup, Bat-Mite said that detective stories were Batman's bread and butter so this should be treated like one, if the imp's words are to be trusted.
"That makes sense, if their goal is to frame the hero for the crime they are committing that is. We don't know the goals of this person just yet" All Might supplemented Izuku's comment, but since they were still seeing just a small part of the beginning, it was hard to tell exactly what was the plot of the villain they just witnessed.
"I see, my apologies" Iida did a bow as he returned his attention to the screen, as Bat-Mite rolled his eyes
The night guard falls into a nearby river, the newspaper shows that he survived but with various injuries as the headline reads "Gotham Police declares War on Batman"
We see a group of men discussing as one of them, Commissioner Gordon, is displeased by the actions of detective Harvey Bullock as he gave this statement to the news against his boss's order.
"Those are Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon, one is the commissioner of police while the other is a ruff detective with a quick fuse." Bat-Mite introduced the two characters as Izuku wrote their names down, if their host is introducing them it must mean both are important somehow.
He is reprehensive about this action as now the Bat knew they were after him, Bullock doesn't seem to worry as he asks the mayor for support, a tactical squad of his own to catch the Bat.
The mayor asks Gordon who has already denied the request, saying nobody's taking a vigilante force onto his streets. Bullock argues that anyone that dresses like a Bat is bound to snap sooner or later
"Gordon has a point, that headline is going to notify Batman that he is being hunted" Aizawa agrees with Gordon that a public announcement like that would take the element of surprise on the police's side, this was clearly done because of Bullock's arrogance.
"If he's the hero, why are they referring to him like a vigilante?" Hagakure asked which Bat-Mite gave an annoyed sigh that was so long that everyone in the room heard it, especially with how loud the imp made it be.
"Batman works closely with the police but doesn't want to have his identity become public, it could make him a target for criminals and the media would come down on him. I thought you would all know super hero 101" the fifth dimensional imp gave a brief explanation that some weren't fully convinced considering how their world is, but they would go with that explanation since angering this fanboy with god like power didn't feel like the best idea. All Might and Izuku could understand why he would want to keep his identity secret, but that would depend on what secret he needed to hide from the public.
Gordon says this isn't Batman's M.O. of which Bullock replies sarcastically as he calls back to the man tossed through the window.
The mayor agrees to dispose of some men to authorize the strike force as Bullock had a reputation for getting results which flatters the man as he gives a smug smile.
The mayor asks if Bullock would need anything else, the detective requests for an airtight case by the DA's office as we turn to see another man sitting in a chair tossing a coin up and down, saying that if Bullock catches him, he would put the man behind bars.
"That is Harvey Dent, remember him because he is going to be important later." Once again the imp commented and the young green haired boy began writing Harvey's name and profession.
"Why is he important?" Aizawa asked, unless they would see a lot of the court and justice system from Gotham, it wouldn't make much sense for Dent to be this important
"Harvey is going to... I can't spoil much, but he is going to be a stand out character later. The coin is also a relevant detail" Bat-Mite said in a very vague way, so the group had to assume Harvey was a major player... But the coin was important? That must mean something symbolic, it's the only thing the students could gather
We cut to a mansion standing tall against a cliff, zooming closer as it transitions into a cowl wearing man sitting down as he reads the newspaper while a butler comes in with a tea cup and a kettle.
Batman says that someone is setting him up which Alfred replies with a sarcastic question about him not being the one tossing guards from windows, the caped crusader followed up with his own joke about only tossing butlers.
"There he is! The caped crusader! The dark knight of Gotham! And the coolest superhero ever! Batman!" The imp was fanboying over the hero he clearly cosplays as, the class was curious to see just what was so impressive about him to make a being such as Bat-Mite be so obsessed on his adventures, was he really the hero of heroes that the fifth dimensional imp claimed him to be?
"Batman seems to have his own secret lair and everything, though I expected his costume to be more menacing given your description. But not bad for someone from way back then" All Might spoke as from the initial look of things, Batman seemed like a well rounded if not very tech savvy person, though he seemed more like the type of hero character from a cartoon in the pre-quirk era than a real one. But considering the situation he may as well be, with this Bat-Mite person they might just be watching his favorite show for the imp's own amusement and curiosity on their reaction.
Also because he wanted to show how much of a hero Batman was compared to All Might himself and the others from their world, but the class assumed Bat-Mite was just incredibly biased which wouldn't be hard to see.
"Is that really his own personal butler?" Tsuyu asked since that sort of thing seemed excessive, Mineta briefly remembered his time interning under Mount Lady since it was a bit similar, though his colleagues thought he was exaggerating in the comparison.
"Of course! That is Alfred Pennyworth, one of his most trusted allies and someone that Bruce can always count on to give advice when he most needs it" Bat-Mite explained as Alfred was the heart of the Batfamily, truly an important figure for Bruce despite the minor role he usually plays. The audience didn't have much to say about him but Izuku wrote down as much information as he could from what the imp said.
"What sort of power does he have? Echo location or something around the bat theme?" Todoroki asked since Batman clearly leans heavily on the theme, there wasn't much they could assume from the costume so the best guess was a form of sensorial ability or maybe a wingless flight type of quirk
"Pfft, as if Batman needs super powers. He uses his years of training of both physical and mental capabilities to achieve the peak of human performance, and with his gadgets he doesn't need any super power to take down crime." the imp began with his fanboyism over Batman and the group had to keep their judgements in check, but if he truly was quirkless and fought crime on purely support gear, it would bring a interesting perspective considering the imposter seems to actually have a quirk.
"So wait... He's a quirkless superhero?" Bakugou was surprised by this, it was hard for him to picture someone without a quirk going out doing hero work, but when he tried to picture it... He remembered the sludge villain incident and how Izuku came in to save him, it was frustrating back then but the explosive blonde could try keeping an open mind for this Batman individual.
"Yeah, the best one there ever was! In fact, him fighting crime without powers already makes him more heroic than most people in your world" they could assume he would be the hero this interdimesional imp was rooting for, if the cosplay already didn't give it away.
Batman explains that two other pharmaceutical companies had been attacked in that same week, no one was hurt but chemicals had been stolen just like this one.
"So he is a fucking junkie? Guy has a half decent quirk and uses it for petty crime, typical" Bakugou scoffed, Aizawa seemed to agree with him on this but didn't voice anything.
Batman puts on his utility belt as Alfred says he will cancel Bruce Wayne's date with a woman named Bambi, the dark knight agrees as he rushes to the Batmobile
"Wow! He has his own personalized car" Ochako exclaimed when she saw the vehicle in display, some of the other students were also taking in the Batmobile
"A fitting method of transport for a dark knight" Tokoyami commented in appreciation for the design
"Gotta admit, Batman most certainly has a sense of style." All Might could tell that most of the caped crusader's support items would fall the theme of bats or at least be mostly dark in color, after all he is called Batman despite not having a bat-like quirk, so his gadgets would have to compensate for that fact.
"Huh... Personal butler and a car like that? No way he isn't rich, I bet it ain't cheap to build an underground base inside a cave." Aizawa gave his own comment, no way someone in the pre-quirk era could afford the cave location and technology in it.
"He must have a successful company to afford this lifestyle" Momo comments as she herself knew a thing or two about being rich from her family
As the vehicle speeds across the cave until coming out from the secret bridge and into the main street, smoothly but rapidly making it's way to Gotham, transitioning into Batman watching over the Phoenix Pharmaceuticals over an roof
He takes out an gadget from his belt as an grappling hook is shot out from the device, grabbing into the other building as he uses it to make his way onto the roof
"A grapple gun? I wonder what else he has on his belt" Iida asked as he adjusted his glasses
"A lot of things I assume, if he doesn't have powers then he needs to be prepared whenever he goes out" Izuku responds as he took notice of the gadget and wrote down, the young hero felt like dedicating a whole page for the future gadgets that they will be shown, but he didn't know if that would be too much.
Two of the building's workers, a male and a female wearing lab coats sneakily move to a more private location to make out with each other, until they see Batman going up the window quickly thanks to his grappling gun. Both are scared as the man goes to call the police
Meanwhile Batman slightly opens the door of another room and sees a police woman reading the paper by a chair, he kneels down and throws a small black ball rolling through the ground until it is right below the foot of the police woman, where it starts deploying a knockout gas that puts the woman to sleep.
"Knockout gas pellets, I wonder what type of chemical he uses for it" Izuku wrote down about the gadget, wondering if Midnight could have at one point used something like that, but that was very unlikely.
Bruce walks through the police tape as he enters the crime scene, at that moment Bullock was driving as he receives a call notifying him that Batman had been sighted in Phoenix labs. Bullock orders for his task force to move towards the building with as many men and helicopters they had immediately as he drove towards the scene.
"I would have just walked right through, is not like she could see me" Hagakure comments as she was already pretty good in terms of stealth thanks to her quirk
"Wouldn't the cop be able to hear you? Also she would notice the tape moving" Tsuyu comments since the whole reason for him to do that was so he could go through without needing to be stealthy
"My point still stands, but that gadget is handy" the invisible girl reaffirms, but that type of thing would be mighty useful if she really got in a situation where her invisibility wouldn't be enough.
Police sirens of three cars and an armored van made their way through the streets, as the task force prepared inside the van.
Batman takes out an spray from his utility belt that he passes through the room, before taking out a visor of sorts to find footprints revealed by the chemical spray, he follows them until find the tape player that was dropped by the guard during the attack. He plays the device to see the recording, before storing it away as he used a zoom in on his visor to see some small fur that is carefully picked up
"He got his first clue, but I'm wondering how he will use it since... That isn't much" Kaminari comments since those things feel like very small things, the recorded scream particularly felt like a pointless piece of evidence, all it confirms is that whoever did the break in was monstrous... He might have responded why it was important to himself by accident
"He has a DNA sample and a recording of the attacker, I say that's a good start" Aizawa said as every investigation needs a start and Batman had found a decent one, it wasn't much but it was certainly better than nothing.
Police sirens become loud as an large light shines through the rooms window, various police cars had surrounded the building while two helicopters moved around the air shining their light, Bullock moved over to command his strike team on how to capture the Bat, by any means necessary.
"I feel like they are under prepared for this, considering he is the one with the high tech gear" Jirou comments
"But the police have Batman surrounded and outnumber him, it will still be a challenge for him to escape" All Might believes the caped crusader will come out on top, but he is only human so mistakes can always be made and he would need to deal with such things, as he still has human limits.
The caped crusader dashed out of the room as the squad moved forward into the building, Gordon arrived in his blue car. Bullock proudly proclaims that they will hang Batman 'upside down' but Gordon doesn't believe that will be the case, as another lab had been attacked on the other side of the city, since Batman couldn't be at two places at one it meant they got the wrong guy.
"We knew that already!" Bakugou shouted as he didn't like being told information, sure it was new for the people of that universe but being retold that felt redundant
"To be fair, it could have been a werewolf tale, but with bats" Sero said as it could well have been a story with the big twist that the hero and villain were the same person
Batman moves for the elevator, trying to open it with his bare hands but the fire escape door is slammed open as the task force moves in, catching a glimpse of Batman's cape as it enters the elevator, meanwhile four smoke bombs detonate and knock out the squad
"Can we talk about how he forced open those doors? I heard that it's very hard to do without a strength quirk" Jirou said as it definitely was something else to do that without any physical enhancements, they knew that elevator doors, specially old ones were bulky and heavy since they couldn't make them of materials like the ones they had now, and though they were magnetically closed or locked, the mechanics to make sure that they wouldn't open half hazarded to ensure the safety of the passenger meant that it wasn't a easy thing to do
"Quirk this, quirk that. You guys don't know the value of good old muscle" Bat-Mite said as honestly this people were very uncultured, not understanding the worth of a true superhero physique, plus from his limited research apparently some of the big examples of bodybuilding in that world were all because of Quirks, he was willingly to bet that Muscular fella never did a single push up in his life, different from his idol Batman who could do a set of hundred push ups with a pinky while practicing his batarang throwing
"Nah bro, muscles are manly!" Kirishima exclaimed as he struck a pose, as he understood very well the value of muscles to look manly as hell
Sliding down the elevator cable, Batman moves inside and leaves the elevator, unfortunately he was on the same floor as another part of the strike team as they spot him and begin shooting.
"Woah! Are they trying to kill him or capture him?!" Izuku asked considering how they immediately went to shoot at him, and they didn't seem to be aiming at his leg or somewhere with the intention of only stopping him from running away, unless those were rubber bullets those guys are going for the kill.
"Yes, they should bring him in to be interrogated and face justice in the case he is their culprit, his death would not help" Iida commented while stinking his hands in his typical chopping manner
"I suppose the team is using the old 'shoot first, ask questions later' which I wouldn't put above Bullock" Aizawa gave his opinion and already could tell the police were either following a bad plan or they were just going to use this to take out their stress, the teacher could only assume if the Gotham police was corrupt or incompetent
Bullock is confident as he makes a sarcastic remark but Gordon tells him to call the squad off, meanwhile one of the men moves into a dark room looking for the dark knight, but he has the gun taken out of his hand by Batman as the man is shoved into the wall and has his mouth silenced, as Batman makes a 'Shh!' motion.
"Okay, that's cool and creepy" Jirou said as the scene was really cool in how Batman stopped that officer in a intimidating way
"Yikes, imagine Aizawa is the one doing that, it would be extra creepy!" Hagakure spoke with a little bit of a scare
"Why would it be? He dresses to strike fear and yet I would be scarier?" Aizawa asked since he didn't see how Batman doing that would be less scary compared to him in the same situation
"Nah, not scary but creepier. Batman is scary, but being grabbed from behind in the dark by someone who looks like an unkept hobo, with huge bags under his eyes and that shushes you? I would be...!" Mina noticed the glare her teacher was giving, she decided that it would be best for her to not finish what she was about to say, but this didn't help Aizawa's side of the argument.
The rest of the strike team comes to the room, taking out a tear gas bomb to smoke him out, however as he throws the bomb it slides close to volatile barrels that soon spark a chemical reaction, Batman rushes to the nearest window with the man he was previously pinning down as a large explosion is set behind them, catching by surprise as they protect themselves from debris
"Idiots" Aizawa said as they just made a big error that could have caused the death of their main suspect and a fellow officer, they didn't even think before going on with that plan
"How dangerous! Because of their actions a large amount of property was destroyed and could have threatened, if not potentially kill one of their colleagues. They could have avoided all of this if they had looked before shooting the tear gas and noticed the flammable chemicals" Iida spoke out in how unwise that approach was
"They must have been caught up in the moment, or the police are really incompetent in that world" Sero commented
Meanwhile Bruce is spinning in the air with the strike force member, the dark knight quickly throws a Bat-rope across a tree to help break their fall and help them land safely. He helped the man up who was scared for a moment before seeing Batman leave the scene through an alleyway, Gordon and Bullock make their way over there before the strike force member passes out.
It is the next day and we close in on the Gotham Zoo as Bruce Wayne adjusted his tie while walking towards the bat enclosure looking for someone.
"Is he going to reflect on the case while surrounding himself in his element? I hear that's something detectives do, having something like a think zone" Momo comments as she read some novels where that was the case and a few real reports about such locations used by detectives to clear their minds
"Right, because coming to a bat exhibit every time he needs to think would totally not help reveal his identity" Bakugou sarcastically spoke in response
A doctor rudely responds as his name was called out, Bruce says he is here to talk about bats as he shows him the fur collect from the crime while disguising it as a bat problem back home, the doctor acts aggressively towards Bruce asking if he would dispatch the creatures like bugs.
"Oh, he is just here to get some professional help in identifying the criminal" Ochako comments
"Even a hero needs help outside of their field from time to time" All Might spoke, trying to pass down a lesson to the class as this was the case most of the time, even some heroes specialized in different fields outside of hero work. He may have had the strength but he wouldn't be where he was now if he didn't have help from others
"Still, that guy is too defensive about flying rodents" Kaminari said since, sure they are mammals that can fly but he wouldn't call bats really that special.
He goes on to talk about how humans won't survive the next evolutionary cataclysm, but bats will.
"Oh wow, I wonder what type of cataclysm he must be thinking to believe such an absurd theory" Kirishima spoke as he thought that was a bit too far fetched to happen, what would even be this apocalyptic scenario where bats would triumph over humanity in terms of survival? Sounds like crazy talk.
"Well, quirks proved him wrong" Mina said as the appearance of quirks basically proved him wrong, since the powers given by them would ensure that humanity would survive... Unless the quirk singularity was the cataclysm he was referring to, but why Bats of all creatures?
"Who knows, vampire apocalypses are always a possibility, I know at least one universe where that happens and it's not fun." Bat-Mite comments as he remembered the vampire books recently made by DC, some ideas were cool like Green Lantern Alfred, but he didn't like what happened to the rest of the Batfamily. At least he got to make an appearance there, even if it was for gags.
A woman calls him out, referring to him as dad as she defuses the situation, she introduces herself as Francine Langstrom as she remembers Bruce speaking with her husband on the phone. Just then a doctor slides open automatically as Kirk Langstrom comes in, asking for the sample but Bruce says he left with the other doctor that had already left to his own lab.
They talk about bats for a bit as Langstrom points out how his wife's father seemed to like bats more than people, Bruce shows him the recorded scream he got from the night guard's tape, Francine is scared briefly as she can't tell what species it could belong to. Giving the tape to Langstrom for analysis and leaving the zoo
"So is her father, they are making it very obvious that he is the culprit" Kaminari spoke as the whole scene felt like a setup for doctor March to be the mysterious bat creature from the opening
"I don't know, it could be a red herring like before." Ojiro said as they were tricked before, the story did misguide them earlier with the bat imposter
"Batman is a detective, mysteries are a big part of his adventures and some of the cases are simply mind twisting, I can't wait to show you guys some of my favorites... If I don't get bored until then" Bat-Mite worded that in a way that both students and teachers were slightly concerned with what he meant by 'bored' but the imp was mostly inoffensive so far, maybe he wouldn't just... End them, right? He would just send them back home to their world
Back in the Batcave, the dark knight was hearing the recorded growl once again in his computer as Alfred mistook it for heavy metal, Batman reveals that his computer couldn't pinpoint the sound despite checking multiple different musical and auditory records. Suddenly a red phone rings as Alfred attends to it, a call for Bruce Wayne from Dr. March
Flipping a switch the line gets transferred over to the Bat-computer as he puts on his Bruce Wayne voice, March says the sample was from common brown bats and that he shouldn't worry as they'll move away once the climate gets cold, Batman asks for the sound in the tape. March says there are two sounds, bats and starlings that he presumes are fighting over a nesting place, Bruce thanks him before ending the call.
Batman says that his computer compares the sound to every animal species known to man, but the sound doesn't match either species even when combined, Batman deducts he is lying and he's going to find out why.
"I'm surprised his computer is that potent considering the time this takes place" Momo said as for that computer to run those numbers in the 90's of the pre-quirk era, would be mighty impressive, maybe that's why it is so large as to have so much processing power which wasn't as accessible back then
"I knew that man was suspicious, now it is time for Batman to arrest him and clear his name!" Uraraka cheerfully said with a fist bump in the air
Back to the research lab, we see the tape being burned before being placed in a metal plate, the same happens with the hair sample as the smoke alarms an caged bat.
We see Langstrom stressfully opening up a bottle as he says "Can't fight it. It's got me." Before gulping down all of its content down his throat, for a moment he almost seems to throw up but he recomposes himself before moving in to take the caged bat away.
"He's acting weirder than before, ribbit" Tsuyu says as this behavior was mighty suspicious and certainly closed the case that he was the bat imposter
"Tell me about it, destroying evidence is one thing but that other stuff? He's losing it..." Sero comments as the way he chugged the bottle was weird, kind of supporting Bakugou's junkie comment from earlier
"Isn't he a bit too tall? I remember Dr. March being shorter" Hagakure notices since he silhouette wasn't like the one of the doctor, but rather of the other man working in the lab.
Batman's silhouette appears in the window as he makes his way in carefully, moving to the table he finds the bottle Kirk was drinking from before as it had the Phoenix Pharmaceuticals logo on the description.
He hears footsteps and moves to hide as Langstrom opens the door, asking who was there. Batman revealed himself from the shadows as he asked for Dr Marcon which Kirk says he is somewhere else giving a lecture on human extinction and bat evolution. Langstrom admits he is quite brilliant but Batman says he is a misguided thief.
Langstrom says that March is more of a theorist and was afraid to put it to the test, but he wasn't. Langstrom says they found a formula to create a totally new species that was neither man or bat, he admits that once he started taking it, he couldn't stop. Despite desperately wanting to, it took over him, Francine and March tried to protect him but it was too late
"Hold on... If March is giving a lecture elsewhere, that means Langstrom is the one we saw early" Kaminari came to this realization as well as other members of the audience
"So he is involved in this, Dr March was the red herring all along. The way he's talking implies that he is addicted to the formula" Todoroki said as now he and the others were aware that Kirk was the most likely to be the fake Batman
"Is March and Francine aware of this? at least I feel like he implied that" Hagakure commented
The beast knew what chemicals were needed to bring itself about, it was out of control. Langstrom says it only needed one more component to surface, revealing it was already inside of him as the doctor began to laugh manically while Batman took a defensive pose.
Langstrom crushed the bottle he was holding as his teeth began to change and sharpen with pronouncing fangs, his hair became messier as his face contorted and his pupils disappeared as the man's eyes became completely orange, he leans his head back before springing back as his ears had begun growing large and his hands turned into claws. Langstrom's laughter turns to groans as his clothes begin to rip apart and the face stops resampling a man's but instead a bat, his muscles grow as the monster spreads his arms out, revealing that his hands had become the wings of a bat.
"That was terrifying!" Mineta screamed as the other members of the audience were shocked for a moment at the transformation sequence and revealed that Kirk was the actual Man-Bat, however they were interrupted briefly by Bat-Mite clearing his throat
"Here we have the terrifying Man-Bat! Kirk Langstrom's villainous alter-ego after taking a formula of his own making, a physical threat to our hero with the capabilities of flight! Batman needs to use his smarts to overcome this dangerous foe! Good thing that while transformed, he is batty insane!" Bat-Mite came in doing his best Present Mike impression to present the villain, that was weird but nothing they shouldn't have expected from the imp.
"So Langstrom made... An artificial quirk? I'm both impressed and horrified by the result" Todoroki said in a small show of shock, he didn't expect to see something like this so quickly. To think that Kirk could invent something like that was revolutionary since the idea of creating a quirk through science was purely a theory and never showed results, but the mad doctor seemed to have achieved this result
"I wasn't the only one that thought his whole transformation was painful, right?" Kirishima said as the whole sequence was disturbing, he knew quirks could get ugly but what they saw wasn't a quirk, felt like a scene straight out of a horror flick which is kind of what they were watching. The imp kept referring to this as a show but also a universe, so for the fifth dimensional guy every universe is like a different TV channel... At least that was what he assumed, the imp was the least consistent thing about the whole situation they were in.
"Since his quirk is artificial, his body isn't prepared for the process of transforming, which may be the cause for his screams of agony." Iida gave out his own theory from the little it was shown, considering how drastic the change is and how Kirk never had anything like a transformation quirk before the serum, his body could be incompatible and cause excess pain when forcing the transformation.
The Man-Bat swipes the table, destroying all the chemical bottles as it begins attacking Batman, the dark knight protects himself with his cape but the monster takes flight as it comes down towards him, Batman moves out of the way but the Man-Bat quickly flies around to hit him again, ripping his chest symbol. The monster begins to lift an large table over its head to throw at the dark knight, the object makes contact and pins Bruce down as he struggles to take it off before the Man-Bat lands on top ready to rip apart the dark knight.
"Oh no! He got Batman in his grip". Uraraka spoke in suspense and shock
"I would have dealt with him easily, just one blast and his ears would be ringing for days!" Bakugou shouted as with his quirk he could make the Man-Bat go down without problem, he could catch him on the air and his blasts would certainly be too much for the bat monster
"Langstrom seems to have completely lost it, he is going out of instinct alone" Todoroki comments since Kirk hasn't spoken or showed any sense of pride, he was screaming and attacking like a raging animal.
"The transformation must be too painful for the mind to endure, the concoction must also have some effect in this as well." Izuku notes as he watched in suspense, he hoped Batman could counter what Kirk was doing and free himself, the green haired boy could think of a few ways of dealing with the Man-Bat based on what he knew from the flying Nomu Midoriya had to deal with a while back.
"Kirk!" Francine's voice called out in horror, catching the Man-Bat off guard and upon seeing her horrified face the creature shows a shameful look, covering itself with one of it's wings with a sad look before flying away.
"Seems like a part of him is still there deep inside, he was ashamed of Francine seeing him in such a state" Momo notes as that was the first time Kirk showed some form of deeper emotion aside from mindless rage, so he had awareness of his actions to a certain point
"Love always prevails, even when his mind becomes that of a Bat monster he still remembered his wife." Mina commented as she had a bittersweet tone, felt more like she did this for the dramatic than anything, but for her this was heartwarming even if tragic. Kirk's feelings for Francine brought a brief moment of reality to him and made the man turned monster feel regret upon his transformation, to not want his lover to see the horrible monster he has become truly writes itself as a romantic tragedy you would see in a classic movie.
Batman launched his grapple gun, pointing towards the monster as it ties around his legs and Bruce is swiped from the room along with Man-Bat, as both take into the sky. The creature quickly notices Bruce and angrily maneuvers around the air to try shake him off
We cut back to the two blimp pilots from the beginning as they now pick up the same signal from again, his partner is already sounding annoyed until both see Man-Bat fly by them, followed by Batman's face slamming on the window and making a small crack. Both notified the command central of their Batman sighting, shortly after Man-Bat flew across another blimp in a beautifully animated sequence.
"Wow, I've never seen an aerial chase like that before. It's really beautiful in a way, especially that part where he flew by the side of the blimp" Izuku spoke as the whole part felt more detailed and expressive than the other moments in the flight, he couldn't quite explain why but it felt more life like than the rest of what they have seen so far.
"He is hanging on for his life by a thread, literally, one slip and is a certain fall to his death" Todoroki said as Batman's lack of powers puts him at the mercy of Man-Bat, grabbing onto him was the only way for Batman to not lose him but now he was in a element he didn't control, not as well as his enemy anyway.
"Do you think this happens often with Hawks?" Jirou comments
An police helicopter is descending down to the heliport on top the police station as Bullock runs to it, he tells the pilot to go but the man refuses, this angers Bullock in confusion before he hears Commissioner Gordon come in with a scolding, telling he can't fire Bullock but he won't take the heat from his fiascoes. He goes into the helicopter as it begins flying up, Bullock jumps in as it is lifting in a comedic way.
"Gordon has gotta be Batman's most trusted ally in the police, he seems to be the most competent one so far." All Might comments as Jim had shown to be a very responsible authority from the instances they had seen, clearly trusting Batman's heroism and using his own deduction skills to figure out he wasn't the culprit, not to mention he didn't take Bullock's arrogance and escalation lightly. Truly a worthy man to be appointment commissioner of police
"You're not wrong, Gordon is one of the few that recognizes that Batman is more useful working alongside the police than against them." Bat-Mite responds since Jim usually took that role in most versions, he was the first ally of Bruce to ever be introduced in the first ever issue featuring the caped crusader, so he takes a prominent role in terms of helping him.
"So why don't they make him join the force? Or officialize his partnership with the department?" Aizawa asked, if Batman is so vital in his help with the police then why would they have begun this man hunt to begin with? Imagine the improvements he could bring to the force with his resources and knowledge, probably could train the Gotham department to be just as good as he is, if not a little worse.
"There are a bunch of reasons, some that I can't get into because they are spoilers or not relevant for this version of the caped crusader, however when they need him they'll turn on the Bat-signal to call upon the caped crusader, but also serve as a warning for criminals that Batman is out there hunting for them!" The imp spoke as he knew how awesome it was that whenever the Bat-signal is out, it means a new epic adventure of the caped crusader for him to see.
'He really is a fanboy...' most of the audience thought
Back to the caped crusader, he was still holding on to the grapple line as Man-Bat flies through the skies of Gotham, when the monster makes its way towards a construction building, Bruce has to quickly move in order to not get slammed against the metal bars, he uses one of them to push the Man-Bat back but the creature maneuvers around to push him out towards a great fall.
As the two are falling, Batman takes a hold of the monster's neck as the Man-Bat begins to take flight again. The police helicopter soon finds them but are shocked to see Man-Bat for the first time, Gordon immediately understands that the monster is the real cuprite they were looking for.
"Batman is better at aerial maneuvering than I would expect, did he train for something like this?" Ojiro asked since the caped crusader seemed to have a great amount of agility when dodging the construction and he was able to handle the situation very well all things considered
"Unlikely, I can't imagine he would have considered this scenario and dedicated his time to train for such an occasion" Todoroki responds since this could very well be the first time Batman had to deal with a flying enemy, so he held his own very well if that was the case.
"So he's improvising all of this? Not bad, especially for a quirkless individual to be handling a beastial quirk user like that" Kaminari was surprised that someone could achieve such a thing easily, the improvisation skills he has would make him for an awesome hero, which he already was from the looks of it.
'They would flip if they knew about the contingency plans or the Hellbat...' the fifth dimensional imp thought to himself, the comics get crazier than what these people could ever imagine, one of the reasons he is showing them a different version of Batman instead of his main counterpart
Batman begins to punch the Man-Bat with one hand before obstructing the view of the creature and guide the villains towards a solid wall that it's slammed against, both falling down onto a roof nearby as most of the fall damage was received by the Man-Bat, however Bruce still had blood coming from his nose and mouth. As the light the police helicopter shines, Batman takes the creature on his shoulder and dashes away into the shadows
"Batman is very manly for standing tall despite his injuries, that fight clearly took a lot from him" Kirishima said as the way Batman lifted not only Man-Bat but himself after the fight was great, truly putting the Man in Batman.
"I'm glad this is over, but where is he taking Kirk?" Momo asked since Bruce seemed to leave the scene with the villain without the assistance of the police, who had just arrived, was he going to put Man-Bat in jail himself?
"Probably somewhere secure to wait out the transformation, if he wakes up it would only be a matter of time for him to fly away" Iida responds since that was the most likely outcome, Man-Bat was able to avoid capture thanks to his capability of flying, so Bruce was going to put him somewhere he couldn't take flight and escape into the skies. That was the most logical conclusion to him
"He should have at least waited to talk with the commissioner, explain the whole thing and if possible arrest Kirk" Aizawa said as in his eyes Batman should have done a proper arrest and handle the criminal to the commissioner who had just arrived, clearly his name and telling him about the culprit as he is taken to prison
"But he wasn't responsible for those invasions, it was the Man-Bat." Izuku spoke in Langstrom's defense, sure they didn't have a full story but from the clues given it was obvious that Man-Bat was a sort of split personality, a feral beast that took those actions out of its own will. Kirk said himself that the creature knew what chemicals to bring itself out of his body and Langstrom tried to resist the urge, but just like Jekyll and Hyde he was consumed by his own concoction
"They are still the same person, so Kirk should face the consequences for those actions in the eye of the law." Aizawa reaffirms what he believes should be obvious, Kirk may not be the Man-Bat but he is responsible for his creation and developing the addiction that led to those Man-Bat attacks, in his eyes the doctor had been just as guilty as the monster he made, a sad story for the scientist but one he deserved for conducting experiments on himself.
Back at the Batcave, the caped crusader has Man-Bat lying on a table as Alfred comes in asking if he should prepare a meal for their 'guest'. Bruce reveals he has a list of all the ingredients to create Man-Bat, hoping he could reverse them into a cure for Langstrom self-imposed fate. Alfred asks if it is possible and Batman smiles with his computer's confirmation of a possible cure
"I'm glad he is going to give him a cure" Uraraka spoke with a sign of relief in her face, Bruce was really a kind man for helping Kirk when the scientist couldn't do it himself
"Batman knows Langstrom wasn't in control of his actions, so he is going to help him instead of just locking him up" Izuku was more than pleased at this action from Bruce, he went out of his way to help the villain because he knew that Kirk had no real control over his actions, sure the doctor took the formula out of his own will but the side effects clearly had warped into a addiction.
Izuku pondered for a moment how Man-Bat would have been treated in their world, if the transformation was permanent without a cure then he would be doomed to life in prison as the Man-Bat showed very little intelligence and was an actively aggressive, but knowing how he turned that way made Izuku feel pity for the scientist
"Admirable of him to do this, I doubt the police or hospital could even know what caused the transformation to begin with" Todoroki added as Bruce seemed like the only one equipped to help Langstrom with the Man-Bat transformation, seeing as he is implied to have the resources and knowledge to do so.
Later he is seen bringing Kirk back to his wife, affirming that he wouldn't transform again as the formula was out of his system, for now...
Overall the class was all surprised by the first adventure they saw of the Caped Crusader, it had great twists and truly showed a real hero like Bat-Mite said when he 'brought' them here, a few like Izuku were excited to see what would be the next adventure.
[Author's notes]
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So I decided to try making a MHA react after binging a few myself, I knew it needed to be about a super hero media as those tend to work better since the cast can use their own experiences in their world to react, The first thought was the Fantastic Four movie or Superman. But I decided to do a series instead since it would be easier to write an 22 minute episode over a 2 hour movie, and what better series than BTAS?
For now it is just going to be class 1A with All Might and Aizawa, I might add others like Mirio or Mei later but for now I'll focus on the main class. The villains were considered but they might over bloat the roster, BTAS has some great villains for them to react to, but Shigaraki and All for One are characters I really don't like so writing them is going to be annoying (so if there is enough out cry I will try implementing them next episode).
Might skip some really unremarkable episodes, I don't think "I have Batman in my basement" is going to be missed, some episodes are just forgetable, plus I need to focus on the important stuff considering how long it might take to write these.
If I make more MHA react to other media is debatable, the show or movie would need to fit the superhero genre so that the characters can best react to it when comparing to their world, if anything I might make them watch other Batman stuff like movies or whatnot (is not like I have the time right now to attempt those, this one is already a big one for a while.)