After around two weeks, U.A had finally opened back up after the villain attack at the USJ festival. The police finished their investigation around the facility, but sadly were unable to find anything useful to lead back to the League of Villains.
Damian Wayne was walking towards the U.A building, wearing the school uniform for the first time in two weeks. So much had happened in the process, Scarecrow initiated his plan, Batman and Robin were finally revealed to the world, and most recently, the attack on Shota Aizawa in his own home.
As he was entering the campus, he could hear how a few other students were already exchanging information about these events with each other, which did not surprise him. But he was most interested in seeing how his class was going to react to the fact that their homeroom teacher was brutally injured in his own home.
After a few minutes, he arrived at the huge sliding door leading into his classroom. And already he could hear some commotion going on. He took a deep breath and slide open the door, entering the classroom.
Just as he stepped foot into it, Tenya Ida came rushing towards the front of the classroom.
"All right, listen! It's time for this morning's homeroom period! Take your seats everyone!" Ida said in a loud tone, which quickly shut up most of the class. The majority of them were already in their seats, while the rest were around the classroom.
Damian just walked past Ida, the two of them not even engaging in eye contact. The raven haired male sat down at his desk behind Izuku Midoriya, who was writing something down in his notebook as usual.
But then Shota Aizawa slid open the door to the classroom, looking around and observing his students.
"Morning..." Aizawa said as he slowly made his way towards his desk. He was bandaged all over his face and arms, his eyes barely visible.
"Mr. Aizawa, you're alright!" Ida said, throwing up his arm. He was shocked alongside everyone else that Aizawa managed to actually get to class due to his injuries.
"You really call that okay?" Uraraka said from behind Ida, observing the homeroom teacher. He did not seem to be capable in any way to carry out exercises in that state.
Damian was also very surprised to see him enter the classroom. From the news report he read, he was brutally injured and many of his old wounds from the USJ Attack re-opened. And it had only been two nights since the attack. But...Damian admired that, coming back to lead the new generation of heroes despite his injuries. That is what you could call a mentor.
"Do not concern yourselves about me. While the villain managed to inflict some damage on me, that is hardly going to stop me from teaching here." Aizawa said as he turned towards the class.
"But the battle is still not over. For the U.A Sports Festival is approaching, boys and girls." Aizawa said, lifting up his head a bit more.
Some of the students gasped, and those expressions were quickly followed with silent cries of joy, and almost everyone was smiling, exchanging looks with their fellow classmates.
"And if you are worried that villains might infiltrate the festival, then do not be. Police and Hero presence will be stronger than any previous festival. What you should really be worrying about, is what kind of impression other heroes will have on you." Aizawa explained.
"Sports Festival?" Damian mumbled to himself, and he quickly thought back to that moment between him and Shoto, remembering his words clearly, how he said that if luck was on his side he may go up against him in the festival.
Izuku Midoriya heard Damian mumbling about the festival, turning around to face him. "Wayne, have you never seen the U.A Sports Festival?!" He said in a bit of a surprised tone. It sounded like Damian did not know anything about the festival, and hearing about it only now.
Before Damian had the chance to say anything, he was quickly interrupted by his teacher.
"Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events, watched by the entire nation. Think of it more like the Olympics, but centered only in one country." Aizawa said
"Japan's top heroes are all sure to be watching us, it's because they will be scouting for us." Yaoyorozu said.
"Correct. After the festival, numerous pro heroes will request you to work alongside them for one whole week at their agency. You will basically work as an intern for them, and your performance during the internships will influence your final grade, as well." Aizawa explained.
Damian did not exactly know how to feel about this. He had been his father's sidekick for so many years, and now after this whole festival, he was going to work as a sidekick for someone else? That did not exactly fit right with him.
"I will explain more about these internships after the festival, for now, let us start today's lesson." Aizawa said, observing as the students opened up their notebooks for the lesson.
Meanwhile
In the Musutafu Police Department, two officers got orders from Tsukauchi to escort one of their prisoners to the interrogation room. The officers arrived in front of the cell, as one of them took out the key, opening up the cell.
"Jonathan Crane, the detective is requesting your presence for an interrogation." One of the officers said, stepping into the cell while holding some handcuffs.
Crane was sitting down at his bed, looking up as he saw the officer entering the cell. "Very Well..." the villain muttered out.
The officer approached the villain, putting the handcuffs on him, as well as blindfolding the villain. They then started making their way towards the interrogation room, while the two cops were holding each side of his arms.
As the two officers were escorting him to the room, Crane very well knew what the detective was going to ask of him. What kind of connections he has with Hugo Strange and any information on his whereabouts.
Eventually, they arrived in front of the interrogation room, as one of the officers opened up the door, and the other bringing Crane inside. They brought him to a chair and made him sit down, before taking off his blindfold.
The room was dark, and the only light source was a small lamp on the table in front of Crane. And on the other side of the table, was Detective Tsukauchi.
Tsukauchi raised up his hand, dismissing the two officers as they just swiftly nodded, exiting out of the room and closing the door behind them.
"Mr. Crane, I believe that you are aware of why you were called here today..." Tsukauchi said, shifting his glance over at the villain.
"Sadly for you detective, I do not know anything. And even if I did know something important, it would not be easy to get it out" Crane said, the two of them locking eye contact.
"Don't think that you can fool me so easily, Mr. Crane. If I were you then I would start talking right about now, because later on things will get extremely messy." Tsukauchi said.
Crane just chuckled a bit at his comment "Are you really trying to intimidate me? The Master of Fear?" Crane said with a small smirk.
"Without your precious equipment, you are nothing. You are but a weakling surrounded by people who can easily break your bones without breaking a sweat. So do not try to act tough, it is all in vain." Tsukauchi replied.
"I have forced worse things in my life than you...Much worse. Your threats do not scare me, detective." Crane said leaning back a bit, crossing his arms.
"I will give you one more chance, Mr. Crane. If you refuse to speak right about now, I will have to send in a professional who will have to extract the information from you that way." Tsukauchi said, not letting his eyes off of him.
Crane did not even utter out a word, just coldly staring at the Detective, which already gave Tsukauchi a clear response to that last chance.
Tsukauchi sighed, getting up from the chair "As you wish..." was all he muttered out before heading out of the door, opening it and closing it behind him.
But then suddenly the lights turned on in the room, and a hand grabbed the back of Crane's head, before slamming it down at the table.
Crane just chuckled a bit "Always going with the head first...You have not changed a bit." Crane said, knowing full well who it was by the strength.
"Don't try to test me. You know very well what I am capable of doing if someone does not talk." Batman said, walking out in front of the desk.
"So I would advise you to start talking, Crane. What do you know about Hugo Strange and his whereabouts?" Batman said, slamming his fist down at the metal table.
"I will tell you exactly what I told the detective, I do not know any-" Before Crane was even gonna finish his sentence, Batman grabbed the villain by his imprisonment uniform, before slamming him against the wall next to them.
"You are wasting my time..." Batman said, still holding onto Crane while he was pushed up against the wall.
Crane groaned as he felt his back hitting the wall. "Do you really think Strange is stupid enough to tell exactly all of us everything? You should be the one to know everything about him." Crane responded.
As much as he hated to admit it, Crane was right. It would be an extremely fatal mistake to tell every single one of them every detail, especially his whereabouts. Strange is not an amateur, he knows exactly what he is doing.
Batman then threw Crane across the room, his body hitting the opposite wall and falling down onto the ground. "Why did you sign up to work for him?" Batman asked.
Crane coughed as he landed on the ground, before looking up at Batman again. "Is it not obvious? So many new fears to exploit in this new universe. You could call it a breath of fresh air." He responded.
"Strange did not invite all of you here for fun, he always has a strategic reason behind it. it is the blood, I was listening to your little meeting back at the factory." Batman said.
"Fine...I will talk about that, but it is not like you will find out anything useful." Crane said. There was nothing you could hide from the Batman, and he was saving himself from more broken bones if he talked, and that information would be useless to him at the end of the day.
"He would provide us with equipment for our operations if we delivered vials of blood from these tough heroes to him. That way we could cause chaos at will, and he would get what he wants. A win for both sides." Crane said.
"And you drained some of Death Arm's blood during your attack on the restaurant. Where did you deliver it?" Batman asked in his usual intimidating tone.
"An old alleyway in Yokohama City. I cannot remember the exact street, but it is near a mall." Crane responded.
"That is all I need." Batman said as he slowly started making his way out the door.
"You are wasting your time, Batman. Strange is always one step ahead of you." Crane gave one last comment before Batman exited the room.
Batman was met with Tsukauchi in front of the door, and he had been listening to the interrogation. "An alleyway near a mall in Yokohoma City. That is convenient, since we found three dead bodies there a week ago." Tsukauchi said.
"Three dead bodies? Any background information on them? And how exactly were they killed?" Batman asked. This murder could very well be connected with Hugo Strange.
"They were street thugs who had a record of robbing people who went through dark alleyways. And the Autopsy Report stated that the three died from the decapitation of their heads." Tsukauchi stated.
"Decapitation? Were there any signs of a struggle on any other injuries?" Batman asked.
The detective shook his head "Sadly nothing else. All we know is that their deaths were instantaneous" Tsukauchi responded.
"I will take a look myself at the crime if you do not mind. There may have been something you missed." Batman responded.
"Of course, be my guest." Tsukauchi responded.
"But before you go." Tsukauchi said before taking out a CD from his pocket "Here is the copy of the security camera who caught the perpetrator at Eraserhead's home, just like you asked." He said.
Batman took the CD into his hands before putting it in one of his pockets "Thank you detective." was all the Dark Knight said before he started walking off. He had a feeling that there was something at that crime scene that the police missed.
Later
Batman had arrived in Yokohoma city, as he was jumping rooftop to rooftop, making his way to the crime scene where the three thugs got murdered.
Eventually, the Dark Knight dropped down at the scene, using his cape to glide down. He started looking around a bit, but he did not see anything unusual. Batman then activated his detective vision to expand his view.
The detective vision started analyzing a splatter of blood that was still visible through the detective vision. After it was done analyzing, Batman started reconstructing the very moment of the murder.
He carefully observed the projection right in front of him. He witnessed how suddenly they stopped dead in their tracks, and then a few moments later their heads would come off.
"All three of them were decapitated at the very same second. How did the killer pull this off?" Batman asked himself. This kind of murder would take a lot of preparation, but it does not seem like this murder was planned
Batman then started looking around for any fingerprints the killer could have left behind, scanning the walls, objects, and floor. But there were no fingerprints at all. There was not a single clue that could lead him further to discovering what really happened here.
"Crane was right. This was a waste of time." Batman muttered to himself, as much as he did not want to admit it. For now, he was at a dead end. Who or what could have caused their heads to get decapitated in the very same second, as well as so swiftly?
Later
Batman returned to the manor, getting in through an open window as usual. He entered the changing room and changed into his normal clothes. He started going upstairs to see what Damian was up to, since he knew that he was gonna return from U.A at this hour.
Damian was on the PC in his room, he was researching about the U.A Sports Festival, and was fascinated with all the challenges the festival places on the students, and how the final act would always be a battle between the students.
Bruce steadily knocked on Damian's door to see what he was up to, to which Damian just turned towards the door.
"Come In" Damian said calmly, still observing the door.
Bruce opened up the door to his room, and glanced at his son. "So how was U.A? I heard that your homeroom teacher returned so fast despite his injuries." Bruce said.
"His entire body was covered with bandages, and we could barely see his eyes. Though I admire the fact that he is determined to return despite his injuries." Damian responded.
Bruce then glanced over at the monitor, seeing how Damian was researching about some kind of festival.
"What are you researching?" Bruce asked, stepping closer.
"Apparently soon this U.A Festival is gonna start, and it is going to be watched by the entire nation. Students will have to go through some obstacles and in the end, they would battle against each other in a ring." Damian explained, looking back at the monitor.
"Watched by the entire nation? I have no doubt that your performance is going to attract a lot of attention from civilians and heroes alike. You will be the very first quirkless student to participate in it, after all." Bruce stated.
"That is what I thought of, as well. These challenges range from a four-kilometer race filled with obstacles, to a sort of cavalry battle. All of Japan is going to watch me, and I will do my best to get to first place no matter the cost." Damian stated.
"But then there is also something Aizawa stated at the end. That we will have to undertake a form of internship for other pro heroes...Basically serve as their sidekicks for some time." Damian stated, looking back at Bruce.
"Serving as a sidekick for the other heroes?" Bruce thought to himself. "Does not sound like a bad idea, if anything it will teach you more about cooperation with other individuals." Bruce stated.
"I don't need lessons in cooperation, father. I just don't feel comfortable serving under another guy when I was with you for the last several years." Damian said.
"An important part about being a hero is knowing how to work with others, no matter who it is. Some things you will not be able to do without assistance, that is a fact. So I heavily advise you to listen to my words, give it a chance. It may not even turn out to be that bad." Bruce suggested, crossing his arms.
Damian just sighed a bit before looking down. "Fine, I will give it a chance. But I can't promise to be an angel in case my new mentor wants me to do stuff I do not want." Damian said, looking back up at Bruce.
Bruce just smirked lightly, nodding his head, he was glad that Damian listened to his advice.
"I will return to Gotham for some business in the Batcave, I will be back by tonight." Bruce said as he then turned around and walked towards the door, exiting and closing it behind him.
Damian just nodded at his response and turned back to his computer monitor, continuing his research on the U.A Sports Festival.
At The Batcave
Alfred was mopping up the metal floor of the Batcave, as he then heard the sound of the Batwing entering the cave through the waterfall.
"Welcome back, Master Bruce. Have to say, it is very unusual without you here most of the time." Alfred said as he leaned the mop up against the wall, approaching Bruce.
"We may have caught a lead for the case from five years ago. Everything is in this video tape." Bruce said, pulling out the video tape Tsukauchi gave him back at the station.
"Five years ago? There have been numerous cases from that time, mind refreshing my memory?" Alfred asked.
Bruce walked up to the Batcomputer, sitting on the chair and opening up a case file called "AUG-42".
"Five years ago, Basil Karlo AKA Clayface broke out of his containment chamber in Arkham Asylum. When he was cornered by numerous guards and Commissioner Gordon himself not far from the facility, he jumped into the Gotham City River. From that moment on, no one has seen him in the last five years." Batman commented as he started quickly going through some of the case info.
He then pulled up some video footage from that exact moment. Clayface was in his usual monstrous clay form, as all the guards cornered him. They started ordering him to stand down and give up. But then Clayface leaned back and fell down the edge of the cliff, into the Gotham City River.
"After the incident I started searching around for any clues as to why he broke out, and where he was headed. But I found nothing. For the past five years the case was relatively untouched, and I considered closing it after all this time." Bruce commented.
"Indeed, Mr. Karlo was a very dangerous individual. The way he just disappeared had me wondering, as well." Alfred commented, looking at the footage.
"Several nights ago, one of the teachers at U.A High School was attacked in his own home, and by his testimony, he described his attacker as a form of shapeshifter, with the ability to turn his limbs into weapons, and the transformed limbs being a light brown color." Batman explained.
"Didn't you state that the universe was filled with people who have supernatural abilities? With that in mind, this attacker could be a common burglar, not necessarily Mr. Karlo" Alfred stated his opinion, knowing exactly where Bruce was going with this fact.
"Correct, but there is another piece of testimony that does not fit well. The victim has a form of power with which he can erase the powers of others by looking at them, and he stated that his power did not work at all on the attacker, did not erase his power." Batman stated.
"That would then mean that the powers of the attacker would need to be from an entire different universe, or that he received it from an unnatural way." Alfred responded.
"Exactly my thoughts, Alfred. I asked Detective Tsukauchi to make me a copy of the security camera footage from the attack, captured from a nearby building. Perhaps it can give us a clue on who this attacker is." Batman said as he then put the video tape inside the Batcomputer, and started playing the footage.
Bruce observed as a Pizza boy came around the corner, and walking up to the front door of Aizawa's house, and stepping out of the view of the camera. Bruce then started rewinding it forward to the moment where the neighbors entered the house, at which point he saw a large amount of sludge exiting the house, and making its way down to the sewer drain.
Batman rewinded the tape a bit and paused at the moment where the sludge came into view. He then pulled up an old picture of Clayface in his usual large form. The batcomputer then started analyzing the two footages, comparing the color pattern of the sludge and Clayface.
"Perfect Match..." Bruce muttered out as he read the results of the analyzation. But he was not done yet, he then rewinded to the part when the Pizza Boy came into frame, enlarging his face.
"Computer, check the Gotham City records for any matches." Bruce commanded, waiting to see if this persona Clayface used, was actullay someone from Gotham City.
"Identity Match Found. Frankie Lowe, Age: 25." The Batcomputer stated, pulling up Frankie's record.
Bruce started going through his file, looking back at the footage. "In that footage, that would be him at Age 17, and he also worked as a Pizza Delivery boy in Gotham before quitting his job at age 19." Bruce said before closing the file and leaning back on his chair.
"All of this matches up too perfectly. There is no coincidence here, this attacker is indeed Clayface." Batman stated.
"But that leaves only one question, sir. Mr. Karlo was always the independent kind of criminal, why would he work alongside Hugo Strange?" Alfred asked.
"That is one question I will be searching the answer to. But now it has been confirmed..." Batman said, leaning forward
"Clayface Has Returned."