Chivalry of a Dark Knight [Batman x Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry]

CH9: Fear (prt 3)

In the wake of the explosion, as the haze from the propelled sand and dirt settled down, the three remaining gangsters came out of their hiding places and looked to the area they ran from.

What resulted from the explosion was a sizable crater. Two of them looked at it with awe but the other wasn't so happy that they were almost blown away along with the vigilante.

"Oi, Komatsu! How about you give us a warning next time!" he snapped.

"And what!? Have him interrupt my Sonic Bomb? You guys know it takes time to activate! Besides he's dead now, isn't he?" Komatsu fired back.

They all gathered around the crater and some even stepping down into it to look around.

"I don't see a body anywhere. Think he got away in time?" one of them asked.

"There's no way! Nobody could escape that! Maybe he...disintegrated or something."

"Guys, is it me or there's something in the middle over there?"

The remaining men looked toward the center of crater that was pointed at and sure enough, there was something. When they gathered close to it they were still unsure what it was until they then realized that it was actually the shadow from the load held by the crane above...and it was glowing.

Submerged in the inky 'shadow space', Batman looked towards the rippling surface above as he continued to sink, his cape floating along with him. An echoing throb brought his attention towards his surroundings, particularly the blurry red cracks and the familiar foreboding feeling it brought.

"Not this time." Batman firmly declared.

After slipping the sword into the side of his belt, Batman took out his grapple gun, aimed upwards and fired.

Up above, the four men recoiled with a start as the claw/cable shot out of the shadowy portal and attached itself to the load above. The line was reeled in and Batman shot out of the shadow and grabbed Komatsu by his shirt as he surfaced. With him still hoisted in the air and the criminal in his clutches, he first plowed his knee right into his gut, causing him to drop his flute and then followed it up by delivering a powerful headbutt that knocked off his hat and broke his sunglasses in the process.

Then in a continuous motion, he flung the unconscious Blazer against one of the three thugs before detaching the line, flipping in the air and driving another thug headfirst into the ground by landing on him.

With two them down, he engaged the remaining Yakuza member who charged at him but by then he removed Branwen from his belt and dealt with him with a few slashes and a finishing roundhouse kick. Just as the he did, the last of the thugs, the one whom he threw Komatsu at, recovered and tried to ambush him but Batman countered with a backwards stab through the man's torso.

The blade was still in its phantom form so despite not inflicting a wound, the man still staggered back in pain and Batman finished him off with a downward punch that sent him unconscious to the ground.

"Now to see what this cargo of theirs is." Batman said with a sense of culmination.

Moving pass the unconscious bodies strewn around him, he made his way towards the back of that particular truck and sliced off the lock with a swing of his sword. But when he at last opened the doors, he noticed movement like something scurrying towards the back. What he saw made his eyes widen and his jaw drop in shock.

"Dear god! They're just children!"

They were. Boys and girls as young as eight to as old as twelve. They also seemed to be from different countries, Batman deduced that they were probably brought here by ship and were picked up in the harbor. The young group were huddled back against the cargo area, looking dirty, bruised and scared out of their minds but that wasn't the only thing he noticed about them: each of their necks and arms were bound by thick metal contraptions with small glowing LED panels.