"OI! OI! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"
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The main thug had dropped Linnea and looked over with enraged expression.
Then he reached out his left hand and concentrated.
A sudden burst of flames hovered over his hand as he smiled manically.
"Ready to die you bastard? Ready to burn? Ready to suffer? READY TO DIE?!"
Batman merely observed this and took up a fighting stance.
"And pyrokinesis is supposed to scare me?"
Of course he was not scared by this, why would he be?
He has sparred and fought against other more powerful fire based super humans.
Why would he be worried about some scrub and a small ball of fire?
The thug looked unnerved by his unflinching nature, but went back to frustration.
"Eat this! GOA!" He screamed as he launched a fire blast from his left palm at Batman.
Batman dove around the blast and charged the thug in a mad dash.
The thug attempted to aim his palm at him…only for Batman to completely dislocate his wrist in one swoop.
The Thug screamed in agony and had made a move to use his other free palm to fire another blast.
Batman unleashed an unrelenting fury on his stomach; punching and hitting at such a high speed, that thug lost his breath and began to fall backwards.
Batman turned himself slightly and released a massive falling punch so hard, that when it connected, the impact made the ground underneath the thug's head crack.
When he removed his fist, the thugs face was covered in blood, his teeth were shattered, his nose was bent in two different ways and his eyes were so swollen they looked inhuman.
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Batman pulled out a wire from his utility belt and began tying up the thugs to each other.
After he completed that, he walked over to Linnea, who was now sitting upright on a wall, to check on her condition.
She flinched as he made his way toward her. He knelled down to reach her eye level.
He could tell she was frightened of her.
"Are you aright?"
Linnea looked confused by this question.
"Huh?"
"Do you need some medical attention?"
"I…I'm fine."
She nodded several times before Batman pulled out a small liquid bottle, napkins and some bandage tape from a pocket on his belt.
"Here, this will help. It may sting a bit."
He sprayed a bit of the bottle on the napkins and started to lightly tap it on her face.
She started to voice her pain but Batman reassured her.
"It'll only hurt for a bit."
He then placed the bandage tape around her head and tied it nicely.
He nodded as he got up and pulled out his grappling gun.
"Get the authorities. Tell them what happened and take care of yourself."
Linnea could not stop staring in awe of the dark clothed man who saved her.
But as his hook fired away, she stumbled to her feet.
"WAIT! I have to thank you! I will be forever grateful to you sir, I owe you a debt that can never-!"
"Don't."
"Huh?"
"As long are you're okay and these guys are imprisoned, that's fine with me. "
He said this with a slight nod and began positioning himself to take off.
"My name is Linnea! Linnea Helena! At least-!"
She looked down a bit at her own hand clasped hands before looking up again, this time with small tears running down her right eye.
"Tell me your name!"
Batman turned his head slightly as he heard this.
"My name…?"
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Later, when the sun began to set, several knights had arrived to the alley to find the thugs tied and bloodied.
One of the knights held out a poster with the main thug's face on it.
"The Black Claw Gang? Looks like we picked up some of their most valuable members."
The main thug now awake sneered at them as blood flowed from his nose.
The knights picked them up and led them away to custody. One knight had stayed behind to get a statement from the young lady.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"
Linnea observed at the knight timidly before straightening her face.
"Those men had been e-extorting money from my clothes shop. They said if I didn't pay up they'd burn it down or even k-kill me."
The knight gave a stern look behind himself at the thugs were carried away in a dragon carriage.
"I owed them money, but I didn't make enough to pay back their demands. I-I think they were really going to kill me."
She began to shake at thought of her life being snuffed away. However she stopped, and looked up with a face of clarity.
"But then, HE showed up. He saved me and took down all those men. He was amazing, strong, fast and kind of scary to look at."
"Scary?"
She clasped her hands together; she then smiled and touched the bandage on face.
"Yes. But he was very kind. He helped me without even the slightest intention of getting something in return. Yes."
The knight gave a concerned look as he asked her a valuable question.
"What did he look like?"
"I couldn't see his entire face. He wore a black mask-."
"DID HE HAVE HORNS ON HIS HEAD AND A BLACK CAPE?"
She flinched a bit as he yelled this, but relaxed again as she replied.
"Yes. Have you met him too?"
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
He gave a conflicted aura as he heard this. Earlier, he encountered the costumed figure after being asked a few questions.
Afterwards he disappeared from sight and he went around the streets looking for him.
He was then called over by other knights to the alley for assistance, thus having to postpone his search.
He could not figure out why the man saved this girl or how he took on four armed men by himself.
He got closer to her and pleaded with her.
"Did-did he tell you anything?"
"Just his name."
After realizing how close he was to her, he took a step back and cleared his throat.
"What was his name?"
Linnea paused for a second. A small breeze blew by her as she put a hand on her long hair.
It flowed with the wind, as she gave a tender smile. She looked up at the orange hue sky and with an affectionate look in her bright blue eyes.
"He said his name was BATMAN."
The knight could only stand there, as the wind continued to blow around them.
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