ARC ONE: The Loot House

Chapter Two: The Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica

It was his third loop and each and every time, he had died painfully. The young man running through the alleys of this city was named Natsuki Subaru. He had been summoned to this strange fantasy world by an unseen force. He had no real goals in this world as he did in his previous one. Over there, Subaru was a lowly NEET; a person who barricaded himself at home and never went to work or school. It didn't help that his Sanpaku eyes made him look perpetually angry, making him unpopular with the ladies. His weird mannerisms and hyperactivity also made him unpopular with most boys. So it would be assumed that he would be doing nothing again, even when he was in another realm.

But that changed when he met the mysterious silver haired half elf and her spirit Puck. He quickly bonded with her and asked to help her in recovering a stolen item. Subaru eventually led her to a Loot House on the outskirts of the city; it would have been a simple mission, retrieve the item back and head home.

But it wasn't, he was killed along side his new comrade.

"I PROMISE….I WILL SAVE YOU…"

He made a promise to her and intended on keeping it.

And after dying two more times, he learned he had gained a new ability after being summoned there. He called it Return By Death. Every time he died he went back in time to unspecified point in time, like a checkpoint in a video game. He had just been saved by a group of Thugs by a knight named Reinhard. He didn't ask for his help, as he didn't want to trouble him. He then marched off to the area where he had died the first two times.

To the Loot House.

Batman had made it inside the city. He looked around at the grand architecture and admired it. His white sharp eyes scanned around the unfamiliar setting before him. He was able to catch a glimpse of a nearby man in armor and headed over to him. He thought that perhaps he would tell him something of value.

"Excuse me sir. I may need some assistance. "

"Yes. How can I-?"

The knight then paused and stared at Batman. He wasn't the only one. The many citizens looked at him in confusion and wonderment. They must have never seen anyone dressed in such odd clothing. His sharp ears pointed upwards and his color scheme of grey and black seemed to be not that common among the clothing they were wearing. His cloak flowed downward and around him, making him appear almost phantom-like. A few nearby children were standing behind their parents, looking at him out of curiosity. When Batman turned around to look at them, they became frightened and hid. Batman sighed at this. He turned back to the knight.

"I have recently gotten lost and need some directions to get me on my way."

"Ah! Yes, well. We are in the eastern provence of the Capital as you know."

"And the country?"

"Excuse me? "

"The name of the country. Humor me."

Batman kept a stern look as he said this. The Knight looked unnerved by the question but still answered.

"Um. Lugnica. The Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica."

"Hmmmm…Lugnica."

He had never heard of this country before, but by the name alone he could tell it was just as medieval based as the world around him. Not cars, but carriages driven by dinosaur like creatures cluttered the streets and half human-half animal beings intermingled with regular folk. Batman had to accept the idea that he wasn't going to have an easy time getting back to his world.

"Sir? Sir."

"Yes?"

"Where are you from exactly?"

Batman quickly pondered what to say next, he noticed the knight slowly move his fingers around his swords hilt.

"The West."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Legally or illegally?"

Batman realized he might have screwed up, he did not know of the relations of this country and its neighbors. He needed to get out of there, and knew exactly what to do.

"My friend over there can vouch for me."

Batman pointed behind the knight as he said this. The knight quickly turned around to see what he was pointing at. Seeing nothing of importance he turned back. Only to see he disappeared.

"What the?! Where did he?!"

The Knight ran through the streets searching for the man he just lost track of. Batman was looking down at the commotion from a nearby rooftop.

Batman jumped from one rooftop to another, getting a feel of the vibrant city. Finally, he found a tall enough building that he could get a good view with. He pulled out his grappling gun and fired it, pulling him to the top. He perched on top of the rooftop edge and looked out and saw the vast green forest that was on the other side of a large wall ahead of him.

"Swamp Thing might have liked it here. "

For a moment, he could only think of an old friend who was obsessed with nature, but to a lesser extent than Poison Ivy.

What happened to her?

Did their mission fail?

Is she alive?

What is happening in Gotham?

Are they looking for him?

He couldn't think as normally as he wanted to. He had to find a way back. He began to make his way to the other side of the rooftop…

"NO WAIT!"

He heard something he has heard countless times. A scream. A cry for help.

"I'll have it tomorrow! I SWEAR!"

Batman ran back to the edge he was on, he looked down and saw a grungy looking alley below. He used his eye cameras to zoom in on what was occurring. He saw four men surrounding a young lady. The young lady, who would ordinarily be described as pretty with her pink hair, freckles and blue eyes, was anything but. Her hair was a mess and her left eye was horribly swollen. She could barely stand and was visibly exhausted.

Batman activated his other devices to listen in better on the occurrence.

"Look we gave you a chance to pay up. Now you owe us some interest with it! Or should we burn down that store of yours to teach you all a lesson?!"

"NO! I can pay I swear."

Two of the other thugs converged on her as she backed in the wall.

"Look Linnea! You were supposed to pay today! Not tomorrow or when the Dragon comes back. TODAY!"

Linnea looks down at the floor, too scared to look up at their scary features and tears forming around her last good eye.

"YOU LISTENING?!"

A large smack topples her over and she lands hard on her sides. She whimpers in pain and tries to speak.

"I'm-I-I'm sorry. Please just-."

The leader thug grabs her hair and begins pulling her up as she screams in terror. In a seedy part of the capital near the slums, no one would even bother intervening. That was the way it was there.

"Now let's see if we can-!"

The thug then notices a large shadow has now covered her face. Looking up a large black mass floats down at them. Landing behind them was a cloaked figure with white sharp eyes. As he began to stand to face them, those very eyes narrowed to an angered form.

The closest thug to the figure pulled out a blade and walked over to him with an obnoxious expression.

"Huh? Who the hell are-?!"

Before he could even finish, the figure jumped up and kneed him in the chin. He began falling back from the blow, but was caught by his collar and pulled forward. The figure then proceeded to punch the thug several times in the face before he threw him against wall, causing a small crater to form on it.

The thugs were incredibly stunned. The woman could not believe what she saw. And the figure began to walk towards them with the same angered look in his eyes. The leader motioned his other two thugs to rush him. The two thugs pulled out their own blades and circled the figure. The figure moved a foot slightly forward and the thugs charged with their weapons.

The figure leaped to his left and grabbed one thug by his shoulders, using the momentum he lifted himself and brutally kicked the other thug in his face. Blood and teeth exploded from his face as he fell into some boxes and winced in utter agony, while clutching his face.

The figure then turned his body in the air and kneed the other thug in the ear knocking him to the ground and making him lose his knife. Quickly doing a flip and landing on his feet, he rushed to the thug that tumbled on the ground. The thug attempted to pick up his knife, but had it kicked away. He was then rewarded with three solid blows to the face, knocking him unconscious.

The other thug began getting up from atop the boxes and was met with a solid uppercut. His body rose into the air and fell back into the boxes crushing them, as well as possibly a few bones.

"OI! OI! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"

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.

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…?"

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.

Batman glided through the air in the bare slums of the city, looking around for anything that could help his situation. The local residents could only stare at the human flying through the air in absolute astonishment. Some thought it was a magic user, while others became frightened and thought it was some sort of rogue monster. Batman scanned the area as he began to lose altitude; he pulled out his grappling gun and fired it to one of the rooftops of a housing complex. Latched on to the edge, he pressed the trigger again and was pulled to the top with incredible speed. He landed on the roof and began surveying the rest of the sunset laden city.

"Where do I go now?"

He began walking to the other side, and then heard a commotion.

Crashing and shattering sounds could be heard in the distance along with two voices. Batman used his binocular vision to zoom in on the disturbance. He saw a young girl and boy fighting near a small shack a few yards away. He dove down to investigate, but as he did the shack collapsed, as it fell on top of the boy. The young girl yelled at the sight before her.

"Hey kid! Couldn't you at least do me the favor of NOT breaking down my place!"

Batman landed right behind her and stood tall, looking down at the young girl. She turned around and began looking up at the massive figure ahead of her. She didn't seem too frightened at first, that is, until she saw his face. The sharp horn-like ears, the white sharp in-human eyes and the very gruff chin, made this man look VERY frightening.

But she still tried to put on a brave face.

"W-what do ya w-w-want with me, huh?! Want to attack a defenseless little girl?! Well too bad! I'm a lot tougher than I look ya know."

Batman nodded and put up a hand.

"No, I'm just here to see what all that commotion was."

"Really? Well-Um…do you have any business with me?!"

"Business?"

As he questioned her statement, the rubble ahead of them began to move.

"Ouch. Ouch. Hang on a second Felt! I actually have some real business with you!"

"HUH?! Why didn't you just say so in the first place?"

"I kinda tried, but then you swung that blade at me! Seriously, don't just jump to conclusions!"

The boy was struggling a bit to get up from the rubble, so Batman moved to the shack and lent out his hand.

"Here, I'll lend you hand."

"Ahaha. Thanks mister. I really-."

As Batman pulled him out, both of them stared at each other in utter shock.

The young boy was dressed in a modern tracksuit and appeared Japanese to Batman's knowledge.

But the young boy began shaking and pointed at him nervously.

"Y-Y-Y-YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS."

Batman looked just as perplexed by the sight before him.

"B-!"

The boy grabbed his head and shook it roughly.

"No way! First I get sent to a Fantasy World and now this?! This can't be real at all?!"

The boy looked at him again and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Are you Batman?"

Batman could not believe it. He had encountered someone who knew who he actually was, maybe even someone from his own world. He had to ask.

"How do you know who I am?"

The boy was perplexed and uncomfortable for the moment, but took a few breaths and spoke.

"Where I'm from you're legendary! I'm pretty sure everyone on Earth knows who you are!"

Finally a break! Batman may have found his salvation. This boy may be the key to his questions.

"How did you end up here?"

"I walked back from a convenience store and just wandered here."

"And do you know why?"

"Nah, not a clue."

"Do you know what happened to the rest of the Justice League?"

"Justice…League? Is that like the Avengers?"

Batman's questioning halted. He never heard of that name before.

"Who are the Avengers? A new team that formed?"

"Um…OH! That's right that's uh, MARVEL! It's owned by a different company, I think!"

"Company? What are you talking about?!"

The boy then gave off a feeling that he had an epiphany!

"So you're real right?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

He looked at Batman with a somber expression as he said something that rattled Batman to his core.

"Where I'm from. You're not real. You're a fictional character."

Batman had a tinge of unease as he heard those words. Not real. Fictional. It seemed as though everything stopped for him. Trapped in a world he didn't know, unable to get home and now learning that he may very well be a made up construct. It was not an easy day for him.

"How much do you know about me?"

"Well just the bare minimum. What happened to you and your parents, your city, your crazy gadgets, let's see, the Batcave. Oh and your real name is BRUCE WAYNE."

Batman could not believe it. Things he desperately tried to keep secret, known to only a select few, was possibly known to an entire world. He wondered if this other world had seen his torment, his losses and his most private intimate moments, and merely viewed it as entertainment?

"Um excuse me."

Batman faced forward as he heard this and saw the boy raise his hand.

"Can you prove to me that you're the REAL Batman? I just kinda can't really wrap my head around thi-."

Before he could finish his sentence, three objects flew by his head and hit a wall that was behind him. He turned around to see what it was and realized exactly what it was.

They were Batarangs.

"HOLY CRAP! YOU REALLY ARE BATMAN!"

The boy almost leapt in applause of the spectacle before him, even the young girl who was mostly ignoring their conversation, was clearly impressed by his skills.

"Wow mister! That was some impressive stuff! Are you a Knight or something?"

The boy waved his finger with a tut-tut of disapproval.

"Oh he's not just any Knight. He's the Dark Knight! Hero of Gotham City! The one, the only! BATMAN!"

The boy struck a dramatic pose and pointed at Batman, who was simply staring at the boy.

The boy stopped the pose and pulled out an object from his pocket.

'Look Felt, I came here because I wanted to buy back that pendant you stole with this!"

He then pulled out a cell phone and took a few snaps with its camera at Batman and Felt. The flashes of the camera clearly spooked Felt.

"Whoa! What's the big idea?!"

He showed her the screen, which had her photo displayed.

"This is a Metia, one that can freeze and record time. It is really rare and at least worth 20 Holy Gold Coins!"

"It is really impressive. Although I think I'm much prettier than that. But first let's ask the old man and see what he says."

"I guess we don't really have a choice, huh? Alright lets go, RIGHT NOW."

"Alright slow down, you got live long and take care of yourself, jeez."

The boy began walking with Felt, when he turned around and looked up at Batman.

"I really hate to ask this of you…but."

He quickly bowed before him and bellowed out a request.

"Please come with us! I feel that we may need someone like you. And if you really are Batman, I know you can do something about this. So-So-PLEASE!"

Batman had no idea why he wanted him to come with him so badly. However, he could feel the desperation and fear in his voice, he knew this boy was heading into trouble.

"-"

Batman slowly walked away from him. The boy began to whimper and hold back some tears…until he heard a noise behind him.

It was Batman, removing his Batarangs from the wall. He turned around as he placed them back in his Utility Belt.

"I can see this a serious matter. And I'm not one who walks away from something like that, especially not when kids are involved."

The boy wiped away the small droplet of tears and let out a hopeful smile.

"Thank you."

"Lead the way then you two."

Batman, Felt and the boy headed deeper into the slums as a group of three. They began to converse about Felt and her dreams, which Batman found commendable. Though he told her something very important.

"Never forget where you come from. It's the place that shapes your future and was the first place you called home."

Felt couldn't help but feel some admiration for what he said, but didn't want to admit it.

"Yeah, sure…I guess."

The boy gave a wry smile as she said this and got close to Batman in order to speak with him more quietly.

"I really am sorry to ask for your help like this."

"No worries, I go where I'm needed. And in your case it seemed as though you really needed my help."

"Yeah. Don't mention anything to Felt, but someone dangerous may be waiting for us there."

"-"

"She is a dangerous psycho that likes to cut open bellies and in the past has done it to lots of people…people I care about."

The boy clenched his fist and gave an expression of unbridled rage. Batman noticed this and put a hand on his shoulder, snapping him back to reality.

"Do you know why she would be where we're going?"

"She wants the pendant Felt has in her possession. And probably to kill us for fun."

"I see."

"I don't want Felt or her Old Man to get killed and I want to take the pendant back to its rightful owner."

"Rightful owner?"

"Oh….yeah, Felt sort of stole it you see. But, you can see she's not a heartless person or anything. So don't throw her in jail yet. Please."

The boy quickly fumbled his words while trying to defend Felt. The boy knew that Felt was actually a nice person, but figured Batman didn't. And his reputation with criminals was not a positive one.

Batman only sighed at this.

"I'll decide when this is all over."

"Yeah, hehehe."

The boy merely scratched his chin as he gave a good chuckle. Felt turned to yell at the both of them.

"Hey you two, keep up! What are you guys laughing at?! Making jokes about me or something?!"

"If we did, we wouldn't say them next to the person we were making fun of. Do we look like we were born yesterday?"

"HMPH!"

Felt pouted as she continued walking forward, the boy only scratched his head out of annoyance.

"Man, talk about stress stacking up."

Batman looked down at the boy and realized something.

"Oh right. I never asked your name. Obviously you know mine, both public and secret."

"Ah! Right, right! No secret identity for me or anything."

The boy gave a wide genuine smile as he spoke.

"My name is Natsuki Subaru. It's nice to meet Batman-san!"

Batman's mind went blank. He heard something that changed everything.

Subaru. The message that he last heard:

[SUBARU, PROTECT HIM.]

"Subaru, right?"

"Yeah?"

"…nice name."

"Hehe, thanks!"

Batman continued to follow Subaru and Felt. Subaru continued on explaining the origins of his name to Felt who seemed somewhat interested. Batman wondered if this encounter meant something. Could Subaru be the key to returning home? Did he know something? He had to find out.

And so the group of three headed ever so closer to their final destination.