AN: Damn JDUBZYT! Back at it again, huh?

ARC Four: Battle From Zero

Chapter Twenty Three: City Troubles

It had been a good half hour since the group had passed through customs and made it into the city. After Subaru had awoken, he got different receptions from everyone.

Rem was tender with him, rubbing his hair out of worry.

Roswaal was quietly giggling at his near death experience.

Emilia gave him a loud scolding for his unreasonable actions.

Batman...gave him a finger flick to his forehead, leaving a bright red mark on it.

"Alright I get it! Ow...that really stung."

"Hopefully it reminds you to behave yourself."

The group decided to disperse to their various destinations. Rem and Roswaal went to the inn to prepare things for the next day. Emilia escorted Subaru to the Market to keep an eye on him. Batman went to go out on patrol and to find a friend of his.

At a point in the trip, Subaru and Emilia were walking hand and hand after visiting a fruit stand he was familiar with. While they were searching for Reinhard, Puck spoke with him telepathically.

"Hey Subaru, please be careful."

"Huh, of course I'll be. I'm with Emilia, so I would never-"

"That is not what I'm talking about."

"Huh?"

"You are a nice boy. I like you and so does Lia. But you give her too much hope, and I fear you will be turning her hope into poison….no, in reality that is the case, isn't it?"

"Puck?"

"You are the poison, Subaru."

The conversation ended, leaving Subaru with more questions than answers.

Batman glided through the sky and saw from above the destination he was searching for.

A clothes shop, one familiar to him. He landed near the entrance and walked inside hearing a familiar voice as he did.

"Welcome! How can we-?"

"Hello Linnea."

"Batman!"

The pink haired girl rushed over and gave him a surprisingly tight hug.

"You've come to visit! It's been a while."

"Yes, it has. How have you been?"

"Great! You came at a good time, there's little business at this time so we can sit and talk!"

"I don't have much time. A few minutes is all I have today. Is that alright?"

"Sure!"

The two sat on some chairs and had some small talk. Linnea was excited as always to see her savior.

When Batman had returned to the Capital for his "vacation" he had intended to stay in the Batwing. But he was found by Linnea, the first person he saved when he was first transported into this new world. She offered him refuge in her home as a token of appreciation for saving her. In those two days, she became accustomed to seeing him and enjoyed the small talks they had.

"So, how is everything?"

"Fine. Just taking care of things in the mansion as usual."

"Oh right, right."

"Sorry I wasn't able to bring Subaru and the others along, I think they would've loved meeting you."

"Oh don't worry about it. I can just meet them some other time."

"..."

"Try not to worry so much! Of you keep adding up all that stress, you'll get wrinkles before you know it."

Batman slightly smirked at this, while Linnea put up a bright smile. But it soon faded when she looked at her hands.

"Sooooo….how are things between you and Ram-san?"

"..."

"I don't really mean to pry or anything! You...just seemed worried about her the last time you were here."

"...Linnea."

"Yes?"

Batman shifted himself on the chair to get a better look at her.

"I fixed things between us, we're back to being friends."

"Oh...just friends?"

"Well, yes?"

"Oh...alright!"

Linnea put up a bright smile as she slightly giggled at this news. Her cheeks turned bright red as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"So I still have a chance?"

"Sure...I think so."

"Yes!"

She clasped her hands together and put on a determined look upon hearing this. It was pretty obvious how she felt towards Batman.

A few minutes later, Batman exited the store shoulder to shoulder with Linnea. She gave him a big hug, and was rewarded with a light pat on the head.

"Take care, Linnea."

"You too! Come by any time! Bring Subaru-kun and the others next time!"

"I'll do so. Bye."

"Bye bye!"

Batman fired his grappling gun and flew through the air, soon out of sight. Linnea smiled tenderly as she looked up at the blue sky. She placed a hand on her chest as she whispered..

"I still won't lose you to anyone else."

Batman was gliding in the air when clearly saw Rem jump through the air and land in an alley nearby. He changed his direction mid-air and headed down to investigate. As he fast approached, he saw that Subaru, Emilia, as well as two others were watching as Rem was taking care of a large group of thugs.

Batman then dropkicked a thug down the alley as he landed. The others saw this and all yelped with terror.

"Batman!"

Batman then rose up and roundhouse kicked three thugs, knocking them all out. He then saw two more rushing towards him with knives, only to easily outmaneuver them. He then grabbed both their heads and knocked them into each other. He then motioned the other thugs to "come here" and narrowed his eyes.

Rem then stood next to him as she cracked her knuckles with sweet smile.

The thugs had now begun to regret their choice of victims.

However as the absolute one sided battle continued, Subaru was happily enjoying the fight...while Emilia was staring at Subaru with a conflicted look.

Behind them, a orange haired girl was watching the beatings with slight interest. Next to her, a man with a steel helmet and odd looking clothes was observing it all, whispering to himself.

"You can't be serious…."

On the way back, Emilia was walking shoulder to shoulder with Subaru, Rem and Batman close behind. Emilia turned to face him.

"Subaru...that girl from earlier. Where did meet her? How do you know her?"

"Ehhh, Emilia-tan, were you getting jealous a bit? When did we get to the point that you would feel env-?"

"-Subaru. Please don't make light of this. Why were you with her-?"

Batman then stepped forward and faced the two of them.

"It was coincidental, he probably got into more trouble as he usually does. Right Subaru?"

"Err...Yup. Totally what happened!"

Subaru gave a slight wry smile at this. Emilia nodded but still had a unpleased look in her eyes. Rem and Batman tuned to each other, both knowing something wasn't right.

The next morning, Subaru was informed that he was to stay behind at he inn with Rem while Emilia and Roswaal headed for the Royal Palace. Subaru tried to plead his case, but both Rem and Emilia agreed on the idea of Subaru staying behind. Batman wasn't there as he had been out patrolling the streets since last night, thus Subaru was outnumbered in this case. Emilia entrusted Rem with him.

"Subaru. Please let me trust you in this case, okay?"

"Y-yeah! I'll do just that! Leave it to me!"

Emilia smiled at him but her eyes were darkened as she spoke.

"Yes...I trust you."

But as if fate would not allow it to be, with the assistance of Rem, Subaru left the inn and headed for the Royal Palace. Rem prayed for his safety just as the window opened and out appeared Batman.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back Batman-san. Would you care for a snack?"

"An appa sounds fine."

As Rem handed him an Appa, he glanced around as he noticed the emptiness of their room.

"Rem. Where is Subaru? Wasn't he supposed to stay put today?"

"Yes...um, he took advantage of Rem being diligent at her work and had escaped."

Rem gave a slightly playful look as she said this, but Batman was stern faced as usual.

"So he made a run for it? Damn kid."

Batman quickly ate his snack and turned back around to face the window again.

"Batman-san?"

"I'm going to bring him back. He needs to learn a lesson once in awhile."

"Please no hurting him. My heart would feel stinging pain if I heard you two fought."

"...I'm not going to be forceful, Rem. Just simply bringing him back for a bit of a time out."

"Time-out. Ahahahaha, you treat Subaru-kun like small child."

"I'll stop when he stops acting like one."

Batman nodded, fired his grappling gun out the window, and flew away. Rem stood there, silently hoping that everything would turn out alright.

Batman continued using the rooftops as a means of travel as he leapt closer and closer to the Royal Palace. When he reached a vantage point that easily oversaw the palace grounds, used his optic eyes to survey the area. He realized that not only was he not be able to get through the main gates, without the company of Emilia, but that security was tight. He stood tall as a slight breeze blew, his cape fluttering in the cool air.

"I've gotten into worse places."

Subaru was accompanied by Priscilla Bariel, a candidate for the throne the same as Emilia and her knight Al, the from the alley earlier. He was able to pass through the guards with Priscilla's help and eventually made it to the throne room. As the doors opened, Emilia turned to see them.

"S...Subaru?"

"Emilia...I.."

Priscilla began to wrap her arms around him in a teasing manner. Most likely to agitate Emilia. But it did not last long. Roswaal was going towards them...but…

"You just don't know when to stop do you Subaru?"

Everyone turned their attention to a pillar that was several feet away from them. From the shadow cast by it, two narrow white eyes appeared. Emerging from the shadows itself, was Batman.

"B-Batman-san?!"

Subaru ran over to him with a surprised expression.

"How the hell did you get in here?"

"...Easily."

"That's not the answer I was looking for!"

However as they were having their playful banter, they were surrounded by several white uniformed knights. Batman stepped in front of Subaru as his eyes narrowed.

"You! How did you get in here?!"

The knights unsheathed their swords and pointed them at Batman. Batman readied himself for battle.

But Emilia stepped forward, raising her arms in a defensive manner.

"Enough! This man is an affiliate of mine, he was busy with another task, so he just caught up with us!"

The knights slightly lowered their swords as they questioned Batman.

"Is this true?!"

"Yes. And for the record, for me to have broken in here so easily is the biggest sign that this place is vastly under protected. My test proves that. Had I been an assassin, I could have easily killed at least two of the royal candidates before anyone could have stopped me."

"Why you!"

"This the surest sign that you people need to update your security methods, especially if this place will one day hold your future king!"

The knights glared at Batman, seemingly having been insulted by him.

Emilia whacked his shoulder in a huff.

"Jeez, don't go around making people angry Batman-san!"

The knights, civil officials and even the Royal Candidates themselves began whispering and muttering when they heard the name again.

"Batman?" "Is that really him?" "I heard he was supposed to be a Demi-human." "Is he really just a man in a costume?" "How did he get in here so easily?"

The whispering ended as the Council of Elders entered the room. Marcos Gildark raised his hand towards Batman.

"In any other case, we the Knights of Lugnica, would have had no choice but to execute you, Batman-dono."

"But, seeing as you are a vassal of Emilia-sama, we will let this slide. This will also provide us with valuable info on the weaknesses of the security here."

"I'll be more than happy to help."

Marcos nodded and moved away.

Al then grabbed their attention and pointed to where other knights were.

"Yo bros, we need to line up over there."

"Well, seems like it. But do we have the right to stand there?"

Roswaal played with his chin as he hummed at the idea.

"The proper thing to do would be to immeeeedieately throw you two out, but this will be amusing, you two may go with him."

Emilia's eyebrows shot up at hearing this.

"Roswaal, wait a-!"

"Unfortunately, Emilia-sama, this is not the time or place for you to argue. The conference iiiiis about to begin, to the center please."

Emilia bit her lip in regret and delivered one final reminder to the both of them.

"-We will discuss this later. Both of you."

Emilia lined up with the other three candidates.

First, there was the half-elf with silver hair. The woman who was protected by Batman and was the figure of affection for Natsuki Subaru. Emilia.

Next, there was the proud and virtuous looking woman with green hair and what appeared to be an army uniform. A woman with a bold manner to her. Crusch Karsten.

Then, there was a short violet haired girl with a lovely white cotton dress and a white fox scarf. She was a girl that one would call cute. Anastasia Hoshin.

And of course the devious, orange haired woman with a voluptuous figure. The woman who seemed to annoy Subaru and Batman the most. Priscilla Bariel.

It was during this observation that Batman and Subaru met back up again with Reinhard and even Ferris. Batman shook hands with both of them as Subaru noticed someone else had joined them.

"Errr."

"Hmph."

It was a handsome violet haired man with piercing golden eyes. The Knight among Knights. Julius Juukulius.

Batman surmised that Julius got too close to Emilia and Subaru now had his eyes on him. Batman could only sigh at this troublesome behavior.

With more time, Batman had come to an understanding about the idea around the Royal Selection. With the Royal Family dead, the Dragon Maidens chosen by the Dragon Tablet would have to reinstate the pact with Volcanica.

What had Batman perplexed was the Dragon Tablet. A large stone that seemed to predict the future.

"...!"

The Dragon Tablet. The Book of Wisdom.

What did these things have to do with each other? Was it just a coincidence?

Whatever the case, Batman wanted no part of it. He was the kind of man who believed one should forge their own destiny and not rely on such superstition. Especially now that Roswaal had him on edge, the idea of using something very similar, made him uneasy.

But what he also didn't understand, was that according to everyone, they needed five candidates. So how could they even continue?

It was at that point that Reinhard stepped forward.

"Reinhard report!"

"Yes! Esteemed members of the Council of Elders, I Reinhard Van Astrea am here to report that my mission is complete!"

He raised his hands and motioned them to the main opened, revealing the next Royal Dragon Maiden.

"We have found the fifth candidate!"

Subaru's jaw dropped and Batman's eyes widened when they saw who it was.

A young girl with blonde hair and red eyes with a impish like snaggletooth smile. Her long elegant yellow dress fluttered away, making her look like a completely different person.

"This young lady who also seeks the crown is called….Felt-sama!"

And with this, the Royal Selection was in full swing.