CHAPTER 14: Part 3 - "Aut Caesar Aut Nihil"

"Young man you need to get back into your bed this instance!"

The nice grandma-looking doctor had turned into a bit of a harpy as the young man wobbly walked, with a hand propped against a wall made his way down the clinic's hallway in hopes of escaping this place. His hospital gown luckily came with a pair of simple slippers which he was grateful for as he did not fancy walking barefoot on the streets of Gotham.

His vision and strength had slowly returned, though the aches and pains in his body were still fairly pronounced. Impressive considering he had been given some pills that at first made him feel like he was floating in bliss before the pain returned.

The doctor at this point had given up on the carrot and now stood directly in front of James blocking his path.

A displeased and concerned looked showed on her face. "You need to get back in bed, your multiple injuries should have you bedridden for a few weeks at least. Gunshot wounds, a concussion, and multiple lacerations are not something you can walk off!"

The young man gave no response to that. Rather he pushed past the doctor and continued his way down the corridor, finally, a staircase with an exit sign showed and he made a beeline for it. Despite his injuries, he seemed to be hustling as fast as he could.

The doctor watched the young man hobble along, he looked like death itself yet was so determined to escape. Despite his tall height and mature features, the doctor could tell that he couldn't be older than 16 or 17. Still a child in the law and one in her eyes.

Taking a breath she said, "Either you get in bed or I will have no choice but to call the police. I don't want to do that but...."

The doctor stopped due to a constricting sensation in her throat, which quickly changed to her throat being squished, depriving her of any air. Slowly her body raised off the ground by a few inches, her feet dangling and her hands clawing at her neck in hopes of getting some grip on the force choking her.

"I owe you for helping me..." he whispered, his back to her and his eyes closed.

The doctor continued to struggle against the pressure, her face slowly turning purple. She tried to call for help but it only came out as a strangled gasp.

The boy turned around, opening his eyes revealing the soft brown eyes she had seen before. But this time they seemed to glow with anger, malice, and a hint of madness. She couldn't be sure, but the edges seemed tinged with black swirls, that stretched trying to reach his pupils.

Right now at this moment beyond the choking, she felt general fear from this 'thing' that stood before her. More demon than man.

He glanced down at her coat, pausing and squinting at her name labeled on the coat before looking back up at her. Immediately the force choking and holding her up released and she fell to the floor gasping for air.

"Doctor Thompkins, thank you for your help, and I am sorry for what I did..." He turned around and continued his way to the exit.

"But if you hinder me right now I won't be able to control myself... and I will collapse this building onto itself. You best choose wisely."

And with that, he pushed the door to the stairs and made his way downstairs to the main lobby.

Doctor Leslie Thompkins was still gasping for air even after the mysterious teen left. A new meta wandering around Gotham was not unheard of, but considering how young he was and how injured, Thompkins could only despair.

'He's barely older than Dick...' She thought with trepidation. 'So much anger, so much hate... what happened to him tonight?'

At this point a few patients had peeked outside their doors, sensing the danger was over. All of them appeared to be residents of East Gotham lower dregs based on their ragged clothes, gang tattoos, and hallowed faces, possibly suggesting drug abuse.

The Thompkins Clinic served the lower echelons of Gotham, including the various criminal elements. It was considered a neutral and at times hallowed ground due to Dr. Thompkins's work for the masses of the area. The goodwill she had generated for treating the various crooks, druggies, bosses, and at times even the boss's mothers had bought her a lot of goodwill. As such everyone in East Gotham knew not to mess with her lest they bring the wrath of dozens of different crooks onto their heads.

It also helped that the Batman was known to patrol her clinic on a regular basis. Apparently, he was a fan of her philanthropy.

One of the patients, a large thug with a cast for his arm and tattoos covering his face walked out and offered his hand to the doctor which she took gladly and was lifted up onto her feet.

Muttering a quiet thank you to the thug, he remarked, "If you like, I can get a couple of the boys and rough up that punk?"

Dr. Thompkins looked up and glared at the thug who looked sheepish from her gaze. While not a violent woman, many a crook and hitman had wilted under her gaze. After all, having a Grandma being mad at you is a scary thing!

With a slight croak, she said, "You will do no such thing, David! That young man is hurt, confused, and not thinking straight. He did not mean what he did. And besides, if he is who I think he is he would send you and your friends straight back here with a few more broken bones."

The thug David looked surprised by that, "Wait, you know who that was? Who was he?"

Dr. Thompkins brushing her coat, pulled out her phone, "Someone only one person I know can deal with right now."

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*James, Outside of Thompkins Clinic

When he passed by the main reception James grabbed a medical mask and a dark blue windbreaker coat on the rack at the door of the entrance and put it on immediately. No sense in his face being seen more than it was, he put it on and the coat, and threw up the hood giving him a similar look to his previous disguise.

Walking outside the bright light of the sun temporarily blinded him. Blinking his eyesight recovered, it looked to be sometime in the afternoon based on where the sun was.

That made him feel a swell of panic, it had been hours since his fight at the factory! Was he too late to stop... something?

James tried to run as soon as he got outside but found his body refusing to follow the command.

"Shit... How bad am I?" He muttered to himself before starting a limp jog toward his and his aunt's apartment.

It was strange what was going on in his head. He had begun piecing together what had happened during the raid. They had managed to overwhelm the ambushers and push towards the factory doors when Penguin ordered him to stay outside due to his injuries. At that point, he was sure he hadn't been shot yet and only was dealing with the cut and concussion to his head.

'So when did I get shot?!?' He thought as he rounded a corner heading southwest through the streets. Luckily the clinic was only a few blocks away from where he lived, but the urgency he felt was growing.

He could not explain the feeling why he had to get home so badly. Only that there was a growing sense of dread and fury that he had not felt since he was a child. For whatever reason something was going to happen at his home

But for the life of him, he kept drawing a blank of what happened after Penguin entered the factory.

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*Batgirl, Sionis Cosmetic Factories, 12 Hours Earlier.

Sitting crouched on the rooftop, Batgirl stared at what was more akin to a small warzone than a street in the Narrows of Gotham.

The main street leading up to the abandoned Sionis Cosmetic factory was littered with cars riddled with bullets and fire. Bodies lay stretched across the ground, a mixture of Penguin mobsters in suits, with various Black Mask thugs dressed in standard clothes.

It was unnerving, to say the least. Despite this being Gotham, full-scale wars amongst the criminal factions were rare, and even rarer for the wars to turn deadly. Part of the reason was the desire by most to avoid escalation, as soon as bodies begin dropping that's when politicians get involved, and then the police get involved. Even the constant bribing of law enforcement would only do so much if the powers that be felt their constituents growing discontented with the violence. After all, votes were a politician's currency and were even more profitable than hard cash.

The other reason was more economical. Most of the gangs in Gotham could only afford to fight for a few months. They need peace to work on their various illicit activities to refill their war chests. As for the larger Mobs and organized crime families, they were smart enough to realize that escalation was simply bad for business and cut into their margins far too much. Even with the rise of the Penguin Mob, the conflict had been minor and only resulted in the death of Giovanni Falcone and a handful of his hitmen. But that had been an extraordinary situation with additional factors.

And of course, the factor most in the criminal world hated and feared with a passion, the Batman. Since the dark knight first began his crusade years ago a new rule had been added. Those who wrought violence would be targeted first. Carmine Falcone the head of the most infamous crime family in Gotham found that out the hard way. Now he was behind bars with the Russians, Penguin, Colombians, Black Mask, and even elements of the Yakuza eating up much of the Falcone empire.

By the time Batgirl had joined the Batman much of the extreme violence between organized crime had dried up. Save for incidences with the clown, scarecrow, or Zsasz violent bloody crimes were a rarity for her to see. Batman made it a point to try to keep them away from those crime scenes out of a sense of obligation to protect them from the worst.

Though considering they were vigilantes fighting in Gotham, that point seemed a little mute. Especially when the crime world would break from the norm and deliver this.

Looking down, it appeared that Penguin's men had entered into an ambush and paid a heavy price for it. The blood from the dead men, mixed with the trash and dirt of the road slowly leaked into the gutter.

Batgirl had seen plenty of violence in Gotham, but still, looking down on the dead gave her a nauseous feeling.

'Maybe Robin was right, I should have waited for him,' she thought.

Scanning the area, she saw at least 8 of the Penguin's men had stayed outside, to keep the perimeter. Most were standing with their weapons, mostly shotguns and pistols, around the front. Though there was one man who was sitting on a curve with his hands propping his head up. He was dressed differently from the others, a black hoodie pulled up covered his head, with a simple pair of jeans and running shoes completing the outfit.

'Strange, maybe one of Penguin's informants?' She thought.

From inside the factory, flashes of gunfire illuminated the windows. The distinct clattered of various firearms going off began ringing out once more. The men surrounding the building all diverted their attention to the firefight going on inside the building. The man sitting on the curve did not stir but merely kept his head down.

Standing up, Batgirl shot a grabble hook across the street and jumped off her perch at a wide angle. Aiming herself she swung in a low arch towards one of the nearest mobsters swinging a kick directly to their head.

At the last second the mobster looked over at the sound of swooshing air before Batgirl's kick sent him flying onto his back, knocked out cold.

Using the continued momentum she released her grabble hook, spinning towards another mobster where she wrapped her legs around his neck. Using her counterbalance she swung the mobster onto the ground, landing on top, and followed with a quick jab to the throat before a knock-out punch breaking his nose.

At this point, the 4 others standing were startled away from the fighting inside the factory and began leveling their weapons toward the Batgirl. The one sitting stirred from his spot and looked up to watch the fight between the vigilante and the others.

Batgirl rolled herself over the next nearest goon, sweeping her leg, causing him to fall. Another quick kick saw the mobster's teeth shattered and a scream of pain as he held his pained mouth.

The last standing 3 took aim but hesitated to fire due to their comrade being in the line of fire. That would be their last mistake as 3 Batarangs flew from Batgirl knocking their weapons to the ground. Running towards them she disabled one with a quick punch to the throat and elbow to his head dropping him like a stack of rocks. Another ran towards her throwing a punch which she dodged before landing a hit in his nethers. The man gave a soft groan, tears springing to his eyes as he slumped over in a fetal position. Utter agony etched across his face.

The final mobster seeing how the rest of the men were handled made a beeline to escape and manage to get a few yards away before his feet were entangled by a bola being thrown. The force of which caused him to collapse face-first knocking him out of the fight.

Taking a breath, Batgirl turned to face the remaining mobster, the one who was sitting wearing nothing but a black hoodie and jeans.

He had not moved from where he had been sitting, save for lifting his head to watch the fight. His face was concealed by a sports mask that covered most of his face save for his eyes. His eyes were brown and at another time she would say were attractive. But at this moment they seemed unfocused with hints of fury growing from them. What startled her was despite being tall, and only his eyes to go off of, she could not help but feel like he was young, maybe even her age.

'Is he crazy?' She thought to herself, preparing a Batarang to throw at him. The only reason she hadn't was due to his lack of reaction and initially his outfit. She really took him to be just one of the snitches under Penguin's employ.

The man at this point growled out in a deep if tired and pained voice, "So, who the f&*k are you?"

His response was unexpected and threw her for a loop. Did he really not recognize her?

"It doesn't matter, what matters is this party is over and I need you to get on the ground with your hands behind your back!" She ordered.

Reaching up he rubbed his forehead, wincing slightly and said in an irritated tone, "Great, so you are the other Batbrat running around... I am not in the mood for this shit."

Tensing for a moment, he stood up shakily before pointing at an empty rusted metal barrel leaning against the factory, and swiping his hand at her.

"Did you just call me a Batbrat..." She started before ducking and rolling from a said barrel that came flying by her. The barrel traveled a few more yards before falling to the ground and rolling away.

Batgirl's training kicked in and she threw her Batarang while charging the man.

'What the hell?!?' She thought. He had been nowhere near the barrel when it came flying towards her. She was really hoping she was wrong but she had a feeling she was facing the same guy that Robin faced a few days ago.

The Batarang flew into the air, its aim true directly to the center mass of man before it hit an invisible wall a few inches away and bounced off. The man bent his knees and threw a punch in her direction which shot a concussive blast causing her to roll out of the way.

The concussive blast hit the ground causing some minor cracks to appear giving Batgirl some concern. While not deadly perhaps it would be rather unpleasant to get hit with.

But she did not have much time to think as she began dodging and jumping left and right avoiding various blasts the man sent her way. He had begun walking in her direction throwing blasts that kept her at a several yards distance from her.

While diving away from another blast an epiphany hit her, 'He is doing it on purpose! Like Bats theorized, he is trying to avoid direct combat.'

With that idea now in her mind she quickly came up with a plan to hopefully close the distance between him and her. Dodging to the side of another blast, she took the brief moment of reprieve to throw a handful of small grey marble size pellets at him.

Like before, they bounced off some sort of force from actually hitting him. It did cause him to pause his attacks for a moment to see what she had thrown. Almost immediately the pellets exploded into smoke covering a few yards of the area around him.

Batgirl made her move and charged at arm's length of him. Interestingly, she noted that whatever invisible shield he had been using to stop the pellets and Batarang from hitting him had not stopped the smoke from penetrating it.

She could hear him coughing and gagging from the smoke as he waved his hand in front of his face in hopes of clearing it. Pressing her advantage she reached over and grabbed his hand, brought it over her shoulder, and then used his mass to throw him onto the ground on his back.

The throw had put him on the outer edge of the smoke which had slowly begun to disperse. It was never meant to be a longtime distraction but rather rapid deployment. The size of the pellets plays a part in their longevity, unlike Batman's these were smaller and meant quick skirmishes or getaways.

And it was enough for her to take the advantage. Pressing down on his sternum with her knee, she brought her right fist back to finish the fight, yet she paused.

The hood had been thrown back to reveal a black, sweaty mess of crew-cut hair. The lower half of his face was still covered by his mask but his eyes which burned with malice and his forehead indicated a young man, maybe even as young as she was. But what really drew her attention was the bloody gash on the side of his face.

It was deep starting from the top of the left side of his face, traveling down the side and reaching the jawline. It tapered off once it passed the eye but it looked like someone had gouged that side with a meat hook. Off to the side lay a bloodied bandage that must have stemmed the blood before being ripped off during the fight. The wound oozed blood and deep discolored purple surrounded much of the skin.

How this guy was even standing with such a deadly wound was beyond her. He needed medical attention immediately, any more blows to the head would probably put him in a permanent coma.

Her hesitation would be her undoing as while she was examining the wound, off to the side a broken rotting wooden crate rose from the junk surrounding the factory. It spun slowly into position before shooting off and slamming into her. A burst of wooden splinters and a surprised yelp from Batgirl sent her flying off the man a few yards away with broken pieces of wood from the crate on top of her.

Groaning from the hit she shook her head and got to her knees before receiving a hard punch to the head that forced her back down. Standing now right next to her was the man she had had the upper hand on. How he got up so quickly to knock her back down she did not know. Raising his foot he stomped down on her upper back grinding her into the concrete, before doing it again and then again for good measure.

Batgirl had kept herself still taking the blows. The crate he had thrown had injured her with the right arm feeling out of place. While taking the blows she had ascertained she had not broken it, but it was probably dislocated. The protective padding and armor provided by their costumes did amazing work against most things, but sheer force could still cause problems for the flesh underneath.

With her face pressed against the concrete, she heard an all too familiar swoosh of air. The pressure on her back was relieved as the man was forced back from an attacker who had engaged him in hand-to-hand combat.

Lifting herself up to her knees she saw a shorter figure throwing punches left and right at the man which to her surprise had so far managed to deflect with a few counters of his own. Finally, a reprieve in their fight came when the man manage to get a kick in that pushed her savior back a few feet in front of her.

Groaning a little while holding her dislocated right arm she muttered, "You are not going to let me down on this one are you?"

Unfortunately, her savior heard that and gave her a smug smile.

"Well, I am surprised this guy is giving you so much trouble, for crying out loud he is wearing jeans and a hoodie. When did we downgrade to random street thugs?" Robin said in a jokingly mocking tone.

Batgirl glared at him from under her cowl, "Idiot now is not the time, that guy is the..."

It appeared that the man was not interested in hearing their banter and fired a wide concussive blast which threw Robin into one of the Penguin's SUVs denting it slightly.

Robin had taken most of the force but a little bit of the leftover still caused Batgirl to roll with the force a few feet. The rolling caused pain to flood her already injured arm making her dry heave from a near pain-induced nausea.

Walking a few feet over to where Robin lay next to the car. The man pulled his hood back up before pointing and grunting toward the car. A second later the windows shattered from seatbelts being torn from the car where they slowly wrapped around Robin using the door handles of the car as an anchor to keep him secure.

Batgirl was laying on her back trying to build up the strength to get back up.

'Well, at least he won't be able to brag about saving me now,' she thought morosely. Boy was Bats gonna kill them for getting into this mess.

The man stared at Robin for a moment, examining his handiwork before walking over to where Batgirl lay. Sirens from a distance were starting to become more pronounced though they would never arrive in time to save her from him. Truth be told the response time for the GCPD was worse tonight than what could be expected. Typically the Narrows would have a window of about 30 minutes before police would arrive. Tonight the 30-minute window had passed and based on the sirens it would take another 20 before they would get there.

The man now stood before her, his eyes bore down on her in contemplation. Blinking, from the bloody wound which had started to stream down his left eye, he grunted and began wiping it away.

While fixing his impaired vision he asked, "Should we expect the Batman any moment?"

Batgirl stayed silent and merely glared at the young man who had beaten her and incapacitated Robin with ease. Tonight was really not their night.

Finally, he snorted, "I guess I shouldn't expect much from a prepubescent girl."

Clack Clack Clack Clack Clack Clack Clack Clack Clack

Gunfire started erupting from the factory again, screams and smashing objects were heard but the most noticeable noise came from an animalistic roar. The front doors slammed open with a heavy overset man in a poorly kept suit running from the building. Following him were a few of Penguin's men who rather than chasing the man seemed to be fleeing in terror.

The roar from the building became louder as whatever was making it made its appearance at the front doors.

Standing at a minimum of 10 feet, a massive figure with torn clothes stood almost filling up the door with its size. Covered in scales, the creature boasted a long tale that had serrated scales lining it. The arms and legs were in a position similar to a human save for the scales and thick claws that adorned the toes and fingers. The head was the most intimidating feature with its elongated features bearing a resemblance to a crocodile. Sharp teeth from a thick jaw, with yellow slit eyes, finished the look of one of Gotham's most feared mercenaries.

"Killer Croc," Batgirl whispered.