26

Disclaimer: I do not own DC. I just got this book, "How to Start Your Own Far-Reaching Franchise for Dummies". I've got to tell you guys, it's a real page-turner. I feel the knowledge seeping into the wrinkles of my brain already.

Chapter 26: Owning Up

The city was mad.

Going out as Null the other night to try and steal back his now dearly departed car made Max realize how much he had missed suiting up. Even if there wasn't any need for him to steal, he enjoyed the freedom that came with wearing the hood. He could do whatever he wanted, and the only consequences his daytime life had to worry about were the bumps and bruises he might receive from any trouble.

Honestly, Max's experiences as his alter ego made him realize just how unfulfilled he was by his common life. While that was probably his fault for never seeking anything out to truly occupy his focus before his parents passed away, it didn't make it any less of an issue.

The night he'd had trying to get back his car, ill-fated a mission as it was, got his blood pumping in a way that nothing else in his life could. He could say he didn't appreciate the dangerous aspects of being a thief, but the only time he felt like he was worth anything was as Null.

Null kept to the heights of the rooftops of Gotham as he roamed his nighttime playground. From there, he could spot enough of the lunacy that was commonplace ever since the Arkham incident.

As much as he told himself that it wasn't his problem since he wasn't a hero, it irked him nevertheless when he saw the obvious calling cards of some of the city's notable maniacs, and the havoc left in their wake.

There was no silence anywhere. Every few blocks he could hear sirens fire up anew. Another crime was happening somewhere else. Someone else was getting hurt. Someone might not be going home that night.

'I did this,' A part of Null said as he moved through the city, 'And for what? I didn't even get paid! I did it to stay on the good side of a girl I thought I was more important to than I was.'

Even though he realized that Rose had her own life and was in her rights to make her own decision, her departure still stung at him. There was an amount of bitterness that probably wouldn't vanish before they met again, if they ever did.

But she wasn't around to wallow around in the mess the two of them had caused. He was.

Null stumbled across part of that mess; a jewelry heist in progress. It wasn't any of his business, and yet he was compelled to go down and involve himself. It didn't even cross his mind that there was nothing in it for him.

A hole had been cut into the roof and ran down into the actual store itself, where the alarm had been neutralized. Null took the route that the would-be thieves took to silently land on the floor.

The backs of all the thieves were turned to him. There were two fat men dressed like the Tweedledee and Tweedledum characters from Alice in Wonderland, complete with fezzes playing with the expensive baubles they had stolen. Meanwhile, two others were hard at work cleaning the place out. A woman dressed in blue overalls with a white t-shirt underneath, wearing a cap, and a man in dark tactical clothing with a large-tusked mask over his mouth.

"The Wonderland Gang?" Null said after taking in the view of them. His sudden words caused everyone to react in alarm, "You guys look less... whimsical than I expected."

One of the fat lookalikes pointed to him, "Get him!" He ordered, angry spittle flying from his mouth as the other started running away. The sight was hilarious.

From behind, the large, burly man grabbed Null in a tight bearhug. He lifted his head to bring up the long, sharp tusks, intent on driving them down into Null's shoulder and neck. Only, he never got that far. The moment he tilted back to deliver the blow, Null turned himself into a full-body taser, loosening the grip of the man behind him with an electric shock.

Stepping almost casually out of the hug, Null didn't bother turning around. With a flick of his fingers he had taken the tusk mask and slammed it into the ground, piercing the floor, "What the-?" The man found himself unable to get up. He couldn't pull the mask free. Magnetism was a wonderful thing.

Before Null could mouth off anymore, he found himself staring down a woman in overalls and a cap, pointing a nail gun at him with one hand, and a running circular saw in the other, "The Carpenter will cut you to pieces!"

Null raised an eyebrow at the woman apparently identifying herself and raised his hands, "Yeah... no you're not," He magnetically yanked the circular saw and the nail gun out of the woman's hands, effectively disarming her, "Dude... this isn't even fair," Before she could reach at her tool belt for something else to use, Null unhooked that as well, smirking at the look on her face when it dropped to the floor around her feet, "We done?" He asked. To further make his point, with a crook of his finger he unhooked the straps to her overalls.

The Carpenter had to catch the garment before it could fall past her knees, "You asshole!" She snapped, out of equal parts embarrassment and vulnerability.

He could have obliterated her and he knew that she knew it, "Yeah. I'm not nice. I am a criminal too, you know," He said, body crackling with electricity meant to intimidate, "We done here?"

Null was excited. For once, it seemed, he could settle a conflict without any real violence. Actually, this wasn't such a good thing. Null kind of wanted an excuse to vent his recent frustrations via inflicting physical harm on a deserving party.

His answer didn't come from the defeated woman before him. Instead, it came in the form of a gun cocking. Null turned around to see the two similarly dressed overweight men from before pointing assault rifles at him. He prepared to bend the bullets around himself when he realized that the Carpenter was right behind him, directly in the line of fire.

"Crap," Null muttered to himself, adjusting his power use to block the bullets instead of altering their trajectory. It was a less reliable method of stopping gunfire. A weapon that used a high enough caliber of round could get through to him. Also, enough of an onslaught from automatic weaponry could overwhelm his defenses.

The Carpenter ducked and kept her head down while the thief in front of her continued to protect himself and her at the same time.

The sound of the two fat men running out of bullets was music to Null's ears. As they went to reload he angrily pulled the guns from their grasp with his powers. Before they could even respond, he had charged them, slamming their heads together. The sound of skull meeting skull was like smashing two coconuts together.

The Carpenter sat and watched as Null viciously pummeled the two men, "You! Mother! Fuckers! That chick was standing right behind me! Show some goddamn loyalty!"

With Null's attention off of her, at least temporarily, and with the ferocity of the beating he was dealing to her employers, the Carpenter contemplated picking up her nail gun and taking a shot at him while she could... but only for a moment, 'No. This guy would kill me.'

He'd already defeated her without being mean about it. Yes, he'd somewhat stripped her, but clearly he could have been far more violent in his approach.

Null finished beating up Tweedledee and Tweedledum, giving their downed bodies a few last stomps for good measure. Sneer on his face he turned around and regarded the Carpenter, who hadn't moved from where he'd left her, "Beat it," He demanded.

That moment of mercy gave the Carpenter enough of an opening to grow a backbone again, "You ruined our score! Why did you even jump in? You're a criminal. What, were we hitting a spot you were casing yourself?"

'Because I'd have felt guilty if I watched you kill a security guard,' Null thought to himself before going the complete opposite direction with his answer, "I did it because I felt like it. You're acting like the heroes weren't going to swing in and hand you your asses if I didn't do it first."

"They weren't!" She exclaimed. A pointed look from Null got her to take things more realistically, "...At least, there was a decent chance they wouldn't," She pulled back instead of doubling down on her rhetoric, "It's open season in Gotham nowadays! Yeah, it's more dangerous, but there's more chances to make a buck now than there's been in a while. It's why I came here."

Null's eyes went wide under his hood. She was new in town? "You're not from here?" He asked incredulously. Why would anyone sane choose to live there if they weren't born there or didn't have to? "Alright. You're gonna learn eventually. Nobody who isn't from here ever gets it until they see it for themselves."

The Carpenter looked around once Null turned to leave, "You're not gonna arrest us?" He wasn't even knock her or Walrus around a bit? All he did was disarm her and pin him to the floor by his tusks.

Null scoffed in return, "No. I told you, I kicked your asses because I felt like it," He stopped and turned around, "If you're really that concerned about your crew, I give you ninety seconds to get those two out of here before someone with a badge and a gun or a cape shows up."

She looked over at the bloody and beaten Tweedledee and Tweedledum, her bosses. They had fired knowing full well that they could have filled her with lead just as easily as Null. Walrus had already unhooked himself from his mask and made himself scarce. He had the right idea.

Without another word, the Carpenter got up from the ground and took off, leaving the scene. Null nodded and soon thereafter left himself, choosing to go back to his previous activity of observing the city from above.

It didn't last for very long though. After making his way from one rooftop to another, he turned to sit on a ledge and wait for someone to join him. He didn't even have to ask for them to come out. They knew he knew they were there.

Robin chose to walk up to Null in a manner that could almost be called cordial, instead of the normal hostility he tended to approach with, "You let her go."

Null sighed. Well, it was better than him accusing him of stuff, which was usually what happened, "I technically let the rest of them go too. If Tweedledee and Tweedledum were awake and could walk without a limp right now, they'd be ghost. The girl was smart. She gave up," He said, explaining himself, "I don't see you rounding them up for the cops either."

Robin leaned on the edge of the roof, looking over the street below, "The police picked up Tweedledee and Tweedledum already. You were thorough with them. You working through some stuff?" He asked before making an observation, "...I haven't seen Ravager in a while."

Oh no, Null wasn't about to be psychologically analyzed by his rival of all people, "I don't see what that has to do with you. Or me, for that matter," He said, a bite to his tone.

Robin could sense Null's growing ire, but he wasn't concerned. There were many more people he would be afraid of before him, "She's a contract killer, and I tend to have to go after those," He quipped snarkily, "For what it's worth, breaking ties with her was the right move. She probably orchestrated the Arkham breakout. Did you have anything to do with it?"

He was a blunt young man. Even though working with Batman had taught him that subtlety worked often with most criminals, complex problems sometimes required simple solutions.

"Would all of this piss me off so much if I did?" Null snapped back, "I don't like this chaotic bullshit, Robin. I know you don't like me, but can you name one time where I did something that actually disturbed the peace?"

Other than the Arkham Asylum thing. Because he definitely facilitated that. He didn't let anyone out, but he had given Ravager the chance to go in and have her run of the place. Not that Robin knew or could prove that... hopefully.

Robin assumed that whatever had gone down between Null and Ravager had revolved around the asylum incident. Null knew something. It was a certainty. It was just a matter of how much, "Just because you're not a violent criminal, that doesn't make you a decent person."

A mistruth of that magnitude had never left Null's lips, nor crossed his mind, "Oh, I'm a shit-tier human being. I steal to get what I want, and I don't think that far ahead," He reached into his satchel and pulled out the tusk mask Walrus had left behind when he fled, "You see this? I stole this on the way out. I mean, I don't even want this. What the hell am I gonna do with this. Here," He threw it to Robin, who ignored it completely, letting it fly past him, "You Bat-people are all such dicks. Don't you have more important things to focus on right now?"

"I can only focus on what's in front of me at the moment," Robin said. As long as Null was in his sights, he was his concern. True enough though, there were more important things going on. It was why he wasn't putting the squeeze on him any harder.

Null got up on the ledge to drop off of the rooftop, "Well, allow me to fix that for you," Robin expected Null to pull himself somewhere with his powers, but gawked when a floating board flew in for Null to land on, carrying him off into the night.

"Huh," Robin muttered quietly before going back on his nightly patrol, "When did he get that?"

XxX

(The Next Day – Early Morning)

Inside of one of Gotham City's many high schools, the primary gym teacher of the facility sat at her desk. Seated in a posture that spoke of deep diligence and work. Only, there was no life in her eyes. Her face was pale and colorless, and a large wound open at her throat was the cause.

A man in a bloody custodial outfit stood back, admiring his work, the knife in his hand the instrument behind the carnage. This would make his second victim in this location – he had to get his disguise from somewhere, after all – but it certainly wouldn't be the last.

Victor Zsasz reveled in the silent satisfaction that came from liberating another 'zombie' from their pointless existence. Now he had the opportunity to extend this service to other worthless souls before they matured into their wretched adult states.

He shed the now unnecessary custodian outfit, letting a sigh of relief as he allowed the copious scars on his body to breathe once again, "Only a short time now..." He laughed to himself.

XxX

(With Max – Later That Morning)

Gym class was a complete waste of Max's life; the most boring part of his day at school, and that was saying something. Training on his own, he broke more of a sweat than the roughest assignment his P.E. teacher could ever give him. He'd always been a good athlete, but what he'd put his body through in order to contend with the various superhumans, cyborgs, aliens, and whatever else the world decided to put in front of him as an obstacle.

For 90 minutes in gym, he basically turned the part of his brain that paid attention to his surroundings off. He spent that period thinking about his life and the multitude of mistakes he made on a daily basis, brainstorming ideas for various burglaries, or just checking out the hotter girls who shared that class with him.

On this day though, something was off. He felt it as he came out of the locker room, changed into his P.E. clothes. The teacher wasn't there at the front of the room, which wasn't completely normal, but he hadn't seen her in the hallway either.

Max leaned over to another student as everyone stood around the gym, "Do we have a sub today?"

The student just shrugged in response, "I don't know. If we have free period or something, I don't see any nets or balls out. What are we doing?"

The doors were shut, and the tardy bell rang. It was time for class. Still no sign of the teacher. By now, everyone was muttering amongst themselves, until a man walked out of the shadows of the back bleachers, shirtless, shoeless, and covered in tally mark scars. No one took note of him until he calmly started walking past students, knife in hand.

Kids who finally noticed him gasped and recoiled away from him. They could only meet his eyes for a moment before cowering away. Max saw him and felt his fingertips tingle, "Victor Zsasz..." He whispered to himself, "Fuck... this isn't good."

He wasn't the only one whose mind turned a hundred miles an hour. Barbara had seen him first, and had tried to move people away from him subtly, to try and keep some kind of calm. But in a room with 30 teenagers and an armed serial killer, there wasn't much hope of that.

One boy shuddered in fear and ran for the door. Others followed and piled behind him, yelling that they had to get out, only to find the doors chained from the inside. One guess as to who had the key.

"Now, now kids," Zsasz said, displaying his long, imposing knife, scaring students away from the door, "I know physical education isn't everyone's favorite class, but that's no excuse for cutting."

Barbara eyed the weapon and felt the rage build inside of her, 'There's blood on that knife,' She observed, fearing the worst, 'What did you do, you monster?'

"Your lovely teacher has allowed me to take her place for the day!" "I have an important lesson that half of you will learn, but the other half will be the truly lucky ones! For you will be freed from your rotten mortal coils!"

"You're going to kill us!?" One girl cried out above all others.

"We're gonna die... we're gonna die..."

People were crying, others were yelling. Max just tried to think. All of that noise would do them no good. They could yell all they wanted to. From the outside, it would just sound like gym noise. All of their phones were set aside in gym lockers. They were stuck there until someone realized what was happening, and that wouldn't happen for another hour and twenty minutes or so.

Zsasz chuckled, having been wholly misunderstood by these children, "Oh, no. You're going to kill each other," He clarified for them, holding up the roll, "I have the names of everyone here. When I call you, you'll come up and fight for your lives. Of course, you can always come at me altogether," He suggested, making a show of waving his knife around, "I wonder how many of you I can kill before you manage to stop me? That could be just as enjoyable."

Some of the rowdier students had thought about it. But there wasn't enough unspoken agreement between the group that if one of them jumped, the rest would follow suit.

Zsasz didn't care about whether they would or not. He had his own concerns. Suddenly lashing out, he grabbed one young woman by the hair, "Let's start with you!" She screamed as he started dragging her to the center of the gym floor.

"No!" Barbara exclaimed, fists clenched.

Instead of lashing out violently, Zsasz grinned uncomfortably at Barbara. He threw the girl in his grasp aside and slowly ambled her way, pointing his knife. She was ready to take him on, "You're eager, aren't you, Miss Gordon? Fine. You can fight to the death instead," He declared, "You can fight... Maximilian Gabriel."

From the magic of alphabetization through last names, Max's was just above hers on the roll of students.

"Max?" She repeated, shaking her head with a sneer, "No, we're not doing that."

Zsasz looked at her as though she were the one that didn't understand what was transpiring, "Why do you think I chose your class for this? The commissioner's own blood in a kill-or-be-killed situation," He shuddered in delight at the thought, "The only thing better than you dying here, would be if you killed him."

Barbara and Max eyed each other. She was trying to figure out what he was thinking. His face didn't give her any tells, but from eye contact, she knew he wasn't going to try and do anything to her. His words only confirmed this, "No way. I'm not killing anybody because someone tells me to."

"You heard me already, kids," Zsasz threatened, "Either you fight each other, or you fight me."

After trying to think for several minutes, Max determined that the quickest path to freedom was a straight line – through Zsasz, "...You know what? I think I'll take my chances with you."

"Max!" Barbara exclaimed. Zsasz looked amused at the boy's bravery.

"Barbara, shut up," Max said, entirely serious, "If he's gonna kill half of us, he's at least gonna work for this one."

Barbara pressed her hand to her chest, beseeching Max to reconsider, "Then let me. It's my responsibility-."

Max cut her off, "Why? Why the hell do you have to do it? Because Commissioner Gordon took you in? No," He said. It wasn't her responsibility. If it was anyone's, it was his. This was his fault in the first place, "...Besides, if he kills me, the only one who'll miss me is my boss."

No. Unarmed, even Barbara had reservations about fighting, despite the fact that she had planned to do it, "You don't have to fight Zsasz. We can think of something else. Someone will come. Anything is better than that," Whatever she could say to make him stop. She'd knock him out herself if she needed to.

"Occam's Razor," Max smoothly rebutted.

"What?"

Max didn't say anything else, he just winked at Barbara and walked forward. When Barbara went to grab his hand, he pulled it right out of her grasp, leaving her lined up with the others.

She was scared for him. Max knew there was a good reason. Victor Zsasz was a grade-A murderous git, and he could kill just about anyone in Gotham City with his bare hands if given the chance. Max could tangle with plenty of bad guys... in his suit. He still had a variation of his powers without it, but he couldn't get away with using them willy-nilly. He had to sandbag his metahuman ability without even knowing how effective he could be on his own – a tricky proposition.

And yet, in his mind it was still better than the alternative. Had Barbara fought him, Zsasz would have carved her up, and done so gleefully. At least if the man killed him, he wouldn't enjoy it as much – a quite vindictive way to think of one's own death.

Zsasz waited at the center of the gym floor, knife in hand. He seemed more enthusiastic about fighting Max than if he had gotten two students to actually fight each other, "I want to thank you for volunteering. You're really going to help set an example for the other students. Unfortunately, I can't make this quick. Fighting me is supposed to be the worse option."

Without so much as a change in his speech pattern, Zsasz lunged with a grip aimed at Max's throat. Max sidestepped and weaved out of the way of several aggressive slashes from the serial killer's knife.

Quiet sounds of fear sprang up from the watching student crowd, but Max paid them no mind, instead focusing on how he was going to take this man on bare-handed without revealing that he had powers. Why not? He couldn't ignore that these things weren't his problem any longer. He had caused it, and now his chickens were coming home to roost.

Everyone Victor Zsasz had hurt since escaping Arkham Asylum could possibly be blamed on Max. It was his fault. He had facilitated the breakout by getting Ravager inside. Even if she hadn't intended to free him, it still happened. And it went for more than just Zsasz. Every violent crime committed by all of the former inmates since their escape could be blamed on him.

Max couldn't turn back time, but he could try and take responsibility for what was in front of him. If that meant he had to bleed on the gym's wood floor while a seasoned killer tried to fillet him, so be it. Living an extraordinary life meant giving up a normal one, and the safety that came with it. Although, there were plenty of normal kids who had been trapped in the gym, and they hadn't been safe.

A few inches taller than Zsasz, Max kicked him in the chest, knocking him back with the foot at the end of his long leg. Zsasz stumbled back, and spared a glance to Max's legs. Right, message received. Max realized he had wasted his one free kick. He wouldn't get another easy one of those without getting an artery sliced open.

It was odd to fight without using any powers. He hadn't done it seriously in quite some time. But training with Rose gave him plenty of experience fighting people with dangerous weapons, and a sword was longer than a knife.

Zsasz had very long arms though, and used them by stabbing at Max with the blade. The teenager kept his wits about him, keeping his arms in to make himself as small a target as possible, striking back with prodding jabs whenever he could to remind Zsasz that he wasn't going to sit back and be a victim. Zsasz nicked Max's arms every so often, but they were superficial wounds. Max hardly flinched.

The deadly game of cat and mouse blew up when an impatient move from Zsasz led to Max grabbing his wrist from his side. He had a hold on him and he had his flank. Advantage Max. Zsasz Frantically tried to gouge at Max's eyes, leaving a long series of bloody, red marks on the side of his face. Max headbutted him in the side of the face, smashing him in the orbital area.

Zsasz reeled back and dropped the knife from his captured hand, catching it in the other. Max saw this and let go, getting away just as his foe went to open his belly with a horizontal swing.

On the sidelines, Barbara gawked. Max was doing it. He was actually doing it. He'd lasted longer than ten seconds. Much more; almost two minutes at this point. He was actually fighting back. A lot of students knew that Max had kickboxed at one point in time, but no one knew if he still trained or not. Even if he had, there was a serious difference from sparring at half-speed with a training partner and fighting a murderous psychopath with a body count that could fill a bus.

Barbara stopped observing long enough to realize that Max occupying Zsasz had gifted her a golden opportunity to get everyone out, "Bobby pin. I need a bobby pin," She said, wishing she had brought one for her own hair that day. Her whispers caught the attention of another girl who looked at her like a deer in the headlights "Do you have one? I need it, now!"

The girl shakily brought her hands up and freed her hair from the tiny piece of metal, allowing Barbara to take it. The redhead carefully crept from the line of students over to the door. It was padlocked shut. She could pick it, as long as she had the time and didn't break the bobby pin.

Max kept avoiding more wounds from Zsasz's knife. He was so engrossed in keeping his eye on the weapon, he missed the killer's empty hand coming up to grasp around his throat. Max gagged when Zsasz bony, yet surprisingly strong grip wrapped around his neck. Using his new handhold, Zsasz attempted to stab Max in the belly, but Max used both hands to stop the madman from running him through. This didn't mean anything to Zsasz, however.

"It doesn't matter, boy. There's no use struggling. In Arkham, I practice isometrics for 16 hours a day!" "It's only a matter of time until things go dark enough for those muscles to go weak, and when they do..."

He was right. Max knew he was. But he wouldn't use his powers. Not in front of all of them. Not until he knew he was truly dead meat. His air cut off, his vision began to get fuzzy. His attempts to hold Zsasz off weakened. The knife crept forward, the tip touching his shirt, and then his flesh. He felt it pierce his skin.

Zsasz could smell blood, literally, when a thick chain wrapped around his neck. He let go of Max, and the boy faltered for a moment before a rush of air gave new strength to his body and mind. Behind Zsasz, Barbara attempted to strangle him with the same chain that had locked the door shut.

Afraid of what would happen if Zsasz could fight her off, Max stood and charged him. Zsasz threw his weight up on Barbara and kicked Max with both legs, knocking the woozy boy to the ground and falling back onto the girl. Turning his knife around, He started stabbing behind himself, trying to get at Barbara as she moved beneath him, trying to avoid the business end of the knife and keep her hold on him.

Thrashing like a wild animal, Zsasz eventually freed himself, turning around to mount Barbara. He lifted his knife, but he hesitated. Even as he tried to bring his hands down to stab into the girl, he couldn't. His hands remained stuck in the air long enough for Barbara to squirm loose and smash him in the face with the heavy metal chain.

After being knocked off, Zsasz staggered up, noticing that the gym was empty, save for himself and the two students who had opposed him. The rest had escaped.

It was all falling apart, "No! No! No! No!" Zsasz bellowed, sprinting out of the room. He needed to salvage this. He hadn't spilled enough blood yet, and hadn't spilled the blood he wanted.

Both Max and Barbara got up and went after him, "Did he get you?" Max asked, noticing that Barbara had red on her down by her hip.

Barbara hadn't noticed until Max had brought it up, but once she did, the warm, wet sensation of her own blood staining her gym clothes became prevalent, "It's fine," It wasn't, but she'd had worse, "What about you?"

There were light cuts all over Max's arm, with a bigger gash at his stomach. His white t-shirt was also stained with blood. Much like Barbara, unbeknownst to the other, he'd had worse, "Someone's got to get that guy."

That much the two of them agreed on, "Alright," Barbara agreed, "...But if you go lone wolf on me again, I'll knock you out," She threatened, wanting to ask him about what he had been thinking back in the gym. But there were more pressing issues at hand, "Going on lockdown isn't going to do much if the SROs can't find Zsasz before he finds anyone else."

Max nodded and gestured for the two of them to go, "Keep that chain, would you?" He requested. He preferred she had something to use as a weapon if push came to shove, 'I didn't think I'd ever have to do this shit in school,' He thought to himself as he and Barbara ran off.

XxX

(Several Minutes Later – Outside of the School Building)

Honest to goodness fear gripped Commissioner Gordon's heart when he received word of the lockdown situation at what he knew was Barbara's school. Things had gone south in the city since the Arkham breakout, and deep down he knew that there was always a chance that something would hit home for him, but this was something else altogether.

The commissioner was at the scene while precincts were still trying to muster officers to tend to the situation. The four cars of officers that had been close enough to respond quickly and put up a small perimeter on the streets around the school were all he had for the first few minutes.

He wanted to go in right then and there, but there were procedures that needed to be adhered to. Why couldn't this happen at night when the Batman was more active? When most of Gotham City's police force was out and ready for whatever the city had to throw at them?

One of the officers that had first made it to the school jogged up to Gordon with a report, "Sir, SROs are keeping watch for him, but there are only two for the whole school."

That wasn't nearly enough to canvas a building that large searching for one person. That, and the school resource officers would be targets that were only slightly less vulnerable than the school's staff.

"Are any students in his hands?" Gordon asked, fearing the answer.

The officer shook his head, "As far as we know? No," Good. But no good news came without some sort of complication, "But the power is out inside. Just went down."

Despite that, the commissioner knew they still had a window to act before more kids were put in danger, "He doesn't have any leverage to keep any officers from coming into the building if he doesn't have any hostages. But he could still be hiding anywhere," Gordon said before declaring his orders, the sound of more approaching sirens signifying support on the way, "The moment backup arrives, I want teams set up within five. I want the kids brought outside. Classroom-to-classroom. I want the entire school swept. Go!"

XxX

(Meanwhile – Inside the School Building)

With the power to the building going out, no one needed any guesses as to where Zsasz had gotten off to after fleeing the gymnasium. This was both good and bad. Good that he wasn't going after any more people just yet. Bad that he chose to move toward the most dangerous part of the school to try and corral him in with no light to use.

It was also bad because neither one could get the other to go away and leave them alone to deal with the trouble.

"Why are you still here?"

"Why are you still here?"

Max was miffed. With Zsasz blocking Barbara's view and Zsasz's back to him, he was able to use his powers for a moment to keep him from killing her. If Barbara wasn't there, and Max found Zsasz, he would use his powers to rip the man's knife out of his hands and shove it into his guts. He doubted he would get another opening to use his powers in any significant way if she lingered. Barbara wasn't a fool. If she saw him flicking his fingers and hands around to toss electricity, or magnetically control things – which he needed to do in order to make his powers work outside of the amplifying suit – she would know something was up.

Barbara was also miffed. She did not want a civilian like Max around. She didn't have any of her weapons. The best she could do on such short notice was a chain. That was it. Max could handle himself, he had shown that much, but he had also almost been killed once already. The next time they came across Zsasz, he would be backed into a corner, and that much more of a threat because of it.

Neither of them wanted the other there, thinking it was too dangerous. And neither could find an opportunity to ditch the other. Besides, it would be just as bad for the other to let them go off on their own while Mr. Zsasz was loose. If they missed getting him, that left the other vulnerable for him to prey upon.

After a while of enduring the other's presence in the low light of the windowless hall leading to the custodial area, they stopped. A bloody pair of white boxers rested on the floor.

"He left his underwear?" Max asked, cursing his mind for actually making him see the image of a naked Zsasz terrorizing his school, "So you're telling me, we've got a knife-wielding maniac running around in the nude?"

"Yes, Max," For some reason, Zsasz preferred wearing as few clothes as possible. Batman had determined that he did so to show off his various tally mark scars, "Please take this seriously."

"I am taking this seriously," Max drawled, "I'm just saying, if I fight him again, and he, like, drags his dick across my face or something, I can't be held responsible for what I do to him. I'd rather get stabbed."

"That's not funny," Barbara told him, despite the upward pull of her lips saying otherwise.

"You're smiling," Max replied, a smile of his own on his face before he noticed Barbara had been walking and holding her side for some time now, "You sure you're alright?"

Barbara waved him off and attempted to reassure him, "It's not bleeding that much."

Max frowned at the redhead, "You should really go back," He needed to come up with a way to get her out of his hair, "As a matter of fact, we both should. The police are totally here. I heard sirens."

Barbara looked back down the hall from where they'd come from, "Yeah, okay. You're right. I'm right behind you."

Max nodded. She was seeing reason. Now he could drop her off with the cops, find an opportunity to slip away like the thief he was, and come back inside to-.

A tickle in his body prompted him to turn around and block a sharp jab from Barbara aimed at the back of his neck.

Max's static field that he used to determine threats or other movement alerted him to sudden activity from Barbara. Out of his suit, it was weaker, but with his attention heightened as it was in the hunt for Zsasz, he was keeping closer tabs on it.

Barbara stared at Max, wide-eyed that she'd been stopped from knocking him out. Now things were awkward. She'd planned to knock him out, stash him in a locker, and leave him for police to get when they swept the building while she went to deal with Zsasz. Whatever it took to get Max out of harm's way.

From the look on his face, he was livid by her attempted act, "...What the fuck was that supposed to be?" He said, his tone tempered with a tranquil sort of fury.

Max had never seen Barbara look embarrassed before. If he hadn't been so angry, he probably would have found it cute, "You... weren't supposed to block that," She admitted.

"Yeah, I figured."

"...So now what?"

"Now, we-," Max noticed a figure creeping atop the lockers and shoved Barbara out of the way as Zsasz descended, driving his knife downward. Though he managed to get Barbara clear, the knife sank itself deep into Max's forearm as Zsasz knocked him to the ground. He swore he felt the metal touch bone, "AAAHHHH!"

Yes. This was what Zsasz had been waiting for. Only, not quite. There was very little fear in Max's eyes. Even now, with Zsasz on top of him, knife tearing into his prey, the boy wasn't truly scared. More than anything else, he seemed livid that this was even happening.

Yes, Max was angry. His forearm had been sliced up and would leave behind scars. He'd had more than enough of Mister Zsasz for the day. With the arm that hadn't been hacked up, Max reached for low-hanging fruit.

Zsasz's ecstasy of violence came to an embarrassing and agonizing end when a shocking, burning pain tore at his nether regions, "GRRAAAAHH!" A horrifying scream ripped from his throat as for several of the longest seconds of his life, Max ruthlessly zapped his genitals with what raw electricity he could muster.

To hell with not using his powers, Max reasoned. Zsasz deserved it ten times over, and the time for sandbagging one's skills was over once a guy started hacking you to bits with a knife. If Barbara was looking down there to see what he was doing instead of actually helping him win, he really had to question where her priorities were.

Zsasz's suffering ended for the time being when Barbara ran up and smashed the point of her elbow on the top of Zsasz's head, knocking him out cold. She dragged Zsasz's body off of Max. As she went to kick the knife away from him, Max got up and busied himself with soccer-kicking the killer in the head as he held his new wounds, "Mother! Fucker! This! Is! Why! We! Wear! Fucking! Pants!"

Barbara put a hand on him to try and settle him down, "Max, stop. It's over," She tried to talk him down, sparing a glance back at the downed criminal, "Uh... did you-?"

"-I tried to tear his goddamn balls off," Max said bluntly, misleading her as to what he'd actually done. Using electricity had arguably been more vicious than if he'd simply used his hands. More effective for sure, because it went through his entire body. It was just that the point of contact was Zsasz's testicles. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. As far as Max was concerned, he'd done the world a public service, "Ugh. This one looks deep," He said, speaking of his own wound.

Barbara eased Max over to a wall and sat him down. She wanted to rest as well. Her own wound had been bleeding for some time now. The two of them were both a mess, "Well... you did say you'd rather get stabbed than have him drag his you-know-what across your face."

Max gave her an odd look before giving her a chuckle, "You know what? I'm pretty sure he did both. You should have hit him harder. Not like you could scramble his brains more than they already are."

The echoing sounds of officers hustling through the halls, getting ever closer to the two of them was music to their ears.

XxX

(Four Hours Later – Gotham General Hospital)

By the early afternoon, the scene around the school was still a busy one. Many students were still being processed by police, which meant no one could go home. The only plus to being whisked away to the hospital was that Max didn't have to sit around outside the school, waiting to go home like everyone else.

Max sat on a chair, waiting to be discharged. His arm and his other smaller wounds had been fixed up in the emergency room fairly quickly.

As he waited, he couldn't get his mind off of the two covered figures he'd watched get carted out of the school. He watched until he himself had been loaded up and taken away.

Two people. Two people were dead. One of them was a person he'd seen every other day for the better part of a year, his gym teacher. He wasn't particularly close to any of his teachers, but it was still jarring, especially when he considered that his actions indirectly led to Zsasz getting free.

Barbara had been taken away in an ambulance as well. She had walked out under her own power, alongside him, but she was quickly taken away and put on a stretcher by Commissioner Gordon himself, making sure she went straight to get treated. It was interesting to see the same hard-ass cop that had set up a trap to arrest him fret over his family. Everyone had more than one side to them, it seemed.

Max languished in boredom, dressed in clothes lent to him by the hospital. All of his stuff was still in his gym locker at school, phone included. He wasn't going to be getting to any of that for a while.

It had probably been blown up with calls and texts from Selina by now, wondering what had happened to him. If he actually remembered her number by heart, he'd have asked for someone else's phone to give her a courtesy call, 'What am I thinking? She isn't related to me,' He thought to himself.

…Though he had started using her as an emergency contact whenever he had to fill out forms. She was literally his only emergency contact.

He could already hear the earful he was going to get from her whenever he got around to that. Probably best to get it over with as soon as possible. He'd likely go see her that night, after a nap. God, a nap sounded fantastic.

Eyes slowly closing at the thought of getting some rest, Max went back on notice when he felt someone walk up to him. He looked up to see the face of the man he had last been that close to back when he had been framed.

A glint of fluorescent light off of the glasses on his face obscured his eyes, "Do you know who I am, son?" The man asked behind his white mustache.

Max nodded, knowing full well who he was dealing with, "Commissioner Gordon. Barbara's dad," He said, standing up to shake his hand.

Commissioner Gordon nodded, regarding the high school student, "Everyone in that class is saying you were a hero for taking on Zsasz," He told Max, "I say you were stupid, but you're still alive. Barbara is too. So, thank you."

Receiving thanks for anything that he did, especially when he felt he had his own reasons for doing them, still didn't sit well with Max, "She got knifed dragging that freak off of me. If anything, I should be thanking her," He mentioned before realizing that he hadn't inquired about his classmate's condition, "...She is okay, isn't she?"

Gordon waved off Max's concern, "She's fine. Just as irritated at being stuck here as you seemed to be when I came up to you," The boy masked it well, but the man noticed his relief, "Do you want to see her? I'm sure she's willing to let you."

Max's spine straightened up. He did want to see her. He liked Barbara. He always had. It would have done a lot to ease his mind if he got to see that she was okay. But then again, he didn't want to see her. The entire episode at school had been weird. She'd gotten way too close to the weirdness in his life, and then there was the thing about her trying and failing to knock him out.

"I..." Max hesitated at first before a defiant streak rallied with him. Why not? Enough had gone wrong today that he might as well finish strong with his misfortunes, "You know what? Yeah. That'd be great Mr. Gordon. Err, Commissioner Gordon."

The commissioner let out a chuckle and led Max to Barbara's room, standing just outside to give Max the chance to talk to her by himself. Max was grateful for that. Watching his notoriously loose tongue around Barbara's adopted father wasn't really anything he wanted to add to the stress of that day.

She noticed him enter before he could say anything, her blue eyes lighting up in recognition, "Hey, you. Pick any more fights with serial killers?"

Max grinned and stood by her bed while she rested under the covers, "I try to keep my interactions with psychos to a one-per-day limit," He made a great show of smacking his lips and looking around before speaking again, "So... probably should have listened to me and went back."

Barbara's mouth fell open, "What? Max! Are you kidding me?" She raised her voice, an angry look forming on her face.

Max held up his hands to show he wasn't serious, "I'm just messing around," He said. Despite his attempt at frivolity, his heart wasn't much into it, "Though... I'm not really in the mood to joke. I guess I shouldn't anyway."

Barbara reached out and grabbed his hand for support, "Max, the people he killed were dead before he tried to take the class hostage. You didn't do anything wrong," She said to reassure him.

Max winced. The five words he had been hoping no one would say to him had just come out of Barbara's mouth. Until then, he'd done a good job of avoiding them. He swore, if anyone had enough lack of tact to call him a hero to his face today, he would start yelling. But for now, he was just tired. More than anything else, he just wanted to go home.

"I'll keep that in mind," Max said with a weak smile, trying to move past the issue, "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I hope you get better soon."

Barbara looked down at her stitched wound, covered by bandages and her hospital gown. Quite troublesome trifle of an injury, "This? I'll be walking this off by tonight."

"No, you won't," Commissioner Gordon chimed in, letting his presence be known from the door, "You'll be in bed unless you absolutely need to get up for something."

Max took the commissioner's intrusion, and Barbara's beginning to argue that she was alright as an excuse to head out, "Well, I'll see you soon. Take care, Barb."

"Do you want a ride home?" She offered, pointing her thumb at Commissioner Gordon, feigning some annoyance with him, "I'm sure dad's getting stir-crazy enough sitting here that he could drop you off."

Nope. In fact, Max was certain that there was nothing less he wanted than to be stuck in a car with Gotham City's top cop, "No. I've gotta get out of here before I keel over in my chair. Besides, I'm sure he'd rather stick around with you right now."

Barbara faltered after looking at her adopted father and seeing him make eye contact with her, "If you're sure."

Max started walking for the door, choosing to depart with one last half-hearted jab at his favorite redhead, "Ah, don't worry so much. After all, I'm not the one in a hospital bed," He clicked his tongue at her and laughed at her disgusted scoff before disappearing from sight.

Commissioner Gordon noticed Barbara simultaneously smiling and scowling at Max, "It seems like you know each other pretty well," He pointed out, prompting a curious look from her, "I'm just saying, it was a little bit of a surprise. You never talk much about how you're doing at school aside from your grades," The man shrugged, "He seems alright. A little obstinate, but I've dealt with far worse."

Barbara could admit that Max had some no-goodnik traits about him, but never anything malicious, "He has to live on his own. He works hard to keep everything together by himself," She said, explaining what she knew of Max's background without dipping into his more personal business, "He's not a bad kid. He's really a decent guy."

"It doesn't seem like he thinks so."

Barbara frowned. Yes, more than once the thought had crossed her mind that Max wasn't fond of who he was, "I just think he's used to not counting on anyone."

XxX

(Later That Evening – With Max – Tin Roof Club)

Max had put off checking in with Selina for as long as possible, but he wasn't a cruel boy. Just a self-centered teenager. Making sure she knew for certain that he was alive could wait until after he'd caught up on some sleep. Realistically, with this mindset, he should have expected to receive no help from her when he walked into the bar and was spotted by his newest coworker.

Q's eyes welled up dramatically and her lip quivered as she watched Max approach. He recognized the danger of his situation far too late to react, "Come here!" She cried out, jumping over the bar. Max turned to run far too late to get away before he felt solid contact against his back and arms wrapped tightly around him, "Juuuunior! That was so scary!"

There was no escape.

"Ehhhhhhh," Max whined, clearly uncomfortable with the concerned affection of someone he was still getting to know, "Q, let go! What the hell?"

The small, blonde woman held on tight, barely letting Max's arms move while she blubbered dramatically into his back, "Zsasz could have cut you from the back of your taint to the tip of your nose, Junior! What were you thinkin'? Fightin' him for a bunch'a other brats? It was all over TV! Who do you think you are?"

"Goddamn 11 o'clock news!" Max spat bitterly.

Selina moved in toward the unwanted hug, into Max's field of vision, "News at noon, actually. 6 was the first I'd heard anything about you being safe, despite calling you all morning," She said pointedly, "…You don't know how to pick up a phone, Maxie?"

"Not when it's locked up in the school gym, I don't," Max groused over his lost phone, while still unable to free himself from Q's tender mercies, "Can you let go? I'm good."

She didn't.

"Uh-huh," Selina said, reaching for Max's forearm where a massive bandage rested. In doing so, all of the smaller cuts he'd gotten came into view in the low bar light, "Jesus, way to let him cut a bunch of chunks out of you."

Q let one arm off of Max long enough to swat at Selina, "Stop pickin' on him. Can't you see he's been through a lot?"

With Q coming to his defense, Max preened at his boss smugly, "Yeah, I've had a trying day. You should be grateful I came to see you at all instead of sleeping for like 12 hours straight," Selina glared before taking on a cattish grin. She moved in to sandwich Max between a two-sided hug that he had no interest in, "Hey! No! You too? Get off of me!"

"You know you love it," Selina said, taking great pleasure in getting back at Max for his smart mouth

Q sniffled, "Junior, I know you're still emotionally reboundin' right now, what with your bad breakup and all. But I want'cha to know I'm here for you."

"Sh-sh-sha!" Max finally shook the women off, getting distance while flailing his arms. He took his opportunity to beat a retreat behind the bar, "God! I need a positive male influence in my life before it's too late. Or at least some real dude friends."

Selina nodded, "Agreed. You spend much time around me, you feel the need to overcompensate for the sake of your masculinity; going around, being the knight in shining armor," Max responded by throwing a rag at her that missed.

Q slipped behind the bar and tugged on Max's cheeks, "Look at our big hero. We lookin' at a ceremony? Ooh! Ya might get a medal and a key to the city or somethin'!"

Max gently removed the bubbly woman's hand from his face and set himself to work, "Q, I'm gonna need you to cool it," He said, finding it funny to think about, "Seriously. There is no way I'm getting a ceremony."

XxX

(Two Days Later – City Hall)

"I can't believe I'm getting a fucking ceremony!" Max hissed to himself under his breath.

Seated near a podium at the top of the steps to the most important government building in the city, Max looked out at the hundreds gathered in the crowd, along with the press. He really should have thought this through before accepting.

"Why am I here by myself?" He continued to complain, messing with his suit, "Put Barbara up here. She's fine. She can walk. She's the one with the goddamn police commissioner in her bloodline. Let her be the hero."

Dumb students. They just had to go and spread the word that he'd been the one to step up to fight Zsasz in the middle of the gym. And by the time Barbara got involved, they had all hightailed it out of there.

Selina grabbed Max's hand to keep him from further fussing with his tie, "Oh, be quiet. Just suck it up for an hour, shake some self-important old people's hands, and get yourself a medal that you can pawn in ten years."

Max smirked, glad Selina had dolled herself up to come along. She brought some much needed levity to the boring affair, "Pfft. You think the piece of crap they give me will get more than five bucks at a pawn shop?"

"Now-now, Maxie. I'm sure it will have sentimental value."

"Will sentimental value get me a new car? I miss my sweet-ass car."

The two had been bantering back and forth ever since the city figures had gone up to the podium and started giving their speeches, lumping Max in every so often to tie to their point. If any camera from the press was on him, the only expression any of them would catch was the most lifeless one imaginable. The face of a teenage boy who would rather be anywhere else.

"Well, there's a bonus to this," Selina remarked as she idly inspected her nails, "Now I can start taking you to some of the upper-crust parties I get invited to. After all, everyone will want to meet the hero boy."

"Nope," Max immediately shot that idea down, "I'd rather fight fucking Zsasz again. Balls a-swinging and all."

Selina rolled her eyes at his melodramatic reply, "It's a lot of fun. More fun than you'd think. There's free food, free booze-."

"I don't drink."

The seasoned cat burglar continued, unimpeded, "-And lots of nice, fat targets you can get information on. You're supposed to be my apprentice. This is part of it."

"Oh, so you claim me now?" Max challenged.

Selina reached out and stroked his hair in a familial manner. Sometimes she mothered him, sometimes she picked on him like a sister. But it had been their dynamic for months, and it was comfortable, "I always claimed you. I'm just more hands-off in my mentoring. Clearly it's been working."

The two had a bit of a moment that drew to a close as Max's moment arrived. The mayor himself wrapped up his own speech as a long, black limousine surrounded by security pulled up, Selina's sharp eyes caught sight of the tall, dark man who stepped out of the back. Her breath hitched, 'I did not know that man was going to be here.'

The mayor gestured down to the limousine as the man inside began making his way up the city hall stairs, "And now, to present the hero of the day with his award, the owner of Wayne Enterprises! Our fair city's favorite son, Bruce Wayne!"

The crowd applauded. Max just looked on disinterestedly until Selina grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face her, "What the-?"

Instead of the casual joking and riffing they had been doing on the speakers and the event itself so far, Max found himself facing a deadly serious Selina, "Don't embarrass me up there."

Max shrugged his way out of her grasp, "What? Why? And how? What do you think I'm gonna do, hit him up for a fat grant? ...On stage?" Because he was definitely going to hit Bruce Wayne up for a grant. He probably wasn't going to get it, but a closed mouth didn't get fed, after all, "Why do you even...?"

When Max trailed off with a deep look of thought on his face, Selina began to panic, "What's with that look?" She asked.

The boy pondered until an epiphany struck him, "No. No way," He said to her and to himself in disbelief.

Selina's terror deepened. He was catching on. How? She'd been so careful to hide her thing with Brice from him, "Whatever it is you're thinking right now, stop. You're wrong."

"You're gonna rob Bruce Wayne? Billionaire playboy and philanthropist, Bruce Wayne?" He guessed incorrectly. Selina heaved a sigh of relief while Max gushed, "How long have you been working on him? That's why you want me to go to those parties, isn't it? To help! Oh, this is gonna be so-!"

As amusing as it was, Selina needed to keep him from getting too much of the wrong idea, "I'm not going to rob him! Don't worry about why I want you to behave. Just do it. God, why do I have to tell you not to be a brat?"

Max took the rebuke smoothly, letting it simply wash over and off of him, "Scorpion and the Frog, baby."

The two of them had missed all of whatever Bruce Wayne was going to say, right up until he actually got around to introducing the young man of the hour, "-Let's all give a hand to a very courageous young man. The kind of individual that gives the good people of Gotham hope that we can stand up against the evil elements of our city. Ladies and gentlemen, Maximillion Gabriel!"

Sighing in resignation, Max stood, smoothed out his suit, and walked up to the podium to shake everyone's hand, have a quick word with them, and eventually have a medal placed around his neck. He shook Bruce Wayne's hand last. The man leaned over to speak quietly to him, "You sure don't look very excited to be here," He said, calling him out.

Max raised an eyebrow. That obvious, was it? "Trust me, I'm just as excited as you are, man," He rebutted.

If Selina heard him say that, she'd chew him out. To his disbelief, Bruce Wayne actually chuckled. Well, as long as things were going well, why not try and keep the gravy train rolling?

Once the formal proceedings came to an end, Max tried his luck with the billionaire, "So, uh... is there any chance I could get, like, a grant or something?" He asked under his breath.

"Seriously?" Bruce deadpanned.

Max didn't back down. There was no shame in trying and being told no, "Hey, scared money don't make money. It gets weird out here in these streets," How many times in life would someone get a one-on-one opportunity to try and squeeze a billionaire for cash?

Bruce stared Max down for several seconds seeing the complete lack of shame at trying to shake him down, "Sure, I don't see why not," He eventually said, relishing the look of shock on the boy's face. His gaze strayed over to where Selina stood off to the side, waiting on Max, yet pretending that she wasn't intrigued by the conversation, "Is that your guardian?"

Max turned to where Selina was trying and failing to be inconspicuous. Dressed as she was, there was no way she hadn't been getting glances all morning. It was also clear she was eavesdropping, "No, more like a benefactor... mentor... boss woman... lady," He tried and failed to define their relationship, "Whatever she is, she isn't my guardian. I'm way too old, and she's way too young to take me in."

That, and Selina would never tolerate him moving in with her. Ever. Had he ever been desperate enough to ask to crash with her, he expected he would have gotten to watch a woman die of laughter. No Joker Venom necessary.

Bruce put on a small smile, "Well, she looks charming. I'll tell you what. Let me have a word with her about your character, and we'll see about that grant," He said with a pat on the shoulder.

Part of Max wanted to give Selina plenty of room to work with in how she dealt with Bruce Wayne, since clearly his opinion meant something to her. However, another side of him wanted to see if he could torpedo whatever angle she was working, just to see the looks on both of their faces.

Max feigned conflict in his body language and expression, "I mean... I'm not entirely comfortable with pimping out my mentor for an opportunity," From where they were, he saw Selina's mouth fall open. It took every fiber of his being not to start laughing then and there. That was what she got for eavesdropping, "You know what? Go on ahead. I'll let you work things out with her."

Bruce barely reacted, even when Max walked off to avoid Selina's wrath and to give her some space to talk with him. By the time he got to her, she was seething, "Gonna kill him..." Were the first words out of her mouth.

The powerful billionaire settled in for what he expected to turn into a contentious talk, "I wouldn't do that. I'm pretty sure he'd give you more trouble than you'd care to deal with," He started off with saying, "I would have figured you'd have smartened him up to who I was. He's your ward, isn't he?"

Selina raised an eyebrow at the man. He figured she knew him better than that, "I'm not in the business of telling other people's secrets, Bruce. Besides, Max doesn't have any need to know what the cat and the bat get up to," She said, thinly alluding to their other sides.

So she was going to play things this way? Fair enough. He didn't expect her to just outright admit it, "I just figured you would have after knowing what happened the last time we crossed paths. I was pretty rough on him, but it looks like he healed up just fine," Selina narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists, knowing what he was talking about, "You did a good job until now. You being here isn't what got my attention. I had a hunch before I came here, and then I saw you. Seeing you just sealed it," He tried to spare her as a consolation for secrets being discovered.

Selina crossed her arms and looked away at the boy they were talking about. Max was busy trying to avoid any contact with the press and leave the gathering, "A hunch. Sure. If it wasn't me, then what was it?"

"I've been putting it together for a while. Never anything concrete enough to move on back when he had warrants. But here? Zsasz had a very particular set of burns on his testicles and groin. Electric burns," Bruce explained, "Barbara didn't have a taser, and even if she did, it wouldn't have done as much damage as what doctors found."

"Goddamn it, Max," Selina breathed in a sigh, "Give me a minute."

Bruce nodded and stood off while Selina quickly walked over to her young ward, flicking him on the ear to get his attention, "Hey, you little troublemaker."

Max's eyes brightened when he saw her, despite his trepidation from what he'd done moments ago, "Hey. You aren't mad about the joke from before, are you? Come on. He thought it was funny."

Instead of being upset, Selina was all smiles, "Actually, I'm just about to leave to meet with Mr. Wayne," She went into her purse and threw Max her keys, "Take my car to your place. Bring it to the bar tonight for your shift and leave the keys if I don't come. I'll pick it up whenever."

That sounded good to Max. The sooner he could get out of his suit, the better. Plus, he got to drive Selina's sports car, "You've got it. I'll see you then. You have to tell me how it goes."

"Oh, trust me. I'm sure you're going to hear all about it later," Selina said through her teeth somewhat ominously. Max didn't catch her emphasis as he began to leave, "Be good! And don't crash my car!"

"Yeah-yeah-yeah..." Max said, spinning her car keys on his finger as he went to find the vehicle.

Selina watched him vanish through the event crowd before her smile dropped and she stormed back over to Bruce. She fell into step with him as they went straight to his limousine, "Alright, Bruce. Let's go chat."

A consequence of Max's compliance with the Arkham Asylum breakout comes home to roost in a series of events he hadn't considered. Oh woe of woes! Now his Null persona isn't so secure! Can Selina run any kind of damage control, or will Max have to find a way to keep things from getting worse on his own?

There's plenty of other freaks and bad guys puttering about in Gotham City, and Red Hood is still consolidating his position as a force. Will we see more of that next time? Well, just wait and see, folks. That's all I can say.