Collin James had always been a strange man, but if you spend your life trying to please everybody you'll waste away having squandered the life you had been given, or at least that's what Collin kept telling himself.
He had once led a great life, a brilliant neurosurgeon that divided his time between Gotham General Hospital and the infamous Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Upon finding out about Hugo Strange's brutal experiments on the inmates (sometimes referred to as "patients" to make the Asylum sound slightly less harsh), the young doctor stood up to him in an attempt to put an end to these experiments. This is how he ended up in Arkham City, where enemies of Strange were taken and thrown into a brutal environment to compete with inmates and other political prisoners for survival.
Collin often compared the City to The Lord of the Flies, a perfect comparison if there ever was one. After being thrown in, several inmates attempted to corner him since he was often thought of as the brain surgeon born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but they were soon proven wrong. Collin had traveled the world in his gap year between his undergraduate years and medical school learning various street fighting and mixed martial arts techniques in Central and South America as well as parts of Asia. He had accumulated the money to get through medical school with very little debt from his work as a paid assassin upon the conclusion of his extensive training.
Naturally, the inmates were either killed or doomed to urinate sitting down for the rest of their lives, assuming they could even walk. Nobody had dared to bother the young surgeon since that fateful moment.
Collin had taken up residence with the Riddler upon his incarceration, having bonded with the master of riddles over their mutual love for knowledge and their never ending desire to learn. Of course, Collin had been the humble one of the pair, Nygma never missing a chance to flaunt his knowledge and intellectual superiority. After a few weeks, there was a mutual agreement that the pair go their separate ways, so the young doctor quickly made his home in a small abandoned apartment. It certainly wasn't fancy, but it suited his basic needs, which was more than one could ask for in Arkham city.
Collin slowly walked through the streets of the City, ever wary of his surroundings. The supply drop was due any minute now, and he was beginning to run low on water. His grip tightened on his crowbar. He had looted supply drops countless times, but today was different. Something didn't feel right.
He heard a sobbing sound coming from a nearby alley, which was nothing out of the ordinary in the City. Political prisoners who were unaccustomed to the harsh environment into which they were unexpectedly plunged could often be heard cowering in alleys and in trash cans, doing anything to survive for just one more night. He continued on his journey as usual, until he heard a gruff voice come from the alley.
"Check out the rack on her."
"Oh, yeah. She'll do, eh?" another voice replied.
Collin made a detour down the alley immediately, never turning down a chance to crack a few skulls, especially when an innocent life was in danger.
"Problem, fellas?" he called, making the two men in the alley jump out of their skin.
"Piss off!" one of the men called. "None of your business, pretty boy!"
When it became clear that Collin would not "piss off," one of the men made the mistake of attacking. Without slowing his pace, Collin gave the man a solid hit on the head with the crowbar, sending him to the ground with a hard and painful thump. Collin smiled as he watched the other man run away down the alley. Never gets old.
He walked over to a nearby garbage bin, following the sound of the sobs. Upon arrival he looked inside and was met with a very strange sight. He saw a young woman with blonde pigtails colored red and black on each end, a face covered with makeup, wearing a red and black corset and leggings, all topped off with absurdly high high-heeled boots.
He leaned on the side of the bin and smiled. "What're you doing here, beautiful?" He placed a hand on her head. Temperature's fine, I need to get her out of here before an infection sets in.
"Didn't get the joke," she panted, before losing consciousness completely.
Collin ran a hand over her neck. Pulse is passable. I should get her out of here.
But should you? He heard the voice of his former guru in his head. Another mouth to feed and another life to watch out for, sure you can handle that?
Of course I can. I can't just leave her here.
Anyone else would. Humans have the instinct to satisfy their own needs before worrying about others. Some call it selfishness, but it's completely logical.
Hardly. I'll take her and deal with the repercussions later.
Whatever you say, Collin. Just remember, you've been wrong before.