Thanks for all the favorites and follows! I appreciate it! This chapter leaves on a BIG cliff hanger, so I hope you guys enjoy and I appreciate reviews! I'll try to write the next chapter up quick, since there will only be two more left before it ends. Anyways, thanks again and enjoy!

I do not Batman or any other DC characters.

Gotham Ghoul

Chapter IX

MoNsTeR

"I've created a monster." -Rip Taylor

It was another day again from counting down.

Something had been pulled again from his body.

Tim blinked at this and attempted to open right eye but his eyelid closed over it. The eyelid itself was closed in on him but what he forgot from his multiple states of psychosis was that the Doctor had pulled out his right eyeball.

He had panicked when the Doctor had pulled out another torture device and moved it towards his eye. He had watched as the Doctor pulled back the skin around his eye to get the eyeball out of the eye socket.

He forced himself into a mental break down.

He couldn't help himself.

He was beginning to break down.

He was started to be reformed into the role of a monster.

He was beginning to be the monster in his own tale.

BuT wAsN't I a MoNsTeR tO bEgIn WiTh? he thought to himself and then the Doctor walked in front of him, staring at the remains of what once a hero.

"Have you fallen back into your state of psychosis? I know you've been doing that for a while, lost bird. I am betting that you trying to subdue your knowledge of your torture by taking a break from reality. It is interesting when you do go into that state. You're body becomes nothing but a piece of meat, dead on the inside." Scarecrow said as he the sat down in front of him from a wooden stool he kept. He stared at the blank expression on Tim's face before Tim slowly looked up to the Doctor. His expression remained motionless until he pulled out a shit eating grin saying, "But I have no fun when I'm with you anymore!"

The Doctor froze at this and waited for Tim to continue. He sat up more and his hair almost fell in front of his eyes.

"Sure, we've had fun in the past with you stripping me of my flesh and pulling my body apart but it's gotten so boring to me. There is no more excitement with you. My own twisted mind is more fun to roam in!" Tim stated and giggled at this as Scarecrow then stood up at this, moving towards his instruments on the table. He glanced around to them before looking towards Tim and grinned.

"Oh, you have no more fun with me? What a petty because now the fun will begin." He said and then pulled out a stake, like one to stab a vampire in the heart. Tim watched him and the Scarecrow then plunged the stake into his left leg.

Pain roared in his head and he grinned wider at the sight of blood running down his leg. The stake had pushed through his leg and attacked muscles that were of importance, almost even hitting an artery. Blood began to cascade down his leg and he rolled his head around before chuckling at the sight of this.

"Oh what a delight! It's as if my own mind is putting on a performance to enjoy in reality!" he cried out in a raving speak and the Scarecrow watched as Tim giggled at the pain, "Pain has become nothing to me, Crane. You've run out of good ideas to perform! This small game we have going on isn't going to last for to long."

Then before he could say anything else, Crane forced Tim's head back and his jaw opened wide.

"How about I break that jaw of yours then? That would be much more of a development than driving a stakes through your body." Crane asked and Tim raised an eyebrow at this, now curious if he would actually do it. Then instead of doing what he said, he pulled away from Tim who stared at him in shock.

"What? You're not going to do it?" Tim bugged him and Crane then gave a madden smile to him. He said absolutely nothing and pulled a chair in front of Tim before moving the bucket filled with his different appendages that Crane pulled off his body in front of the both of them. Tim raised an eyebrow at this before looking back to Crane.

"What exactly are trying to do, Crane? I don't see your point of this." Tim stated and Crane continued to sit still, not moving a muscle. Crane just observed him as he did nothing but stare at the late teen so started to think of anything that the Doctor could do.

What the hell is he thinking of doing? Never mind that, what the hell is he trying to prove with just sitting there and staring at me? Tim thought and continued to wait for something to occur yet the Doctor did nothing for him.

The anticipation was driving him insane.

He struggled to move any parts of his body as the Scarecrow continued to observe him with gleaming eyes that did not move from its spot.

"Stop that…" Tim hissed at the Doctor how continued to not move. It was killing him that nothing was happening to him since he experienced so much pain that he wanted something to occur. He pulled again at the chains as more blood rushed down from the current wound he had. He scowled and stared at the wound before the feeling of lightheadedness approached him. He groaned and closed his eyes, knowing that he was going into a psychosis state of mind.

Bruce, Dick, and Steph stared at the door of the Cave open to descend down and waited for Jason and Cass to walk back up in any minute. Bruce looked to Dick who continued to try and get out of the ties but failed.

"Dick, stop for a moment. You need to calm down in case they return and take the jump on them." Bruce said and Dick stopped, breathing heavily at this with annoyance written in his gaze.

"I know but with Damian still missing, I can't help myself." Dick replied back and his hair stuck to his head from sweating so hard.

"Fucking hell, I swear to god, my trust level has dropped to nothing! That bitch turned me so if she were to ever ask for another god damn favor, my answer is my middle finger!" the voice of Jason greeted them and both him and Cass stepped up from the Cave doors, still wearing the suits they went out in. Dick blinked at the sight of Jason wearing his suit and Cass wearing Steph's Batgirl uniform. Jason stopped talking once he saw them and smirked.

"Still haven't been able to get out of the ties, oh family of mine?" Jason asked and the Bat Family scowled at this.

"Why are you wearing my suit, Jason?" Dick hissed at his younger adoptive brother who frowned at the question then pointed to Cass.

"She suggested we go out to make sure nothing is wrong with Gotham. She told me to wear your uniform so we won't attract to much attention to ourselves." he replied and Cass walked towards the kitchen, ignoring any eyes as she went.

"Can ya fetch me a beer, Cass?" Jason asked and she nodded at this before continuing her way to the kitchen.

"Why do you care, Jason? What exactly are you and Cass hiding, Jason?" Bruce then asked and Jason sat down so he could talk on the same level as them.

"Well, a secret's called a secret for a reason, Bruce." Jason replied back and Bruce narrowed his eyes at this.

"Wait…what happened to Tim? He was in pain when Cass knocked me out. What did you do to him?" Steph questioned Jason with anger hinted in her voice as he then sighed, looking away from her gaze.

"Don't worry about it, girly. He's fine." Jason told her but she still remained with an angry expression.

"Then why isn't he with us or you?" she hissed back to him and he blinked at this.

"Because Drake is currently missing, Brown."

At the voice of Damian, Dick admittedly looked up to see the preteen leaning against the door to the Cave. Relief spread across Dick's face at the sight of Damian and the preteen moved towards them.

"Todd and Cain have been looking into where he has been going and your level is not acceptable to go digging for information on where he went." Damian replied to Steph and glanced at Dick who attempted to move towards the boy.

"Are you ok, Damian? How's you arm? Is it serious?" Dick questioned him while Steph tried to understand what the hell was going. Damian scowled at this and clutched the arm Tim bite at, bandages still wrapped around it.

"I am fine, Grayson…the beast did nothing to serious. He peeled only the top layer of skin with muscle. I won't be put down so easily." Damian told his older brother and Dick gave a small smile at this.

"Good, don't worry about that monster though. Once I'm free, I'll go hunt him down and he won't be escaping again anytime soon." Dick told Damian who blinked at this then narrowed his eyes at this and glanced at Jason who gave him a worried expression. Dick frowned at this and opened his mouth to say something before Steph then dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"What the hell?" Dick cried and Cass stared sadly at her body then up to Dick.

"She can't hear more. If she knows more then it may break her." Cass stated and Jason sighed, holding his hand out to grab the beer.

"Yeah, good thing you came back in time or the brat would have spilled more than she should know." Jason stated as the beer was placed in his hands and he popped it open. He began to chug it down and Damian looked disgusted at this.

"Are you with them, Damian?" Dick asked as Jason continued to drink the beer and Damian nodded at this, sorrow replacing on Dick's expression.

"I am but once Todd finishes his search on Gantai I can leave." Damian said and Jason near spat out from Damian just said.

"Hey, kid, watch what you spit out." Jason hissed at the preteen who glared at him in return and walked away from him, heading off to the living room.

"So, both Tim and the Gantai are missing? Why are you so concerned with the Gantai, Jason? You stated he was 'under your wing', that doesn't mean you need to be concerned about what he is currently doing unless it's connected to Tim." Dick stated and Jason ran his fingers through his hair.

"It's none of your business, Dickie bird. Now let's get back to research." Jason said as he ignored Dick's statement and placed his beer can on the floor. He stood back up then brought his hands to Dick's throat, whispering, "Sorry, Dick, but its for the best."

Then he closed his hands around Dick's throat, horror etched onto his face as Jason began to drag him into unconscious and Cass did the same to Bruce.

"Have you fully accepted yourself, Timothy?"

He opened his eyes back up before seeing him smile down to him as he still was held back to the chair but he had took up the appearance of his death. Tim gave him a small smirk before saying, "What do you think?"

He grinned and replied, "Most likely. You've changed since the beginning of Crane's torture, normally begging to be brought back to Wayne Manors but now you don't even care about the pain being inflicted on your body. You think of it as fun instead of painful. It's been quite an adventure, Timothy."

Tim raised what remained of his eyebrow at this and He brought a hand to his face.

"My being will soon be fading from your subconscious. I've played my part as I wanted, or more like how you wanted. You wanted to be known as a monster and now you have. I wouldn't be surprised if you began to not even need this psychosis state of mind anymore." He said and Tim nodded at this, knowing he had fully accepted himself as a monster, known as a Ghoul, that ate human flesh as his own food supply.

"I also wouldn't be surprised if you began to-" He began until he spat out blood, covering Tim's face from this. He didn't wince at this and narrowed his eyes at this, confusion written over his face.

"Yeah, yeah, now you've served your purpose, so shut the fuck up."

Tim looked to see himself wearing his Red Robin uniform with blood dripping down from his hair, his eyes now both looking like his. The blood was trailing down his face as if he were bleeding but he didn't believe that it was his own. Three tentacles whipped from behind him and blood dripped onto the ground, painting the tiled floor red. One tentacle pierced through his body and the other man held the expression of annoyance written over his face at this. He moved to stop the bleeding but when the other him pulled the tentacle out, he quickly disappeared like ash into the air. The other him sighed and looked towards Tim with a sicken grin across his face, delight speed across his features.

"Hello, Tim." the other him said and Tim raised an eyebrow at this, "I'm guessing I should introduce myself. I am what you feared for so long, becoming a monster, a Ghoul. I am the embodiment of your self fear, a monster that only desires flesh of the living to eat and no care of who or what I get to eat."

"So?" Tim asked the other him who then frowned at this, "Is that why you killed him because he would be in the way of me fully accepting myself as no longer human?"

"No, he was just a step to gain access to your desires. He was what I was just a few days ago until now. Your fear has developed into me. He was like a previous form that I needed to dispose of because your attachment was growing too strong to him. You needed some more visual and mental aid." 'Fear' told him and the tentacles whipped around him, now pointing at Tim, "You still fear something so you can't move pass this step. You will be caught between changing your ideals and will. You'll be stuck in this psychosis state of mind, never being able to accept this state. Your sanity will disappear and you will become nothing but a being focused on finding himself food to stay alive and even killing those who stand in your way of getting your food."

Tim narrowed his eyes at this before 'Fear' clamped a hand on Tim's head forcing his head to look up to him. He glared at 'Fear' before the tentacles then pointed directly at his face, ready to attack him.

"This fear is present because you don't know how to make the next step. So, until you learn how to make the next step you won't be going anywhere." 'Fear' told him and Tim opened his mouth to say something but when he attempted to say something, 'Fear' slashed Tim's mouth.

Blood spilled from the wound and Tim attempted to see what happened to him but he knew that the attack caused his jaw to unhinged from his mouth, the muscles that connected it had ripped apart. He gurgled something out as he tried to say something but he couldn't as his tongue hung down to his chin along with his bottom row of teeth.

"Now, go back and find out what you need to do so you can finally become what you need to be." 'Fear' told him and Tim glared at him then 'Fear' slashed at his throat. This time have his head roll off his shoulders with his lower jaw remained on his body and onto the floor.

"So, wake the fuck up and figure out what is wrong with you." 'Fear' told the disembodied head.

Damian stared at the surveillance cameras of Boston Harbor as a car landed on Red Robin's body, forcing him to the ground. Talia held Damian's unconscious body in her hands as Scarecrow appeared from the shadows with many syringes in his hand. Audio was disabled but video continued to reel. From the shaking of the car, Damian knew something was causing Tim to freak out as Crane approached him. He narrowed his eyes and paused the scene so he could get a closer look at the needles, seeing if there was anything that could help clue in what Crane had in the needles.

Tentacles then pierced through the car, glass shattered around Tim along with metal from the car. He could tell that Tim must have been screaming or yelling at Crane from the shaking of the vehicle. Then Crane knelt down, out of view from the camera, and the vehicle stopped shaking before next thing he knew, the tentacles slowly disappeared, disintegrated into thin air. Scarecrow then stood back up and one needle no longer filled with the fluid.

Then Scarecrow looked directly into the camera before shooting a bullet into it, ending any further recordings.

"So this is what we have to offer from the recordings?" Jason said from behind him and Damian scoffed at this.

"Yes. So, we know for certain that Scarecrow took him. Who exactly has been in contact with Crane lately?" Damian asked his older adoptive brother who then placed a cigarette between his lips, sitting down next to him. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, annoyance written all over his face.

"Bane's man had been at the fight with Tim when I brought him. I believe Crane had been there when he lost control of himself so they probably are connected. I can go ahead and find him if you can pull up any areas he's recently been around. He should be close to Crane's hide out if he's with him to deliver supplies. " Jason told him and Damian nodded, starting to pull up as much information as he could.

"So, do you all want to explain why Tim had the tentacles that Gantai had when it attacked Dick and Cass?"

Damian and Jason froze at the statement then turned to face both Barbara Gordon and Katherine Kane with anger and annoyance written over their faces.

"Shit." Jason spat out, forgotten about the audio the videos recorded, and went to grab a weapon from his belt of the Nightwing outfit.

"Don't even try, boys." Katherine said and took position to attack them when ready. Jason gripped the chair tight and Damian frowned, staring at the video that continued to roll on repeat.

"Why didn't I catch either of you come in from the alarm system?" Jason hissed and Babs rolled her eyes at this, tapping her fingers against the arm rest of her wheelchair.

"Who do you think besides Tim is constantly updating the system here?" Babs stated and Jason scowled from the discovery, "Now, explain before I have Kate go up and free Bruce, Dick, and Steph to see what you've been hiding from us all."

Jason growled and pound his fist on the computer before typing in a few words, multiple files appearing over the video.

"Here! This is your fucking answer you want!" Jason shouted and one file shown had shown Tim's back, bare, with the red tentacles out but stayed still. A doctor, or someone in a green coat, observed the tentacles from his back. He held a syringe and scalpel in hand close to the tentacles as he attempted to scratch a piece of tentacles off and achieved to do so affectively.

"He is no monster, you bitches…He is still that pain in the ass, replacement. He was put in this predicament because he was being a damn kind soul and suffered injuries that were implanted by either a mistake or purpose." Jason said to them and he grind his teeth together from giving up this information.

Horror quickly etched onto their faces from this image and Babs slowly hushed out, "Poor Tim…and he's been constantly pinned as a monster from us for a while. How could he stand with us from our treatment?"

"Because the fucking idiot cares too much about seeming to be alright for you guys. Why the fuck do you think he constantly was away or with me? I'm the black sheep. The one who no longer follows the way of a hero, so I should know that you guys don't like change-at all." Jason told them and Babs glanced down at her hands while Kate remained motionless.

"Now that you know of this…are you guys willing to help hide this secret from them and find Tim before he truly loses himself as Timothy Drake, a human with a caring family that will always be on his side?" Jason asked the two women and they both looked back up to the plastered information of Tim on the computer before looking to Jason with determination.

"Of course. No matter what happened to Tim, I will stand by him." Kate stated and Jason grinned at this, though still held some doubt.

"I've watched him since he began as Robin and I will still look out for him. He's practically my little brother." Babs told him and Jason's grin grew even larger.

"Excellent then we'll be able to find the replacement in a matter of time." Jason stated in joy and everyone began to work away to find Tim before they would be to late.

"Would you survive if your head was cut off from your body, little bird?" Crane asked Tim who's eyes slowly opened. His sleep had his right eye quickly regenerate and he blinked both of them awake, groaning as he slumped his shoulders down. The stake that had been submerged in his leg had disappeared but left a large scar as pink flesh colored scar tissue.

"What…was that Crane?" Tim replied back, not processing what the Scarecrow asked him, and again groaned.

"You didn't hear me the first time, little bird?" Crane said and grinned at this as he grabbed a surgical hook, trocar, and trephine from the table of supplies. Tim raised an eyebrow at this and waited for Crane to continue his sentence.

"Would you serve if your head was to be cut off from your body?" Crane questioned Tim who froze at this, horror written over his expression from this since he only thought of pain and serious injuries, not injuries that would have his head cut off from his body.

Just like his dream.

"…" Tim remained silent from this and continued to think.

What would happen to him if his head were cut off? Would it get replaced from another head by being regenerated? Would he die like a normal human being? But if that didn't work then how would he eventually die then? Had he become an immortal with knowing of this?

What the fuck could he do to die then?!

Tim wanted to claw at his face at this revelation and scream out until his voice would die from his repetition.

"Oh, you don't know. How great. This experiment will definitely determine if you live or die then." Crane said and then walked over to Tim, putting the trephine above his head. Tim slowly began to quiver at this and waited for it to begin drilling into his brain.

"You were so prepared for any other painful experiments but when death hangs in the balance-or possibly not dying at all. Once the comment of death arrives, you become so timid and a coward. Why is this so, little bird? Is it because you can handle the death of others but your own makes you break down, thinking about your choices and if you have done anything in the past that you wish you could fix.

"What a coward you are. You can't get over that small fact that you could die and leave so many things behind. You grip tightly onto the feeling of being alive that death terrifies you. When I established so much pain to you, you knew that you were alive. Now that I'm thinking of death, you can't help yourself from breaking down. This grip of yours is blinding you and making you be a coward. That is something I didn't believe a Bat could have but you proved me wrong, little bird." Crane explained and Tim breathed heavily, watching as Crane angled the trephine more at an angle. Crane sighed and looked back Tim's terrified eyes.

"I had so much expectation that you would evolve into something more but you failed again, little bird. Now, it is your time to find out if you can truly die." Crane said and before Tim could say anything else, the trephine began to turn. Tim knew it wouldn't pierce past his skull just yet but he could feel so very close to him that he pulled the chains on his hands but it proved worthless.

"No…please. Don't…I don't want to die. I…I…I…" Tim whimpered out and then Crane gave a little wave to Tim as a final goodbye. Tim's eyes grew wide as pain ruptured from his skull, proctoring his nerves and blood slowly beginning to drip from the wound slowly beginning to form.

"Goodbye, little bird." Crane said and with another turn of the trephine, Tim screamed, one that echoed across the torture chamber, escaping out from the vents into Gotham. It let the people of Gotham know that one bird had its wings plucked off while flying and diving straight to the ground heading towards its death.