A LITTLE PLACE CALLED…

GOTHAM CITY

The next day went along as any other regular day in Gotham City.

Nothing spectacular transpired that would indicate to any citizen that a change was coming. It was a change that would present itself that night. It would be a good change for some and a bad change for others.

The day waned on toward its end as business men wrapped up their business, laborers wrapped up their labor, and students wrapped up their studying. The sun started to go down which meant that the respectable citizens started going into their homes and the not so respectable citizens started to come out to play.

Not long after the darkness descended, the criminal festivities began and a few of the policemen were busy trying to rein it in whereas the majority were keeping to themselves and letting the night take its own course.

A lone police cruiser was chasing down two criminals in a red mustang. They had just stolen money from a liquor store and they had stolen the red mustang from a young man who had never seen them coming. Unfortunately for the young man he would never see another sunrise after that encounter.

As they rounded a corner, the police cruiser crashed into a fire hydrant and their chase abruptly came to an end as the hydrant burst and water spewed into the air.

Most criminals in other cities would take that as a win and go on their merry way but this was Gotham City.

The mustang came to an abrupt halt and the thug in the passenger seat stepped out with a Remington pump action shotgun in his hand.

"Hurry the hell up, man!" The thug in the driver's seat said.

The thug with the shotgun approached the police cruiser where the injured cop sat in a daze.

The thug pointed the shotgun at the cop and grinned devilishly. "Nighty night, copper."

It was then that he noticed a shadow envelope him and as he turned around, a gauntleted hand grabbed the shotgun and hit him in the face with it's barrel repeatedly until he fell to the ground in an unconscious bloody mess.

His partner had not noticed his buddy's predicament as he was still in the mustang jamming to some hard rock music. After a moment he realized that he should have heard a gunshot by then and looked into the rearview mirror. His buddy was nowhere to be seen.

"Chase, where the hell you at!" He called out.

It was then that his bloodied and unconscious buddy crashed through the front windshield. He jumped out of the driver's seat.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed.

He looked around in search of who could have done that to his friend. He took out a .38 revolver and shouted. "Where the hell are you, you prick! Come get some!"

"Up here."

He heard a raspy voice whisper and he looked up to see a winged dark figure descend down upon him.

The thug's screams could be heard for quite a distance. The sheer terror in his voice gave any who had heard it pause as they reflected on what could make a man so terrified.

Damian Kyle lurked in the shadows of a nearby alley.

He was dressed in black jeans, a black sweater, and he had a black beanie on his head. Despite what misgivings he might have about his biological father he elected to follow his father's advice on how to get ahead of the Mutant Gang problem.

He was currently following a small group of them as they made their way through the alleyways. They laughed and joked loudly as if they hadn't a care in the world. They were making their way toward the outskirts of the city. It was his hope that they'd lead him to their hideout and maybe he could find out who their leader was and finally put an end to their terror.

He didn't feel good about it but he had posted bail anonymously for the purple haired gang member he had arrested a few nights prior. His name was Garrett Hodges and he was a real piece of work. His friends called him Hodge and they eventually met up with him and had started heading in the direction they were now going.

Before long they arrived in front of a large abandoned factory that had once been Axis Chemicals. They disappeared inside after talking to a member who was smoking outside the front entrance.

Damian checked the magazine of his 9MM pistol before he stealthily made his way toward the entrance.

He didn't notice the towering figure lurking behind him nor did he know anything else as something hit him upside the head and everything went to black.

AXIS CHEMICALS

The first thing he noticed when he regained conscious was the smell of blood. He surmised it was his own blood. His head was throbbing and he felt blood drip from a gash in his head.

He slowly opened his eyes and observed that he was in the interior of the factory, strapped securely to a chair. A large group of Mutant gang members were standing around staring at him and smiling sadistically.

Hodge was one of those staring with a maniacal glint in his eyes. "Look at this. Fortune favors me for delivering the cop who put me in handcuffs. I'm gonna slice you into little pieces, copper."

Damian chuckled. "You really are a dumb ass, Hodges. I bailed you out and followed you here."

His smug look disappeared as Damian's words sank in. Then he regained his composure.

"Real smart, copper. You followed me here and now what are you gonna do. You're tied up like a character from Fifty Shades of Grey. Ready for us to bring out the toys."

Damian knew he was in real trouble but he didn't let that deviate him from his cause. He decided to be smug and confident even if he was in the twilight of his life at the moment.

"Tell you what, y'all tell me who your leader is and I might let all of you escape to get caught another day."

A female gang member next to Hodge laughed hysterically. "You already met the leader, copper. Who you think put that whoppin on your melon."

Two massive hands grasped his shoulder from behind. He glanced at the hands and saw that they were green and scaled.

"You got a lot of balls comin here all alone." The leader announced as he rounded Damian to give him a good look at his visage.

Damian had seen a lot of weird stuff in his life but the leader of the mutants took the cake. He was huge and scalely with piercing yellow eyes and a large gaping mouth with yellowed teeth sharpened to a point.

"They call me Killer Croc."

Damian nodded. "I can see why."

Killer Croc accepted a large metal pipe from Hodge. "So tell me, Lawman. What exactly was your plan once you found me?"

Damian shrugged. "Best case scenario is I was gonna arrest ya. Worst case scenario… kill ya."

The entire factory was silent for a long moment before Killer Croc burst out laughing uproariously. The other gang members joined in on the laughter.

"I like you," Killer Croc said. "I'm gonna feel kinda bad about bashing your skull in, but their is an upside."

"What's the upside?" Damian asked.

"I'll get over it." Killer Croc snickered as he raised the pipe above Damian's head and prepared to bring it down.

Damian kept his eyes opened and stared holes into the Mutant Leader's face, not giving him the satisfaction of closing his eyes or begging for his life.

A crash was abruptly heard from overhead and everyone stopped to look. A caped figure emerged from the broken glass of the roof and landed a few feet from Killer Croc.

Damian couldn't believe his eyes.

The caped figure wore a gray armored suit, with a black cowl shaped like a bat and a sharply painted emblem of a bat on his chest. The circular emblem was a bright yellow color with a black bat shape at it's center. He also wore a bright yellow utility belt clasped around his waist.

The Batman!

He had of course heard tales of Batman but until that very moment he wasn't entirely sure he had ever truly believed them. All in one night he had met a man-like crocodile and the Batman himself.

Maybe my head got hit harder than I thought!

Killer Croc snickered. "As I live and breath. The Batman!"

Batman stared holes into Killer Croc. "Your Mutant Gang ends here. Tonight."

Killer Croc laughed. "Nope. The Batman ends here. Tonight!"

Killer Croc heaved the pipe in Batman's direction who then easily dodged it and landed four hard punches squarely into Croc's face. He then performed a round house kick directly into his midsection as well.

The punches and kick seemed to have not fazed the behemoth at all. Killer Croc spat a little blood on the floor and smiled hideously.

"That felt like flea bite. Are you sure you shouldn't be called The Flea-man ?"

A group of gang members rushed at Batman. He head butted the first one that approached him, knocking him unconscious. He snapped another ones arm and a single punch to the head felled the other one.

"Stop!" Killer Croc shouted. "Batman is mine!"

The other gang members fell back to watch the show.

Hodge had accrued a bucket of popcorn and was eating greedily in enjoyment of the show. "This is the greatest day of my life!"

While all of this was going on, Damian had worked his pocket knife out of his back pocket and was busily trying to cut the ropes that kept him tied to the chair.

Killer Croc tossed the pipe to the side and rushed Batman, who again dodged the behemoth, but Croc was prepared this time and changed course at the last instant and tackled Batman to the ground.

Batman held his forearms up to block his face as Croc saddled on top of him and started bringing down hard, brutal blows. When he couldn't get to Batman's face, he brought down hard punches to his side's. Even with the armored suit, the punches had an inhuman impact and ribs were cracked.

Batman grunted under the beast's raw power and then used his knees to force Croc's body forward. He then grabbed his scalely attacker around the waist into a bear hug and held on for dear life. Croc flailed about angrily trying to shake him off. He eventually managed to do just that and slung Batman several feet away.

Batman was breathing heavily as he stood and took his grapple gun from his utility belt. He aimed it at the once again charging Killer Croc and fired. The wire cable from the gun wrapped around Croc several times and he then fell forward flat onto his face in mid flight.

Batman then sprang on top of Croc, grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into the hard concrete floor several times.

One of the gang members tried sneaking up behind Batman, holding the discarded pipe.

Just within reach of the Caped Crusader, Damian, who had freed himself from the chair, tackled the gang member to the floor. He snatched the pipe from the gang member and knocked him upside the head with it.

Killer Croc struggled against the grapple gun wires as Batman repeatedly slammed his head into the floor. He was spitting blood and teeth when he managed to finally break free of his bonds.

He spun around and head butted Batman, knocking him on his back several feet away.

Killer Croc stood up and wiped blood from his mouth. "I'm gonna enjoy breaking you, Batman!"

He cracked his knuckles and started charging at Batman.

"Batman! Take this." Damian tossed the metal pipe toward him.

Batman deftly caught it and used all his might as he cracked it across Croc's face. The behemoth fell to the ground hard and without hesitation, Batman jumped atop him and beat him upside the head repeatedly with the metal pipe.

He managed to knock Croc's remaining teeth out and with his last tooth also went his conscious as he fell back, gargling on his own blood.

Batman stood up, breathing heavily and still holding the metal pipe just in case Croc sprung back up. The behemoth was well and truly out of the fight. He kicked Croc onto his side so that he wouldn't drown in his own blood.

Batman pointed the pipe at the Mutant gang members. "This gang ends right here and right now!"

Hodge shook his head. "Wrong, amigo. We're in this gang for life. When you defeat the leader you become the new leader."

Batman glared at him and Hodge recoiled from that piercing gaze.

"Then as your new leader I hereby disband the Mutant Gang! If you continue down this path and hurt anymore of Gotham's citizens I'll find you and give you the same medicine I gave your leader."

The gang was silent after that. Some of them audibly gulped.

Batman dropped the pipe and tossed a cellphone at Damian. "You dropped that outside. Call for backup and get that murdering bastard put behind bars."

Damian nodded.

With that, Batman took out another grapple gun and shot up toward the roof. He ascended the roof and was soon gone from sight.

Hodge stared upward long after Batman had disappeared. "I think I just developed a man crush."