Chapter 3: Leather Wings in Gotham (Fin)

We see Batman driving the Batmobile which very high-tech automobile and colored black & blue with light blue lights on the tries. He likes this style of choice for his ride and lays respect for that show. He and Rocky took the time to change a good future-style automobile to one that's built for war but also stealth and can withstand a good amount of anything. He soon parked the Batmobile miles away from the crime scene and guided his way toward Phoenix Labs.

The Dark Knight had to be careful as anyone could be staying late for some work or something else fully. He put his right arm out, having his gauntlet up, and fired a grappling hook to pull himself into the very lab where the robbery took place. He got it and allowed the said grapple to return back. He saw the windows were indeed blasted by some kind of sonic tune and the medicine locker room was trashed quite a bit. He hummed and soon heard a police officer was indeed outside the room, which the bat needs to handle.

Batman reached for something in his utility belt by his waist (right hip) and grabbed a small silver ball before gently rolling that said ball across the room out of the locker room towards the police patrolling the area. The guard raised an eyebrow at the ball but it was triggered and causes a knock gas to be unleashed, causing him to groan and feel sleepy before passing out.

Now the Dark Knight can do his work and started to look around, looking for any possible clues within this room.

"I should set up the crime scene, time for detective vision mode," Batman thought as his red eyes changed into blue and started to map out the room with his DV mode.

He got inspiration from the Arkham Games for this vision mode and wasn't alone.

"Rocky," Batman said, getting her on com, and soon she was able to see what he is from the main computer home.

"There we are. Also no reports on the police radio that they have spotted you, yet," Rocky informed.

"Yet but someone would have spotted me. Hmm, it seems whatever shattered the glass windows from this room to the whole area of the floor as well. Not human," Batman said as his DV scanned the whole location to where the sonic blast had come from.

"It sounds like a certain someone we know," Rocky commented.

"True but however, there's a difference. Our medicine thief used the sonic blast after throwing the guard out of the window, the shattered glass around that window is different from the others," Batman said, running the scans and saw his DV showed him that through a blue holograms record.

"Hmm it seems so... this type of sonic blast must have been different than our bird friend. I have run different simulations and tried to match different glass shatter between the two, but I got no match. So it's someone new. Maybe a relative of hers?" Rocky commented after explaining on her side what she got from the Bat scanning the area.

"I don't think so...hmm," Batman said before humming in thought and his DV spotted something underneath the desk, a tape recorder.

Batman had his DV scan it before picking it up and replaying the last recording, in which it was the guard talking and then his inhuman shriek that got his attention. It was not human but something else and would need to do more tests back home.

"What was that?" Rocky said as she heard that shrieking from her side too and soon got the scan of the tape recorder.

"A lead," Batman said as he started looking on the desk to find a simple he was looking for.

The desk was clawed by sharp claws or talons from the looks of it. And some black or silver kind of fur was left behind. The Bat took the sample of the said fur and placed it into a ziplock bag to save this for more testing back home.

"Oh no...you need to get out of there! Someone has spotted you and Chief Rojas is on his way with an army. He's out for blood," Rocky warned, after getting from the police radio.

"Got it," Batman said, pushing a button at the left side of his belt, having the Batmobile go into auto-drive and pick him up.

The Dark Knight would be long gone before Rojas and his men got here, they usually can't keep up with him. By using stealth and avoiding the copter's spotlight, the bat was able to use the back door exit and got into the Batmobile for the ride home.

"Rocky, have a lab ready. We are going to do some testing on the animal noise I have got from the tape recorder and this fur as well," Batman said, pushing the button on the mobile's radio and allowing the screen to show Rocky on her side.

"Right away," Rocky nodded her head and get the labs ready.

Time Skip

Bat Crypt

Back at the clock tower and home of the Bat, we see Michael without his mask/helmet running some tests on the animal sounds from the tape recorder. It's screeching for sure, of some kind of animal but the computer can't come close to figuring out which animal though.

"Taking a habit of listening to rock and roll now?" Rocky joked, her sense of humor lit up the place as she can hear the noise from where she was at.

"You know I have done a test on this screeching sound on the music tone but the computer is not even close to pinpointing," Michael said, crossing his arms and trying to think about this.

"While the sounds wait, any luck with the fur simple I got?" He asked, having his attention on his blonde friend and walking over to her table.

"Well, it's some kind of animal fur and human hair mix by some cause of mutation, or something. I ran more tests to figure out which animal but I keep getting the same results," Rocky replied, showing the different chemical tubes running and a computer showing the results of which animal the fur belongs to.

Michael raised an eyebrow and wonder about that, which the computer then showed the results the fur belongs to.

"Desmodontinae," Michael said in pure shock and surprise, eyes wide in surprise as well.

"Bats?" Rocky said puzzled, not sure if this was right or not.

"Or to hit the nail on the head, vampire bat," Michael said as he then pushed a few common keys on the computer, to do one last test.

"Computer, run test on the fur simple against any matchings of vampire bats," He ordered, having the computer run those said scans and showed it was a match indeed.

"A normal or common vampire bat can't have the strength of a human nor the sonic screech to break glass windows. It's impossible," Rocky stated, going on the computer and running the data again, seeing if she miss something or not.

Michael hummed in thought and his mind was going through different things. Like he had a strong idea of who was this bat humanoid creature but wasn't sure as anything can happen and the unexpected was a common thing in Gotham. So there's that thought to be worried about.

"Why it had to be a vampire bat?" Rocky asked out loud.

"It's quite easy. Unlike other species of bats, vampire bats can walk, run, and jump, which helps them attach to their prey. Heat sensors on their noses help them find a good spot on an animal's body to feed. And strong hind legs and a special thumb help them take off after feeding," Michael explained.

"Glad that you pay attention in your biology and study of bats," Rocky commented while she keeps getting the same results again.

"Yes, which gives a clue. The thief must be a chiropterologist, an expectation, and someone that must have a deep passion for the evolution of bats," Michael informed.

"Hmm, there might be one, not sure," Rocky said as she moved to another computer and started typing some words in, recalling a passionate doctor who loves studying and talking about bats.

"Yes! Here we are; Doctor Robert March, a pretty passionate guy and a deep expect of the study of bats. Well, this is a surprise, he passed away a year ago due to a very bad illness that caused deaf and later memory loss," Rocky informed.

"That rules him out," Michael thought, seeing one lead was a dead end or maybe not.

"Dose March have any students or living relatives?" Michael asked.

"A few students, which one is not on good speaking terms with Dr. March. He does have a daughter who studies bat biology and sonic fields. And she lives in Gotham too," Rocky replied, pulling up the file on Dr. Francine Lee.

"She took her mother's maiden name. Hmm, it's a small lead but would be worth the shot and might get something we don't know yet," Michael said, going to the table and putting his mask/helmet to the cape back on now.

"Indeed, I have her address at the Batmobile GPS system and stay on the coms," Rocky said, heading to the main computer and typing the location on where Dr. Lee's address was located.

"Good," Batman said, now fully ready, and took the fireman's poll to head down to enter the shop, before entering the Batmobile.

The Dark Knight had a feeling that meeting Francine would be interesting and had this feeling, that something new was coming.

Time Skip

Lee's House

Took a good drive and some shortcuts to avoid police patrolling the streets, we see the Batmobile parked a mile away from the house that belongs to the doctor. Batman entered the building by stealth for the time being and decided to find any clues that the doctor had about the medicine robberies. It was a long shot and the Bat was thinking miles ahead on this strange case.

"From the old shows and comics, I have a feeling that Kurt could be behind the robberies. Maybe or maybe not as those chemicals that were stolen, are part of the formula but in a different order, they were stolen. And I did a background check, it seems Kurt had a bad falling out with Dr. Match on their shared ideas for bat biology but they had a lot of disagreement and proved different theories. Francine might have an idea of where Kurt is or not. I would have to find out for myself soon," Batman thought, going over what he knows from what he gathered and his knowledge of DC.

The Dark Knight was able to enter the apartment housing, pretty easy mind you, and headed to any source of a lab cooking up. Better safe than sorry.

The Bat saw that the lab had a number of chemicals in tubes, testing different theories, notes on the table, and so on. It wasn't like Dr. Frankenstein was at home but more of a calm person of science was at work here. However, the trances of claw marks on the walls did scream something else and a few black to silver fur. Oh, this can not be good at all.

Then the door slammed open and a female voice called out, "Who's back here?"

It was pitch black and had to see but the Dark Knight know that it has to be Francine who called out, which he decided to make himself now and his red eyes glow within the darkness before he appeared in one source of light in the room.

"You?!" Francine gasped in surprise.

"Do apologize for coming in uninvited but some clues lead to your father and his theories here," Batman explained.

"Oh I see, Batman," Francine said, still in the shadows of the room but closed the door behind her and was in the room with the Dark Knight now.

"Do you know of Dr. Kurt Langstrom?" Batman asked, going to narrow down the search.

The Bat became surprised when he heard this angry growl from Francine which caused him to raise an eyebrow.

"I had...the displeasure of knowing that man and his desired to prove my father's late work theories as his own," Francine said as she then started to walk around the room, circling the bat but keeping a safe distance.

"Hmm, you seem to have a problem at home," Batman pointed out, looking at the floor for a quick second and looking back at the doctor who was now a few feet away from him.

"I guess you could say that in point of view but...but I have completed something and gained a new outlook, I guess you can say," Francine said, now stepping into the light and surprising the bat with her new appearance, no longer a blonde and had this inhuman look to her now.

She was a supernaturally beautiful woman with long midnight black hair that goes past her hips and pure blood color red eyes. She had her bangs covering the left side of her face to her eye and had pointed ears like an elf with red ruby earrings.

Her attire was a white and black dress with a matching skirt, black choker with a red ruby, black collar with white outlines, and long black cape that connects with her collar, her left arm was covered in a black sleeve while her right has a long fingerless glove and black boots that reached up to pass her knees.

"You use your father's formula?" Batman stated.

"An accident really. I got exposed to a small amount of the formula when I was cleaning up after my father's last work, a week before his passing. Then some little time later, I discovered my new abilities and appearance was changing, little by little. I have gained superhuman abilities, echolocation, and so on like an actual bat itself. I wanted to stop but...but I felt so...so...so free," Francine explained with a smile and showed her fangs that she gained as well.

Batman was surprised by that and saw this was something he didn't expect. And kind of reminds him of a certain doctor from Marvel going through similar changes. This sometimes spells trouble.

"I expect some changes to cause some nasty side effects," Batman pointed out.

"Oftentimes...the desire to feed on blood or meat is one of them. And my animal instinct comes in," Francine replied.

"You haven't been feeding on people?" Batman asked, wanting to cover all tracks and didn't want to fight someone who's victim, or leave that state to be something else.

"No, glad for that. Just meat overcomes the thirst for blood and I often times make fake plasma, which calms my hunger. However...there's one side effect that comes by random times, due to not completing the formal that's...in...me, Batman," Francine explained, starting to feel that said side effect now and needed to tell Batman before it happens to her again.

"That could be a problem, Dr. Lee," Batman said, voicing his concern and how an uncomputed version of the formal in someone could be a problem for the young doctor.

"It is...NO! Not now...not now. I was so close!" Francine gasped in sudden pain rushing within her and started to feel it was happening again.

"Dr. Francine!" Batman said in concern and tried to went over to help the black-haired beauty but was pushed back to stay away from her.

"Stay away from me! You must...give...me...the last piece of the formal...HURRY!" Francine shouted as she started to change in a very painful process before the Bat's eyes.

Using the last of her strength, Francine pointed at the table that showed the last piece of the puzzle to complete the transformation and have more control over herself. The Dark Knight saw, a tube with green chemicals in it, and grabbed it on time but was too late, the beast was coming and the bat was pretty surprised at what was before him.

A large figure, covered by black fur with some silver edges on her sides, her figure showing to be that of a female with her private areas being covered by her fur, her feet looked to have turned into massive claws able to shred any other human to pieces, with her hands too becoming claws and also showing to have also expanded a pair of bat wings with the same black and silver fur like the one from her body but also having red veins going all around them. Her face also has turned into a hybrid of that of a human and a bat, with glowing blue eyes and also large bat ears on her head, while her long, still human, hair also gained the silver ends her body had, long sharp fangs also being seen on her mouth.

Francine has become She-Bat and is in her pure animal state of mind now. Seeing this male bat before her two different instincts control her. None of them are good for the Dark Knight in her current state of mind and body.

She-Bat started to screech and trash the room before her and causing the Bat to dodge her claws while planning a way to force her to have the rest of the formal. Granted, curing her would be a safe one but he doesn't know what a cure would do to her at this stage of her transformation, and helping to complete it to later help her, is a more best way. But getting close to her is a problem.

"So...do we call her Batwoman, Woman Bat, or She Bat?" Rocky asked on another side of the coms and saw through Batman's eye lenses back home at the main computer.

"She Bat...I need to complet the formal," Batman said before ducking to dodge the massive claw and wing strike from the rampaging She-Bat.

"Complet it? Would be best to cure her?" Rocky asked.

"We don't know if that would harm her. Dr. Francine is further into the stage and has evolved into something more than human. We could do more harm than good for her if we try to cure her," Batman explained.

"Hence it's better to complet the transformation and help a pseudo-vampire out," Rocky said, catching on to what her friend wanted to do.

"Pretty much but won't be easy!" Batman shouted as he jumped over She-Bat, dodging her attacks, and started putting the pseudo-vampire into a headlock, keeping her from using her wings and taking flight.

She-Bat roared and screeched while trying to shake the male bat off her back while wanting a more frontal approach than her interest could have done to her. Her animal instincts were taking over her logical thinking and would act more like an animal than a human. Her instincts were screamed to her to be dominated and allow this male bat to have his way with her after fighting to see who's alpha. Her mate was here! And this can't be good for the Dark Knight.

"Time to get your medicine, Francine," Batman said while struggling to keep his grip on the female bat and forced the tube of the last of the formal down her throat.

She-Bat struggled and soon felt this powerful sting going down her throat, as the last pit of the formal was entering her body & system fully. She was feeling weaker and tried all of a sudden as her blue eyes started to slowly close themselves and clasped onto the floor. Slowly but eventually, she started to transform back into her human form.

Batman then went over to get a robe and covered Francine to covered herself when she woke up. He had a feeling that he would be getting an unexpected ally in the form of his first-ever rogue, well former rogue, and having a pseudo-vampire could be handly in the future. You never know and we shall see how the Dark Knight handles his new bat friend.