Gotham City, Iceberg Lounge, 2130 hours, the next day

"Listen, Lizard Face, I don't have to answer to you! Only person I have to answer to is Two-Face!" the henchman said, hands slamming into the wood table.

Lowering his face to look the man in the eye, he bared his teeth in a terrifying smile.

"Well son, Two-Face isn't here, and he told ya that you needed to trade in those stolen jewels for money, correct?"

The angry lackey nodded slowly, certain he had won.

"And the case right in front of you holds fifty grand, correct?" Croc added.

"Yes, but that's scraps compared to what he normally gets!"

"But he isn't here, asshole, which means you don't get as much, because you're a hired lackey, not a damn Arkham looney with two personalities that makes all his choices with a coin."

Nodding at Jay, who stood next to him, he said "Her partners were more than gracious to give you this, which was a helluva lot more than they were initially willing to give you. So either take it or let the cops find your group with this stolen crap and watch them send you all to Blackgate or Arkham."

Scowling, the man glared at him before finally grabbing the case. "You win this time, but I'll be letting my boss know about this!"

"Go ahead." Croc shot back smoothly, letting his toothy grin show up for a second. "I'm sure he'll be happy to have to deal with another Arkham loony."

The henchman walked out with a huff, slamming the door shut. Sighing, he jerked a thumb at the door and said "Damn, they may get hired for their muscle but they certainly don't have anything upstairs."

Giving a chuckle, Jay replied "Nobody ever said a henchman had to have any sense."

Walking out of the room, the two made sure to lock it before Jay added "By the way, Lark wants to know if you're willing to work overtime. We've got some…special guests showing up for a reserved dinner. They RSVP'ed before Penguin got caught and we don't want to back out of our deal with them. And seeing as we need as much security as we can get, can you pull a shift on one of the upper balconies, provide some surveillance in case we have…unexpected guests?"

Lowering his head to her level, he said quietly "When you mean "unexpected guests", do any of them happen to dress as bats or birds?"

Staying quiet, she said slowly "Maybe, but the chances are slim. News underground tells us our guests are not a big priority on their list, and we're more worried that the Gotham PD has caught a whiff of them and are willing to bringing in some SWAT to take them in."

Raising himself back to his full height, Croc gave a smirk and responded to the offer.

"Give me some firepower, and I'll do the job."

Killer Croc peered down at the main floor of the Iceberg Lounge through the binoculars he was given, noting the large number of gang and mob bosses showing up. Thorne, Falcone, Black Mask, Two-Face, Maroni, even Lark was taking a seat at a large booth off to the side.

Letting his hand pat the side of the M1928A1 Thompson Submachine Gun that he had been issued, he looked up at the windows, as well as scanning the side and back entrances in view. He also noticed Jay and Raven doing the same thing, though they were moving about inconspicuously and were not carrying anywhere near as much firepower as him. He had noted they seemed to use Walther PPK's, which was understandable seeing as their…attire did not accommodate for larger weapons.

While he could not hear what they were saying, he guessed the crime lords below were speaking business, which would most likely drag on for some time. Bad for his attention, but certainly good for his wallet.

A half hour passed without any incident, but he stayed vigilant. From past experience, Croc knew very well that most attacks occurred when your guard was down, and he did not intend to let that happen. His eyes caught a slight movement from the corner of his vision, and he focused in time to see the last bit of fabric pass from view on the outside of a rooftop window.

Deciding to stay as calm as possible, he slowly brought his hands to the submachine gun and slapped the 50-round drum to make sure it was loaded before racking the charging handle, slamming a .45-caliber cartridge into the weapon.

Turning his large radio on and setting it on Raven's channel, he called her up and said sharply "Get to Lark immediately. You may just have a bat in your belfry."

Shouldering the Thompson, he waited for another glimpse of whichever caped hero was up on the roof to show themselves as he caught a glance of Jay and Raven running over to the table.

Making sure his trench coat and hat were on, Croc knew he couldn't give away his identify just yet.

Thankfully none of the criminals seemed at all panicked as they all seemed to start making calls or making a few hand gestures. From the walls of the rooms he saw dozens of goons start moving, the majority of them going for the stairs while some made a beeline for the front and back entrances, most likely to fetch some escape vehicles.

Getting a radio call from Lark, he heard her say "Stay where you are and give us a warning if any unexpected guests arrive. I'd much prefer we deal with this without having the police show up because of reports of gunfire," before she finished the call and he was left to his own devices again.

Growling when he realized that he wouldn't be doing much this time around, he waited and bided his time as the goons made for the rooftop.

Truth be told, while he may hate the Batman for sending him to Arkham Asylum multiple times over, he did recognize the fact that he was a necessity for the city, because without him crime would run amok, without restraint, and chaos would rule instead of order. For Gotham City to work at its best, it had to walk that thin line where the crime was balanced by justice, where thugs and gangsters were balanced with police and the caped crusader. He may not like how the system worked, but it was far better than the alternatives of a city with uncontrolled crime and a city with no crime at all.

He was drawn out of his self-thought as he saw some of the gang bosses goons show up at the window. Getting another radio call, he picked it up to have Jay tell him "We're on the roof. Whoever was here was gone, though you're right; someone left a message."

Fifteen minutes later, when the group got back down to the main floor, and Croc now amongst them, he heard the message read aloud:

"We're watching you, and we know your plans for the next big job you all are going to pull over the course of the next few weeks."

The message was signed at the bottom with a Batarang that had pinned it onto the rooftop. Within minutes the gang lords and mobsters had dispersed, leaving the Lounge empty as Killer Croc gazed about him. He knew he would have to watch his back too, and if the Bat family he knew from his former universe was anything to go by, they were able to dismantle any operation that was brought to fruition if they so much as caught a whiff of it. They were like bloodhounds they were so canny.

Just a heads up for you guys, expect me to take a little while before posting another chapter because I'm busy looking for a Beta Reader to look through my chapters as they enter a more AU type of setting. Read, review, and I'll be happy to hear some constructive feedback from my readers.