On the roof, Batman, Robin, and Batgirl regrouped.
"Clayface was Croc the whole time?"
"Yes."
"No."
The two young heroes looked to their mentor in surprise. "No?" Robin repeated with an arched brow. "What do you mean, no? We literally just fought him. He's much scarier than the recorded footage, FYI."
"Yeah, I second that. Much scarier."
Batman shook his head. "We know that wasn't Clayface at the start. Why?" He pointed to Robin. "Where was Croc sighted when the alert came through?"
Robin thought back to when the call first came in on the Batcomputer. "He was approaching Robinson Bridge from the river."
"Right," Batman verified Robin's recollection. "He was reported to be seen swimming. Croc was reported to be in the water, swimming."
"Oh!" Batgirl boarded Batman's train of thought. "Clayface hates water. His chemical makeup is water-soluble after prolonged exposure. Water would make him soggy. He wouldn't be able to fully keep himself together to hold any particular form aside from probably a blob… Then where did Croc go?"
"They lost Croc after he ran into the city," Robin slowly realized. "That must have been when the switch occurred."
Batman nodded. "Precisely. We still don't know what he was after." He looked over the edge and watched as the police retrieved Gotham Central Academy's sports trophies from the bag Clayface left behind.
"Or if he was working for, or with, anyone else," Batgirl added. "Or where he was going when he skedaddled down the drain."
Batman shot Batgirl a disgusted look at her choice of words but grunted in agreement. "She's right. We need to find Croc and Clayface before the night is through." He looked to his charges. "I'm… sorry that I wasn't there for you all earlier and I am well aware that it is unfair of me to ask this of you but—"
Batgirl raised her hands. "Boss. It's fine, really. As much as you'd like to forget, you are human, just like us. You make mistakes. Just… make sure to fill us in when you send us off?"
"Yeah, and answer the damn Bat-Wave," Robin added with a tinge of humor.
Batman gave a sideways smile. "Deal."
"Now about Clayface," Robin started. "We may not know where he is right now, but how about we cut him off where he is probably heading?"
"Excuse me?" Batgirl looked at Robin.
He pointed to his ear then up. Above the trio, the Batwing descended from the cloud cover.
Batman looked back at Robin, his face sought an explanation.
Robin shrugged, attempting to let his mentor's unsettling stare roll off his shoulders. "So I had to code the Batwing to my belt the last time I used it. No big deal." He walked towards the bat-shaped flying wing and the cockpit opened. "Well? Are you going to stand there or are we going to meet up with some friends of mine between here and Star City?"
Batman grunted and Batgirl sighed. "Let's indulge him, shall we?"
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Green Arrow watched as Croc ran into the construction zone carrying his bag of loot. They had clashed earlier in the night, but when Green Arrow caught wind of an accomplice, he figured he'd let Croc 'win' and escape. He'd relayed the fact that Croc was robbing a Falcone crime cache to Robin and almost didn't call the police. Almost. After all, it was a criminal robbing another criminal. But those ill-gotten gains at one point belonged to someone. Now Robin was on his way with Batman and Batgirl in tow. The bird boy had let Green Arrow know that more than likely Clayface would be meeting up with Killer Croc, so the archer decided to hang back further than he usually would have. These were Gotham villains so he may as well play nice with the Gotham heroes.
As soon as Killer Croc was in the construction zone, the ground around Croc shifted and grew. It took the rough shape of a man and then shifted again into a perfect facsimile of Killer Croc. The reptile-man and his doppelgänger shared a hearty laugh and then moved deeper into the unfinished building.
"Shouldn't we move in?" a voice came over Green Arrow's earbud.
"Not yet. We've got to wait for—" Suddenly, he felt he wasn't alone on his rooftop. "Robin?" He turned. "You're–Oh." His face shifted from mild surprise to slight disappointment. "It's you."
Batgirl smirked. "Don't tell me you're disappointed I'm not your boyfriend?"
"Har har, kid." Green Arrow threw an obviously sarcastic laugh at the youth. "Where's your boss? Are you all here or is it just you?"
Batgirl gestured with her head behind Green Arrow.
"Of course." The vigilante sighed and turned to face Batman and Robin.
"Got you." Robin smirked.
"Yeah, yeah." Green Arrow jabbed a thumb at the half-built building across from them. "Your goons have holed up in there. They stole a bunch of cash from a Falcone cache in my city. That's how I found Croc. Tangled with him earlier then tailed 'im here."
"Started in Gotham, rush to Star City, and then to the outskirts of both cities?" Robin summarized. "What's the point?"
"They're running." Batman jumped from his perch and his cape spread open impressively. Batgirl immediately took to the skies behind her mentor followed closely by Robin.
"Maybe I should get a cape," the emerald archer muttered to himself.
"I told you they were a cool idea." Again the voice over his earbud butt into his thoughts.
"Don't get a big head. That cape of yours nearly spelled your end earlier." Green Arrow replied dismissively and fired a line-arrow at the construction site and used his bow to slide down the wire to join the Bat-Clan. "Just keep an eye out for any party crashers, alright?" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the faintest glimmer of an arrowhead catching the moonlight from an adjacent rooftop. "But don't get too itchy a trigger finger. Remember: cool head."
"Fine. You're the boss."
Green Arrow landed just behind Robin. "What's the plan?"
Robin nodded to Batman. "He says we need to draw them out. If we can separate them, they will be easier to take down in parties of two on one." Then he gave Green Arrow a knowing look. "Or maybe one team could have an extra member?"
Green Arrow shook his head. "Don't know what you're talking about."
"It's me!" the voice came over Green Arrow's earbud again. "He's talking about me!"
"On the roof? I saw him, you know."
"Speedy's insurance, kid," Green Arrow responded. "Still training his bow skill. He's a lookout for right now."
"It's 'Arsenal'!" 'Speedy' interjected over the radio.
Green Arrow ignored his partner's protest.
Batman's low growl commanded the group. "We'll divide into teams. Draw them apart, then take them down." Batman stepped up to Batgirl. "You and I will handle Croc. Between the two of us, we should have enough to subdue him. Green Arrow." Batman looked at the blond. "Do you have anything that can produce a sustained electrical field?"
Green Arrow removed one of his arrows and tapped the tip. "Polarized matrices of nantites make up these arrowheads. You say electric, I ask what voltage," he responded confidently.
"Stick with Robin and handle Clayface. Be careful. He's got more range than you'd expect."
"Roger." Robin, followed by the rest, stepped into the construction site.
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Killer Croc roughly yanked open the bag of loot he'd stolen from the Falcones. Inside were stacks upon stacks of money. With a guttural laugh, he held a handful of money up to Clayface. "Went off without a hitch, Clayface. You were right." He stuffed the money back in the bag. "What's a lil' trouble from a man in green tights with a stick? And you handled the Bat fine?"
Clayface chortled. "It was nothin'. The Bat and his little imp helpers had no idea that I wasn't you until it was too late." Clayface grinned and his crooked teeth jutted out at odd angles. "Almost off'd the Boy Wonder, too. Would have had that to my name if that Batgirl didn't interrupt." The man of clay moved to Croc's side and peered into the bag. An air of doom subdued his merriment. "This ought to be enough to take us across the country, right?"
Croc nodded his scaled head. "Even if we split evenly, we've got enough dough to—"
Suddenly an arrow whizzed between the two supervillains and thudded into the table. Before they could react, a net exploded from the arrowhead and tangled the two partners together. Clayface and Croc both yelled and growled as they struggled against the net. Clayface's yellow eyes roved the vacant site, scanning for the attacker.
"If you thought you lost me simply by diving into the sewers, then you're more foolish than you look," a sarcastic voice called from the half-built rafters. "And did you two really have to choose a building under construction for your meeting point? A lot of work's gone into this building, y'know." Green Arrow left the shadows and jumped to ground level.
"You just got a pink slip on life, bub." Clayface frowned. "You must not know about my… unique skill set." Hagan shifted in place and began to spill out of the net. As he did, he continued to speak. "If you thought a net could contain Clayface, then you're just as dumb as you dress!"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't get that." Green Arrow drew another arrow from his quiver and nocked it as he mocked the villain. "Could you say that again, but after you've pulled yourself together? I'm only hearing 'glug glug glug'."
Behind the enraged, rebuilding Clayface, Croc began to struggle against the net again, and soon a distinct snapping sound was heard as his claws cut through the rope. Croc laughed slowly. "Green chump's all alone this time. Big mistake."
"Yeah." Clayface took a soggy step forward. "You gotta learn the value of a co-star, archer-man!"
"But then I wouldn't get top billing." Green Arrow raised his bow. "And you know how I love attention." He fired at Killer Croc.
Croc crossed both forearms ahead of him and took the blast of arrow head-on. He uncrossed his hands as the smoke cleared and grinned through the gray. Croc's grin quickly dropped as a black shuriken glinted toward him at high speeds. The bat-a-rang struck Croc between the eyes. On impact, the shuriken discharged a powerful electrical current. Croc seized up for a moment, then his limbs went lax and he swayed in place.
Clayface turned to his partner-in-crime, but before he could react further, a wire wrapped around the temporarily subdued Croc, binding his arms to his sides. Clayface moved to free him, but was struck by another arrow which embedded itself in his mass and exploded, pushing him back from from Killer Croc.
"What the—?" Clayface spun and faced Green Arrow as he prepared another shot. "What the hell is going on?"
"You're in a crossover episode." Green Arrow fired again.
Clayface expanded his core and created an opening in his body which the arrow flew through. He grinned and chortled at Green Arrow's missed shot, but his attitude changed as a flickering of light and a restrained, guttural yell came from behind him. He turned and his face fell: the arrow had struck his scaly accomplice again, electrocuting Killer Croc again. The whole sequence almost felt orchestrated. A bang was heard and a second cable wrapped itself around Croc's midsection and legs, effectively wrapping the villain in a cocoon of dark thread. In a fearsome flash, Croc was roughly yanked onto his belly and then quickly reeled into the darkness with a blood-curdling, animalistic screech.
"Oh, no you don't!" Clayface reached forward and his arm extended after his partner. A whirring noise pierced the air and another black metal blade sliced through his appendage. In the dark where Croc had been reeled, there was the briefest flash of light and Clayface caught a glimpse of his powerful partner being hoisted into the upper levels of the construction zone flanked by two horned gargoyle-like beings. It was like a daemonic ascension. For the first time in a long time, Matt Hagan felt fear.
"You forgot what it was like to fear the dark, huh?" Green Arrow's voice was like the punctuation mark to the pit in Clayface's stomach. "To be afraid of him?"
He spun back around to Green Arrow and, in a rage, rushed the wise-cracking vigilante.
"Nope."
Green Arrow's one-word protest came just a second before something fast and hard sidelined Clayface, striking him from the left and smashing him into the side wall. Bricks and debris fell onto Clayface as he struggled to recover from the surprise attack. After taking a moment to recollect himself, he stood on shaky stumps. Still, the green archer stood like an immovable object.
"What was that?" Clayface looked frantically around the dimly lit area. He was beginning to panic. Croc was out of the picture. Probably permanently. He was sure he was here. He knew the Bat was back; heck, he had dealt with him just an hour or so before. But this was different. This was the Batman of old: the urban legend. After years of Batman and his gang lording over the earth and being so often in the public eye, Clayface had forgotten the old days and the old ways. Clayface had forgotten to fear the Bat.
Green Arrow readied another arrow and aimed for Clayface. The monster actually flinched.
"For the record," Green Arrow said. "I'm not a fan of all this sneaking." He suddenly swiveled his hips and fired straight up into the air. Four smaller projectiles shot off from the arrowhead, striking the four halogen construction lights in the corners of the room while the arrow itself shattered the overhanging light, plunging the area into total darkness. "But man, it's cathartic to watch you squirm."
The archer's voice seemed omnipresent in the now all-encompassing dark. There was a crunch of loose gravel to the right and instinctively, Hagan fired a clay spire in that direction but struck nothing. "How's about you come out and fight me, man-to-man, then?" A mechanical 'chunk' echoed above and Clayface heard a growl overhead. "Croc!"
Clayface prepared to slime his way to the floors above, but when he leaped, he felt an arrow strike his legs, then there was a sudden feeling of stiffness and cold. He felt his legs freeze and crack as his inertia carried him up but not high enough. Unable to grab onto the ceiling beam, he fell and felt his frozen clay legs shatter. "Oh god, no!" He scrambled to reach his separated body parts to reabsorb the material but the frigid temperature made the process too slow. Another arrow sank into his arm and a freezing mixture ran along his limb, solidifying it. He cursed under his breath and did his best to reabsorb his limb for use.
"Ack!" As he slowly drew in the frozen piece, Clayface was struck by a boot and rolled flat. Clayface heard the flutter of a cape just overhead and summoned all of his efforts to lash out with a tendril. The clay tentacle whipped through empty space and recoiled back into his body. "Please! Stop!" he pleaded, but feared that the plea would fall on deaf ears.
He was right.
The end of the torment started with the stinging twang of a bow string. An arrow struck Clayface in his chest and a high but constantly fluctuating electrical current emitted from the arrowhead. The non-normal electric discharge disrupted Clayface's structure and he felt himself convulsing and undulating out of his control. Clayface screamed out and watched painfully as two figures melted out of the darkness: a man with a bow and a man with a cape shifting in the slight breeze; both of their eyes were stark white.
Above him, a large and scaly body dropped like a theatre sandbag, then suddenly snapped to a stop. It swung precariously, suspended a few feet above him like the catch of the day. Two shadows with scalloped wings dropped onto beams flanking Killer Croc. The two spiked ears on each of their heads caught the light like deadly blades and the eerie white eyes of Batman were a stark contrast to the blank visage of Batgirl.
"We just wanted to get away…" the beaten golem man gurgled as his sight waned and he passed out.
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Batman and Robin watched from a distance as a containment team wheeled Killer Croc, barely conscious and in powerful metal bindings, into an awaiting prisoner transport while a subset of the team finalized the containment unit that would be transporting the living sludge that was once Matt Hagan. Behind the dynamic duo, Batgirl spoke with Green Arrow.
"So I've been meaning to ask, how did you get away from all those Society of Shadows members?"
"Your boyfriend emptied out a bunch of smoke grenades. Gave me enough time to get away. Mighty kind of him, actually. Ninja freaks never got to me."
Though Green Arrow's words were probably an indirect jab and callback to her teasing earlier in the night, Batgirl felt her heart flutter at the archer's description of Robin: your boyfriend. The two only just hours earlier had a rather intense, and painful, make-out session on the way to the BatCave after facing imminent death. When their mortality had been on the line, all pretenses had been dashed and it was clear to her that they were first in each other's thoughts.
She cast a longing glance at Robin and subconsciously bit her lip. She wanted so much to go over there, sit him down, and speak with him candidly about the event and their feelings for each other. But she was in a relationship, even if it was a wilting one, and she would have to break things off with Mawk first. He deserved that much… But those were Kimber's thoughts, and right now she wasn't Kimber. Batgirl shook the thoughts from her head and centered on the mission.
"He's not my boyfriend," she spat back to Green Arrow.
"So you're available then?" The voice came from behind her and tilted her head to glare over her shoulder. Sauntering her way was young dark-skinned man in similar dress to Green Arrow, but with a red motif and a black hood instead of a bycocket on his head. In his right hand he wielded a crossbow, from his his hip hung a quiver filled with bolts, and draping from his shoulders was a black cape that barely passed his rear.
"No." She scowled at the dark man in the domino mask and hood.
"Batgirl, this is my associate, Arsenal," Green Arrow introduced the younger archer. "But feel free to call him 'Speedy'. He hates that."
The joke seemed to cut some of the confidence loose from Arsenal and he deflated slightly. Despite the blow to his bravado he offered his hand with a rather charismatic grin. "Charmed, Batgirl." He nodded his head up and down approvingly. "I saw how well you took down that brute with Batman. Heard you were the first one to return to the hero gig. I'm a big fan of your work in Gotham."
"Thanks, Speedy," Batgirl offered no emotion except annoyance from behind her helmet. She left Arsenal's hand hanging and looked back at Batman and Robin.
"Any idea what they are discussing?" Arsenal asked her.
"Feel free to go over and ask."
Arsenal looked to Green Arrow for support but his mentor just shrugged and used his head to motion to approach the dynamic duo himself. Arsenal's mouth twisted to the side and he took a deep breath before tentatively walking to Batman and Robin on shaky legs. As he drew closer, he heard then exchange low mumblings as if the two crimefighters were communicating in a language wholly unique to them. Right as Arsenal was within arms reach of the two, Robin abruptly twitched up and leaped from his perch, his cape unfurling like wings as he descended to the ground below. This left the crossbow-wielding young man alone with Batman.
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Robin landed just as the containment team was lifting Clayface into a van. Upon his approach, the unit members and a few orderlies moved aside, making a path for the Teen Wonder.
"Clayface," Robin addressed the subdued criminal.
"Oh, geez. Go away!" Clayface shifted his face away from Robin, his voice coming through a digitized speaker. "You've caused me enough headache for a night."
"What were you running from, Clayface?" Robin peered into the thick tempered glass cylinder. "Tell me and we can help you."
Clayface seemed to mull over his options in his head. He'd already been busted and caught, so what would it hurt to share? Besides, if anyone could stand a chance against what he was running from, Batman could.
"Gotham," Clayface slowly responded with a rare somber tone. "Word from the underground is it's gonna be ground zero for some nastiness towards the end of the year, kid. Didn't mean to hurt no one. 'S why we stole from Falcone. Hoped to at least give him the middle finger on the way out. We were runnin' from Gotham…"
Robin's face went grim. The two so often on opposite sides of the law shared a rare moment of tangency in motives. A ginormous shadow was looming over Gotham and now even Gotham's underbelly was attempting to flee before whatever was casting the shadow fell.
"Since I can't run… on to plan B." The golem was loaded up, but as he was stored, he exchanged another look with Robin and then his eyes moved to the electronic display. Robin followed the glance and took note of the various stats on the captured Clayface. Something was wrong with them but he wasn't sure what it was. The tech in his mask snapped a picture of the readout just as the doors closed.
Without wasting another moment, Robin zipped up to the buildings where Batman and company waited.
"Well?" Batman asked. The others came near and waited for Robin to answer. "What were those two running from?"
"Gotham."