What Does Bruce Wayne Have to Do with Me, Batman?

Hurried footsteps echoed through the cold, damp sewer tunnel. Natalia leaned against a moss-covered concrete wall to rest, not caring that her gown was getting muddy.

"Where am I?" After a brief rest, Natalia started running again. She had been abducted a few hours earlier and thrown into a dungeon. Her kidnappers hadn't even told her to write a ransom note. They had simply left her there.

That had given Natalia time to escape. The dungeon's iron door had rusted in the damp, so despite her bound hands, she had smashed it open with her elbow and fled.

She hadn't gone far when she spotted two flickering golden lights in the darkness. She followed them. A moment later, Natalia felt as though her heart had stopped.

The two lights were the eyes of a reptilian creature.

"Hello," the creature in front of her said. "Who are you? Why have you come to my home?"

Ten minutes later, not far away.

"Are you sure someone saw Natalia here?" Roland asked as he sprinted over with a little girl on his shoulder.

"Yeah. My sister told me. She was delivering a newspaper to the king nearby when she saw a black-haired woman locked up here," the girl explained. "From what she said, it must have been Natalia."

"The king?" Roland paused, but didn't dwell on it. As he ran, he began chanting in the dragon language.

Domain Expansion

Word Spirit: Kamaitachi!

"Why is Batman coming this way too?" Roland heard a familiar voice, then picked up two heartbeats underground.

One was beating fast, probably a woman's. The other... didn't sound human.

There isn't some monster down there, is there? Roland hurriedly kicked a manhole cover aside and jumped in.

Batman arrived just then and followed Roland into the sewer. Both were in a rush, so they had no time to talk. They ran forward together.

"Well, you got here fast." A huge crocodilian figure stood with his back to them. Hearing their footsteps, he turned around. "Bomb Priest? What are you doing here?"

"Waylon?" Roland stared at Killer Croc. Then the nickname made him clench his fists. "...What did you call me? Where did that lousy nickname come from?"

"Killer Croc, were you the one who called me?" Batman cut in. He looked at Natalia. "What do you want?"

"Just returning a favor. You saved Hollihan last time; I saved your girlfriend this time. Now we're even." Killer Croc's deep voice rumbled as he jerked his chin toward Natalia, telling Batman to take her away.

Killer Croc had been raised by his aunt. But he had been born with an extremely rare condition: his teeth and nails grew sharp, scales spread across his body, and he came to look more and more like a crocodile.

His aunt had despised him for it, often insulting him as "Lizard Boy" and a "reptile freak." Children his age had bullied him too. Throughout his childhood, the only person who had shown him kindness was Hollihan, a one-armed police officer who had comforted him and bought him an ice cream.

When his contacts in the Underworld told him Batman had saved Hollihan from Gotham City's SWAT officers, he remembered it. Then he happened across Natalia. Once he learned she was Batman's girlfriend, he lent her a hand.

First, he had let her call Batman. Then he had dealt with two guards who came looking for her and stayed to protect Natalia for over ten minutes.

But when Batman pressed him about Natalia's kidnappers, Killer Croc ignored him. He had only been repaying a favor. He still intended to rob jewelry stores and fight Batman in the future, so there was no need to get friendly.

"Oh, Priest, my subjects told me what you've been doing aboveground. You've caught some people's attention. Might mean trouble." Killer Croc ignored Batman and looked straight at Roland. "Want to join my Underground Kingdom?"

"Not right now." Roland shrugged. "So who kidnapped her? Were they really this amateurish?"

"Two idiots. Looked European." Killer Croc was fairly cordial with his former prison mate. "I didn't kill them. Want to take a look?"

"Sure." Roland nodded. If even Killer Croc called them idiots, he wondered just how stupid they were.

Then again, given how badly they had handled the kidnapping, they couldn't be very bright.

Killer Croc filled a basin with water and splashed the two Europeans awake. The sight of the half-man, half-crocodile creature left them trembling all over.

"How do you have a faucet down here?" Roland asked curiously. A water pipe in a sewer? That was ridiculous.

"I tapped into an office building outside. It belongs to Wayne Enterprises. They're loaded, so I doubt they'll mind a little extra on the water bill each month," Killer Croc said.

Batman's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. He decided to have someone send Killer Croc a bill at the end of the month.

"I see." Roland gave Batman a teasing look. "I'm sure Bruce Wayne won't mind."

Batman said nothing. They were talking about Bruce Wayne. What did that have to do with him, Batman?

"Now, you two. Who sent you here?" Roland asked the Europeans.

"I'm Vincent Maroni, of the Maroni Family."

"The Maroni Family?" Natalia looked baffled.

"Why did you kidnap her?" Roland asked.

"We handle loan sharking for the family. We kidnapped her to make a debtor pay up."

"...And your debtor is?"

"Hugo Strange."

"The psychiatry professor at Gotham State University?" Batman paused. "What does he have to do with Natalia?"

"I don't know."

"Then why did you kidnap her?"

"We kidnapped her to make a debtor pay up."

"But she has nothing to do with your debtor?"

"I don't know."

"Something's wrong here." Roland and Batman exchanged a glance. The man sounded like a bot stuck in a loop.

"Looks like they've been hypnotized." Batman frowned. "Whoever did it is a highly skilled psychologist. Most likely Professor Hugo Strange himself."

"But why would Professor Hugo kidnap Natalia? Could he be jealous?" Roland glanced at Batman. Professor Hugo's obsession with Batman was notorious even in Gotham City.