(shorter chapter)
*Duplicate destroyed in tunnel expansion sector 5-B. Two construction drones were also killed. Cause unknown.*
*En route. Bring Grundy.*
**Underground Network - Sector 5-B Access Point - Twenty Minutes Later**
The elevator that descended to the underground network was industrial-grade, designed to carry heavy equipment and multiple personnel, secured with biometric locks that only allowed access to faction members. Suguro rode it down with one of Jaina's duplicates who served as his regular assistant.
The descent took nearly 5 minutes they were going deep, far below Gotham's existing infrastructure, into territory that no city plans accounted for because officially it didn't exist.
When the doors opened, Suguro stepped into what had become Crane's Wings' true headquarters.
The network had grown beyond even his ambitious initial plans. What had started as a simple escape route and storage facility had evolved into something approaching an underground city. The main corridors were twenty feet wide and fifteen feet tall, reinforced with steel and concrete, lit by industrial lighting that ran off independent generators. Side passages branched off every hundred feet, leading to various facilities: laboratories, living quarters, weapons storage, training rooms, prison blocks and more.
The scale was staggering. They'd carved out approximately five city blocks worth of space, distributed across multiple levels, all of it connected by elevators and staircases that could be sealed in emergency situations. The construction had taken eighteen months of continuous work by the drone labor force which meant it was continuous at all times, and it still wasn't complete, new sections were being added constantly, expanding the network in all directions.
Grundy was waiting near the elevator, his massive form hunched to fit in corridors.
"Crane!" Grundy's voice boomed, echoing through the tunnels. "What we doing today?"
"Investigating an expansion tunnel," Suguro explained, his voice patient and simple. "Something hurt one of Jaina's sisters and broke some of Grundy's friends. We need to find what did it and make sure it doesn't hurt more people."
Grundy's expression shifted to determination and protectiveness, he'd claimed the drones as "friends" despite them being mindless, and the idea of his friends being hurt activated his defensive instincts. "Grundy help find bad thing!"
"Exactly, come with me. We'll find whoever's down here and deal with them."
They moved through the network, following marked routes toward Sector 5-B. The journey provided Suguro opportunities to observe the daily operations of his underground empire.
Drones moved through corridors in organized groups, carrying construction materials, operating machinery, performing the endless labor required to expand and maintain the facility. They moved with mechanical precision, never resting, never complaining, whatever was left of their brains focused entirely on their assigned tasks.
And Jaina's duplicates were everywhere, literally everywhere. Dozens of them, performing countless tasks simultaneously, Jaina's quirk let her control her duplicates like a hive mind allowing for coordination that would be impossible with individual workers.
Grundy found the duplicates endlessly confusing.
"Its Jaina sister!" he announced happily as they passed one duplicate operating a tunnel elevator.
"Yes, that's one," Suguro confirmed.
Fifty feet later, they encountered another duplicate coordinating with William's team. Grundy's face lit up again. "Is Sister Jaina again!"
"Correct."
This would be repeated approximately seven more times before they reached Sector 5-B, Suguro knew from experience. Grundy's mind couldn't quite grasp the concept of one person existing in multiple places simultaneously, so each encounter with a duplicate registered as a happy surprise rather than expected occurrence.
They passed through one of the residential wings, converted from rough tunnels into actual living spaces with electricity, running water, and even some amenities that made underground existence bearable. Some faction members were visible through open doors like Manbat hanging upside down from ceiling fixtures in his quarters, apparently resting.
Finally, they reached Sector 5-B, one of the active expansion zones where new tunnels were being carved deeper and wider.
But something was wrong immediately.
The tunnel was dark, the lighting had failed or been destroyed. Drones lay motionless in the entrance, their bodies showing signs of extreme physical trauma. Claw marks, crushing damage, violence delivered with significant force.
And in the standing water that always accumulated in the deeper sections, Suguro could see drag marks leading further into the darkness. Something had killed the drones and the Jaina duplicate, then retreated deeper into the tunnel system.
Suguro pulled out a tactical flashlight, the beam cutting through the darkness and reflecting off water that was ankle-deep and rising.
"Grundy," Suguro said quietly, "something dangerous is down here. Stay close to me. If it attacks, protect us both."
"Grundy protect Friend Crane!" The giant moved forward with surprising stealth for his size, his enhanced durability and strength making him the ideal escort for this investigation.
They advanced into the tunnel, following the drag marks through increasingly flooded sections. The water was nearly knee-deep now, cold and foul, making movement slow and treacherous.
Then Suguro's flashlight caught something: eyes reflecting in the darkness, approximately thirty feet ahead, positioned low to the water's surface.
Human eyes in an inhuman face.
"Stop right there," Suguro called out, his voice echoing through the tunnel.
For a long moment, nothing. Then a voice emerged from the darkness, rough, deep, tinged with pain and exhaustion, "Heroes. Of course. Always heroes, hunting me like I'm nothing but a monster to be captured or killed. Can't you people just leave me alone?"
Suguro processed this. Whoever was speaking thought they were heroes, which meant they didn't recognize him or Grundy, and didn't know they'd stumbled into a villain organization's secret base..
"We're not heroes," Suguro said clearly. "Come into the light so I can see what you are."
Another pause. Then movement, something large emerging from the deeper darkness, moving through the water with ease.
The flashlight revealed what the eyes had suggested: a man, but one so modified by his mutation Quirk that "man" barely applied. His skin was scaled and green-grey, his hands were clawed, his teeth were sharp and numerous. His face showed distinctly crocodilian features, elongated jaw, reptilian eyes.
He was massive, at least nine feet tall, heavily muscled, built for violence. And he looked exhausted, injured, driven to the edge of desperation by whatever had been pursuing him.
Killer Croc. Suguro recognized him from Gotham news. Waylon Jones, a man with a mutation Quirk that had made him a pariah from birth, who'd retreated to Gotham's sewers and underground spaces to escape human cruelty.
And who had apparently discovered Crane's Wings' secret network while fleeing from yet another hero attack.
"You're Killer Croc," Suguro observed. "Waylon Jones. You killed my property and one of my associate's duplicates, but I assume you probably only did because you panicked when you encountered them."
Waylon's eyes widened slightly"
"I know a lot of things about Gotham's outcasts." Suguro stepped forward, keeping the flashlight trained on Waylon's face but not in a threatening way. "I'm Crane. This is Grundy. We run this facility you've accidentally stumbled into, and I have a question for you, what were you running from this time?"
"Heroes. Again. Always heroes." Waylon's voice carried years of accumulated bitterness. "Three of them, trying to prove they're brave by hunting the 'monster' in the sewers. Came at me with nets and tranquilizers like I'm some animal to be captured. I fought back, killed one, the others will probably call for backup. So I ran and kept running deeper and deeper through centuries of sewers and passages, found these tunnels, thought I'd be safe. Then your… workers found me, and I panicked."
Suguro looked at Grundy, who was watching Waylon with curiosity rather than aggression. "What do you think, Grundy? Is Waylon a bad person or someone like us who the world treats badly?"
Grundy studied Waylon carefully, his simple mind processing the question seriously. "He looks sad. Like Grundy when people call Grundy monster. He just wants to be left alone?"
"That's exactly right," Suguro said, then turned back to Waylon.
Suguro stepped closer, well within range if Waylon wanted to attack. "You could join us. Live down here in the network, have actual purpose instead of just hiding and fighting. Interested?"
Waylon stared at him, clearly trying to process this unexpected offer. "You're serious? You want me to join your… organization? Even after I killed your people?"
"They were drones, mindless labor, that can be easily replaced." Suguro extended his hand, "Join us, Waylon. Be part of something instead of just hiding from everything. Make the people who've hunted you regret it"
Waylon looked at Suguro's extended hand for a long moment, then at Grundy's simple, open expression, then back at the darkness behind him.
Then he reached out with his clawed hand and shook Suguro's carefully.
"Alright," Waylon said, his voice rough with emotion he was trying to control. "I'll join. I'll work for you. Just… promise me I can fight back against the ones who've been hunting me."
"I promise," Suguro said. "You will become the thing they should have been afraid of all along."
"Friend Waylon is big like Grundy!"
Despite everything, the exhaustion, the injury, the years of suffering. Waylon smiled slightly at Grundy's pure enthusiasm. "Yeah. We'll be friends, Grundy."
"Welcome to Crane's Wings, Killer Croc."
They moved through the flooded tunnel back toward the network proper, three figures whose appearances would terrify normal people and above them, Gotham continued its nightly chaos, completely unaware that deep beneath its streets, something was growing an empire built on fear.