(shorter chapter)
**Age 17**
Crane was now seventeen years old having mastered chemistry at a level that rivaled the world's best as well he had learned from the best, he had spent two years with one of Gotham's most brilliant criminal minds. However now was ready to build something of his own.
His now loose partnership with Rossi had continued during his time with Victor, though Suguro had been selective about what jobs he accepted and Rossi begrudgingly agreed as to get to his position you had to be smart and creating a conflict with Mr Freeze was a very stupid thing to do especially without Maroni's permission. He'd used the arrangement to build up cash reserves and establish connections throughout Gotham's criminal networks. Now however it was time to transition from being Rossi's asset to being his own power.
He started by establishing his own laboratory, not something cobbled together with secondhand equipment or salvage from Gotham's trash or renting someone else's facility, but a real workspace that he controlled completely. He found a location in Gotham's industrial district: a former chemical plant that had been abandoned after the company went bankrupt. The building was structurally sound, had proper ventilation and utilities, and was isolated enough that his work wouldn't draw immediate attention at least for now.
He purchased it through a Maroni shell corporation, using money he'd saved and some creative financing through contacts in Gotham's money-laundering networks. Then he spent weeks setting it up properly, installing equipment, creating secure storage, establishing multiple escape routes. Victor's lessons about preparation were proving invaluable.
Once the laboratory was functional, Suguro began producing his toxin variants in quantity. He'd refined his process to the point where he could create variant large batches efficiently, and he'd developed stable storage methods that extended shelf life significantly.
His first major independent sale was to Bane, a giant of a man with a quirk highly feared rapidly able to increase his strength and some in the underworld theorized he could go toe to toe with that japanese hero All Might. Bane was known to have connections across the world with his terrorist mercenary/militia organization that followed him to Gotham from his homeland. He had wanted fifty vials of Strain Alpha for a Peruvian cartel he had ties with for use in interrogations, payment would be in cash and weapons that Suguro did not exactly want yet but he knew better than to test a man like Bane and these weapons could become useful eventually. So the deal went smoothly, and Crane made sure to establish his reputation as a reliable supplier who delivered exactly what was promised with no complications.
Word spread quickly. Suguro's toxins were more effective than torture, left no physical evidence, and were available at reasonable prices if you had the right connections. Within months, he was fielding requests from mob families, mercenary groups, corrupt law enforcement officers, and various criminal organizations across Gotham and beyond.
He was selective about his clients, turning down jobs that would draw too much heat or didn't align with his long-term goals.
By the time he turned seventeen and a half, Suguro had a thriving business, a growing reputation, and more money than he'd ever imagined. He maintained careful relationships with various power players in Gotham's underworld, positioning himself as a valuable neutral party who could provide services to multiple factions without favoring any single one.
But selling toxins to criminals, while profitable he only saw as temporary as it wasn't satisfying his deeper purpose. He wanted to understand fear completely, to test the limits of what his creations could do, to build something larger than just a chemical supply business.
He wanted to become something more than a talented chemist working for others.
He wanted to become fear itself.