Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights go to DC and anyone else how helps make the comics and games.

Criticism: Wanted/Needed

Chapter 1

Encounter

Alexandra Krezel woke up to find it had rained outside her small Gotham city apartment. Rubbing her eyes she reach over to check her alarm clock.

"Crap!" she cried when she realized her she woke up an hour late.

It was already 7:30 and she need to get to her job at the hospital at 8:00. She jumped out of bed, and ran to the bathroom. She quickly stripped herself naked as she turn on the shower and jumped in. Not caring that the water was still warming up she quickly wash her hair and her body. Getting out in a record three minutes, she ran into the bedroom after drying herself.

Inside her bedroom she hurried to the closet and pulled out her uniform. She ran towards her dresser pulled out all her necessities and quickly changed.

Praying to god she wasn't going to be late, she ran to the living room to grab her purse. As she ran to the door she decided to check the time to see how long she had left. Looking at the clock her heart sank.

It was Saturday, one of the two days when she didn't have to worry about getting to work.

"You have to be joking!" she said as she slumped to the ground. She knew she was forgetful, but you'd think remember that she didn't have to get up.

"That explains the alarm clock" she sighed to herself. Just wanting to lay down after that whole excursion, she sat up and dragged herself over to the couch.

It seemed weird when she thought about it, she normally remembered that it was a Saturday. It was usually the day she looked forward to the most, it being the one day she can relax. Reaching over the small coffee table in front of her for the remote, she turned on the TV. She started going through the channels in hopes of finding something to calm her down.

"Breaking News: Breakout at Arkham Asylum" was shown clearly on her TV screen as she flipped to the news. Great, who broke out of the impenetrable asylum this time? Was it the Joker, Poison Ivy, or Scarecrow who'd manage to get out again, for the millionth time? Honestly she thought, if they're going to keep super criminals locked upside they should get some better security. To her, a breakout at the asylum was just another day in Gotham.

"A mass riot broke out at Arkham Asylum late last night. The Joker, after being captured and escorted there by Batman escaped and released all prisoners from their cells. A riot ensured that took the lives of a several guards and doctors at the asylum. After several hours, Batman was able to stop the Joker and the GCPD were able to get the island back under control. It is not known if any inmates made it off the island, but we urge all viewers to be careful after dark."

Great now she has to worry if any psycho is running around while she is out. Nothing could stress her out anymore and then she heard the phone. She instantly knew it was her mother calling to make sure she was alright. What amazed Alexandra was that she didn't call sooner. Deciding it was not a good idea to ignore the phone, she sat up and walked towards it.

"Alexandra are you all right!" screamed her mother as she answered. "I heard what happened at the asylum and was worried about you"

"Mom I'm fine, you need to calm down." she said trying to reassure her mother. "I just heard what happened on the news, you don't need to worry."

"Oh thank goodness, I was so worried with you living so near the asylum and all" her mother said after calming down a little. "Maybe you should come stay with me and your father until they have this mess all sorted out." she asked slowly.

"Mom can you please put Dad on the phone?" Alexandra said starting to get irritated with her mother.

Ever since she was a little, all her mother ever did around her was worry. Being raised in a place like Gotham is no easy task, what with all the criminals and it was because of this that her mother had become a bit too protective. It was sweet that she worried so much about Alexandra's safety but her mother needed to learn that she can take care of herself. At least her father was sensible enough and may be able to talk reason with her mother.

"Hey pumpkin" her dad said when he got the phone. When I was about to tell him her said "Let me guess, your mother is over worrying about you isn't she." It was strange that her dad could always tell what she was thinking.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Can you try to get her to calm down and listen to reason? For one, I don't live that near to the asylum to be caught up in any danger. Also I've been out of the house for a long while now and all she has done is worry if I'm alright" she said trying to calm herself. It was always the same thing, something happens in Gotham and all of a sudden she can't look after herself and needs to come home. As you can imagine, Alexandra got calls from her mother about twice a day.

"I'll try but you know how your mother gets." He answered quickly. If anyone knew what her mother was like it would be the man whose been married to her for a number of years.

"Thanks, you're the best." Alexandra responded. After exchanging a few more words with her father she hung up. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she felt that she was missing something. Only then did she realize that she was still in her uniform.

Well since she wouldn't be going to no work today she strolled back into her bedroom and quickly changed. Now she may be a girl but fashion wasn't one of her strong points. Putting on a simple t-shirt and jeans, she walked out and went to the kitchen. She quickly made herself some breakfast, sat down on the couch and quickly began munching.

"Well what am I going to do today" she mused to herself. Looking at the clock she saw that it was already 8:30. An hour had already gone by and she barely notice it. Deciding that she had nothing better to do, she turned on the TV and sat there for another hour flipping channels. During the entire time she felt off, like there was something wrong but she didn't know what it was.

Not feeling lazy anymore though she got up and walked over to her bathroom. Looking in the mirror she noticed that she looked completely dysfunctional, with her ragged brown hair and slightly pale skin. Trying to spend less time looking at herself in the mirror than need be, she cleaned herself up as best she could. Walking out of the bathroom she grabbed her coat and keys and made her way out the door and into the cold air of Gotham city. She felt a strange urge come over herself to head towards the asylum though she didn't know where it came from.

It was only as she made her way towards the asylum that she began to realize that it was probably not a good idea to go walking towards the asylum. Wouldn't the lunatics who escaped the asylum be lurking around near it? Then Alexandra realized that they would all probably be a long way away from the asylum, with it being swarmed by the police and the media.

Seeing as the way to the asylum was still a block or two away she decided to take a shortcut down an alley hoping to get their quicker. Alexandra walked down the alleyway reasoning that not even in Gotham would she be attacked in broad daylight. Let's just say that she wasn't expecting a giant green scaled hand to pop out of a nearby manhole cover. The shock of the hand's sudden appearance caused her to tripped and fall to the ground. Trying to scramble away she found that she wasn't able to.

The green hand had a firm hold on her foot and was slowly pulling her towards the manhole with clear intentions of pulling her into the sewers. Thinking quickly she reached towards her shoe, unlaced it then pulled her foot out of it. Now free of the grip she quickly crawled away till she saw the scaled hand pull her shoe into the manhole.

"I've got you scent bitch." something called from the manhole loud enough for her to hear.

Paralyzed from fear she sat there, with only a few feet between her and the manhole. She began to scan her mind, looking for anything that could tell her what she was dealing with. What could be living in the sewers, have giant scaled hands and be trying to eat.

It was Killer Croc, and when her mind began to realize that she quickly started trembling. Anyone who lived in Gotham knew the stories of the cannibal who lived inside the sewers. He must have escaped the asylum during the outbreak, it was the only explanation she could think of as she sat there.

Getting up slowly she began to back away as quietly as possible hoping that Killer Croc wouldn't hear her leaving. It was then she saw the manhole pull up enough to reveal a set of glowing slitted yellow eyes.

"You may be able to run now bitch, but I will find you." he snarled at her. Already terrified and not wanting to hear any more of his threats she turn on her heels and sprinted back the way she came towards her apartment. Did that just happen, did she just run into Killer Croc the freaking cannibal. Oh, how she wished that it was all a bad dream so she could wake up and have a laugh at this.

As Alexandra reached her apartment's door, she pulled out her keys to unlock it, stepping inside she immediately slammed and locked the door. The moment the door was shut she slumped to the ground. There was no possible way this day could get any worse. First she has a horrible awakening, then dealt with her mother over the phone and now she has encountered one of the deadliest criminals in Gotham who plans on finding and eating her should he get the chance. Being overcome with immediate exhaustion, she began thinking that staying at her parents' house didn't seem like such bad idea anymore.

For one I would like to welcome you to my first fan fiction "Changing Tides"

Now as this is my first time writing one, I am a bit nervous so I would really appreciate your feedback.

Anyway thanks for checking this out.