Maelstroms Mask
(KY Flips into the picture) Hello all ye who have entered into this chapter! I am your humble KY coming at you with another chapter of Maelstroms Mask. As always Jebest4781 and I are happy to present another chapter of our story. So without any further ado lets get this thing going!
Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto or Batman.
Chapter 2: Hunting a Predator
XXXXX
2:00 P.M., March 5, 1995
Northern Iraqi Province
Operation: Provide Comfort
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"... And so I said, that isn't a M16. That's my dick!" Raucous laughter filled the motor movement as US soldiers cracked jokes and cursed to deal with the deployment.
Ignoring his brother in arms Naruto just choked up on his M4, looking over the expanse of sand and wind that was the Iraqi desert. Coming here right after his training for combat and survival was complete... was a rather large pill to swallow. Sure the Iraqi forces have mellowed over the years and there was talk through the brass that they may go back home next year but there was still attacks on the Kurds they were guarding as well as the territory. Currently they were moving to expand the relief zone for the rather displaced Kurds from the dictator that was Saddam Hussein.
"Nguyen, what the hell are you thinking man?" The driver of the Humvee he was currently in asked him, his eyes firmly on the road.
"Just... A lot of nothing really. Everything, shit.. Sorry just trying to keep my wits about me." He stumbled in his answer, trying to think. He was new to this, anywhere they went it was hostile so he was always alert. Had a case of combat jitters, a common thing for first time deployers.
The driver chuckled, "Relax man. Were in the largest motor movement this side of the Haji playground. If someone tries anything they're going to get torn a new asshole."
"Your right Richards, I'm just paranoid is all. Anything can happen around here." Richards nodded to that, turning as the Humvee in front did. Richards was a rather skinny individual, for the military, and had that face that you couldn't really remember. Yet he was still a good friend to the young blonde and he couldn't be more grateful to have him as a friend.
"Yeah, you never really know what can happen. Oh, speaking of anything can happen; did you hear about Ryan? Seems the poor bastard went to a porta-shitter and got himself blown up."
"What? How the hell did Iraqis place a bomb in a shitter?" Naruto questioned, making a slight disgusted face as his mind began thinking of how they got it in there.
"Probably jumped down in there, planted the bomb and hauled ass. I wouldn't put it past them, they don't really care where they put the bombs in the first place so why not the shitter?"
"Man, now I can't even take a shit without thinking of bombs. Thanks Richards, I really needed that to calm myself." The blonde glared to his friend, getting a smirk back for his troubles.
"Hahaha, what are friends for man if I can't scare you just a bit? Just relax and put on your big girl panties, nothing's going to happen. I promise." Naruto just flipped him off for the panties comment and looked out the window.
"You sir are a dick, the biggest of dicks." He scoffed, Richards smirk growing larger now.
"Thank you, I do say I am one of the best dicks around. Nice to finally have recognition for my dick." Richards smirked, getting a groan from his friend for the comments stupidity.
Naruto sent a side glance to him, unamused. "Why the hell am I friends with you again?"
"Don't question it man. You need someone to keep your smart little head straight and distracted." The brunette waved him off. A few curses rang out in front of them but they ignored it as it didn't seem out of the ordinary.
"You'll never let my test results go, will you? I told you that I studied, that's all." Naruto pointed out, since he did study for the test to enter the military. When he received the results he got the highest scores you could possibly get, putting him on the radar of a few of the brass in their current Company when he was transferred over to Iraq.
"Bullshit, you are a smart motherfucker and don't you forget it." He pointed to him in emphasis of his point. Chuckling he went into a fit of laughter again getting a questioning look from Naruto.
The cursing grew louder, voices raising as the vehicles movements began to slow. Something was going on in the front it seems but again they ignored it as it was a common occurrence.
"What's so funny now?" Richards just laughed some more pointing over to the blonde.
"See, now your not so paranoid and stiff. I think I have accomplished my goal of unknotting your panties." Naruto blinked and looked down to his M4, seeing that his hands weren't gripping it for dear life like he was a few minutes ago.
Sighing he gave a small smile over to his friend, "Alright you did distract me enough to calm down, I'll give you that one Richards."
The teen pumped his fist in victory, "Fuck yeah I did! Now it's just smooth sailing from here."
Shaking his head at his friends antics Naruto just leaned back into his seat, trying to get comfortable. An explosion sounded far in the front, jarring them from their seats. Soon following the explosion the Humvee jerked and slammed into the one in front of it when it went into a dead stop. This in turn had the effect of them being slammed into by the vehicle behind them, jarring the two friends further from their relaxed moods. The Humvee groaned and bent as it was stuck between the two vehicles and being crushed by the two as the vehicle behind them wasn't stopping for some reason. Bracing himself Naruto looked around to see Richards fighting the airbag that deployed pushing him back against his seat. Bringing out his knife from his pouch on his body armor Naruto cut the airbag letting his friend out of its grasp.
"Shit, thanks Nguyen. Let's get out of here." Naruto nodded to that pulling the latch on the malformed door and slammed himself into it. Falling out of the vehicle Naruto looked back to see their Humvee was now crushed by the large truck behind them. Glaring at the truck he was about to yell at the driver only to see a bullet hole through the glass, the driver hunched over the wheel with a hole in his skull.
"Shit that's not good." He thought, crouching to the ground to lessen the chance of sight from the shooter.
"Richards, you still kicking?" He called out over to his friend, getting a groan in response.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Fucking jackass man, almost killed us. When I see that guy I'll murder him." He growled, shaking his head as he got up with his weapon in hand.
"Yeah, about that. I don't think you can kill a dead man Richards." He pointed out, getting behind the Humvee with Richards as he looked in the direction the bullet came from if his thoughts were correct from surveying the truck's window. The corpse was leaning against the window to the left of the vehicle, so likely the bullet came from the right of the vehicle entering through the window and slamming into the man's head, killing him instantly.
"What are you talking.. 'Bout... Shit!" He cursed as he saw the dead driver when Naruto pointed up to show him what he meant.
"Yeah that's- Fuck!" Bullets slammed into the metal of the wrecked vehicle, prompting them to duck behind it as gunfire erupted around the area. On the right side of the vehicle Naruto pulled out a mirror, shifting it to see the shooter's position.
"Fuck were pinned! Got any ideas?" His friend asked, firing in the general direction of the attackers and squatting down as the bullets started to come again.
"Working on it, trying to see where they're at." Naruto relayed, squinting his eyes at the mirror as the sun hit it. Adjusting it ever so slightly so as to see the reflection of their attackers. Finally he saw two people with weapons pointed at their position through the mirror.
"Richards, fire at the far right dune closest to Sgt. Anders LMTV. The lowest dune has two shooters... two-hundred meters away I believe.. I'll take the one on the right, you focus on the left." He told him putting the mirror away as he twisted around to the side just as the firing stopped. Pulling his weapon up to his sight Naruto narrowed his eyes, settling his breathing down as his index finger settled on the trigger.
"Push everything out... focus on the target... control your breathing... squeeze the trigger... " He recited, his vision focusing on the two shooters as time moved at a snails pace. His finger slowly squeezed the trigger, his breath bated as the M4 let loose a single shot from its muzzle. Traveling to the dune in an instant the bullet found a nice home in the shooters brain, making him crumble just as his friend fell from another bullet from Richards. Time sped up again going back to normal for the blonde as his heart beat jumped back to normal, no longer slowed in his sense of whiplash back to reality. He shook his head, stubbing the oncoming headache as he leaned back against the Humvee.
Richards moved back to his cover, "Well they're... Dead. Yeah, they're dead. " He shook his head and gripped his weapon tighter, looking around for any other hostiles. "That, that was.."
"... Easy.. terribly easy..." Naruto muttered, flinching as a cacophony of bullets slammed into their cover again. Looking over the scrapped vehicle to see something that put a large dose of fear into their hearts. Moving towards them was a large gaggle of Iraqi soldiers, more than thirty at least from their quick look over the hunk of metal that was their cover. The military personnel still alive opened fire on them, scattering them as the Iraqis fired back. Their numbers dwindling but somehow replenishing every few minutes as more and more of them came over the sand dunes.
Gritting his teeth Naruto opened fire again, aiming for every possible moving target in his sights as he tore apart any enemy in his wake. Iraqis fell with each bullet, crumbling in a lifeless heap as they were tore apart from the bullets slamming into them.
"One... three... five... nine... twelve..." He counted, his eyes never leaving the field of bodies as more and more joined the ranks of the dead as his body count grew. A click drew him out of his trance, prompting him to look down to his weapon. Deducing that his magazine was empty, he quickly threw the empty mag and replaced it with a new one. Taking his eyes off of his weapon he saw something that made him stop.
Coming from the opposite dune formations was another gaggle of turbaned attackers. Twenty in total, with all of their sights now directed onto the to two soldiers.
"Goddamnit!" Naruto cursed, lining up the sights of his weapon in a blink of an eye on the leading attacker. His vision swimming slightly as his heart slowed once again as he held his breath, his gaze zoomed slightly now taking in the details of his attacker as his finger was pulling the trigger. His world now muted, slowing...
Slowing...
Till... It was almost at a standstill, with nothing but his trigger finger making a motion. His weapon moving from one target to the next as it fired on each one, his breath stuck in his chest as holes filled each attacker as they didn't react to their deaths. Their eyes showing nothing as they were systematically killed. Vision swam even more, the light playing tricks on him as a shuddering exhale of breath escaped him. His ears now hearing the sounds of blood spilling the sands, screams ripping their way from departing mortal souls as they gurgled and fell to the sands. Their corpses staining the sands crimson as their blood pooled and flowed down to the two soldiers.
"How... How did I..." His thoughts questioned, his body only answering with a splitting headache and blurred vision. Gripping his head in pain he grit his teeth as the very area around him swam and became fuzzy.
"Gah! My… Head!.." He groaned , falling to his knees as he anchored himself to the sands, his breaths coming out in gasps as fingers curled in pain.
"Nguyen, some cover fire could be good right now!" Richard's voice cut through the haze, bringing Naruto's vision back to clarity as he slowly but surely got back to his feet. Biting his inner cheek the blonde fought through the sudden onslaught of pain as he put himself against the humvee.
"It's them or us... Them or us... Them.. or... Us..." His eyes dulled, he grit his teeth. Dropping the empty magazine from his weapon he loaded another in its place, and turned his gaze to the last of the attackers. Eyes filled with nothing but a burning flame.
A flame... to survive..
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7:25 P.M., Tuesday, December 24, 2000
"It's them or me.." He thought, blasting a masked thug as the rest opened fire on him.
The alarms blared all around him as the thugs fired on his position. The prison, now under siege by an unknown criminal body, was now a hub for a small war as the police and guards stationed around the penitentiary fought against the masked men. Hopefully they could stand their ground and take care of the malcontent.
Looking from his cover he could see the last five of the thugs taking cover in cells, looking through the bars for their shared target behind the wall..
"I can't take the chance of going out there with all of them knowing where I'm at. I'm going to have to take them out one by one by a different route." Taking a deep breathe he pulled up his AR-15 and turned back separating into a different corridor as he slowly made his way to one of the cell windows. Through the glass he could see one of the thugs peering past his own cover to where he used to be.
"Old glass, cracked and not reinforced for a few decades. With enough applied force it won't be an issue to break, allowing me access to my target." Bringing the butt of his rifle back he swung with all his strength at the glass. Shards flew from the force of the attack, taking the masked man off guard giving Naruto the opportunity to send a bullet into his brain, forcing his now dead body to flop to the ground with a thud. Unfortunately this got the attention of his companions around the area, turning their attention to the cell and to Naruto.
Ducking down under the window bullets flew over his head as the attackers opened fire on his position again. Moving past the window Naruto made it to the end of the corridor, turning right into the main hall again as he sidled over to the end of the wall. Peering from the side he could see the last four splitting apart looking around the area for him. Each one going to a far corner of the hall.
Moving a small margin back into the walls radius the policeman waited for the thug to get to his area. When the thug close enough to his line of sight he pulled him away from the eyes of his comrades, his arms capturing him in a chokehold as he cut the airflow from his brain.
"Chkkkhhckkk!..." The man choked, struggling in Naruto's hold.
"Keep quiet, it's almost over." He muttered, finally rendering the man unconscious as he set him against the wall.
Making a quick look around for the others, seeing that they haven't moved from their spots, Naruto made his way over to the thug across from him.
Crouched down he approached the man silently, avoiding debris so as not to make a sound. Finally now a foot away from him he moved in a quick burst of speed, kicking the man's legs from under him and smashing his fist into his skull with all of his weight behind it. Thus the man fell to the ground unconscious, with a busted lip and black eye.
The crack of his skull jolted the other two from their searches, prompting them to turn to see what caused the noise.
"What the hell?"
"The fuck is that?"
Unfortunately for them when they turned all they got was a few bullets fired into their bodies. Jerking from the metal piercing their vitals the two dead men fell to the ground in a heap.
Turning away from the corpses Naruto made his way through the hole that was once the entrance to the Psychiatric Ward of the prison. A large door stood in front of him, made from some of the strongest metal the city of Gotham could provide. Now, it stood open with bodies littering the floor in front of it.
Guards, prisoners, criminals, civilian workers it didn't matter who. All of the corpses were bloodied, torn and unrecognizable from the large chunks of flesh missing from each one. Narrowing his eyes Naruto walked further down the hall, passing each cell as more bodies became prevalent.
"So many dead… All with similar wounds, large lacerations, signs of mauling even…. Large portions of flesh missing as well as a few limbs…. What could have done this?…" He thought aloud, taking in the carnage around the hall. Stopping in the middle he took a closer look at one of the bodies, turning it up onto it's back. The body was bloodied, dressed in now tatters and surrounded by blood dripping from the wounds it has received.
"Hmm, male, at least 5'6… He was a guard from what I can make out from his tattered uniform…Skull shattered making the face unrecognizable….. Chest was caved in, left arm torn clean off by… Claw like marks, so that narrows it down substantially.." Looking down past his left stump of a missing limb he saw a large chunk of his left hip missing, jagged edges showing that a large maw clenched down onto his side to chew and rip off a large portion of his hip.
"A bite mark, around thirty-five centimeters in length…. Too large for one solid bite, must of been multiple attempts before the creature got a good grip on its victim…. There must be more, gonna have to do a more thorough search to know what I'm getting into." The thought aloud, not wanting to go further into the prison till he knew what he was dealing with to be properly prepared.
Ruffling through the dead man's tattered rags for further clues on the killer he found the dead man's wallet. The man's name was Michael Torris from what his ID could be salvaged, born in Gotham. Inside of the leather wallet was also a few pictures: the first being a photo of a rather small house with a sold sticker on the sign in front of it. The next was a photo of a brown haired woman holding a small bundle in her arms lovingly, with white Hospital wear on. Finally the last shot was of a small family in a park in front of a water fountain. A gruff looking man with brown eyes, black hair and business casual clothes smiled in the picture, holding a small brown haired, green eyed little girl on his shoulders. The girl in question wore a white sundress with matching shoes, wearing a matching smile to her father's. Standing to the right of the man was a short woman of about 5'4, with brown hair pulled into a high ponytail and warm green eyes only highlighted by a kind smile on her alabaster skin. Wearing a simple turtle-necked sweater, blue jeans and a pair of sneakers the woman looked very happy in the picture with her husband and daughter.
"The man matches the build of the corpse, so I can assume that this is the victim. The woman to his left is his wife from the matching wedding bands on their fingers, meaning that the little girl is their daughter.. A family man, huh….." Looking over the contents of the wallet he tucked it back into the tatters. Seeing the family photo made him think of his own loved ones, hoping that they were alright at the moment. Hopefully Harley made it to the designated panic room when the alarms went off and was with the other Psychiatric personnel, safe from harm. Sighing he bowed his head in a respectful but regretting manner to the departed soul.
"May you find peace in the next life Michael Torris." Beginning to get up the blonde stopped when a muffled voice came from the corpse.
"... ichael… Michael…..Do you copy?... Monster.. Everyones dead over here…" Picking through the clothes again he found a small walkie talkie on the back of the backs pockets of his pants.
Wiping some blood from the receiver he answered, "Mr. Torris… Didn't make it, this is Officer Nguyen. What's the situation?
"... Nguyen?... The…. guy…. Pinned down in the west wing… Can't get to Commissioner Loeb…. Black Mask has him….. In the Execution Chamber room…. Croc's slaughtering us!... CHHSHSHHHHHHHHHH…." The connection cut off with the last cries of the officer on the other end.
Letting the receiver of the radio drop he messed with his own radio on his uniform, searching frequencies to get a better read on the situation.
Static…
Gunfire…
…. A roar in the background…
Bloody screams of the dying….
"… This all about, Sionis? Haven't I always come through for you?" A quivering voice came from his receiver, dripping with fear as sounds of a struggle followed the males words.
That voice… Commissioner Loeb?
"You may have, Gillian. But things have changed. We're starting with a clean slate - and you're not on it." Deep, muffled tones flowed from the other end. A hint of danger seeming to come from them as the sound of flesh hitting flesh reached through the connection. A punch or a slam from a body perhaps? Struggling, thrashing…
"W-what are you… Talking about? I'm not on it? After everything… I have done for you..." A body slammed into a metal wall from the sound of the impact, fists slammed against a container.
Then came the hissing…
"You can't do this! I'm the police Commissioner, damnit!" Loeb cried out, his words becoming no more than coughs by the end of his sentence as his breathing came out wheezing. His coughs and gasps of breath came out fewer and fewer until finally, they ended with nothing but silence on the other end of the frequency.
"Show's over boys. Let's go." The voice ordered, leaving with his companions as the connection cut off.
"Commissioner Loeb is dead, and from the voice speaking to him, I can only assume it was Black Mask that killed him. I should go to the Execution Chamber and confirm the Commissioners death, as well as pursue Black Mask to arrest him for the murder of Loeb." Making his way through the corridor he went through the passing metal door to a crossroad style room with three paths. Remembering the map of the prison Naruto followed it's directions and took the left path, going straight to the gas chamber room.
Though he couldn't help but notice the trail of unconscious thugs he came across when going to the place of the Commissioners murder. Was someone from the Department knocking a few skulls during this time? And if so, how did he not notice someone that had that type of skill?
No matter, the arrest came first. Thoughts of another doing good work could be entertained later.
Walking into the Execution Chamber he found three unconscious thugs, just like the last ones he encountered on his way to the room. Disregarding their presence for now he made his way to the gas chamber, peering through the glass to see a body inside obscured by the fumes of the deadly gas.
Seeing as he would need the machine off to confirm the body Naruto made his way to the gas valve. Turning the valve counterclockwise the gas flow stopped, prompting the air duct in the machine to sucking up any of the excess fumes revealing the body for Naruto to see.
There on the floor of the chamber was Commissioner Loeb's corpse.
"That confirms it, Commissioner Loeb is dead." Pulling his receiver up he switched frequencies to a different channel to share the news.
"What is it? Please tell me it's good news…"
"Captain Gordon, this is Officer Nguyen tasked to the guarding of Blackgate Penitentiaries Psychiatric Ward for the Criminally Insane. I have discovered and confirmed the death of Police Commissioner Loeb, over." Pulling his thumb from the button he waited, hearing a few curses coming from his superior.
"Damn it! Of course, why wouldn't he be dead. Just another thing to add for tonight… Anyway, Nguyen is it?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Who killed the Commissioner and how did you find out about it?"
"Black Mask, Captain. As to how I found out I came across the Commissioners radio frequency when I was searching through the frequencies to get an idea of the situation in the area at the moment. He must of left his radio on by mistake because he was speaking to Black Mask as if..." He paused, looking at the corpse as he remembered the man's words. As if the man was familiar with Black Mask, familiar in the way of having deals with him.
Illegal deals most likely.
"As if?..."
"... As if he was familiar with Mask, like the familiarity two criminals with a history in crime together would have…. Though the Commissioner played the part of the loose end partner tonight thanks to Mask, outliving his usefulness it seems." He relayed, muttering the last bit to himself so the Captain couldn't hear as he wondered what Loeb and Black Mask did in the past with their partnership.
Did Loeb give Mask leeway for his crimes? Did he supply him with information only privy to the Police? Bail out a few of his cronies for a price?...
All guess work now, since one of the only two people that could answer that question now was dead while the other was probably making an escape right now.
"That's a huge disappointment, to think that the Commissioner could be wrapped up with someone like Mask puts a bad taste in my mouth. Still we'll have to give a funeral for the man since all we have is you as a listener to their conversation over radio, and unfortunately that's not enough to prove that the man committed a crime or crimes with Mask." Naruto looked over the corpse, carefully putting on gloves as he did so to keep his involvement out of any possible finger dustings or the like from investigations of the body.
He was curious, and he wasn't going to let a small regulation stop him. Call it being a bit of a truant if you will but he was within his rights to search the crime scene for evidence of the murder, Chapter 5, subsection 3, paragraph 2, if he remembered right.
Beginning to search the body he spoke, "Captain, the conversation took place five minutes ago. And if I am correct in my memory of the prison map-the quickest way out of here would be by helicopter. It is possible that Black Mask is still in the area, from my position if I was given the order, I could catch up to him and cut him off at the roofs helipad and make the arrest for the murder of the late Commissioner." The corpses jacket was just full of awards, trinkets and the still turned on radio, which he turned off as soon as he found it, nothing of importance so far.
"Nguyen, if I give that order you would be going into a viper's nest! Black Mask most definitely has men guarding him armed to the teeth for protection. As well as Killer Croc with him from the maulings and sightings from the officers that he didn't chomp down on." Naruto shook his head disagreeing with the captain, as well as beginning to pat down the corpse for anything else.
"Sir, with all due respect. I have been in worse situations in Iraq, I have experience with these types of things. I won't be going in without a plan, and if that fails I'm already assuming that you will be right behind me with the rest of the department ready to make the arrest." He reassured, standing up as he found nothing on the corpse. Nothing incriminating at least. Sighing he stopped searching seeing no point in a fruitless search.
"... Fine, but only because like you said I will be bringing in backup so don't make the arrest till we get to the helipad. We'll be up in ten minutes, so all you have to do is stall him. Don't do anything stupid kid."
Naruto smirked, "Don't worry sir, I won't. See you up there." Cutting off the frequency he cracked his neck, exiting the room and making his way to the helipad.
Ending up at the staircase to the helipad he could make out a rather large figure, loud crunching noises emanating from it as it gorged and chewed on its meal. Wet splashes filled the staircase as blood and gore fell to the ground, growls of pleasure accompanying the splashes as Naruto cautiously approached with his AR-15 set to fully automatic.
"I have a new scent…. And it smells like pig…" Naruto stopped, aiming at the large mass of scales in front of him.
"Yes, a little pig.. Right behind me…" It chuckled, disregarding Naruto as he aimed his rifle at him.
"Freeze, put your hands where I can see them Croc!" Scaled muscles twitched, towering over the police officer as he aimed at his back. Powerful jaws snapped, breaking bones as a scaled face looked over his shoulder to see Naruto with his rifle pointed at him. Trapped inside his jaw was a guard, from what the blonde could recognize it was one of the guards that was making talking rudely about him when he was having lunch with Harley.
Croc spit the mangled body out of his maw, licking his bloody teeth with his reptilian tongue to savor the blood of his meal. The body splattered on the ground with a splash of gore, to which Naruto only raised a brow at the display but didn't comment.
"Freeze, huh?..." The beast rumbled, turning fully to face the tick that dared to tell him what to do. Standing at an impressive 9'2 the large lizard was covered in dark green scales from head to toe. Dark green scales spiked around his skull pointing up and outward behind him in miniscule protrusions with black dull crocodile like eyes glaring down at Naruto. From his eyes to his jaw a lighter shade of green scales was apparent, framing dull yellow, menacing teeth still dripping with blood. His arms, clawed hands, shoulders and back were covered in a thicker looking set of dark green scales that wrapped around his form that hinted to going to his lower body as well. His chest was the same shade of green as his jaw, showing muscles honed from years of crime and slaughter. Covering his lower half was a ripped pair of jeans that seemed to fit the Croc despite his large size, almost covering his three toed, clawed feet.
Naruto just charged his weapons bolt to the rear, setting the bullet into the chamber. "Yes, freeze Croc. Or do you prefer I call you Waylon Jones?"
Waylon Jones, abandoned by his parents he was left in the care of his aunt. Unfortunately she was an alcoholic and an abusive relative that beat and demeaned Waylon whenever she could because of his strange appearance due to a genetic disorder. His academic life was also a mirror of his home life, filled with physical and emotional abuse from mean spirited youths. Finally after years of abuse Waylon snapped, embracing his rather violent instincts he murdered his aunt, devoured her remains and joined the circus. Adopting the name Killer Croc the young lad finally felt like he belonged with the small family he had in the circus people. Unfortunately fate was not so kind as only a few months later a rather violent audience of Gotham City destroyed the carnival and the people closest to Croc. Enraged KillerCroc has sworn vengeance on all of Humanity for their crimes against him, changing him into a monster driven by bloodlust and hatred that fed and grows on human flesh. Now he usually works with mob bosses as a cannibalistic hitman, sating his appetite for human flesh and monetary was dealing with a bonified maneater, literally it seems.
This got a growl from the genetic behemoth, "Don't even think about calling me by that Human name! I am Killer Croc, Killer Croc!"
"Very well, Killer Croc. Surrender and come in peacefully. I have a masked man to arrest as well and this is slowing my progress slightly." Naruto ordered, motioning with his weapon for Croc to go down on the floor in surrender.
Croc laughed, "Hahahah, funny pig. But I ain't surrenderin', but… I have a better idea. Instead of me surrenderin' why don't you become my next meal!" Seeing Croc charge at him Naruto sidestepped the attempt, opening fire on the killer in retaliation. Bouncing off of his hide the bullets did little to nothing as Croc smashed into the door, bending it inwards. Chuckled darkly Croc gripped the doors edges as it groaned and whined in protest.
"Bullets don't seem to work on his hide, will have to try on less armored scales that seem to be across his chest and abdomen." Cutting the thought short Naruto ducked as the large steel door slammed into the ground behind him.
Roaring in challenge Croc rushed the blonde, quickly reducing the distance between them as he made to grab him. Ducking under the attempt Naruto fired on Crocs exposed stomach at point blank range. This had the effect of the bullets bouncing or bruising the scales of the large lizard, unfortunately doing little damage. Growling in irritation the behemoth brought his fists down to smash the policeman into pieces.
"Shit!" The blonde jumped back dodging the attack that left a small crater in the concrete as he continued to fire on the less scaled parts of Croc. Swinging his claws furiously Croc tried to cut the little man to ribbons, succeeding in only striking the air as the blonde ducked and weaved through the stikes. Unable to fire his weapon Naruto was forced to continue to dodge the furious strikes as he was pushed back.
"Damn it bullets won't work! Have to…. Think… of something!" He dodged with each thought, backflipping away as well as putting his rifle over his shoulder with the action tightening the strap of the weapon so it wouldn't fly off of him. Slashing again Croc over extended on the last of his strikes, allowing an opportunity for the blonde to grab onto the clawed hand and pull himself forward with a fist pulled back slamming it with all he's got into the creature's skull.
"Gah!" Croc took a few steps back as the power of the punch was more than he expected, dazing him for a few seconds. Taking the opportunity Naruto dropped down to the ground launching a series of fast punches and kicks into Croc, pushing him back as he grunted in pain from the onslaught. Finishing it with a spinning kick Naruto jumped back as a claw slammed into the ground where he was originally standing, huffing in slight exhaustion as he held a loose boxing stance across from Croc.
"This is going nowhere fast. I could beat him within an inch of his life if my attacks really fazed him like they did but in the process Black Mask would get away because of my fight with Croc, I have to get to the rooftop now. Seems like I'm going to have to make a bit of a retreat…" Resolving his plan he dodged to the right of Croc and dashed to the stairs.
"Where do you think your going?!" Crocs claw whipped out and swiped at Naruto's armor, grabbing it and hauling him back to the lizardman. Whipping back due to the momentum of Crocs pull Naruto let gravity take it's course, grabbed onto the hand grabbing him and twisted the grip on his armor allowing the grip to loosen. Capitalizing on the loosened grip the Naruto rapidly punched Crocs eyes when they came into view in his upside down view. Roaring in pain Croc held his damaged eyes, letting go of Naruto in the process.
Flipping through the air Naruto landed in a crouch a few feet away from Croc and even farther away from the stairs.
"Now," He muttered dashing passed Croc and reaching the stairs in a few seconds as he ascended the spiraling staircase with each step going up three stairs. Rubbing his eyes Croc looked around seeing that Naruto wasn't around. Growling he sniffed the air, picking up the blondes scent and turning his gaze upwards seeing the blonde ascend the stairs.
"No one can run from me, no one!" Roaring in outrage he leaped at the wall, slamming his claws into the surface of it and quickly climbing up to take care of the retreating cop.
Back with Naruto he was halfway up the stairs when a large piece of concrete flew from behind him taking out a few stairs in the process. Looking down he could see Croc climbing after him while taking chunks of the wall out with a swipe of his claws and propelling them at him.
"Damn it he's persistent. Well, this may work in my favor. If I lure him up to the helipad there are bound to be fuel tanks up there, I could blow them up close to him taking him out of the equation leaving Black Mask for the taking. I take out Croc and Mask at once….I like it." Smirking Naruto doubled his efforts, climbing up and up as he dove out of the way of large cement projectiles.
Jumping up from wall to wall now Croc slammed into the stairs, destroying a portion of them behind Naruto as he passed Croc. Tripping slightly Naruto caught himself and flipped onto the rail running along it ascending with perfect balance, with Croc jumping after him. Flipping to the side Naruto slammed a heel into Croc's back throwing him to the left side and into the opposing wall.
Catching himself in the air Croc brought his claws to the wall and caught himself, skidding down for a few feet with trenchesl left from his claws till he came to a grinding halt.
"RRRRRRARAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHH!" Losing his temper Croc launched himself at the human that dared to mock him. To hit him into a wall, to dodge his every attempt at devouring him!
Seeing the approaching Croc through the air the young Nguyen ducked just as the large reptile slammed into the wall, breaking it and making a large hole in the surface of it. Claws launched from the debris falling from the hole, reaching for Naruto to rip him into pieces. Punching the claws away the blonde hit the railing, making him stumble slightly as he was forced to look down to the bottom of the building giving a sense of vertigo from the large drop from seven stories up. Unfortunately this allowed for Croc to get a hold of him as he charged at the blonde, grabbing onto his throat and bringing his fanged maw down to devour his skull.
"RAAAAAAGGHHHHH!" He roared, feeling gloved hands take his head and push against him as he tried to bite and maul the blonde. Struggling against the chomping teeth and choking claws Naruto pushed against the Croc's head as well as slamming his boots into the creature's chest to gain leverage.
"LET!…."
CHOMP
"GO!…
CHOMP
"OF!…."
CHOMP
"ME!" Naruto choked, kicking Croc in the chest harder and harder with each strangled word till finally he gained enough leverage to get out of his hold and over the railing. Losing his grip on Naruto, Croc watched as he fell over the railing and looked down, only to see the blonde not falling to his doom like he thought he would. He was just gone, without a trace.
Under the staircase Naruto grabbed the edge of it and swung his left arm to the other side, getting a grip with his hand and grabbed onto it with his other one. Twisting around Naruto kicked off the wall and grabbed the railing above, jumping over it and extending his right leg at Crocs back. Thus sending Croc over the railing and down to the bottom of the building.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Croc flailed all the while down to the bottom, smashing into the ground with a loud bang kicking up concrete and dust all around the impact area. The concrete seemingly wrapped around the creature as debris and dust fell all around it. All that was visible was a single claw reaching up with rubble all around, burying the large reptile and seeming to keep it from moving.
"Fuck…. That guy…" Huffed Naruto, catching his breathe as he straightened out his clothes. Shaking it off he ascended the last of the stairs and went up a ladder to come across a hatch to the rooftop of the Penitentiary. Twisting it open Naruto pulled himself up and was instantly hit with the freezing cold of the winter ocean breeze.
The perfect view of the lights from Gotham city as well as the other side of the prison could be seen from this vantage point, as well as a sight of a landing helicopter with Black Mask walking to it. Getting onto his feet Naruto took his rifle and fired right next to the man's head, making him flinch away from it as the blonde approached him keeping his sight on him and the two thugs in the helicopter.
"Hold it! Black Mask, you are under arrest for the murder of Police Commissioner Loeb. Now everyone, put your hands up to where I can see them and don't try anything funny. I see anything out of the ordinary and I'll take out your kneecaps." The three of them followed his orders, with the pilot frozen as he couldn't take off lest his boss got shot.
"My, my, seems we have an Ace in Gotham's Police Department. And so young too, tell me, how ever did you get past Croc? I was sure he was more than a match for any policeman Gotham could acquire, yet, here you are. Tired, ragged… But alive." Black Mask asked looking over his shoulder to see the blonde, curious as how a normal man could have beat the beast that was Killer Croc. After all it wasn't every day a normal man could beat someone that could pry open bank vault doors like it was nothing.
Naruto just narrowed his eyes, leveling his rifle on Mask's head. "I'm not your average policeman and leave it at that. Now on the ground, now!" The two thugs looked conflicted, as much as any men with full facial masks, and looked to their leader for confirmation. A small rumble sounded from under them but no one heard it, except for Black Mask making a mad smirk cross his lips as a chuckle escaped him.
"Just play along for now you two. Something tells me the cavalry is about to arrive boys." Another low rumble sounded, this time louder allowing the thugs to hear it. Smirking they did as they were told, allowing Naruto to switch his radio on to call it in.
"Captain Gordon this is Officer Nguyen, I have incapacitated Killer Croc and have Black Mask and a few of his men in my custody." Pausing he waited for the other end to respond.
".. Nguyen? You… Wow, I'm impressed, good work. We'll be up there in two minutes, just have to tie up some loose ends and then we'll be right there." Another rumble sounded, now much louder with the roof shaking slightly as Naruto looked to the ground in questioning.
"Roger, Captain. Question, do you know what's causing the disturbance in the building?" This time the pause was longer as the rumbling grew now in frequency and noise, as well as shaking the roof more. The thugs now stumbling a little as they were on the floor, Black Mask didn't make a sound as the rumbling grew louder.
"... No, can't say…. I do…. Something's moving up there though, keep your guard up." With that warning the rumbling went to a new high, shaking the roof so much that Naruto had to take a knee to stay stable as the the roof goaned and rumbled with a low growl underlying the rumbling.
"What the hell?!" Questioning the event Naruto could only brace himself as the hatch he came from exploded upward and the ground around it collapsed in an explosion of force as the roof shuddered from the explosion. Flying up from the explosion a large shadow came to overshadow the moon for a second then came crashing down onto the roof with a loud slam cracking it in a spiderweb.
There, in front of Naruto was Killer Croc and he looked worse for wear. A few of his scales were chipped off, lacerations covered his person as he huffed and growled in pure rage. His claws seemed to be bleeding from cuts and pieces of debris in them as cold, infuriated eyes locked onto the blonde.
"YOU!... YOU LITTLE FUCKER! DIIIIIEEEE!" He bellowed, slamming his fists into the ground sending a shockwave of concrete Naruto's way. Moving to dodge the attack Naruto found himself pushed out of the way as a flourish of black passed him, slamming into the enraged beast that was Killer Croc. Stumbling back a black gloved fist found its way to his face, then a boot, then finally a haymaker making him step back even more as he held his head in pain as he shook it to clear his dazed state. Moving quickly the black clad man let loose a flurry of punches into the Crocs body and face, pushing him further and further back till finally he let loose one final punch that slammed him close to the edge of the fence overlooking the ocean.
Shaking out of his daze Croc glared at the man, "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"
The black and grey clad man stood at 6'2, dressed in a dark cowl with eyes set in a permanent scowl glared at the reptilian hitman.A black cape obscured and surrounded the man giving him an air of mystery and authority.
Two words, just two words were uttered by the man in a deep, dark, gravelly voice that introduced the man to the world. "I'm Batman."
"Batman?... Damn, he's actually real. Going to have to give Harl her twenty dollars, she was right." Naruto thought, tensing in case this man may move to strike at him. He didn't know whose side he was on after all.
The air picked up in volume, pushing against the three of them prompting them to turn to see the helicopter taking off with Black Mask waving down to them as he closed the door, cutting himself from view as he got away.
"Damn it! He's getting away!" Naruto growled, tightening his hold on his AR-15 as he knew he couldn't fire at the copter from the distance it was going.
"Focus on the problem on hand, not the problem off hand." The Batman told him, as Croc slammed his fist's into the ground creating fissures in the roof heading straight for the two of them. Splitting up Batman went to the left while Naruto went to the right, completely dodging the attacks.
"HAHAHA, Batman…. I'll be able to take that bounty on your head, and kill THIS LITTLE FUCK! EVERYONE WINS!" Croc cackled as he jumped at the Dark Knight, swiping at him prompting him to roll away. Dashing at Croc Naruto let loose a right round-house kick, knocking the reptile's head back as he followed it with a left hook, right jab, left haymaker, right gut punch and rapid fire punches that pushed him back a good foot away and slammed a right hook, slamming him into the wall of the building.
Jumping away Naruto missed being hit by a fast swipe from the reptile, cleaving the air with a loud 'whoosh' sound.
Growling Croc heard the sound of a helicopter coming, showing a group of Black Mask's henchmen coming in as back-up. Growling he picked up one of the fuel tanks, meaning to throw it at one of them. "Playtime is over!
Taking out a metal bat-like-shuriken Batman let it fly at the fuel tank making it explode in Croc's hands dazing him. Moving in quickly the caped man swept his weighted cape into Croc's face, a fist into his chin, an elbow into his neck and an uppercut sending him into the fuel tanks stopping his fall. Snarling Croc got up and charged at Batman, grabbing him before he could dodge and threw him at Nguyen.
Meanwhile the five henchmen touched down on the roof and made their way over to Naruto, surrounding him to beat him down. Ducking under a punch the blonde swept the man's legs out from under him and stomped down onto his chest and smashed his fist into his skull making him pass out. Moving to the next man Naruto punched his jugular making him gasp for breath as he followed up with a left hook to the temple knocking him out. Blocking a baseball bat from his peripheral vision Naruto took the offending weapon and turned it against it's owner with a quick arc to the man's gut and breaking it off on the upper part of his skull.
Turning to the next attacker he blocked a punch, grabbing the man's hand and broke it in his grasp making the thug cry out in pain only to be silenced when he shattered his jaw on the policemans fist. Finally backhanding the last thug with a closed fist he finished him with a twisting punch throwing him to the ground.
Turning to Croc he only had an instant to react then-
BAM
-he was laid out on the floor with Batman on top of him. Getting up the two looked to see Croc mid-leap bringing down all his weight at their position. Rolling away from their positions Killer Croc stomped down right after they moved, making cracks in the roof spiderweb all along his landing spot.
"STAND STILL!" He roared, bringing his claws in wide arcs to slice the two men into bloody gore. Jumping over the swipes Naruto propelled himself over Croc as Batman ducked and slid under him. Facing his back the two launched a barrage of punches and kicks, taking him by surprise as he struck at them, twisting around and slamming his fists into the ground sending a small shockwave all around him sending them flying.
"Gah!" They groaned, slamming into the fence and making it bend slightly over the ocean below.
Snarling Croc went and picked up another fuel tank, with even more thugs coming in by helicopters.
"IT'S TIME FOR A LITTLE BARBEQUE!" Shaking his head at the beastial bellows from Croc Naruto pulled a 9Mm from his left leg holster. Aiming at the tank he made to take a shot only for Batman to shift his aim to miss completely.
Turning to him he glared, "What the hell are you doing?! If I don't take out the tank were dead!"
The man in black only got up, grunting in slight discomfort. "Not yet, the people aren't out of-"
BOOOM
"-the way." He finished, with the tank exploding with a few bullets from Naruto destroying it and killing the thugs in the process.
"Those people would have killed us, I'm just making sure I make it back to my family. It's either them or us in this, Bats." He grunted, dashing to the dazed Croc with Batman on his heels.
Throwing the first punch Naruto followed it up with a quick hook left right into his jaw, spinning his body to finish with a rather explosive kick that sent him away from Croc. Moving in after the police officer Batman slammed his shoulder into Croc's stomach knocking the wind out of his lungs. Following it up with a series of increasingly quick punches the Bat launched a punishing uppercut knocking the behemoth into the last of the fuel tanks.
Rolling back the Bat got out of the way of a scaled fist, narrowly dodging it as Croc snarled in pain. Huffing in exhaustion the large reptile began to get up, struggling to get onto his feet again as he fell back onto the fuel tank glaring at them with unadulterated rage.
"I… Will not… BE BEATEN BY HUMANS!" Naruto and Batman just tensed, readying another shot and batarang.
"You just were Croc." They said, throwing and firing their weapon respectively into the remaining tank creating a large explosion with Croc in the center of it. Covering his eyes from the blast Naruto coughed, waving off the smoke as he saw the large man fall against the fence breaking it and making it bend to hang over the waters below.
Dashing to Croc's position Batman jumped onto his chest, ready to interrogate the beast on the location of his boss. For the one responsible for the breakout.
"Your boss. Where's he going?" Batman said as he punched Croc across the face.
"Only boss a'me is me." Croc said as he got another jab in the face. The metal fence was still creaking due to their combined weight and each punch was probably another punch towards their plummet towards the rocky ocean below.
"You want teeth. I want answers." Batman said as he gave the scaled man an uppercut. All he got from Croc was a gruntled laugh.
"Wait 'till Black Mask's assassins get through with you-" Croc was soon interrupted with another jab in the face.
"What assassins?" Batman asked getting more of the fence to bend more and further their chances to plummet. Croc started to laugh unnerving Naruto on the sidelines while only irritating the masked being.
"Whoever wins is going to be famous AND rich." he said before Batman knocked him out.
"At least we know he won't be ugly." Batman said as he started to drag Croc onto solid ground. After that, the metal fence finally gave way and fell off towards the ocean below.
"Freeze!" Naruto said as he trained his gun towards Batman. Even if the Bat helped him, he still had to take him in for questioning, even if he didn't really agree with it. He owed the man after all for the help. Batman turned around and saw Naruto with the rest of the police force starting to show up with the spotlight aiming towards him.
"Hold it right there! I'm taking you in!" James Gordon said as they noticed Batman touch something on his armored arm before he started walking back towards the edge of the cliff.
"Not tonight," Was all he said before he jumped back causing Naruto and some police officers to run towards the edge. They were soon greeted towards the site of an aircraft none of them have ever seen before rise up in the air with Batman climbing in. It soon took off and left towards Gotham leaving the officers on the roof of Blackgate.
"No such thing as a Bat Man, huh?" Bullock said as Gordon and Naruto looked towards where the plane went.
"I can admit when I'm wrong Bullock. No need to say it." Gordon said, cracking his neck as he looked to one of the policemen.
"Let's get the big guy in a nice warm cell. Bullock you're in charge of Croc's lock up." Bullock groaned but nodded, moving over to the unconscious Croc with a few police officers for help.
"Don't know if I should pity Croc's cellmate or not." Bullock said as he helped secure Croc and moved him inside.
"Now I'm wondering how the hell did Black Mask and his goons get inside of this place." Naruto said as Gordon picked up on that.
"On the way through here, we stumbled upon Warden Joseph with a very damaged eye, several bruises and a broken arm. Some of my men escorted him to the medical bay while we continued our way up here. Before we showed up I got a message from them saying that Black Mask captured Joseph and tortured him until he gave Black Mask access into the prison." Gordon said as Naruto winced on that information. Naruto respected the Warden greatly, to know that the rather easy going man was tortured for information left him in a bit of a foul mood from the thought. His fists clenched in rage as he had an even bigger stake to take Back Mask down with.
"Using torture for intimidation and entertainment. A lot of times I really hate that sadistic bastard." Naruto said as Gordon nodded.
"So was there anything that went on before we came up?" The captain asked the blonde.
"Yeah, Croc said that Black Mask hired assassins to take care of Bats for a substantial reward. Sir, if they are already in Gotham, tonight is going to be bloody." Naruto said as Gordon sternly nodded and rubbed his neck.
"Yeah, was hoping that I could of called it a night to spend time with my little girl for Christmas Night but now it's not going to happen all that well. Alright, Nguyen I want you to help out with this situation at hand. Its going to be a very long night to find Black Mask and put an end to this." Gordon said as Naruto nodded.
"Sir. What about Loeb? He died earlier and I don't know who is going to be in charge for now until his official replacement comes in." Naruto said as Gordon momentarily remembered of what Naruto told him earlier of Loeb's death and situation.
"Well by the chain of command, that makes me the temporary one until the board chooses one later. Right now stand by for any developments." Naruto nodded seeing the logic in putting someone in charge if only temporary. The department couldn't function without proper leadership after all.
"Yes, Sir. Will that be all?" Gordon stiffly nodded, dismissing Naruto to do as he was told. Slipping past everyone Naruto pulled out his phone when he entered the prison, calling Pamela to give her the news.
".. Hello?"
"Pam, it's Naruto. I won't be able to make it tonight for our date." He paused, hearing nothing from the other line as he walked down the stairs the others came up from.
"What… Why? Did something happen?" He sighed, running his hands through his hair as he went down the steps.
"There was a break out here at Blackgate, Black Mask and Killer Croc were the instigators of it. I fought Croc and made my way up to the roof to apprehend Black Mask with Croc following me. When I got there Batman showed up, fought Croc with me and helped take him down. After that he just left in a plane I haven't seen before, avoiding an arrest from me and the others."
"Are you alright? You didn't break anything did you?" The redhead questioned worriedly.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It'll take more than some overgrown crocodile to do me in Pam." He said with bravado, making her chuckle on the other end of the signal.
"I know that, doesn't stop me from worrying about you every time you leave for work though Hon.." Her voice lowered, a hint of worry and dread in her tone as Naruto flinched slightly at that. While Pamela was understanding and supportive of his job, she was also vocal with her worries of him leaving and never returning because something may happen on the job. Even when he promises her nothing will happen she would accept it but it would still be there, the small inkling of doubt.
"You won't lose me Pam, if I have to beat down every single criminal in Gotham to stay by your side I would. If I had to fight God, the Devil, Aliens, Mutants and every other thing that breathes just to prove to you that I will never leave you and die then I would. I promised you that I would never leave and I always keep my promises, especially to the woman I love." He smiled, pushing every ounce of his feelings into his speech to tell her how he felt.
"Hon..." Some sniffles came through the phone.
"Now please, don't worry to much. I'll get right back to the apartment when this is all said and done. Just have to help in the arrest of Black Mask and his crew and I'll be free to come back safe and sound." He soothed her with soft words, getting her to calm down.
"Alright, I understand….." She sighed on the other end slowly calming down, disappointed but understanding of the situation. He had a responsibility to put the criminals away, of course it doesn't mean she liked that he had to work on Christmas Night.
"I promise to make it up to you ten times over, ok?" He said, making his way down the final stair and to the medical bay.
"I'll hold you to that Hon, be safe and come back in one piece. I love you.." Her voice trembled with emotion, worry and love apparent in her words making Naruto's lips curl in a smile. His heart warming to her words at this otherwise cold night.
"I will Pam, I love you too. See you soon." Hanging up he let loose a breath he didn't knew he was holding and walked into the medical bay of the prison. Countless injured guards and policeman were littered across the futons and floor being treated the medical personnel that could be spared.
Walking over to one of the scrub clad medical personnel he tapped his shoulder. Turning around the doctor gave him a questioning look, "Yes, can I help you?"
"Yes, I was wondering where I could find Warden Joseph. I was told he was sent here due to injuries." The doctor nodded and guided him to the back of the room, moving the curtains to reveal Joseph on a futon. Unconscious from the world he was an African American male with bandages wrapped around his left eye and chest. His right arm was set in a cast and the rest was obscured from view by blankets, an I.V. drip was put up with him as well as a heart monitor.
Naruto looked upon the injured man with saddened eyes, "How is he?"
"He'll recover, though his left eye will never see anything again from the burns to it caused by his torturer. Right now we have him sleeping to speed up the healing process, he'll be up and about in a month or two. I'll just leave you two alone for a few minutes, please leave as quietly as possible once your done. No need to disturb his recovery." Leaving Naruto with Joseph the doctor left to attend to the other patients.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do anything to help you Warden, but I promise I will take down Black Mask for doing this to you and I never go back on a promise.." His fist clenched in anger as he stood in the Warden's room. Leaving quickly after seeing Joseph's condition Naruto made his way to the panic room where he assumed Harley was at.
After a while he arrived at a steel door, serving as the entrance to the panic room. Knocking on it in a pattern only known by the staff, the door opened revealing Harley with a bit of a scared look on her face.
Seeing that it was Naruto her expression quickly changed to that of a joy filled one.
"Naru! You're alright!" Jumping into his arms, Harley held onto him tightly, clearly rattled from the break out and subsequent riots around the prison that followed. Behind her were a few older personnel holding makeshift weapons, but lowered them seeing it was just Naruto opening the door.
Smiling he held her close, rubbing her back comfortingly. "Of course I am, you know it would take a lot more than a bunch of two bit thugs to take me down Harl. What about you, are you hurt?"
She shook her head, burying it deep into his neck as her arms around his back tightened. "No, I got to the panic room in time before it got too bad….." She sniffled slightly, "I know they can't.. It doesn't mean I don't worry about you idiot, you're my bestfriend..."
Pulling back he looked into her blue, slightly tear stricken eyes and cupped her cheek brushing the remains of her tears away. This in turn had the effect of a small blush staining her cheeks due to feeling of him stroking her cheek. Biting her lip she stopped a moan from escaping her lips.
"Your mine as well Harl, and I promise nothing will ever happen to me ok?" She narrowed her eyes on him.
"You promise?…" She looked into his eyes, searching for any type of deceit in his words.
He nodded never looking away from her eyes, "I promise Harl, nothing will happen to me if I can help it."
Smiling she hugged him again, content in his words as she felt safe in his arms. Just enjoying the moment with her strong, caring, sw-
"NGUYEN! Come on were getting briefed by Captain in a few minutes at the main hall, get your ass in gear." A passing cop ordered.
-damn, so close. Well as they say, all good things must come to an end.
Slowly moving out of Harleen's embrace Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Well, duty calls. Stay safe Harl." Turning away from her he made his way to the briefing.
"You too Naru." She said as she saw him leave, clutching her hands to her heart.
XXXXXX
8:00 P.M., Tuesday, December 24, 2000
Blackgate Penitentiary, Main Hall
"Alright people, listen up!" Gordon called over the thrum of voices gathered in the hall. To the side Naruto leaned against the wall, looking over the slides being put up behind Gordon.
"Currently we have no intelligence on the whereabouts of Black Mask except for his usual spots and businesses." Gordon pointed to a few points on the projected image of Gotham's map with a laser pointer.
"His men are walking the streets of Gotham in more frequent patrols so every household has been advised to stay in their homes via the emergency channels. The use of force is permitted if the perpetrators have weapons calling for such actions."
"You will all be split into groups of four around the city, each side will go to their corresponding numbers." The map split into four sections with the numbers one through four being split on the map.
"The front group of chairs to my right, your left, will be group one. The group to the right of them, will be group two. Behind them will be group three and the last group will be group four. Now get your chains of command and they will give you a more indepth brief on the tasks you are all assigned, dismissed." Getting up with the dismissal the policemen filtered out of the hall. Though one man pushed against the flow of departures, holding a rather large object as he made his way to the temporary Commissioner.
"Captain! Captain, you… You have to see this." The skinny man said, presenting the object to Gordon and gaining the interest of Naruto as he passed by. In his hands was what appeared to be a scrapped UAV drone colored black with both of its rotor blade wings torn clean off.
"What's with the drone?" Gordon asked, looking over the piece of equipment.
"Well, when we were digging around for clues on Black Mask's whereabouts we found this little beauty in some of the rubble. Taking it apart we found that the hard wired memory chip was gone, but the audio recording data was still on the on the drones base memory board and you won't believe who this drone belongs to." Moving closer Naruto looked over the drone, only to find a familiar symbol on the drone.
"Penguin." This brought the two policemen's attention to Naruto.
"Y-yes, how did you?.."
"I read the man's file as well as memorized every high profile criminal file of Gotham's residence when I was given access to the files once I graduated the academy." He pointed to the Penguin symbol getting them to look as well.
"This is Penguins crest, his brand for his criminal activities really. Penguin, or Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, likes to keep tabs on the ongoings of his criminal rivals to have a layout of their basic plans and exploit them to his advantage and profit off them or utterly crush them." He tapped the drone, thinking over the possibilities in his head.
"Right now his main competition is the Falcone family and Black Mask, so it is within reason that since no Falcone is here locked up in the Blackgate system then he was keeping tabs on Black Mask when he was raising hell here."
"Which means that if we find Penguin we may be able to find Black Mask with his cooperation." Gordon hummed, following Naruto's reasoning as he nodded.
"Exactly, sir." Turning to the skinny policeman the blonde gestured to the drone, "Would you be so kind as to play the audio file. This may prove useful." He nodded, wiring the drone to play the audio from its speakers.
"…. You sure this'll work?" A lilting British accent came from the speakers, female in nature from the soft tone.
"Oy, 'course it'll work luv. With this little number 'ere, Sionis won't know I'm watching 'is every move. Right now this baby has already recorded a week of his operations and 'e 'asn't even noticed!" A squawking, British accented voice laughed.
"Brilliant! That means you'll be five steps a'ead of 'im luv."
"Hmmm, right. Well time to let this little bird spread its wings, after it's done recording the Blackgate debacle I'll have it record LeBlanc's deal in Jezebel Plaza tonight. I'm beginning to t'ink t'at yank has been cutting into my profits." The recording ended with the snarl of Penguin, leaving the three to think on his words.
"Seems like we just found a lead to Penguin, thank you Ryan for bringing this to my attention." Ryan nodded to Gordon.
"No problem, Captain. Just doing my job." Turning his attention to Naruto, Gordon moved him away from Ryan to discuss the issue at hand.
"Nguyen, I want you to follow up this lead. Alone." Gordon told him after the last of the police left the hall.
"Sir?" He questioned, getting a shake of the head from Gordon.
"Look, if I send a squad after this guy they would scare LeBlanc stiff out of the area. But if I send just you, you'll be able to jump the guy and get a location on Penguin." He raised a hand stopping Naruto from even asking why just him.
"Let's get to the point, I know you can do this. If not because of the fact that you were able to take down Croc almost on your own, I know your military accomplishments. Well, what accomplishments the brass allowed for me to see that is. Through your time in Iraq to your draft into Delta Force only a few years in the service to be exact, that's where my knowledge ends. I want you to find LeBlanc, make him talk and find Penguin. When you do that, I'll brief you over the radio for your next task with the endgame being the arrest of Black Mask. We clear?" Gordon said, crossing his arms.
Naruto nodded, "Crystal Sir.
"Good, I'll have a helicopter ready to take you into the city. In five minutes, get ready. It's going to be a long night." Gordon told him, leaving Naruto to prepare for his night in the city.
He had a dealer to question…
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(KY appears in a burst of smoke) Wooooh, so much happened this chapter. I am beat! But it was worth it, Jebest4781 and I really wanted to bring this to you guys so here it is. If you all are wondering to the pairing, well it's not changing. If your questioning on if more women will join, well you'll have to keep reading to find out. Anyway as you all can see Naruto is not someone you want to mess with in a fight. Some of Naruto's past was revealed, Croc got his ass handed to him by the blonde and the bat, some people died, and we got to see the girls acting a little amorous to our hero. I would say it was pretty fulfilling no?
Well now it's the start of the Origins Arc, how will Naruto fare in questioning LeBlanc? What's Batman going to do? Why am I asking you guys? Dunno, but anyways thanks for your support guys J and I really appreciate it. Next thing to be updated will be a surprise as always so look forward to it.
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Later guys! (KY Disappears in a blink of an eye.)
