Chapter 2
Killer Croc loomed over several men, each shivering in fear. Slowly, he began to pace around them, digging his claws into the nearby wall, making a horrible screeching noise.
"Now Ima ask you again…" he growled, "what happened with MY shipment?" When he didn't receive an answer, Croc grabbed one of the men by their throat, lifting him high into the air.
"It was the bat!" He croaked. "He came outta nowhere, took down everybody, and handed your shipment to the fuzz! That's what happened, I swear!" Croc growled and brought the man closer to his snout, baring his razor sharp teeth.
"And just where were you?"
"I was trying to get help." Squeaked the thug. "Honest!"
"You wanna know what I think?" sneered Croc. "I think you're lyin' to me. And I hate liars, boy."
"I ain't lyin' boss, I swear!"
"I think you are, boy." Growled Croc once more.
"Boss, please!" Pleaded the thug. "I won't let ya down again!"
"Oh, you won't." Said Croc with a sick smile. "I'll make sure of it." Without warning, Croc slammed the thug into the ground, then raised his hand high, with his claws extended.
"Don't!" Said a childish voice from behind Croc, who then turned to face the owner of the voice, who was hidden in the shadows of the doorway. "Don't hurt him, papa." The owner of the voice then stepped forward, revealing itself to be a smaller crocodilian humanoid. The "child" stood three feet tall, had a short tail, light-green scales, and a crocodilian head.
"I thought I told you to go to bed." Snapped Croc taking a step forward.
"I heard noises." Began the child. "I couldn't sleep."
"I don't care." Growled Croc, causing the child to shrink under Croc's gaze.
"Are you gonna hurt that man?" Asked the child, eying the downed thug. Croc then lurched forward, grabbing the small child, then glared into his eyes.
"Don't worry about it, boy!" Hissed Croc, who then dropped the child on to the hard concrete floor. "Now git to bed!" The child looked up at his "father" with tears in his eyes.
"Okay papa…" The small child then sauntered out of the room as Croc slammed the door shut behind him. As the young child laid down upon the torn and ragged mattress in his "room", he wiped the tears out of his eyes.
Within a few minutes, the young crocodilian found himself drifting into a light sleep, when all of a sudden, he heard the chilling screams of pain from down the hall.
"GAH!" Breathed the crocodilian as he sat up straight, clutching his chest. "Another nightmare…" Shaking the cobwebs out of his head, he stood to his full height of seven feet. With a sigh, the crocodilian gazed around the sewer junction where he had called home for the night. Everything seemed to be as it was the night before. The crocodilian sighed quietly to himself, then reached down to grab his torn hoodie. Upon investigating, he found it to be in an even worse condition then yesterday.
"Damn." He muttered to himself. "Now how am I going to be able to go out in the daytime?" Shaking his head, he then tossed the hoodie into the sewer waters, watching as it disappeared from sight. The tear in his pants wasn't much better either, as it would still reveal his tail. The crocodilian silently cursed himself and his luck, until his thoughts were interrupted as he heard a child's cry emitting from within the sewer tunnels. Curiosity got the best of him, and he silently made his way towards the cause of the noise.
"Shut up kid!" Snapped a tall man as he backhanded a young child across his face. "Ain't no one gonna hear you down here. Best you just shut up and wait till your aunty pays your ransom." The man began to pace back and forth, muttering to himself. He was tall, at least seven feet. He wore a dark brown trench-coat, a white tank top, a pair of baggy, blue jeans, and a pair of black combat boots. He also sported a military buzz cut, along with several scars along the sides of his head.
"I wanna go home." Whimpered the small child, wiping tears from his eyes. "Can I please go home, mister?" The child appeared to be about five to six years old, had curly brown hair, and dark blue eyes.
"No, ya can't." Snapped the man, glaring daggers at the young child. "You're gonna sit here and shut up. If you talk again, I ain't gonna just smack ya." The child curled up, wrapping his arms around his legs, sobbing.
"I just wanna go home…" Cried the young boy.
"I told you to shut up!" Snarled the man, stomping towards the child, lifting his fist high. "Now stand still. This'll hurt-" He was interrupted by the sound of water splashing behind him. Without hesitation, he grabbed the young boy, and put a knife to his throat.
"Who's there?" he asked, breathing heavily. "I swear to god, if it's a cop, I'll hurt him bad! Show yourself and lower your weapons, Pig!"
"I'm not a pig." Growled a disembodied voice within the shadows. "I'm another breed of animal." Without warning, the thug was tackled by a green flash, and the child thrown to the other side of the tunnel.
"What the hell-" The thug let out a cry of terror once he saw his attacker was none other than the humanoid crocodilian, who then bared his razor sharp teeth.
"I see you like to pick fights. Why not fight someone your own size?" The crocodilian then hoisted the thug into the air by his throat, grabbed the waistline of his pants, then tossed him across the sewer tunnel.
The thug was slow to his feet, and the crocodilian capitalized by driving his knee directly into the thugs face. In desperation, the thug grabbed the child and brought him close.
"One move, and I'll snap his little neck."
"You do that," growled the crocodilian, "And I'll rip your entrails out, and string 'em up like Christmas lights." The thug was about to respond, when the child viciously bit down upon his hand, causing him to drop the young boy into the sewer waters.
The crocodilian then used his tail to reach in the waters, and pull the boy to safety.
"Are you okay?" He asked. The little boy nodded, before pointing behind the crocodilian.
"Look out!" The thug grabbed the reptile's shoulder, turned him around, and landed a nasty jab to his snout. The reptile stumbled backwards, allowing the thug to take advantage.
The thug stepped forward and attacked the crocodilian, throwing a left hook, a right jab, and then a left uppercut.
"How's that taste, freak?!" The thug went to throw another punch, but was surprised to see the crocodilian grab his fist. Panicking, the thug threw another punch, but that too, was caught.
The crocodilian glared into the eyes of the thug, before letting out a spine-tingling roar.
"Oh god, please!" Pleaded the thug, "Please don't kill me! I'll let the kid go, just please don't-" The thug let out a scream of pain as the crocodilian casually snapped his arm.
"I'm not gonna kill you…" hissed the crocodilian, slamming the thug into the wall face first.
"Then what're ya gonna do?" the thug asked. The crocodilian did not answer, instead, he was investigating the mans attire.
"That's a nice coat." Said the crocodilian, who then pulled out the coat's tag. "And it's just my size."
"Wait, what?" questioned the thug. His only response, was a devastating blow to the back of his head, and he soon felt himself sliding onto the floor. The last thing the thug saw before losing consciousness, was the crocodilian standing over him.
Annette Wilson sat quietly within the police station, he eyes red from crying.
"Mrs. Wilson?" Said a male voice above her.
"Yes?" She replied, gazing up to see a police officer in front of her.
"You can go home now, ma'am. We'll let you know if anything comes up." Annette nodded, wiping more tears away from her eyes as she collected her things and left for the door.
"I'm sorry about your brother, Mrs. Wilson." Called out the officer. "We're doing everything we can, he'll be back home with you, safe and sound. Shortly. I guarantee it." Annette nodded again, then exited the station. As she climbed into her car, she pulled out a picture from her wallet. The picture was of a young boy, with curly brown hair, and dark blue eyes.
"Oh Daniel…" she sobbed, "where are you?"
Annette pushed the key into the lock, and opened the door to her apartment. She casually tossed her keys upon the counter, and her shoes into a heap under a family portrait, which showed her, her brother Daniel, and her parents, who had died in a car accident two years ago.
Now, she worked as a bank teller at Jump City Banking, supporting herself and her little brother. All while attempting to pay her way through college.
She gazed at her little brother in the picture, and tears welled up in her eyes. The man who had kidnapped Daniel, had called and told her she had a week to acquire twenty-five thousand dollars or she would never see her brother again. She immediately went to the police and reported her brother kidnapped. Unfortunately, the kidnapper knew how to hide his trail, and it wasn't until today that they had managed to get a good lead on him, which turned out to be a dead end.
"Oh Daniel…" she said, hugging herself as she leaned against a wall, then slowly slid down it while quietly sobbing.
A loud thump caused her to snap out of her sobbing, and she rose to her feet.
"Who's there?" She asked. No answer. "Daniel?"
"She's home!" Squeaked a childish voice down the hall, "Annie's home!" Tears welled in Annette's eyes as she saw her little brother, freshly bathed, and in his pajamas.
"Oh my god." she whispered, running to her little brother, and wrapping him up in her arms. "Danny, you're okay!"
"Yeah!" Quipped the young boy. "The dinosaur man saved me!" Annette released her brother, staring at him.
"Dinosaur man?" she asked, perplexed.
"Yeah!" Said her brother, as he took her hand and began to drag her towards his bedroom. "Come on, he's in….here…" The room showed no signs of life. Besides the small race-car bed, toy chest, and T.V., the room was empty.
"Danny," began Annette, "there's no one here."
"He was here!" Said Daniel, turning his head to the open window. "Look! He went out the window! Look out the window Annie!" Annette, though confused, went along with her brother, and stuck her head out the window. What she saw, shocked her.
Across the street, was a large man, clad only in his boxers and a tank top. He had a rope tied around his waste, and he hung from the lamppost. A sudden movement caused her to glance above the dangling man.
Atop the building behind the lamppost, was a large reptilian creature. He was clad in a brown trench-coat, which flowed in the wind, revealing his muscular, and scaled, torso, and had a tail waving behind him casually. He then nodded towards her, then turned and sprinted across the rooftops, before hopping down into a nearby ally, disappearing from sight.
Annette, half scarred, half shocked, stepped away from the window. She placed a hand over her trembling lips, then turned and scooped Daniel up into her arms.
"Daniel?" she asked, "Who was that?"
"The dinosaur man!" Replied Daniel, "But he told me to call him…The Komodo Kid."
One Week Later
Titans Tower
Cyborg sat in his office, watching the news report on his office monitor.
"Reports of a large 'Lizard Man' saving people in alleyways are flooding Police Stations-"
"The one they call 'Komodo Kid' has struck again, this time saving a young man from a couple-"
"This vigilante should be apprehended immediately. He is a criminal, just like the Titans. They, and this 'Komodo Kid', should be tossed in an insane asylum. The Jump City Police-"
Cyborg sighed as he turned the T.V. off. He didn't want to hear anymore reports of this "Komodo Kid", or any more disgruntled citizens clamoring for the arrest of the Titans. It was beginning to get annoying. All the news stations did lately was talk about this new hero, or show clips of people ragging on the Titans.
The only good news as of late, was that the newest Titan hopeful would be arriving within the next few hours. It had taken a week for all the paper work to finally get settled, and Lava Lass, as she called herself, had been on the first plane to Jump City.
Cyborg was anxious to meet her. Though she had affiliated herself with the Titans, Cyborg still had to sit down with her, and interview her, before he could welcome her to the team. He had all the confidence that she was Titan material. His thoughts were interrupted as Raven entered the office.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked in monotone.
"Yeah." Replied Cyborg. "Our newest recruit is supposed to arrive shortly. I want you to go and collect her." Raven nodded, and departed.
"Things are about to get interesting."
Heya Guys! I know it's been a while since i updated this, but i lacked motivation, rest assured, i plan to continue to update this story, and thank all those who reviewed. Until next time,
Cheers, Chayse_man
