Heist of the Hour
December 17, Gotham City National Bank
Croc snarled in pleasure as he tore up from the sewers and burst into the reception area of the bank. His shotgun had a shell loaded in the chamber and he covered the newly-rent opening long enough for three of his subordinates to haul themselves up.
He coolly marched up to a teller while two of his men aimed their weapons at the doorway and the other forced the civilians onto the floor. Two more guys hauled themselves up from the hole, carrying ludicrously large sacks, but carried a handgun on them in case. They too added their firepower to keep everyone down.
Meanwhile he snarled at the female teller before him, pointing his shotgun at her.
"Open up the safe!" he growled out, and he nearly barked at the look of terror as the woman stuttered as she led him back towards a safe.
Thankfully he had the shotgun as he unloaded a shell into a bank employee that was waiting for him in the corridor with his own shotgun. The man was thrown back a foot and crumpled, intimidating the woman to the point of silence.
Pumping a fresh shell in, he slung the firearm across his back. He needed both hands to crack the safe. He peered behind him to see the two boys with sacks were following him closely, and intelligently did not draw their sidearms. They wouldn't need to use them if things went according to plan.
The woman showed him the safe and started to open it but he shoved her aside. With the strength of a beast, he ripped the door of the safe off and hurled it aside, barely missing the woman in the process.
He gave a toothy grin as he scanned the loads of cash and precious metals inside.
While his men got to work loading the bags full of cash, he personally took note of a set of gold bars lined up in a corner. Taking a metal box out from one of the sacks, he slid a half-dozen gold bars into the metal container. Sure they each weighed nearly 100 pounds, but he had the strength to carry them fairly easily.
As the majority of the cash was taken, he led the group out and smiled as he reached the main lobby.
That was when the gunfire started.
His head swiveled swiftly towards the front doors in time to see one of his three guards get shot multiple times by a hail of fire from a SWAT team barging in with M4's at the ready.
Another of his henchmen opened up with his own M4, but only succeeded in putting down the first one in before succumbing to the polices fire and riot shields.
The third member had already reached the hole in the floor and opened fire with his M249 SAW, keeping the cop's heads down long enough for Croc to get his two men across and literally hurling them down into the darkness before jumping in himself, using his free hand to grab his shooting cohort by the scruff of his neck and jerking him down into the sewers.
With a grace only known to a creature of the dark and dirty, the criminal dropped his box of gold onto a hand cart and had his henchmen start moving the cart loaded with riches down to another opening a few hundred yards away, where they would make their escape in an inconspicuous white van with a Gotham City News logo on the side.
Unslinging his shotgun he aimed the weapon at the hole above and waited, all the while yelling at his men to hustle before the cops brought in the heat.
And true to his word, the first SWAT officer poked his head over the hole in time to get his head shot off by a 12 gauge slug.
A few moments later a pair of grenades fell down into the sewer. Croc, noting they were flash-bangs, prudently kicked them into the water next to him to explode in the water, pumping his Mossberg, since he knew what was to come next.
Another SWAT officer tried to come through but was stopped by the shotgun once more, though judging by his yells of pain he obviously wasn't dead.
Slinging the shotgun across his back, he decided to make a run for it as he noted that his cohorts were already at the exit and hauling their bags of loot up to the van.
Covering the distance in record time he told his henchmen to get up into the van and provide cover fire while he brought up the gold.
Then the SWAT team opened up from the other end of the sewer. Tracer rounds tore through the dark tunnel, little blobs of light that appeared so harmless but deadly.
Taking the M249 from his subordinate, he raised the 22 pound weapon to his shoulder fired a stream of 5.56 ammunition at the law enforcement officers, giving his group time to escape.
One cop went down from the hail of bullets, a shot being lucky enough to hit his head. The remaining two started to fall back, still firing away with what was now wild abandon, the firepower from the mutant criminal breaking their discipline.
With the last henchman out of the sewer, Killer Croc picked up the box of gold in one hand while kicking the handcart down towards the retreating cops before climbing up the rusting rungs of the ladder, spewing lead the entire time until he ran out of ammunition as he reached the top.
Climbing out from the darkness and into the failing evening light, Croc casually tossed the gold into the open doors of the white van before tossing the empty machine gun after it before climbing into the vehicle himself.
With a resolute slam the two doors at the back of the van were slammed shut and locked before the driver casually set his foot lightly on the gas and casually drove out from the alleyway and into the street.
Only yards away police cars circled the bank, officers hustling around like angry bees.
Pulling up to a law enforcement officer the driver rolled down the window to speak with an officer.
"So what the hell happened, officer?" he asked.
The officer, a bulkier man who looked like he needed to take a trip to the local gym, replied "None of your business, sir. Now get going before I have to arrest you for disobeying an officer."
"Absolutely." The skinny Asian retorted with a sarcastic smile before pulling away into the traffic-filled streets beyond, cleanly getting away from the scene of the crime.
Back in the van, however, some of the men had doubts.
"Boss, what does gonna happen when the Batman finds out about this?" Vince asked.
"Well, when he finds out, the trail is going to lead him to the wrong guy, I can assure you." Croc snickered while pumping his shotgun, as he remembered the card he accidentally dropped next to the bank vault, as well as the vial he accidentally spilled onto the door that he ripped off its hinges while his boys were busy.
Well, by the time the Batman found out what happened, it would be too late…