I think I'll skip Robin and Batgirl's side to focus on Batman and Harley Quinn since they're the main stars of this story, though they will be mentioned at times. I can't wait for the "Suicide Squad" film! It's gonna kick so much ass!
When Suicide Squad is released, I'm buyin' the best seat in my local theater to see it on opening day!
*in Batman voice a 'la "Batman V Superman* So tell me HQ fans . . . do you squeal with excitement?
You will . . .!
The Batmobile came to a stop and its occupants got out.
"So where would Croc be?" Harley asked, looking around for any sign of their upcoming target.
Batman pointed at the ground and Harley saw what he meant.
He was pointing at a sewer manhole lid and she knew where they were heading. She got the idea, and creepy feeling, that Killer Croc was hiding down there due to a certain popular myth about alligators, crocodiles and sewers.
"We gotta go down there?" she questioned.
"I'm afraid so, Harleen." said Batman.
As much as Harley Quinn disliked the idea of traveling down into a smelly old sewer, she had to do it. Plus, she would have the Bat at her side, her "new squeeze" as she liked to put it.
"Okay, but I won't like it." Harley said with a light pout, making Batman grin from hearing the child-like tone in her voice.
He opened the manhole with a crowbar they found near a trash bin and the two dropped inside, landing feet first onto a puddle of sewer water.
"Yuck! It smells like carrots and throw-up down here! Then again, this is where toilet stuff goes when folks flush after doin' you-know-what." said Harley while holding her hands over her face to block the scent. She was at least relieved that she never ate or drank anything before coming here, otherwise the sewer would have another mess to contain.
Batman took out two respirator masks and handed one to Harley while putting on the other himself. If he had predicted that Mad Hatter would use poison gas on them back at the stadium, he would have brought the masks with him. Well, one for him due to Harley's immunity which allowed her to save him.
"Ahh, much better. Thanks, Batsy." said Harley.
Batman resorted to using his cowl vision mode to pick up anything besides rats, flies and other vermin roaming the sewers.
As they traveled deeper into the sewers, dirty water crept up to their waists, much to Harley Quinn's disgust. But she had to brave it out for the mission. She made a mental reminder to bring a hazmat suit the next time she traveled to any place that reeked.
Batman has his batarangs ready and Harley gripped tightly onto her bat (the weapon).
Oh god, I hope I don't lose my hand and have ta replace it with a hook like that pirate from 'Peter Pan', otherwise I'd have ta change my name from 'Harleen Quinzel' to 'Harleen Hook'. Harley thought, thinking dreadfully of what may happen from their upcoming battle against Killer Croc.
It made her shiver with fear, that and the dirty water covering her legs and waist. To her, it felt as if she had an embarrassing accident.
"Who dares follow me here!?" a haunting, growling voice echoed. It was him.
Batman and Harley Quinn got their weapons ready.
"I smell a certain, familiar scent! It is you, Batman . . . and there is someone with you!"
Croc was nowhere to be seen anywhere. Even Batman could not track him via his vision mode. Neither he nor Harley said a word to avoid giving themselves away.
"It's not Robin or Nightwing! It's a female . . . but it's not Catwoman! It's . . . it's . . . Really!? Are you serious!? The clown woman!? You, Dark Knight, have allied yourself with Harley Quinn? That former doctor-turned-slave of Joker!? Oh, this is a riot!" said Croc and he was heard laughing out loud that it echoed all throughout the sewer tunnels.
This made Harley angry and, despite it giving herself away, she decided to yell at Jones.
"Hey! I'm not nutty or a slave anymore, 'Scales'! Since you probably didn't get the memo, Joker and I no longer hang! I'm with Batman now!" she retaliated.
"So the rumors are true! I have heard about your breakup with Joker from several guards who passed my cell back at the asylum, but I thought they were merely bluffing! I guess I was wrong!" Croc said from his hiding spot.
Batman could still not get a lock on him. That was because most of the sewer tunnels were constructed from lead, making his vision mode useless.
"You're damn right you were wrong and although I've never been within close distance of your old cell, they weren't kidding! Joker's nothing but crap to me now and I'm never going back to him ever again! Now are you going to come quietly or are Bats and I going to have to kick your scaly, prehistoric ass!" Harley spat.
"That is not going to happen, you sad, stupid bimbo clown! Because once I kill Batman, I'm going to make you wish you were back with Joker!" Croc threatened.
Harley got goosebumps from hearing that sentence, but she tried to be brave again.
"Don't let him get to you, Harleen. Just stick with me and we will get through this alive." Batman told her in a low tone to keep Croc from hearing.
"Okay B-man. Let's do this thing together." said Harley.
With that, the Bat and jester woman treaded through the murky waters.
For a while, none of them heard or saw anything from Croc. Other than the water slushing from their movements, all was silent.
BOOM!
"What the hell was that!?" Harley asked and scooted closer to Batman.
BOOM!
"There it is again!" she said fearfully and clutched at her bat weapon tighter until her knuckles turned white, not that she could see them since she was wearing gloves.
"Tick . . . tock . . . tick . . . tock! Feed . . . the Croc!" Killer Croc taunted from a random location.
"He's coming Harleen. Prepare yourself for battle." said Batman.
"O-o-okay B-B-Bats!" Harley said with a quivering voice.
Just to ensure that the fight would go in their favor, Harley set her pop gun's stun setting from the lowest "That Tickles" setting to the highest "Whuh-Oh!" setting. As Waylon Jones was all scales and very little skin, a very high surge of electricity was needed to defeat him, so long as it didn't kill him.
Boy, this place gives me the creeps. No wonder Croc was locked away in a sewer-like cell rather than in a regular one like me. Harley thought.
It was during this time that Killer Croc was heard humming the theme song of a famous 1970's shark movie just to shake things up a bit. While Batman was annoyed by it, he was not whom Croc was trying to scare. It was Harley as she was now becoming terrified out of her wits from the song.
"Stop humming that music! It's really scary!" Harley yelled.
"You should be scared Harley! You should be very scared indeed!" Croc said and kept humming the song to frighten the clown girl for his amusement.
Harley wanted to cover her ears until remembering that she needed to hear whatever orders Batman gave out during the fight.
Then, they heard the sound of water moving and it didn't come from them.
He was coming and unlike them, Jones knew where they were.
Batman held out his batarangs and said to Harley, "I'll strike first and when he's vulnerable, you strike next."
"You're the Bat." said Harley.
The sound of rushing water got closer and when it reached them, the two dodged in time as Killer Croc leaped at them, not caring who he got first, which he didn't.
Batman threw his batarangs at Croc, hitting him in the face, while Harley aimed her gun at Croc and fired a high voltage shock at the reptilian villain, electrocuting him. Plus, thanks to the sewer water, the damage from the electricity increased, harming Croc even more.
While he was dazed, Batman, ignoring the leftover electrical current, landed a powerful haymaker punch to Croc's stomach and jaw while Harley swung her bat and landed a strong blow to Croc's left arm and leg, damaging his knee and making him kneel in pain.
"Batter up, chicken butt!" Harley said.
Regaining his posture, Croc shoved Batman away, grabbed Harley and tossed her aside onto a pile of garbage and dove back into the water and swam away from the duo.
"You see 'em, B-man?" Harley asked while getting up.
Batman tried his cowl vision again but still could not get a lock on Croc's signature.
"No." he said.
Harley then realized her predicament.
"Gross! He chucked me into someone's leftover trash!" Harley complained.
When Batman noticed, an idea formed in his mind.
"Harleen, cover yourself in more garbage." he said.
This surprised Harley. "What? Why would I do that?" she questioned.
"We will use the rotting trash as a means of catching him off guard. He detects us with his senses, but if we blanket ourselves with the waste here, it will mask our scents and he won't be able to find us. It's like an EMP to him." he said and started covering himself in grime and muck, much to Harley's disgust. But at the same time, Harley got the idea and, as disgusting as it looked, she obeyed Batman and started to rub and smear herself with more garbage and whatever else she could find.
"I'm really gonna need a long shower after this." said Harley. She covered her hair with the cap attached to her costume to protect it from the grime.
"Believe me, when we apprehend Croc, we will cleanse ourselves of this." said Batman as he had just finished covering himself with crap.
While getting ready, Batman approached Harley and whispered something to her and she nodded at his plan.
"Me likey." she said.
They heard water moving again. They knew he was returning for another attack and so they prepared to fight back and the first thing they did was hide in the shadows.
Since they were covered in waste, Harley hoped it would pay off while Batman was sure it would work to their advantage.
I'm gonna stink like a horse's ass for days! Weeks even. Maybe a month! Harley thought.
Soon, they spotted a moving wave and Croc was seen passing by.
He surfaced and started to smell around for his prey, but to his surprise, he could not find the hero or the female clown.
Harley almost wanted to shriek in terror until she saw Batman give her the "silence" signal and she remained as quiet as a mouse.
The look on Killer Croc's face told Batman and Harley Quinn that their plan was working and they were undetected.
"Where are you two? Why can't I smell you?" he demanded.
They kept quiet and left Croc to ponder this new problem for him.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" he taunted in a shrill voice.
All he got were rotting scents.
"I had you a while ago. Both of you could not have just vanished like ghosts! When I find you, I'll make you two into ghosts!" he threatened.
Harley gave Batman a look that asked, "Now?" and he shook his head and they waited for Croc to pass them by, both hoping he didn't see them in the tunnel's shadows concealing them.
"Let's see . . . if I were a city vigilante and a psychotic clown's punching bag, where would I be?" Croc asked himself, though half of it was an insult, which worked as Harley looked angry from the comment.
As soon as Croc slithered past Batman and Harley's spots, Batman gave Harley a "get ready" signal and the two prepared to strike.
Batman initiated a countdown with his right hand fingers with Harley understanding when to strike.
3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .
As soon as Batman reached "zero", he and Quinn quickly dove from their hiding spots and attacked.
Before Killer Croc could react, he found himself wrapped in something. It was a large, fishing net which Batman and Harley ensnared him with all over and they shoved him to the ground and he struggled with the net.
"That's it? A stupid net? That's the best you fools can do?" Croc asked and laughed at the idea as he prepared to tear his way out.
"Oh, this ain't just any old net, Croco-dumbass . . ." Harley said with a tone that made Croc suspect something amiss with his bindings and before he could question them about the net, the two jumped out of the water, grabbing onto the tunnel wall's cracks and Batman took out a remote switch from his belt and pressed its button.
In an instant, the net whizzed to life and initiated a jolt of electricity that was just as high as Harley's stun gun. Again, the water helped in harming Croc.
He screamed in agony and shook and twitched violently from the grueling pain he was in.
Harley fired another stun shot at him to make sure he would go down.
After fifteen seconds, Batman deactivated the net and Croc was now laying unconscious on a discarded bed mattress, or half of one anyway, and out of the water.
"Shocking, ain't it?" Harley said for personal amusement.
That net and Harley's gun really did a number on Croc. Normally that amount of electricity would probably be fatal to most human targets, but due to Waylon's scaly skin protecting him like a suit of armor, the jolt couldn't end him. Not that Harley and Batman intended to anyway. The jolt was high, but it was set enough to incapacitate him, not kill him.
However, Croc's tough form still had limits and being pumped full of that amount of electricity was too much for him to bear, thus why he was out like a light.
"Wow, we really fried his scaly butt!" Harley exclaimed.
"It seems we did." said Batman.
Both stared at their fallen foe.
"That didn't kill him, did it?" Harley questioned.
"No, it just knocked him out. Let's get him to the surface before he wakes up." Batman said.
Working together, Harley and Batman removed the net and managed to bring Killer Croc onto the street where, immediately, Batman strapped Croc to another Fulton balloon and in a few seconds, up he went and was gone.
"I'm happy ta have helped ya out down there, Bats, but that fight taught me one very important lesson." Harley replied.
"What's that?"
"I am never watching that friggin' shark movie again! I just hate it when someone sings that chilling theme song! It really scares the crap outta me! Joker used to sing it around me for kicks when I was with him and whenever I refused to take part in some of his plans!" Harley answered and hugged herself from the haunting memories of her past with Joker.
Batman just grinned from her remark, though he didn't show her to keep up appearances.
"Come on. Let's go." he said.
"Back ta yer fancy 'Bat-car'?" Harley asked.
"Not yet. First, as I promised earlier, we need to rinse ourselves of all this grime." he answered.
Harley looked at him and then at herself and remembered that they were filthy and needed to get clean before moving out.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. But where can we go to get a shower?"
Looking around, they spotted a car wash location that offered air and water and they decided to use that to clean themselves. The car wash station was small and customers had to wash their vehicles themselves rather than one of those places that guided a car all the way through, the perfect spot to rinse.
Batman activated the machine with some change he had in his belt (not even Robin asked why he carried money in his belt rather than in a wallet) and allowed Harley to use it first.
"Thanks Batman." Harley said and took off her respirator mask, removed her jester cap and allowed the water to soak her all over.
She slowly twirled in circles, making sure to get every spot all over her body until she finished and the washed-off grime melted off her and withered away to a ground grate that led to the sewer (irony). She even used the washing soap. Smelling like a clean car was better than smelling like crap.
When she was done, Harley allowed Batman to dry her off and she repeated what she did when she rinsed.
Afterwards, her hair was puffed out, which she didn't notice until she saw herself in a mirror, much to her light horror.
"I look like a cat or dog like this!" she whined and patted her hands over her hair until it was back to normal and while tying her hair, rather than tie it in her twin pigtails, she placed it into a ponytail instead and when she looked at her reflection, she liked the result. At least it would now make moving her head easier without having her own hair slap her face from every movement.
Harley Quinn was now clean and Batman was next.
As a nod to her growing friendship with him, Harley offered to hose Batman for him and, although thinking about refusing, he allowed it and Harley squealed and got the hose ready and sprayed water all over the hero's form.
Soon, he too was clean and the two were ready to continue with their hunt.
As they walked to the Batmobile, Batman noticed that Harley's glove was torn. It must have happened during the fight with Killer Croc.
"Harleen." he said.
"Yeah, Bats?" she asked.
"Your hand." he said and pointed at her hand.
"Whaddya me-" she asked and stopped speaking when she looked at her hand and saw the problem. She removed her glove and saw a medium-sized gash across her palm.
"How the hell did that happen?" she questioned.
Batman took her hand (Harley mentally sighed dreamily despite her problem) and examined it.
"You were somehow cut back there in the sewer. Because we were filthy at the time, bacteria might have seeped inside your wound. It must be treated right away." he said.
Harley snapped out of her thoughts.
"Do ya got any medical things on ya?" she asked.
"I have a first-aid kit in the Batmobile." he said and led her and himself back to the car and scavenged the vehicle's interior for the first-aid kit he mentioned until he found what he sought.
Batman opened it up, grabbed a bottle of peroxide and attached a spray nozzle on its top.
"Hold out your hand, Harleen." he said.
Harley hesitated at first, aware and afraid of what peroxide does to cuts and wounds. But, due to her newfound love for Batman and the fact that it was the only way to keep herself from falling ill from infection, Harley took off her glove and presented her open palm out. As with Ivy, she might be immune to toxins and poisons, but she was still prone to infections as her immunity did not provide protection against such a drastic thing.
Batman closed the Batmobile doors for what was to come and hovered the bottle over Harley Quinn's open palm and she yelled at the top of her lungs in pain the instant the peroxide made contact with her wound.
The windows and doors were soundproof, so Harley's screams could not be heard from outside, not that anyone was there.
Batman then wrapped a bandage around her wound.
Harley took a moment to calm herself down from the peroxide and the pain was soon gone.
"Thanks, B-man." she said gratefully.
"You're welcome." he said.
The Batmobile's radio suddenly rang and Batman picked it up.
It was Robin.
"What's going on?" Batman asked.
"I'm calling to let you know that Batgirl and I have just apprehended Scarecrow and returned him back th Arkham Asylum thanks to that new extracting gadget you built. Alfred notified us and sent it to us as soon as we stopped Crane and told him what happened."
"How is Batgirl? Did Crane infect her with his toxin?" Batman asked.
"Yeah, but she'll recover. She got a whiff of the gas during the fight and she would have fully succumbed to it had she not remembered what I told her about him and his toxin chemical after we caught Two-Face. I told her to resist it no matter what as a precaution in case she ever became infected with it, which she did unfortunately. I'm giving her a short break before heading back out into the field. I asked her if she wanted to return to our hideout and she refused, wanting to proceed with the mission. Tough cookie, I'll giver her that." said Robin.
"How did you catch Scarecrow?" Batman asked.
"After he infected Batgirl and focused on me, thinking she was lost to his toxin, he tried to infect me too, but before he could, Batgirl suddenly turned him around, kicked him to the ground and placed him in a scissor lock hold until he passed out. Her eyes were still red because of the gas, but she remained sane and it's because of my instructions. She says she saw me as a zombie monster and still does, but recognized my voice and struggled to resist whatever horrors she's seeing."
"Batman?" asked a female voice. It was Batgirl.
Robin allowed Batgirl to walk in front of the screen and Batman saw her. Her eyes were, as Robin said, red in color, an effect from Crane's toxin.
"It's just Batman, okay. It's not whatever scary thing you're looking at." Robin assured her.
"Batgirl! Are you okay?" Batman asked.
"No. I can still see unreal things everywhere. Right now, you look like a bat monster to me and your voice sounds frightening. However, I'm fully aware that this is all a trick and am trying to keep it together." said Batgirl.
"I'm surprised that you can actually resist the toxin."
"So am I. We're gonna wait until the stuff wears off." she said.
"Alright. Take your time. Let me speak to Robin again." he said and Batgirl walked away and Robin appeared again.
"So who'd you catch?" Robin asked.
"Killer Croc. He's on his way back to the asylum." said Batman.
"Ok. When Batgirl's feeling better, I'll inform you." said Robin.
"Alright."
Harley suddenly appeared to the computer.
"Hiya Birdy!" she said.
"Hello Harleen." said Robin.
"I overheard everything. Sorry 'bout what happened with 'LadyBats'. When she's all better and back ta kickin' butt, tell her I said hi." Harley said.
"I will." Robin said with a grin.
"Okay, well carry on." Batman said.
"Will do."
"Bye!" Harley said and the computer shut off.
"So whose next?" Harley asked.
Batman took out his list, crossed out Croc's name and selected the next target.
"Lyle Bolton." said Batman.
That name made Harley shiver like when she heard Jones' name.
"That guard guy who was rough with us?" she questioned worriedly.
"Yep." he said and started the car and sped away.
Harley worried about their next mission. Besides Joker, Lyle Bolton was a man she never ever wished to see again. The guy was a real, harsh bastard on her and the other inmates before he became another supervillain for Batman and the police to hunt down.
Now they were going after him.
Harley started to shed a tear from reminiscing the bad, scary memories she had when Bolton was working at the asylum.
Batman noticed Harley's expression and knew what thoughts were swirling in her head.
"You're worried about going up against Bolton, aren't you Harleen?" he asked her.
Harley nodded.
"Well, you're not going at it alone. I'll protect you from him if he desires to repeat whatever he did to you at the asylum."
Harley looked at him.
"Really? You'd be willing to shield me from that dictator?" she asked softly.
"I am." he said.
"After all the crap I did to you when I was a nutcase?" she asked.
The Batmobile stopped in the middle of the road. Good thing it was void of people and traffic at this time, probably due to the news of the Arkham breakout which has by now spread all over the city.
"That was the old you. You've been rehabilitating since I brought you back to Arkham. You even cured me of my poisoning back at the stadium, something in which you would have run off and left me for dead. But you didn't and it's pretty clear to me that what you did for me back there and the days you willingly spent in rehab are proof of your recovery and now here you are, fighting alongside me, a man you once spited and battled against for the approval of a psycho who never cared for you and saw you only as his toy. You're a changed woman now, Harleen Quinzel, and you succeeded all on your own. In time after all this is done and the city is saved, people will admire you as a heroine and will welcome you back into society without persecution and hatred as they once did before." he said kindly.
Touched by these words, Harleen leaped into Batman's arms.
"Thanks for that, B-man. I needed it." she said and kissed his cheek.
Batman grinned, pleased to have cheered his partner up and he resumed to driving.
Harley was now in a happy mood and was filled with newfound determination to help bring Bolton to justice.
She also saw the upcoming fight as her chance to extract revenge against the man who abused her aside from a certain clown.
Sorry for taking long. I was busy with my other fics. I also had dental surgery done to repair some damage done to me from my job accident and it left me unable to write anything for a while. Having false teeth is a pain in the ass at first, but it's better to lose a couple of teeth than lose your life.
To those who like the Injustice series, I'm making a fic that's about Harley Quinn yet again. It's not out yet, but it will be soon.
To anyone who likes the Arkham games, check out a fic I'm writing based on it. It's about Poison Ivy and it's plot is similar to this one, but more serious as per the game's tone.
I'm so ****ing excited about the Suicide Squad movie, mostly because it contains HQ and, with me now a big fan of hers, I can't wait to see her in her first live-action movie!
If you're still with me on this story and crave more Batman/Harley Quinn action and romance, then pour a large, pot of boiling hot water on yourself. If the burning pain is too much for you, here's a med kit.
*tosses med kit to your feet*
Enjoy!