Sorry for taking so long, with summer and all. Enjoy!
Another Brawl
December 17, approx. three blocks from Miller Harbor
…That was, until a shaped blade tore into the roof of the van.
Carving its way into the shape of a circle, the Batarang tore a hole into the roof of the car and the Batman dropped into the car.
Without a second thought he punched the nearest criminal in the face, knocking him out, before Croc lunged forward and wrapped Batman in his arms, slowly squeezing the life from him as he hollered "Vince, you know the drill," and in a reckless show of strength, jumped through the hole onto the roof of the van.
Leaving noticeable dents on the roof, Croc was blindsided as Batman slammed the back of his head against his face, freeing himself from his grip.
The duo then faced each other off, glaring daggers at each other.
"The Joker card and the spill of Venom were a nice touch, but the claw marks and shotgun shells gave the game away, Waylon." Batman remarked, preparing for Croc to attack.
"You may get me, but I can assure ya that ya won't be getting a look at the goods my boys have stolen!" Croc snarled before charging his foe.
"By the time this tussle's over they'll be long gone." Croc remarked as he grabbed Batman by the cape and hurled himself from the van and into the crowd of cars below.
With a grunt of pain Croc slammed into a Corvette, while the Batman slammed into the side of a Tahoe with equal force, dazing him for a moment before getting up to face the reptilian criminal.
Thinking of safety for himself over all others, Croc held back from using brute force for the moment and unslung his shotgun, firing off a shell.
The Batman rolled out of the way of the shell, the buckshot slamming into the engine block of the Tahoe, and smoke slowly fumed out of the front of the vehicle.
Racking the pump again, he shot again, with the Batman just barely avoiding the shot as buckshot shredded his cape, with the shells continuing onwards into the hood of a Ford F-250.
Pumping the shotgun again, Croc growled in annoyance, pulling the trigger again.
The shotgun clicked empty.
Taking advantage of the turn of events, the Dark Knight rushed forward and in one move wrenched the gun out of Croc's hands with one hand while slugging him in the face with the other.
Stumbling back a step the ex-Marine recovered swiftly, jumping right back into the ring and slamming a fist into Batman's guts, following up with a fist slamming into his unprotected back, flooring him.
What he hadn't expected was that the vigilante wrapped his arms around his legs and twisting himself onto his back, unbalancing Croc and bringing him crashing to the ground.
Now brawling on the ground between cars, snow started falling again, coming down in flakes.
Batman mainly stuck to punches and kicks and grapples, doing everything in his power to avoid Croc's jaws from clamping down on him.
Croc, meanwhile, lashed with every appendage on his body. Clawed hands and feet, a long tail, and finally his signature jaws lashed about, searching for the Batman. His only disadvantage was he was tiring himself through his excessive use of energy combined with the decreasing temperature.
Finally, after much punching, kicking, and brawling, Croc was able to clamp his adversary by the calf and proceeded to hurl him with extreme force into the ground before hurling him away, sending the two-hundred ten pound man flying through the air, coming to rest as he slammed up against the side of a Honda with enough force to cave the door in, causing him to land in the leather backseats.
Killer Croc noticed his temporarily release from the vigilante and dashed for the nearest manhole cover, grabbing his empty shotgun as he went.
With an enormous effort, he lifted the manhole cover, finally noticing his exhaustion from his recent fight.
Hearing police sirens, he turned around in time to see a trio of police cars reach the street of jammed cars, with officers jumping out, handguns ready.
Without a backwards glance, he jumped down towards the dark hole below, his yellow reptilian eyes shining with victory.
Landing on the concrete below, he made another jump this time towards the dirty sewage waters before him.
"So long pilgrims…" he thought to himself as he jumped. He always did love the Duke…
Yet as he fell into the water, he felt a weight on his tail and legs, almost like a vise was wrapping itself around them.
"Oh shit! The Bat…!" he thought as he twisted around, expecting a certain dark caped crusader holding onto him.
Yet his face clearly showed some shock as it turned out that it was a woman holding onto him.
His mind immediately flashed back to a few days before, the night he was captured and sent to the police. This was that same woman. Her name was Ellen…something. Whatever it was, she was still the one that had the guts to grab him right before he flew across an entire street. And now she had the grit to grab him again and repeat the process into the water!
But before he could think further they both hit the water, and hydrogen dioxide and who knows what else enveloped the two of them.
Trying to swim away, he was somewhat shocked to see that the entire time the Asian detective had held onto him, and before he could get far he felt her fist make contact with his crotch, making him instinctively drop his shotgun and grab his nether region in pain. Regardless of species, a low blow there still hurt! Worse he knew a certain someone who pulled off the same stunt during the start of his career in Gotham, and it definitely sunk his pride that someone else pulled off the same stunt.
Then she followed up with a kick with both legs to his gut, forcing out all the air he had inside him.
Scrambling to get air, his clawed foot caught his sinking shotgun, since he wouldn't dare lose the one object from his past life that helped him survive childhood, the tool that put food on the table, and the tool that after some modifications became the same gun he trusted his life with in the Marine Corps.
Just as he was about to break the surface, he felt a weight tugging on his foot, and looking down he saw that the detective was holding onto his shotgun with one hand, the other holding onto some heavy object he couldn't clearly make out at the bottom of the sewer. Whatever it was, it was heavy enough to hold her down and to halt his progress at getting air.
His hands out of the water, grasping for air, he was caught between the choices of escaping and losing the gun, or staying to get it and possibly drowning, which was ironic considering he was part crocodile.
His childhood winning out over logic, he growled underwater with what air he had left and bent down enough to grasp a hand around the shotgun and pulled.
With a heave he lifted the shotgun up and out of the water, though taking Detective Ellen Yin with it in the process, with both landing with a thud and clatter on the cement walkway that he had recently jumped from.
Hauling himself out of the water and landing on all fours in a heap, he looked up to peer right down the barrel of a police-issue pistol.
Ellen Yin smirked as she switched the safety off the pistol. "In the name of the Gotham City PD, I'm putting you under arrest Croc, again."
Sighing in frustration he unwillingly submitted. He may be good, but even his reflex's would not be enough to stop a point-blank shot to his skull, no matter how much reptilian hide he had.
Lifting his hands above his head, he muttered "I surrender."
Pulling out a pair of handcuffs, she kept one hand on the gun while using the other to cuff Croc's hands, though not before pulling them behind his back.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"
But Croc didn't listen to her words. Staring up he only barely contained a growl as his eyes made contact with the Batman's, who was standing at the opening of the manhole, peering down with one hand clutching his side.
The criminal glared daggers at him before the vigilante faded away, the only thing coming through the manhole were flecks of snow and the sound of Christmas carols coming through from the street. What he didn't notice was that Detective Yin was also staring up at the Batman with him.
"I hate Christmas." He muttered as he was helped to his feet and escorted up the ladder to the police officers above.
He turned his head to see news vans and reporters flashing pictures at him and talking to the officers holding them at bay.
Noticing a familiar face within the crowd, he bowed his head in sorrow. It wouldn't do for Meredith to see him brought so low.