hi*= radio
'hi' = thought or quote
"hi" = speech
/--/
Located somewhere in a private facility, we find a group of... strange individuals.
Now, this little entourage consisted of what appears to be a masked individual with guns, a man with a beanie, a woman with really heavy makeup, a teenager with glasses, a man full of tattoos, and a crocodile.
Now we see them sneaking down a hall. Or at the very least trying to sneak down a hall.
That is until one of them managed to trigger a motion sensor that was located seven feet up from the floor.
Why would there be a motion sensor that high? Ask a guy named Larry.
WARNING*
WARNING*
INTRUDER ALERT*
"Oh, that's just great! Now every lab coat and grunt knows we're here thanks to your scaly ass!" The masked man with guns (which in all honesty doesn't narrow it down), a.k.a Deadshot rudely exclaimed.
His little rant was met with a voice that some might find obnoxious. A voice that belonged to none other than the loveably deranged Harley Quinn.
"Oh lighten up, will ya! Now we get to have some fun! Nice going Croc"
"Thank you" responded said scaly figure.
"Don't compliment him you psycho" said Deadshot. He cursed before leaning into his earpiece. "Hey boss, we got a situation, Croc's dumbass activated the alarm. Do we proceed or abort the mission?"
The voice of Rick Flag came through.
You know damn well Waller's gonna be pissed if you abort. How close are you to the objective? *
Deadshot turned to the new member of the team. "Hack. How close are we?"
"We're just a floor above it."
Then split the team to buy you some more time. I'll have Katana prep the transport*
Despite the fact Rick couldn't see him, Deadshot nodded his head, then turned to the team.
"Alright, we're splitting up. Croc since it was your fuck up, you go up top and hold off any security. The rest of us keep going."
A pale hand belonging to the very much alive Harley shot up faster than a speeding bullet. "Wait wait wait! Can I go too? Please please please pleaassee let me go. These stealth missions are SO boring an-"
"For FUCKS sake Harley! Yes, you can go! I don't need another million reasons!" Deadshot tried pinching his nose but remembered he had a full-faced helmet on. So he settled for clenching his fist instead.
"Alright, while they go deal with that, we'll continue to the objective. Let's move."
As the rest of the team moved onwards, Harley hopped onto Croc's shoulder and jabbed her signature mallet.
"To battle my trusted steed!"
"I'm not a horse" Croc responded while running down the hall.
"You don't need to be a horse to be a steed."
"Hmm."
~~~~
Outside the facility, guards and armor were moving in position to block the only entrance/exit to the facility outside of the garages.
In the middle of all this, a guard in a heavy uniform was barking out orders to the rest of the troops.
"Move Move! I want all guns trained on that door!" He moved to a humvee and got in the gunner position while reaching for his radio. "Alpha team, get ready to move in and flush these bastards out."
Roger Sir. We're ready to move in on your go.*
By this time, clouds had moved to block the moon, leaving the only sources of light coming from the facility, vehicles, and lasers pointed at the entrance.
Alpha team, an elite group of five named after their numbers, had already made their way through the entrance. The hallways were surprisingly clear of any bodies but the walls were stained and splattered with blood, leaving the team to wonder as to what happened to them. They noticed footprints, large footprints leading to the break room.
They stood against the sides of the door, before slowly jarring it open and rolling in a small metal canister. Once in the middle of the room, the canister detonated with a red wave of light. This was one of the gadgets being developed at the facility itself, a device that can map out vital signs in a room and paint the targets. These targets were only visible to troops with specific headgear.
No targets were shown. The room was empty.
Despite this, Alpha team still entered the room with caution. Each member checked the room, but Alpha 5 had the unfortunate pleasure of looking at the vending machine. 5 quickly took off their headgear and vomited on the spot, catching the attention of the others.
Alpha 3 was at their side, "5! What the hell is wrong?" 5 shakily pointed in the direction of the vending machine, causing 3 to follow and suffer the same sight. While 3 was better at keeping their stomach, they were much more vocal.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?"
Finally, the rest of the group turned to see what was going on. And boy did they wish they hadn't. Because the vending machine was vending something a little bit different. Multiple bodies had been brutally stuffed inside, the faces of the unfortunate were pressed up against the glass with blood spewing from the bottom.
3 was still freaking out. "What the fuck is this?! What kinda psychotic monster would do something like this?!"
No one could come up with a reason, but a low gravely voice spoke from the door. The door they turned their backs to.
"So this is where they keep the good snacks."
The lights went out.
~~~~~
- 15 minutes before Alpha team entered the facility -
"We should set up an ambush."
"What kinda ambush?"
"You know, the ones where you hide and then spring out!"
"I'm not sure if you know this but I can't exactly hide."
"But aren't crocodiles known to be stealthy? That's how they always get their food."
"I'm not a reg croc."
"Then how about we set up a distraction then ambush!"
Croc opened his maw to retort but shut it and nodded his head.
"Fine. What'd you have in mind?"
Harley giggled with glee, happy that someone finally listened to a plan of hers. She quickly reached for her earpiece. "Hey Hack yah got a minute? I'm gonna need yah to do a little something for us in 10 minutes."
Croc admittedly became a little nervous seeing as most of Harley's plans tended to go a little sideways most of the time. But he thought he should throw her a bone every once in a while. Wasn't there a way to prepare bone marrow? He could have sworn some dishes included it. How big of a difference would the taste be from raw marrow? One day he'll get to try some. Oh, maybe that can be his reward if the mission goes well. Yah- oh Harley's done.
"Alright so here's the plan."
~~~~~
- Back to the present time -
When Killer Croc got to the break room, he had found that the distraction Harley had come up with actually worked. Now was the time to execute both the plan and the soldiers.
Alpha 4 was the closest to the door and was subsequently the first to go. The armor he wore meant nothing to the Killer Croc.
Their shock only lasted a few seconds as Alpha 1 gave the order.
"TAKE HIM DOWN!"
Bullets rained and pinged off Croc as he was busy tearing Alpha 4 apart. He quickly charged in the room and lunged at Alpha 5, only for 5 to roll away, leaving Croc to smash into the vending machine causing blood and bodies to spill out on the floor.
Being as resourceful as he his, Croc flung two of the bodies at the soldiers closest together, knocking Alpha 3 and 5 down on the ground. Croc took his chance and bit down on Alpha 5's neck, but a small canister rolled right under him. The next thing he knew, the room was filled with a blinding light, emphasis on blinding.
Croc instinctively covered his eyes as the pain pounded in his head. The remaining Alpha members had made their way out of the room, guns trained on the monster they just encountered. Alpha 2 kneeled and switched his rifle for something with a little more oomph. Namely an M32 rotary grenade launcher.
"Paterson, DO NOT FIRE A WARNING SHOT!"
"SIR!"
Croc was still stumbling and rubbing his eyes. He had no time to dodge the incoming projectile. And as tough as he is, his scales can only handle so much.
The explosive hit him in the left bicep, knocking him towards and seemingly bouncing him off the back wall towards the floor. His left arm now broken and bleeding.
Alpha 2 positioned for another shot while Alpha 1 reached for his radio to inform the commander outside of the situation.
"Commander we've located one of the intruders, ID is Killer Croc. We've lost 4 and 5."
*BZZZzzTTt*
Alpha 1 shook their head at the static. "Can't reach through, 3 go outside and tell them the situation."
"Yeah, how 'bout no?" said a sickeningly sweet voice.
Before Alpha 1 could turn. An oversized mallet crashed into the side of his skull, bending his head at an unusual angle. The sound of the blow was loud enough for Alpha 2 to take his eyes away from Croc and look. But all they could see was a crude winking smiley face as if a child had taken a marker to a wall.
The hit alone was enough to knock the final soldier down and out, but for good measure, Harley performed an overhead swing like one would do at a carnival game on the poor lad's skull. If there was a bell, only Harley heard it.
"MELON! Oh wait Croc."
Croc was still lying in the center of the room, still conscious but simply not moving. Harley quickly got to his side and asked if he was ok, you know like a normal person would do.
"I was flash-banged and then shot by a grenade launcher. What do you think?" Croc mumbled with his face in the ground.
Harley simply sat with a confused expression. She tilted her head and leaned back as she asked, "Is that a trick question? Because if so I'm not smart enough to figure it out. I was a psychologist not a whatever profession solves questions and riddles."
Croc moaned in pain both at his arm and at Harley's inability to detect his sarcasm. He propped himself up on his knees and took a look at his arm, his healing factor was already working to fix the damage but it would be a bit before he could use it to fight again. Finally recuperated, he got to his feet.
"I'm fine. Now what do we do?"
Harley reached for her earpiece and informed Deadshot of what happened and what to do next. After a bit of back and forth between the two, she finally looked to Croc.
"Welp, he wants us to make sure no one else gets in. And these guys definitely aren't the only ones. Must be more outside."
Croc hummed before asking, "Got a guess as to how many?"
Harley smirked as she approached one of the downed bodies and began looting it. "Well, I think our friends here might just have a few things to help us with that." Harley smiled as she tossed one of the grenades the soldiers used to scout the room up and down.
~~~~~
Back outside, the Commander held his radio next to him trying to communicate with Alpha team, but all he got was static. As he continued to fiddle with the radio, something was thrown and bounced off his vehicle. Five more objects were thrown towards the other stationed vehicles or clusters of guards. One soldier looked down as one of the objects landed at his feet.
"What the hell?" He recognized the object as metallic and his mind quickly associated it with something deadly. He shouted one word as he leaped on top of it.
"GRENADE!"
Everyone else quickly got down as the device went off. But instead of an explosion of shrapnel, red lights washed over marking everything and everyone.
Confusion washed over everyone but the Commander. He knew what they were and why someone would use them. He radioed to everyone.
"THREAT SENSORS! Get to cover!"
The headlights of all the vehicles were shot out, blanketing the area in darkness. Most of the guards got to cover, but those too slow were gunned down by an assailant at the entrance of the facility, the flash of the barrel being the only indicator they were there.
One of the humvees had their gunner open fire at the entrance. The bullets made contact with something as they seemingly fell to the floor. After about five seconds of firing, the gunner stopped and the night grew quiet again. Some guards poked their heads out to see if anything else would happen while the Commander reached for his night-vision goggles.
Still silence.
'THUNK'
An explosion erupted from one of the five humvees.
'THOOMP'
'THOOMP'
Two more explosions rang out as another car burst into flames and a group of troopers splattered into a meaty mess.
No orders were given and despite not being able to see the target everyone fired at the entrance. The Commander looked to the entrance of the facility with his night-vision goggles and saw the perps who just killed his men.
There he saw what looked like a wall of scales that was wearing pants taking any rounds that managed to hit him and even bouncing a few bullets off, with someone poking out every few seconds to fire a grenade launcher. The figure was wearing one of Alpha team's helmets, informing him of what happened. The figure threw two more threat sensors, before switching to a rifle and picking off any men they could.
Only two more humvee's remained. The commander realized that they weren't going to be able to shoot through whatever cover the perp was using, so he radioed to the other humvee.
*Humvee 3 ram the entrance!*
*Sir, I don't think that's a sma-*
*I am the Commander and I command you to RAM THEM!!*
The driver of humvee 3 winced at the high volume and sighed as he grabbed the wheel. "We're gonna die."
~~~~~
Back with Croc and friend. Croc was kneeling down with his back exposed to the many many bullets that continued to bounce off him. He had no idea what was actually going on but he could guess that he was being shot at. Again. At least Harley seemed to be having fun playing peek a boo. She looked stupid in that helmet but he could still see that devious smile.
Until there was no smile.
"Uh oh."
"What's 'uh oh'?"
"Hey have yah ever been run over before?"
"Can't say I have, although I did get hit by the bat-mobile once."
"Oh so yah do have experience, you'll be fine."
"Harley is there a car speeding towards me?"
"Yep. I'm gonna move out the way."
As Harley ducked out of the way, Croc finally turned to see the incoming vehicle. He braced himself and planted his feet as the car crashed into him. Any normal person would've been flattened, but Waylon Jones wasn't a normal person, never was and he sure as hell knows he might never be. No, he was the Killer Croc.
The vehicle came to an abrupt stop, the driver had his head thrust against the wheel while the gunner was thrown forward. Little driver man tried to blink his daze away and as he finally regained his bearings he looked through the windshield and saw a very very angry set of yellow eyes. Little driver man quickly opened the door and jumped down to the ground, sprinting back to the rest of the guards. He wasn't sure if the monster was chasing after him, but common sense told him to just keep running. He finally reached the rest of the guards, but instead of stopping he just kept running and shouted
"Screw this!"
Everyone turned back to the entrance where the car was and saw the front of the humvee lurched up as Croc began to lift the vehicle. His left arm now having healed enough for use. He lifted the front of the car until it was over his head and moved to the belly until he was able to completely lift it off the ground. He looked to the remaining guards and snarled loud enough to reach their ears.
Croc stepped forward and moved to throw the vehicle back to its respective owners. A few of the guards then followed little driver man's example.
"Yeah screw this!"
"I'm out."
"Nope."
The Commander furrowed his brows and began shouting at the retreating guards. Colorful insults were thrown about until a mighty roar overshadowed his own yelling. Snapping his head back to the entrance he no longer saw the humvee, just a big green scaly man.
"Where the hell did the car go?"
As if hearing his question, the big green scaly man pointed up, his finger following something in the air. The Commander looked up and saw the humvee seconds before it crashed on top of his own vehicle.
One of the remaining guards looked to his neighbor. "Maybe he's ok?" The vehicles went up in flames. "I mean if we pull him out bef-" the vehicles exploded. His neighbor slowly craned his head towards him as if daring him to continue speaking.
The guard simply dropped his gun and held his hands up. "Ok, I might have jinxed it." He looked back and saw the rest of the guards simply walking away. "Wait so does this mean we just take the night off?"
No one responded.
"So yeah? Alright then."
Harley walked up next to Croc as the guards finally left. "Huh. I guess this one of those 'take out the leader and the rest just leave' sorta thing." They continued to stand in silence for a bit.
"So I guess we just wait till the others are done right?"
"Yeah."
More silence continued until Harley began shuffling through her pockets and pulled out a phone. She unlocked it and went to an app.
"You wanna watch some try not to laugh videos?"
Croc sat down by the wall and let out a sigh, throwing the armored car with a still-healing arm took a bit out of him.
"Sure."
~~~~~
15 minutes later
welcome back to your daily dose of internet.*
The two sat against the wall having moved on from the try not to laugh videos. None of the videos they saw made them laugh. The biggest reaction from Harley was a quiet giggle and a smile every few clips. Waylon only grumbled anytime someone was shown getting physically hurt.
Harley was sat next to Waylon who was holding the phone for both of them to view with his long arms.
"Do you usually watch those 'funny' videos?"
Harley's contempt smile lowered a tad bit as she answered, "Once in a while, not a whole lot of jokes make me laugh anymore. So I try to find what makes other people laugh, see if it works for me. But apparently people find obnoxious noise, random screaming, and garbled music funny nowadays."
Waylon noted what Harley said at the start, but opted to not say anything, he wasn't the best at talking. Instead he just grumbled, "People are weird."
"Oh you said it. I mean we've got our own issues, but jeez do people online got'em in spades!"
Waylon chuckled for a second. Despite what others might believe, he enjoyed these relatively peaceful moments. No current need for violence, no need for the Killer Croc, just Waylon Jones living a moment of life.
Their communicators buzzed. Deadshot's voice came through.
Harley we got we came for, we're on our way back up.*
Harley gave a roger, while Waylon gave her back her phone. The two waited by the entrance until the sound of an incoming aircraft was heard. Harley tilted her head in confusion. "Is Katana bringing the birdie over?" She turned to Waylon who was looking at the sky trying to see what was coming. He narrowed his eyes as he responded, "That doesn't sound like our ride."
What looked like a black jet passed overhead and continued its way on. A dark figure had dropped down from it and was slowly descending towards the ground not too far from the two. The figure narrowed its eyes at the two with an ever-present scowl on the visible part of its face. The Batman had arrived.
Harley crossed her arms with an unimpressed look. "Yah really like to make a dramatic entrance don't cha? You know the first few times yah did it, it was cool, but now it's just meh. Try and add some more flare next time. Do a pose!"
Batman narrowed his already narrowed eyes at the notion, secretly stashing Harley's comment for later.
"What are you doing here?"
"I could literally ask the same thing."
Batman ignored Harley and turned to her friend. "Waylon. It's been a while since I've seen you two working together. Back as Waller's hound dog? I'm only going to ask once, stand down and turn yourselves in."
"Fat chance bozo!"
Waylon growled at his words. He snarled before growling out, "You know I can't do that."
Batman's signature scowl seemed to lessen. "Waylon, I can help you both. All you have to do is turn yourselves in. It won't be Arkham anymore. I swear."
Waylon snarled at the mention of the retched asylum. He was almost touched at the Bats offer, few times had he ever been promised with a genuine voice and few times had anyone used his actual name. But it's not up to him. Right now he can't be Waylon, he has to be Killer Croc.
"You can't make me a deal Waller can't beat Bats."
Croc rushed forward with an overhead swing. Batman effortlessly dodged the attack and the follow-up slashes. He'd done this song and dance many times over. Back flipping away, Batman threw three batarangs. Croc threw up an arm to block two but one hit him in the face making him flinch. Batman knew they wouldn't hurt, but it was more so to keep Croc distracted and keep distance as he reached into his bat-belt.
Batman couldn't rely on his own muscle for this encounter anymore. Killer Croc's mutation had evolved over time from a man with skin disease to a nearly complete bipedal reptilian. Croc was stronger and more durable than he ever was. But he still wasn't as fast or nearly as smart as Batman.
Batman withdrew three pellets, two were a shade of grey while the third was a dull green. He threw the grey pellets at his feet witch erupted into smoke. Croc nearly charged into the smoke before recalling a similar situation in Gotham, so he instead stayed his feet, until another smoke pellet hit him in the face.
As Croc recoiled and looked away, Batman, now wearing a sort of rebreather mask, blitzed out of the smoke towards Croc. He jumped onto Croc's back and wrapped his arm around his neck, not as a chokehold but to keep from falling off as he tried to smash the green pellet into the clamping jaws.
Croc shuts his mouth just before the pellet can go in. The pellet still bursts on his teeth, releasing a green sleeping agent. Croc notices the color and holds his breath as he tries to buck the Bat off him. Croc can hold his breath for a long time. But the Batman is anything if not prepared. Reaching into his belt again, Batman pulls out a small object shaped like an eraser. He cracks it in his hand and puts it in front of Croc's nose, a simple smelling salt to get him to inhale.
Croc nearly gasps as the smelling salt irritates his nose. But he manages to keep from breathing and runs a distance away from the knock-out gas. With the Batman still on his back and out of reach from his claws, Croc stops, jumps, and falls onto his back. Batman wheezes as the mass of scales nearly crush him. Now pinned under Croc Batman tries to get out, but Croc is too heavy to push from this position.
Meanwhile, Harley had radioed to the rest of the team that Batman had arrived the moment Croc threw the first punch.
"Hey one-shot, we have a bit of situation up here."
*What is it? More guards show up? *
"Uh, more like Batman dropped on by."
* Shit.*
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too."
Alright keep him busy until we get there he.*
"While that plan might work on someone else. Batman's kicked our asses more times than I can backflip and I can do a lot of backflips."
I know, but we're literally down the hall where Croc tripped the alarm. You can distract him for a minute right?"*
Harley's shoulders slumped as she gave a deep sigh, "We can try." As she let go of the communicator she looked up to see Batman on the back of Croc trying to put something in his face. She looked around for anything to use, any discarded rifles or more grenades. Her mallet wasn't gonna do much. Her head perked up as she heard Croc start to run and she almost winced as she saw him pin Batman to the ground by falling down.
Harley saw Batman try to move and Croc about to get up, until she shouted, "Croc don't get up!! You've got him pinned!" Croc shifted his eyes towards her and complied. Not moving an inch even as Batman tried to dislodge him, without access to his bat-belt and the awkward position he was in, Batman seemingly couldn't do anything. As he continued to struggle, the sound of multiple footsteps grew louder as the rest of the squad showed up.
As they got closer, Captain Boomerang started chuckling as the scene became clearer. "Well I think I might have just had too much to drink. Hey Barbecue you didn't spike my canteen with something did'u?" Boomerang nudged his elbow into Diablo's shoulder as he continued to chuckle. Diablo smirked while Hack walked next to Harley as she held a cubed-shaped case.
"Ah mean, I've seen this scenario happen back home before! Ah just never thought I'd see it happen to Batman!"
Deadshot strolled over to the pinned Batman and squatted next to him. "You know Boomerangs right, never thought I'd finally see you pinned down, especially like this. Nice work Croc." He patted Croc on the chest before pointing his gauntlet down at Batman's face, a 'click' was heard as the safety turned off.
"You know I've waited a long time to finally have a clear shot at you. Most of us here have. And here you are. It'd be easy to shoot you in the mouth and relieve ourselves from the beatings you gave us and the scores we missed because of you."
Batman merely glared and said nothing. Deadshot did the same while the others watched in anticipation of what he would do.
After a minute of silence, another 'click' was heard as Deadshot put the safety back on and stood back up.
"But if any of us kill you, we'd have the whole damn Justice League on our ass. Even Waller would sure as hell ditch us the moment that happens. Plus, this would be like shooting a depressed goldfish in a bowl, and I'm the kinda shooter who likes a challenge."
"Then let's make it a challenge," Batman stated as a strange device opened up from his gauntlets that emitted an ear-piercing sound causing the squad to quickly cover their ears, which resulted in Hack dropping the case. The sound was so painful that Croc began to squirm on the ground which was enough to allow Batman a chance to reach for his grappling gun. He fired the grapple at one of the torn-up vehicles then reeled himself from under Croc.
The sound soon began to wane and while the squad tried to recover, Batman rushed for the case on the floor. A torrent of flames nearly burned him as Diablo intercepted him. Despite his ears ringing everywhere, his powers didn't require much focus to use. Batman quickly threw a canister at Diablo, which exploded into a foam-like from a fire extinguisher. This quickly doused his flames long enough to be knocked down with a swift kick to the face.
Resuming his chase for the case, Batman threw capture tools at the still writhing forms of Boomerang and Harley. As he got closer to the case, Deadshot tackled him to the floor. They rolled for a bit before getting back to their feet.
Deadshot shook his head as he readied his guns. "You fucking asshole, rrrhm, I take back what I said about not killing you."
Batman's response was to throw several batarangs at him. Deadshot shot them all out of the air and ducked as Batman came in for a punch. He countered with a punch to the side and an uppercut. But he was soon knocked back down from a retaliatory kick. The two continued to brawl and while Deadshot was no slouch with his hands he wasn't as good as Batman.
Croc was finally recovering from the sonic attack, being that close to it didn't help either. He could have sworn his ears were bleeding. He looked around to see both Diablo and Boomerang already out of the fight, while Harley was in the middle of getting out of her restraints. Hack was crawling over to the case and reaching for her earpiece. Most likely telling Flag what's going on. He heard grunting and turned to see Batman in the middle of beating down Deadshot.
Rising to his feet, Croc ran to help his teammate. Using his mass, he tried to fling himself onto Batman once again. Only to go overhead as his prey ducked. Batman threw two more batarangs at Croc. One lodged itself into Crocs left arm, where the scales were still healing, and electrocuted him. The second batarang hit him in the chest and exploded upon impact, sending him back onto the ground.
Batman used this time to dash to Hack as she was still busy on her earpiece. He used his grappling gun to snatch the case from her grip. But before he could do anything else, the optics in his mask flickered on and off until they shone like strobe lights. He kept his grip on the case and shut his eyes to mitigate the effects. Hack had both her hands up as if she was typing on air.
"Not so fun having one of your senses being messed with is it." She continued typing disabling any electronic equipment in his suit. She shouted to Harley who was finally free of her restraints and was brandishing her mallet.
"Harley! Flag said to deny Batman the package by any means necessary!" She frowned a bit, "Hurry, his suit has some pretty good software that's almost blocking me out."
Harley jogged to the blind bat. And swung her mallet into the back of his leg, dropping him to a knee. She swung again at the back of his head, but he managed to duck and swung the case into her face. Her lip now broken and her nose in a similar condition, Harley simply grinned as she got ready to swing again. "You know it's been a while since someone manage to hurt my pretty face. I'll be glad to return the favor!"
Instead of swinging at his head she opted to aim for his shoulder. Driving her mallet into it loosened his grip enough for the case to slip. Harley reached for the case. As she did, her foot was grabbed by the Batman refusing to let her walk away. She bashed the case against his head until his other arm caught one of hers. The white eyes of his mask became clear and for the first time, Harley could see the hardened blue irises. She hesitated for a brief second at the new info before using her other hand to grab the case. She looked around for somewhere or someone to throw it to before spotting her green friend.
"Croc catch!" She threw the case as far as she could before Batman threw her to the ground, no longer blinded. He watched as the case landed at Croc's feet, glowing as it hit the ground.
Croc picked up the case and eyed Batman, while Hack shouted at him, "Don't let him have it! Do whatever you have to do to keep it from him!" Batman was already sprinting towards him reading his grappling gun again. Croc fumbled with the case as he tried to think of what to do. He could throw the case somewhere far or run with it, but Batman would still be able to get it. Batman fired the grappling in his direction, and with one hand Croc was able to grab the line and swing Batman away into Deadshot who just now got up. But he knew Batman was never finished.
Croc looked down at the case in his hands and pondered on what to do again. Before a terrible idea popped in his mind and stayed at the forefront of his thoughts.
'Eat the case.'
He knew it was dumb, but maybe it was one of those 'So stupid it might work' ideas Harley comes up with. But he was running out of time and no option was popping up. Now he's eaten a lot of weird things before, constantly having the munchies will do that to you. But eating a glowing cubed case was probably in his top 5. 'Wait was it glowing before? Oh right Batman.'
Croc opened his maw and dropped the case down into his gullet. He didn't chew to prevent Batman from ripping it out of his teeth. He felt the case hit the bottom of his stomach, his stronger than normal stomach acids already melting the case down. He looked around and saw everyone was looking at him bug-eyed. Even Batman seemed perplexed and unsure of what to do. Croc really hoped he wasn't prepped for something like this and pulled a plunger from his belt somehow. Thankfully he didn't.
Boomerang got up and stared at his stomach area. He lifted a hand and pointed, "Hey buddy is it normal for your stomach to glow like that."
Croc saw as his stomach glowed brighter and brighter until it started to dim and glow back and forth. His attention was pulled away for a sec as Flag rung in his own earpiece.
Guys I'm picking up a massive energy spike in your area. What the hells going on?*
Hack spoke up as she realized the cause of the light show. "The package, it must be activating somehow!"
Harley snapped her neck towards to Hack, "What the hell was the package?"
Before Hack could explain Batman was the one to answer. "You were stealing a Boom-Tube. An alien device recovered from when Darkseid tried to invade Earth. If it's activating, then we all need to leave before we're all transported somewhere we won't like to be."
"What about Croc?" Harley asked as she walked over to try and help somehow. "Hack can't you turn it off or something?"
Hack looked at Croc as he began to grunt in pain as the flashing light from within him began to increase in speed. "I can try." She lifted her hands into the air and began typing on an invisible keyboard. None of the team knew what she was actually doing, but they could each see the strain on her face as she tried to save Croc.
Meanwhile, Batman typed on his own gauntlet and the sound of the Batwing could be heard as it made its way to retrieve him. As he waited for his ride to get closer, Batman once again spoke, "There's not much time left, you all need to leave before the Boom-Tube goes off." Harley stared as if she saw the strangest thing.
"So you're just gonna leave Croc? You're not even gonna try and help?" Harley chuckled. "No, no that makes sense, you won't kill people but you sure as hell find loopholes!"
"There are only a handful of people on this planet that know how to properly operate a Apokilptian technology and I can't do it remotely." Batman turned to Croc, the large crocodilian stood frozen. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I can't save you Waylon. There's a chance it'll teleport you somewhere, but even I don't know how it'll effect you now."
Croc slowly craned his neck to look at him. His eyes flipped through various emotions, confusion, anger, fear, sadness, and finally reluctance. While he could attribute his current predicament as the bats' fault, he knows that it was largely his idea to eat the damn case. Waylon didn't harbor any hatred for the Batman for a while, yes he disliked him but not outright hate; Croc still might. Like his outward appearance, he grew on the inside as well. Harley could be a great therapist when she wanted. Waylon slowly nodded his head at Batman.
The Boom-Tube inside of him stopped glowing for a brief moment before it began to make a humming noise and vibrate inside his stomach. Waylon lurched forward in discomfort. He looked to Hack as she began to frantically type in the air before dread seeped across her face.
"I ca- I can't turn it off. Croc I'm... I'm sorry." Hack stammered. Poor thing, she deserved better, she really was just a kid. He honestly didn't know why she ended up in prison.
"Your ok kid. This is my fault."
Deadshot spoke up. "Alright we need to move, I called Katana to bring the bird closer to us. Be seeing you Croc." He turned before jogging in the direction of the transport. Boomerang apologized before doing the same, while Diablo bumped his fist against his chest and towards Croc before turning as well. Harley stood silent as if she was still trying to process what was happening.
"I don't think I'm gonna have as much fun on the squad without you." She rubbed her right arm as she glanced at the floor. "We were Gotham buddies. Gave us a sort of special connection to each other. I think... I'm gonna miss you."
"Yeah, I'd miss me too."
Harley giggled a bit, "Goodbye Waylon."
She walked backwards a bit before turning and jogging to catch up with the rest of the group.
Now Waylon was alone in a field, left with nothing to do but wait for the Boom-Tube inside him to go off and probably teleport him inside out. The risk of death was a no-brainer in the Suicide Squad, but knowing you were going to die soon is a lot different than dying unexpectedly.
He was honesty scared of what would happen, where he would end up. He knows Hell exists, unless that 'Get out of Hell Free Card' was a load of crap, and he's fairly certain that he hadn't lived a good life in the eyes of God, not that he ever spoke to him. He doubts even joining Batman's team as Clayface did would be able to redeem his soul. Croc was a byproduct of the world Waylon lived in and what a world he lived in indeed. 'Oh boy, is this what impending doom is really like, just remembering your life and what shitty choices you made to get here?'
He was broken out of his thoughts as the Boom-Tube hummed even louder and he could feel it start to shift its shape inside him. Once it stopped, golden rings formed around him, and his eyes were forced closed by the blinding light they each emitted. This was finally it. Waylon could only think of one last thing,
'People who say they regret nothing are full of crap'
~~~~~~~~~~_
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
@&!,%#[!
Finally, after years of not uploading a new chapter and almost a full year since my last update.
I am so sorry for anyone still following this fic and for any new readers out there. Not sure how many people read my last update, but to reniform everyone. This fic is being re-written and while some elements will remain the same, there will be changes for everything else. I already know how I want to end this fic, I just got fill the middle.
I don't want to promise when I'll update next, but I'm planning on updating at least once a month. Word counts for each chapter will be different, so don't expect long chapters like this. @@#% I just realized this chapter is longer than the entirety of my original work.
Also, I'll be uploading a new story that's more of an anthology of summaries or ideas of stories I might make in the future. Depending on which chapter gets the most likes/reviews, I'll be focusing on that alongside Bite out of Remnant
Thank you to anyone who stuck around and anyone who just now stumbled across this fic.
Please, I encourage constructive criticism and any ideas on how this story should go. Please leave a review!