This is the continuation from the second chapter of this here story into the third chapter of this here story.

Nothing more to be said here other than let the story commence!

Continuing With Maria's Point Of View:

You know that state of unconsciousness where you're half-awake and half asleep? Well I was about there by the time I stopped hearing the ringing in my ears and began to feel my head ache from where it had been struck.

It was official at this damn point; my career and days as a world renowned thief were over since it seemed like the fucking Batman had gotten the better of me. How did I know it was that damn bastard that did this to me? Even in a state of unconsciousness, I felt that I was suspended upside down a wire or rope of some sorts. Well that and I kept hearing this deep voice grumbling about something in the distance… Too bad I couldn't actually hear what it was saying.

On the other hand, I was slowly starting to return to full consciousness at this point and accidently let a soft groan race past my lips before I could stop it.

"Mmhh… Ahh…"

Something that sounded like a twig breaking in two went off and I knew that I'd made too much noise. I then pressed my lips together to make sure that I wouldn't alert the Dark Knight, more than I already have, of my return to the land of the living.

Well he heard me anyway and came stomping over to where I was suspended in the air. Wait a second… I never heard of Batman stomping before, and he is known for being very stealthy so…

A hissing sound echoed through wherever I was; at first, it sounded like a rough cough but then again it reminded me of an animal's growl.

One sentence came to my mind, and as much as I wanted to shout it, I simply let the sentence play through within my thoughts. "This is definitely NOT the Dark Knight".

Not wanting to wait for one more damn second, I snapped my eyes open and realized that I couldn't breathe! Someone's rough hand was at my throat and pressing down too much to allow for any normal person to be able to breathe.

Quickly, I tried to jerk my head away from the hand and tried to get its grip to loosen on my neck but to no avail. After ten seconds, I started gagging, feeling like I was about to throw up if I didn't get any air back into my system. I struggled around in the chains that were wrapped around my entire body, trying to find something to kick off of in order to free myself. Alas, I had no success with that plan as well.

At that point, I opened my mouth to say my last words as I felt that this would be the moment that I would die, only to find that the hand had finally relinquished its grasp.

Instantaneously, I began to cough and take in deep gulps of air, finally feeling the oxygen gushing right back into me as my lungs were filled with fresh air again. I was breathing real hard and quick, trying to find out what the fuck was going on and who had about strangled me to death.

Opening my eyes back up, I couldn't see a bloody thing. I'd gone blind! No wait… my vision was just blurry for a second there… Ok now I could see things a bit more clearly!

The first things I saw were not what I had expected to see at all.

I mean right after I opened my eyes, I saw a large opening that had been built into the side of a walkway that seemed to be the main entrance into this large cavern, probably originally built to hold equipment for the sewer system if anything ever happened to go wrong down here. A crushed, old couch had been laid out to the wall to my left and it seemed as if it was missing one of its seats. Narrowing my eyes just a bit, I happened to see that something along the lines of a bite had been taken out of the back of its grey fabric and right through the stuffing. Shaking my head, I then noticed a heaping mass of miscellaneous blankets and several large pillows were placed against the back wall, obviously having served as a bed for the person who owned them.

Alright so now I had an idea of where I was, but I had no fucking clue as to where I was exactly, what time it was or what the hell was going on but I knew one thing for sure. Sure enough, this entire storage space had been renovated entirely for the person who was currently residing within its structurally sound walls. They also seemed as if they didn't want to be casted out of their home seeing how they had suspended an uninvited guest that wandered in.

Getting past my surroundings and getting over its owner, I attempted to break free of my chains once again. However, another deep hissing sound stopped me from trying to struggle and made me freeze in midair. It continued and the echoed off the walls, turning and twisting its way here and there but always staying in my ears.

After a couple of seconds, the hissing died down and the only sound that followed it was that of dead silence. For the sewers to get this quiet, I knew that I was either somewhere near the opening of a tunnel or just deeper within the confines of the Gotham City sewer system. Oh goody… If I'm even deeper and even more lost within these tunnels then whoever dragged me here will have to welcome a size nine boot up their ass for putting me through this.

Drip... drip... drip…

Drop... drop… drop…

My ears twitched each and every time a water droplet struck its liquid body against a metal pipe. However, I wasn't annoyed by the sound they were making. I was waiting for something much larger than a droplet to hit a pipe or some sewer water; I was waiting for my attacker.

Splash…!

I snapped my eyes in the direction of the noise and caught sight of a blur. Dammit! Whoever was moving around down here was in their element since the best I could do was catch a mother fucking blur!

Swallowing my pride, I managed to shove all of my training out of my mind for a few seconds and ask, "Who's there"? Years of aiming to be stealthy and the very essence of what created the world's shadows… all of it was just slightly thrown down the drain when I spoke to my kidnapper.

Splash…!

I swung my head around to my left and managed to turn the rest of my body in the general direction of where the sound had come from. Even with my eyes that were naturally accustomed to darkness more than any normal person's eyes, I could barely see a small light that had been turned on, on the other side of the room. It revealed the rest of the cavern that I couldn't see at first but what I saw nearly scared the shit out of me.

Bones! Human bones! They were piled up in small stacks in different sections of the room and some even had bits of flesh on them still!

"What the hell have I gotten myself into"!? I thought to myself rather than scream in surprise over this surprise. Still, I didn't exactly feel the need to scream but I certainly felt the need to shout something along the lines of, "What! The! Fuck"!

Right as I went to open my mouth to do just that, I ended up being shocked half to death when the same rough hand that clasped over my jaw from earlier repeated its actions once more. My eyes instantly widened knowing this, and I found myself beginning to struggle for what felt like dear life this time around.

Then without even the slightest bit of warning, another shadowy hand reached up and punched me in the gut to put an end to my squirming. It worked since it felt like an anvil fell on my stomach. It also seemed to knock whatever resistance I had for this kind of treatment I had left in me out of me.

At this point and time, all I knew was that this son of a bitch was so getting an ass kicking once I was out of these fucking chains!

He took his hand off of my mouth and stepped back and further into the shadows like he didn't want me seeing him.

"What the hell, man"?! I seethed with rage as I felt an instant bruise begin to form where I was struck. "Why the fuck are you doing this to me, you damn coward"!?

A deep chuckle ran throughout the cavern, and I found a cold chill run down my spine as its master silently went from being right in front of me to being right behind me. I found myself instantly regretting my two sentences as my thoughts told me that my mouth was most likely going to get me killed today.

"What's a little mouse doin' talkin' to me that way"? A rough Cajun voice seemed to hiss near my right ear. The man's words were laced with malicious intent and I bet he was smirking the way he called me a mouse, almost as if he was enjoying his choice of words.

"I… I was looking for something that I dropped down here…" I slowly explained to him as I tried to think of any possible way to get myself out of this situation and still be living and breathing. "So… if you could be a good gentleman for me and help me down-"

"Bitch," He tugged at my chains as some dark humor started entering his tone. "I ain't no gentleman- Hell, I ain't even gentle. If you're wonderin' how in hell you gonna get out of these here chains, then stop thinkin' right now".

I rolled my eyes when he called me a bitch and when he was done talking, I came back with, "You don't know who you're dealing with then"? I spoke like an insulted royal. "I'm the world famous Shadow Thief; I can get out of any place given the right amount of time and planning with whatever I was planning to steal".

There was silence for a few seconds after I had said that, but soon enough, my kidnapper started back up the conversation by punching me in the backside.

"Attattata… crap, that hurt, you bastard"! I scowled as I wished my body wasn't chained so that I could physically cringe in pain. "Didn't you hear what I told you"!?

"No, I heard ya," He slipped back around to my front side but still remained hidden within the shadows. "But now it's your turn to listen to me".

My mysterious kidnapper stepped into the dim light so that I could see him, but what I saw practically made my eyes pop out of their sockets. Dear lord! Look at who I've insulted! I'm literally going to die now!

I instantly saw the claws that were naturally deadly, the green tinted skin, and the scales that seemed to cover the majority of his body from what I saw. He had on a black vest and a pair of ripped pants without any shoes to go with his choice of attire. Once I took notice of what he was wearing, I saw a green tail came around from behind him and that was more than enough for me to know who I was dealing with.

"You should know that you're dealin' with Killer Croc, little mouse". He smirked and revealed his sharp teeth to me. "You should stop thinkin' about your little escape now".

He then stepped back into the darkness of the surrounding shadows and the last thing I could see of him were his bright yellow eyes staring right into my own dark eyes. "Now why don't you hang around while I go out for just a bit, cher"?

I didn't say anything. I just nodded the best I could and watched as his eyes vanished into thin air. After that I heard a few splashes in the water and I knew he was gone… for now…

He'd be back and he'd kill or maybe eat me! Well… fuck it… I'd never thought I'd go out this way…

Nevertheless, I wasn't going down without the last word, last laugh or even the last throw. If Killer Croc was looking to do anything, then I wouldn't let any sort of plan he had cooked up work out for him. He'd get his way over my dead body… maybe literally at the rate I'm going… Fuck it…

Alright the third chapter is now completed. And as most of you have seen so far, Maria and Croc haven't met on the best of terms. The two of them seem to be willing to kill the other in a heartbeat at the time being.

Well, I won't say anything else (since I'd be giving away my own plot) but the next chapter will clear things up.

So until the next chapter is posted, my good readers.