Cat and Mouse

Chapter 14

It took me a few tries to get the key in the lock and unlock the door to my apartment. My entire body was burning from the strenuous exercise just a few mere hours beforehand. Now the sun peaked over the horizon, igniting the smoky Gotham skyline in an array of smoggy oranges and polluted purples. Cold spread through my body, possibly from the overnight exposure to the cold autumn air or the chill in my bones from the bloody fight.By the end of the night, hardly a spot on my body was left unscathed or not aching.

I ran my gritty hand through my hair, trying to soothe out the massive tangles that occured throughout the night. The gloves had split at the ends and tore, causing me to abandon them when they messed up my acrobatics. Now all that was left were the grimy digits, bruised from punching and coated in layers of dried blood courtesy to a number of people, including myself. The vest had already been--regretfully-- abandoned at the beginning of the night and the skirt had to after being torn to shreds to the point its only use was to tangle itself in my burning legs. My mask was more or less intact, with just slight fraying at the end, but it managed to stay on and served its purpose throughout the night. Kicking off my muddy boots, I struggled to strip out of my pants. The leggings were ripped everywhere, a variety of claws marks, skid marks and whatever weapon any other insane psychopath would use. The leggings held a dark red tint from dried blood and my knees were completely skinned from falling to the ground too much. Lacerations coated my arms and legs and I knew they had to be disinfected before they became contaminated. 

I winced as the orange shirt was pulled over my arms, skimming over cuts and bruises. It was no longer orange but a mix of crimson and a haunting black. There were three giant claw marks in the abdomen that extended through my actual skin, courtesy of Killer Croc's killer claws. That seemed to be the most serious injury right now and I retreated to the bathroom in order to fix it.

I showered briskly, trying my best not to cry out every time the water kissed the scars, allowing the struggles of the night to melt away. The water was a yellow-brown hue as it swirled down the drain under my blistered soles, running away from the scene of the crime. After it was all washed away, I combed through my hair and pulled it up into a messy bun so it wouldn't obstruct my work. Reaching under the counter, I pulled out the peroxide and leant over the tub with the towel snug against my exposed flesh. I winced as the disinfectant washed over the cuts, bubbling slightly as it made contact. I allowed it to sit as the pain slowly subsided, moving onto the other leg before bathing my arms in the substance. By the time the remainder of my body was lathered in the substance, the large bottle was empty. It wasn't completely full to begin with, but I had never experienced so much pain through a battle. Maybe that's why I tried so hard to forget the details.

Once disinfected, I pulled the gauze out and wrapped it around my midriff, covering the largest of cuts. I also had to wrap my forehead in the soft cotton, a cut deep enough to block my left eye with blood hidden from the outer world. As I wrapped the most serious of the wounds, flashes of last night's battles flashed through my eyes as I reminisced over the pain.

Killer Croc was the last villain I had fought that night. Throughout the night, I had dealt with petty crooks and low-key criminals. Anarky, Killer Moth, Jane Doe, The Great White Shark., Baby Doll The rest Batman and Robin had taken care of after they arrived a few minutes after I had. I still remembered when Robin and my own eyes had met, him flashing me a smirk while I rolled my eyes and scowled, dodging Jane's skinning knife. We were both far too busy to communicate as we fought, knowing the importance of the fight and how it was imperitave we were not distracted. But of course, by the end of the night I was ready to drop and my guard was down. My vision was swimming slightly from when I was thrown down during the last skirmish, blood coating my forehead and darkening the red around my fringe. My mask covered my eyes from the worst of the sight-blocking blood, but even that didn't stop it from seeping under and swirling around my left sclera.I knew that Batman, Robin and the police could handle the suriving villains. It was best if I returned home. Just as I turned to leave, I felt the ground quake under me and turned to see a lumbering beast covered in scaly green skin surge towards me, flicking his reptilian tale and snapping his elognated jaws. I ducked as he tumbled past, ignoring the cramping in my stomach and the groans of protest surrounding my joints. I glanced up, my vision slightly blurred as Killer Croc skidded on his back legs and came back around. 

'He must be upset about Baby Doll' I inferred as I clenched your fists in preparation. Killer Croc's tail swished back and forth like a pendulum as he approached, licking his jaws. I hesitated, not knowing if I was ready for such a powerful villain. With the bruises and my low-level experience, I doubted I could take him down. I was hardly able to sidestep his next charge as he lumbered past me, foreclaws scraping the soggy pavement as he skidded to a stop to come back around. He hardly wasted time with taunting, simply grunting as he came back around. Just as I dodged, he extended his claw and I gasped as the noise of fabric ripping echoed through the shrill night. Pain exploded like a firey distaster as the claws cut through my tender yet slightly muscled midriff, drawing blood after a stuttering pause. I immediately curdled over, grasping my abdomen as tears stung my eyes. The vision in my left eye was blurred red with the watery mixture of salty tears. Blood coated my bare hands and I could sense Killer Croc approaching to finish the job. I glanced up, just as he suddenly collapsed. My eyes shot open from their half-lidded, defeated look as he crumbled down beside me. Confused, I glanced around for the cause. Nothing seemed off about him, he just seemed to pass out. I prodded him with a bloody boot to ensure he had not died, but when he growled at the contact I immediately retracted my foot and pulled myself up, standing over the unconcious criminal. I was confused but caught a glimpse of Robin close by, fending off Bane as he charge around. He sent me a worried glance before turning in time to sidestep Bane's collassol fists. Figuring he had shot some sort of sedative from behind, I left it alone and instead favored fleeing the scene, my vision hazy. 

The thoughts tugged at the back of my mind, but I buried them deeper, passing it off as Robin. It had to have been, unless Batman had suddenly shown an ounce of remorse and spared my life. Either way, I had managed to drag myself home undetected and patched up the best a poor, live-alone crimefighter could be. Taping the gauze down to seal it, I stood up with wobbly knees and made my way to my bed. I immediately collapsed, figuring I could call in sick when I woke up.

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A/N: Short update is crappy. Anyways, I promised an update on Sunday and here you go! I originally wrote this a few days ago but I wanted to wait a while so I could get another chapter ready. I had a bunch of short ideas for the middle before the climax, but I may cut some of it out because once I reach the climax everything will be easier to write seeing as I had written out the ending during the planning stage and I know exactly how it's going to go. LOve the comments, you guys motivate me to write more! I think I'll update next Saturday so keep an eye out for that!

Anyways, I didn't proof-read this at all so I have no clue how it went. I was too lazy to write out all her fights so I was like, why not just Killer Croc? Think I went a little overboard on her injuries but whatever.

What do you guys think happened to Killer Croc?