Bruce's P.O.V.
Ella and I were down in the cave, looking over the cases of a sudden crime spree.
"Gotham has a sudden burst of nine seemingly unrelated heights," I muttered. "With stolen goods ranging from explosives to jet skis. There has to be a link between these crimes."
"Maybe they're all just warm up for something bigger?" Ella suggested.
"Maybe."
A creaking sound caught my attention and we turned to see the big Scar Face head from his machine being lowered down. We walked over to the ledge to find Alfred was working the machine.
"Apologies Master Bruce, Miss Ella," Alfred said. "Just doing a bit of spring cleaning."
Ella and I went down to the floor Alfred was on to find a collection of evidence from the cases I'd solved.
"Uh, Alfred," I said. "Where are you taking the evidence?"
"These cases are closed," Alfred stated. "They're now history, in every sense of the word. It would be criminal to not preserve these items for prosperity. So I've chosen to archive them. A private museum, if you will. After all, the Batman may someday enjoy a more favorable place in society's view."
"Yeah, I won't hold my breath," I said sarcastically.
"Come on, have a little faith," Ella said with a smile. Both of our eyes widened and we looked at each other.
"Water," I said.
"Actually I'd prefer a spot of ice tea if you're heading to the kitchen," Alfred said.
"No, the link between the robberies! Water. A half dozen within spitting distance of a canal. And three on Gotham Bay."
"Perfect!" Ella said. "Now it'll be much easier to find his next target."
Later that night I headed to the docks, scouting for the thieves to see if they'd show up. I saw some men unloading equipment from one large ship to their boat. I found it suspicious and went to check it out. I grabbed onto their cable as they were pulling it up.
"Boss wants this swag loaded, pronto!" One of the men exclaimed. I came into view and jumped down from the cable.
"The Batman!" One of the men exclaimed.
"I'd like to have a word with this 'boss' you fellas mentioned," I said.
The three goons approached me, one of them drawing two knives. They ran at me and I knocked them all down quickly, none of them having much fighting experience. I heard hissing, looking around but not seeing anything.
"My daddy used to say, you want something done right best to do it yourself."
I looked over to find a large crocodile man, my eyes widening. No wonder the robberies were all near water. He slashed the cap to a container of oxygen and it rushed towards me, but I avoided it. He slashed a few more that I avoided.
"You look to be this Batman legend I keep hearing about," the croc said, approaching. "Well folks are gonna start hearing about how Killer Croc stopped you good."
I rushed forward, but Killer Croc was fast and avoided my punches. After a few hits I brought up my cape so his view was blocked and nailed a punch to his gut, causing him to cower over. I went for another punch but he came up and punched my fist, sending me back. He charged at me and we both fell off the boat and into the water. The swam us deeper and deeper, I knew I was going to run out of air fast. We hit the bottom of the bay and he raised a hand to swipe at me. I kicked him in the chest, knocking out some of his air. I swam for an unused oxygen tank that had fallen over, poking one end of it and it sent me shooting up to the surface. I took in a deep breath, thankful for air, and looked over to see Croc escaping with his goons in their boat.
Ella's P.O.V.
I walked into the cave to see Bruce stripped of his gear, which was soaking wet on a table and dripping onto the floor. I ignored it and looked at Bruce, who was hunched over the main desk.
"Bruce, are you okay?" I asked quietly. "Do you want to get dried off?"
He didn't seem to hear me, slamming his fist on the table.
"Next time I'll keep Croc on my turf, dry land," he said.
He must've been upset from losing the fight. Before I could comfort him the batwave went off and a new broadcast came up.
"This was the scene moments ago was Gothams financial district was hit by the largest flood in cities history," the news broadcaster said before showing a clip of the district being flooded.
"What?" Bruce asked.
"Emergency crews are now arriving on the scene to assist with the evacuation of local residents. The cause of the flood is still unknown."
Batwave went off again.
"Three bank alarms in Gothams water logged financial district?" Bruce questioned.
"Your amphibious acquaintance?" I asked.
Bruce didn't say anything and went to change and head for the district. I sighed and sat in the main control chair. Maybe when this is all over I should do something nice for him. In the meantime, I'd try to help with the rescue from here.
Bruce's P.O.V.
I arrived at the scene, with a bat themes jetski, to find Killer Croc and his men on their own skis about to make their getaway. Croc made two hand signals and the men split off into three different directions. Croc stayed behind, speeding towards me like we were playing a game of chicken. We both moved a little bit, but only enough for our skis to scratch each other. I turned and pursued him as he tried to escape.
I caught up to him and Croc tried swiping at me but I'd move away. One of his goons pulled up beside me and tried hitting me with a baton and I was forced to move, giving Croc an opportunity to hit me off of my ski. I recovered quickly and swam to the surface, turning to find that Croc had fled and left his goon to take care of me. I used a grapple to pull myself out of the water and kick the goon right in the face, knocking him out. I took him and bound him upside down on a pole on a building.
"Croc's story, spill it," I demanded the moment the goon came to.
"He's ex-military I think," the guy confessed after catching his breath. "Mercenary type. Some think he's a genetic experiment, some crossbreed soldier or something. Others think he messed with the wrong kind of voodoo. Me, I'm thinking circus freak."
"Facts, not folk tales."
"What's to tell? Croc's new in town, he's got big plans."
"Bigger than robbing banks?"
"Croc said today's flood was just a dry run."
"If I wanted to do some big city croc hunting, where would I go?"
"Huh? No way, boss Croc's cold-blooded man, I talk I turn to fish food."
"You don't talk we could all wind up fish food."
Getting my point across, the goon told me the location and I headed there immediately through what are supposed to be water drainage pipes whenever Gotham does flood. My jetski turned into a smaller piece that would pull me under the water much faster, and I had a small breathing piece ready.
I emerged from the water to find the place where the drainage water was controlled, and Croc's men's things were all set up. Including the jewels they stole.
"Schematics of Gotham's canals," I muttered as I picked up the paper.
"You sure got a lotta bloodhound in you, for a bat," Croc said as he stepped through a nearby opening. "What do ya think? A dry little spot to catch my breath between heists."
"And right beside the overflow pumps for Gotham's canal system," I stated as I tossed the schematics at his feet.
"They were designed to drain the canals into the bay in case of floodin. But I did some thinkin, if you reverse the pumps-"
"They draw water in from the bay filling the canals. Until they submerge any part of Gotham situated below sea level."
"Just about all of downtown. Where the good shoppin is."
"Tens of thousands of lives could be lost."
"And I'll shed a crocodile tear for each and every one of them."
That made me angry, wondering how he could be so heartless. My first thought was what if Ella was at the wrong place at the wrong time? If Croc went through with his plan, she could end up one of those lives lost. I clenched my fist and Croc grinned.
I got into a fighting position and Croc slammed his tail into the water, two real crocodiles emerged from the water.
"And speaking of," Croc said. "My pets haven't had a decent bite since we arrived. Now if you'll pardon me, Batsnack, I've got some more pumps to reverse."
He disappeared into the water and the two crocs charged at me. I led them into a pipe opening and then used a grappling hook to jump over them. I threw an explosive batarang at the top of the opening and it exploded, caving down the opening and blocking the crocs from getting to me. I headed back into the water and to where I knew Killer Croc and his men would be reversing the pumps.
I jumped up from the water and shot a grappling hook at the wheel Croc was turning to reverse the pumps.
"You're peskier than a fly on a-"
I didn't let Croc finish as the grapple pulled me forward at a speed I was able to hit him hard and knock him into the water. His goons ran at me and I use a weighted rope to tie them together.
"Catch of the day," I quipped.
I rushed to the wheel and slowly moved it to neutralize the pumps. I couldn't finish before Croc charged at me and slammed me into the metal wall. He grabbed me and threw me back into the water. I heard him roar, but I ignored that and waited a moment. I finally came up from the water to find Croc reversing the pumps. He turned to me.
"You best give it up, Bat," Croc said. "By the time they figure out what caused the flood, downtown Gotham will be my personal swamp.
I ran towards Croc, jumping off of him and onto the wheel. Croc ran at me and I threw slime from the floor into his eyes. It bought me time to move the wheel enough to stop the reversing pumps for now. Before I could finish Croc, again, picked me up and threw me into the water. He charged at me and we started fighting in both the water and on the ground. I managed to nail a blow that bought me time to head for the wheel. He recovered and charged, and I moved so he bit down on one of the wheel handles. I jumped down on his head and the wheel spun to change the pumps to normal, taking in the flood waters.
Croc stood, holding his mouth, and I realized my his took out one of his teeth.
"Boy, you are beginning to stick in my craw!" Croc cried before charging at me.
Our fighting resumed, and it led us back into the water. Croc got me in a hold and took us both into the water, him swimming down as deep as he could. As I was struggling to break free, I remembered something...
"A dry little spot to catch my breath," Croc had said.
"Your, amphibious acquaintance?" Ella had asked.
That's it! Croc can't stay underwater forever either!
With that in mind, I stopped us by pupping my feet on a pipe, pushing off of it, and slamming Croc into another one. I put some distance between us before grabbing my breather from my belt. Croc started swimming for the surface and I grabbed onto his tail. I shot my grappling hook at a pipe and hung on tight. Croc clawed at the water, but I held him in place until he passed out from air loss. When I was satisfied he wasn't faking I pulled him onto the surface and dragged him to the dry land.
"Crocs may like water, but they're no fish," I muttered. "So, which one of you wants to give lizard lips mouth to mouth?" I asked Crocs goons. They looked to each other and didn't say anything. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
I placed my breather in Crocs mouth and it shot air into his lungs, Croc taking a deep breath before spitting it out and rolling onto his side, coughing. He passed out. I took the opportunity to take Croc and his men to where I had the other goon tied up in the city, chaining them to the base of a statue.
"This ain't over aqua-bat!" Croc cried. "Gotham is going to be my backyard bayou."
"I won't hold my breath," I said, grappling away before the police arrived. Croc roared.
Ella's P.O.V.
I was dusting one of the evidence display cases, humming to myself. I spotted Bruce approaching in the reflection of the glass.
"You missed a spot," he quipped, and I turned to find him grinning.
"And I just mopped that floor," I stated, Bruce's eyes widening when he looked down to find he was tracking water and mud. I laughed. "What did you bring me?"
"Evidence."
Bruce tossed something to me and I snatched it from the air to find it was a Croc tooth.
"I'll archive this right away. And you'll clean up your mess."
"Yes ma'am."
We both laughed and I went to put the tooth in a display case.
"Oh, so the relief for the flooding is going well," I said. "No casualties, but some injuries and a ton of water damage."
"Better than having casualties," Bruce said, sounding relieved. "I'm glad everyone's okay."
"Agreed. So, maybe if batwave doesn't interrupt for a while, we can spend some time together?"
Bruce's strong arms wrapped around me and I turned to look up at him.
"Did you have something in mind?" Bruce asked.
"Not really, I just want to be with you. Maybe we could watch a movie?"
"I'd love to, my princess. I'll make us some popcorn while you choose the movie."
"I'll be waiting, my darling."
This show was so elite, it's a shame they didn't make more seasons