Corpses and crocodiles (Faith, Open)

[Killer Croc]

"When i find the asshole who said; "One man's trash, another man's treasure" i'm gonna rip his guts out...[/i] grumbled the giant as he threw an old fridge door over his shoulder, which landed with a loud BANG as it hit the 'Metals' container. He had been at it all day. Some days, the junkyard was a forbidden cave of long lost treasures. Today, it was junk. Junk with junk on top. He let out a heavy sigh as he rose up, standing his full 11 feet straight up. Killer Croc looked around, sniffing the air, absentminded. Atleast it wasen't too bad. The weather was pretty neat. Although sorta cloudy, the skies always brought a comfortable humid breeze with them.

With yet another sigh, he turned his attention to the next heap of trash to his left. This one looked promising atleast. There was even little glittering dots in it. He started digging in, throwing random trash around him. Broken lamps, wrecked televisions, destroyed microwaves and occasionally a radio or two.

'Sometimes it would be nice with normal clothes. Real clothes. Not some ragtag shit stitched together with scraps of leather and polyester. Real, nice pants' he thought to himself, grunting at the piece of brown cloth in his hand, throwing it away casually.

[Faith Challenger]

Tonight was a good night! She could feel it; there was just this feeling of a good story waiting just around the next corner. It made it tingle inside of her, and a little self-satisfied smile crossed her lips. She didn’t know what the story would be, but she just knew that this was a good night. Well she did have a lot of good night.

Her feet just led her around the city, and ended up outside the fence to the junkyard. Loud noises of things being thrown around made her stop in her track. Her curiosity demanded an explanation for what was going on, so before she knew it she was on her way of the fence. In one elegant move she was over and landed on the ground silently. She started fumbling with her camera and finally got it ready and on. Slowly she snuck around the place to find the reason behind the noise. Surely no one was supposed to be here besides a guard perhaps.

The noises got louder and before she knew it she nearly had a television thrown at her, which she barely dodged by hiding behind a car in a pile of junk. She up between the broken windows, seeing the back of a giant thing, it was at least 10 feet tall. It made Faiths 5’ 4’’ seem like a dwarf.
“Jackpot!” she whispered under her breath and slowly raised her camera. A small click and the evidence was caught.

[Killer Croc]

It's amazing the amounts of crap people just throw out. Croc sat huddled over an old jukebox, and couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic as he held it in his hands. It sure brought forth old memories long forgotten. The days spent in that bar, while auntie was punishing her liver. Oswald, that old barkeep. One of the few descent men left on the earth.

He was just about to abandon the old machine, when a scent reached his sensitive nostrils. His muscles tensed, and the train of thoughts was soon forgotten. Lemons, strawberries, and some kind of... Hmm.. Antiperspirant. There was no mistake. Perfume out here? No, this wasen't natural. Something, someone, was nearby. Probably spying on him.

He could feel his blood pumbing faster. Enemies? Yeah, of course. There were no friends in this town. His grip on the jukebox grew firmer, as he slowly stood up again. Then, much faster than one would expect from someone his size, he spun around. Holding the old musicbox over his head, ready to launch it at whoever dared come out. He bellowed loudly, saliva flying everywhere; "Show yourself!"[/color]

[Faith Challenger]

“Sheisse!” she mumbles to herself when the giant creature seemed to have noticed her presence. She hid behind the car, hopefully so he couldn’t see her. She wasn’t really into getting her ass killed tonight. Preferably she could stay alive… Aaand get a good story. This was way to perfect to run away from. A giant creature with the ability to talk living here in Gotham… People had to know! At least she had to have something for a story and… A picture!

Slowly she raised herself to the height where she could take a picture. A giant crocodile! What the hell? Oh man this was perfect! She had to get a better picture!

She back away from the car, scouting for a better place to take a picture from. The feeling of adrenalin starting to run in her blood, and it was simple great! This was already a good evening and with this story it was going to be great! Perhaps the adrenalin was the reason why she started to crawl up some of the junk as silently as possible, still hiding behind random stuff as she got higher up. It was probably the worst idea someone could get, since the escape possibilities wasn’t as great in the mountains of trash than on the ground. But well if it didn’t find her she didn’t have to worry.

[Killer Croc]

'So that's what it's gonna be. Hide and seek, eh' he thought to himself, seeing that whoever was hiding from him, prefered to stay that way. That's fine. The thrill of the hunt is by far the best part.

Croc began to move ever so slowly torwards the great heaps of trash scattered before him. He didn't really mind his steps, now and then stomping a glass bottle to pieces. Scaly hide does come in handy now and then... The jukebox was now hanging by his right side, slowly dragging across the ground with an omnious rustle. Making sure there was no unexpected surprices, his gaze wandered around the junkyard, nose trying to divide stench from scent, and even his hearing worked at overtime. It's almost ecstatic. Knowing not wether your opponent is armed with a shotgun or a baseball bat, you'd have to be prepared for everything. Watch every entrance and exit.

He'd have to collect as much data as possible... If he got over excited (which sadly happened alot) he'd totally loose his grip of the surroundings. "Come on out. I know you're here, and the crocodile is hungry. Tick tock. Tick tock" he yelled, approaching the piles slowly but steady.

[Faith Challenger]

She leaned out a little, trying to locate the giant thing hunting her. She knew it was close by the sounds of its steps, actually close enough if she leaned a little closer.

Taking the risk she leaned forward trying to find a good food hold on some trash. The camera was found and she waited for the perfect moment, not knowing that the more she waited the ground was giving in. *Click* the scene was caught! The same second the ground under her slipped and she started sliding down, hitting several things that hurt like shit. Painfully the ground met her in the fall. With probably pure luck she had managed to turn so she landed on her arm, before she rolled over on the ground to protect the camera.
“Bloody hell!” she growled lying on the ground with her face twisted in pain. But she wasn’t about to keep lying as she got up, and started running as fast as her small legs could carry her, which was a faster than most people.

Amelia hadn’t noticed that she had left a nice little gift of her very own sent were she had landed. In the fall something had left a wound on her arm crossing over her back, bleeding enough to leave blood drops on the ground. It was probably the adrenalin, and she wouldn’t notice it until the adrenalin went off, and that would probably take some time.

[Killer Croc]

'A man... No. Never met a man that smelled of strawberries.'

He had let go of the jukebox. The thing was only slowing him down anyways. With heavy steps he turned around a corner, quickly eyeing his surroundings. Whatever it was he was looking for, it was either very small or exceptionally good at hiding. Probably a mix in between. Slowly he turned around, and then he heard it. -Click-. It took his brain a few seconds to figure out exactly what had just happened. He brazed himself, prepared to take a bullet to the face or something along the lines of that. But the only thing that happened, was the sound of sliding junk and... curse words?

Reptile brain: No pain. Not a gun. No flash. Not an explosion. What else goes click...

And then he realized it. Something far worse than weapons. A camera. His eyes flew wide ajar, and he roared by his lunges full capacity, crashing through the pile of junk to his left where the sound had come from, sending debris flying in every direction. No one must know! This was his spot! His alone! He came to a halt, if only for a few moments, and spotted a small figure fleeing the scene. He was almost blind with rage as he sped after her. Her smell was everywhere. Slowly he could feel the predator taking over. "I've got your scent, bitch" he growled under his breath.

[Faith Challenger]

The roar sounded through the whole junkyard, and at that moment she knew that the thing had noticed her. But she wasn’t about to look around, that would just slow her down. So she just kept running as fast as she could, pretty sure that she had pissed off the giant, and it didn’t seem to be able to forgive her.

She was up and over the fence again, running across the streets, looking for a good rute to get away. She wasn’t sure if it was possible to run away from the damn thing. Well some small place would probably help, since it wouldn’t be able to follow, but it had to be something it couldn’t trash. What could it be, most buildings would probably be like paper walls to that thing. Hey wait… the sewers! If it was possible to find a man-hole which was open It probably couldn’t follow, but did she know any open man-holes in the area? The ally’s would be a good place to look!

In a split second she managed to turn into an ally and kept running desperately trying to find something that was open or at least easy to open.

[Killer Croc]

It's a good thing this part of town is almost abandoned. During the evening hours, there wasen't a soul on the street. Good. Then no one would get in the way, and no one would call the cops when they heard the ruckus. He saw the little witch leap over the fence like a grasshopper. Croc curled up slightly, and went through the fence, scattering it for several yards away. It might aswell have been made from sticks and twigs. He had a clear advantage here. While she was faster than him, she had to go over or about every obstacle. He'd simply go through. Within long, he'd have her by the neck!

Sprinting down the street, he made a sharp turn (almost crashing into an old news stand), trying to follow the little figure into an alley. If he could just get a straight line... The alley was almost too small to hold his size, slowing him down noticable. In frustration he bashed a couple of trashcans, sending them flying in her direction, though still trying to keep up momentum. The sound of his fists hitting the metal cylinders echoes through the alley and the empty streets.

[Faith Challenger]

Out of the blue a trashcan squeezed in between her legs and fell over. It was quiet painful being tackled by a metal bucket flying at high speed, and her head had knocked into ground. She stayed down for some seconds before she kicked the bucket of her, realizing that the damn thing was way to close know. She was up and running again, and ran out of the ally and continued over the street almost getting hit by the thing. But in an elegant move she managed to jump over the car while it still was a high speed. The guy in the car slammed the break and turned the wheel. It spun around and then managed to stop. She was already gone into the next ally before the guy could see what he thought he hit.

She stopped for a second trying to open a man-hole in the ally but it didn’t move one inch. Apparently it had been closed since last she had been here, so once again she was on the run. This would for most people not be worth the picture, but for her this was the best kind of story! The one in which she could get one good adrenalin kick, and this was a really good kick.

[Killer Croc]

Killer Croc had some trouble getting out of the alley, having to jump over a pair of containers blocking the way. Would have taken too long to knock them over. Luckily, the trashcan had bought him a few meters, and if he could get just one good hit, she'd be out cold.

Enter Max Damford. Your everyday accountance manager, driving home late at night after having bested a tower of paperwork. He had almost fallen asleep behind the wheel, the espresso slowly wearing off, when Faith jumped over his vehicle. Panicking, he forced the car to a halt, staring off in the direction the girl ran."Jesus christ, what was that?!" Quickly, he turned his head 180 degrees, exactly in time to see the hulking monster ramming his car.

The old Ford span through the air, doing awkward car acrobatics, before smashing against the pavement. Croc kept running, his eyes fixed on the girl. Then she stopped, fumbled with something on the ground, and began running again. Normally, he would have thought the behavior strange. But right now, he was driven nearly mad by the scent of her perfume getting closer and closer. Oh, he was in for a feast tonight!

[Faith Challenger]

Damn! She could have gotten the perfect picture of that thing ramming into the car! What a story! If only she had turned around, but now the story was gone, if she wanted to stay alive, and that thing was right behind her. It hurt deep in her soul knowing that she couldn’t get that picture.

She kept running turning into another ally, one that was quiet small, hoping that she could buy some time. She then used the walls to push herself up the building, until she got to the roof. From there on she jumped onto the next roof, and continued that way, staying close to the edge so she could scout. It couldn’t be real that there was no real place to escape, unless she has shaken him of by crawling onto the roofs? She stopped looking behind her catching her breath, being ready to run once again. She didn’t feel like she had thrown that damn thing off. She started walking backwards slowly, keeping her body ready just jump into movement, holding onto the camera, ready to snap another picture. That would actually be great!

[Killer Croc]

He was getting tired of chasing that little punk. She was always just a few meters in front of him, no matter what he did. And whenever he got within arms reach, she'd make a turn that was impossible for him to make. In a way, it was kind of thrilling. He hadn't had a good challenge in a while.

When she disappeared into the small alley, he could do nothing but curse loudly, as he saw her scaling the walls. There was simply not enough space for him. Hastily, he looked around for another route, and within moments, he had found it. An old fire emergency stairway crept it's way down one of the nearby walls. Croc wasen't too sure about if it could support his weight, but it was worth a shot. With a great jump, he got a good hold of the old metal, and started climbing.

As he reached the top and jumped off the stairs, the old fire exit came crashing down in the alley below. If every neighbor within a mile haven't heard them yet, they sure as hell had now. It didn't take many seconds for him to spot the lonely shadow on the rooftop next to him. It was a few feet lower than him, but quite a distance away. He crouched, made a few deep breaths, and ran. Sprinted the fastest he could towards the edge, and jumped. Flying through the air torwards the girl with his claws ready, and a mouth full of horrible teeth, taken straight from somebody's worst nightmare.

[Faith Challenger]

It was silent… She just stood there on the roof. No one seemed to follow her. It was great with a pause in which she could catch her breath. Despite being in great form that little sprint had really killed some energy. With a loud crash she realized that she wouldn’t be able to stand still too long. She looked around to see where the thing would come from. Suddenly it leaped into the air, seemingly hanging in slow motion, as she raised her camera, getting the flash on and grapping the first picture or two. She just let her legs fall under her as the thing flew over her, still holding the button for the camera down, hoping to whatever higher powers that might exist that it wouldn’t catch her.

She should have ran, but the journalist had taken over. All she could see now was that thing getting closer, her flash casting light over it, making it seem larger than before. More frightening than before, probably because every detail was displayed right before her eyes, and her eyes failed nothing. That thing was huge, scaly, that mouth was huge and filled with razor sharp teeth!

[Killer Croc]

"Gotcha" he roared as he flew torwards her. Oh, he could already taste her. Slowly snapping each of her limps, savoring every bite... And that was his big mistake. He got distracted, relaxing before the hunt was over. Second mistake, which actually was the first, was miscalculating the jump. It wasen't nearly as far as he had made it out to be. He saw the journalist come closer and closer. He saw that woman, barely looking much older than a teenage girl, and then... He saw stars and dancing lights. In a great tumoil of colors and shapes, he could feel his face hitting something hard. Then, he was flying again, in what seemed like ages to him. Or, maybe more like dropping. His vision returned to him, just in time to let him see the pavement greeting him with open arms. Darkness.

As the blitz caught him right in the face, he flew right over her, hitting the edge of the building with a lovely cracking sound. Flipping through the air, he disappeared out of her view, soon followed by the unmistakeable sound of half a ton of muscle and scales hitting the asphalt. Having dropped atleast 5 stories, he wouldn't be able to get up right away... He just laid there on the ground (in a neat little hole) groaning slightly.

Next time, stay on the ground...