Arkham High {Slow Updates}

Feeding Frenzy

Jonathans pov

"Disgusting." I mutter as enter the sewer beneath the school. "I better not be wasting my time down here." I walk along side a river of waste as I'm brought to an open area made into a home. A rather twisted home to add to that. It wreaked, not only from the smell of the sewer itself but from the corpses spread across the ground. The 'cozey' living space consisted of the basic necessities if not a little more disheveled. The couch was torn in several places due to claw marks and the dining room table in the center of the living space had a broken leg, making it lean. The only thing that didn't look broken was a tiny doll laying on the couch.

"What are you doing here?" I hear a small voice ask from behind. I turn to see the origin but no one was there.

"Down here genius!" She hisses. I lowered my gaze to see Mary Dahl looking up at me with a skeptical face and hands on her hips. It was disturbing how much she resembled a child but was in fact a senior at our school. Her dress was covered in blood and a little had stained her face as well.

"Mary, where's your boyfriend?" I ask.

"My name is Baby Doll and why should I tell you? My precious is busy." Dahl strolled over to the busted fridge in the kitchen and pulled out a uncooked chicken. "Baby, has to make lunch for precious too." She carefully pulled up a stool and stood on it to reach the counter.

"This is important, I can't play games with you right now." I told her while she began carving into the meat with a sharp kitchen knife.

She hummed a unsettling happy tune then turned to me with a disturbed smile. "I'm not playing any games. I just want to make my precious crocky happy! And I don't know if he'd be in the mood for company." Dahl pouted. "But you can wait here. Maybe precious would like you as a side dish." she giggled, before returning to her carving. I decided not to respond but I did plan to wait. Asking Dahl for the money would be pointless unless I got Croc's permission. Rather than sit on the couch I took up a chair from the dining room table and waited. It became chillingly silent aside from the running water of the sewer and Dahl's carving of the bird. Every now and then she'd brake one of the bones and set them aside on a separate plate and she would make sure that the bits were small. Croc's choice of diet had continuously deteriorated as the school year went on until he became a full on cannibal. It was inevitable for someone like him. The continuous bullying, the fear that had been directed towards him, made him feel like a monster, it only made sense for him to take up the roll to feel as if he had purpose.

I sit up once I hear a disturbance in the water. Coming down the corridor was croc with a body swung over his shoulder. His eyes locked onto me and he stilled like an animal in defense of a predator. I took pleasure in that, to be feared was an intoxicating feeling, true power. A devilish smirk played on my lips as I stood, "Hello, Waylon."

"Precious! You're home!" Mary beamed as she skipped over to her boyfriend and hugged his leg. He didn't pay her any mind.

A deep growl escaped his throat, "That's not my name. It's Croc. What the fuck do you want? Shouldn't you be in Gotham city doing shit or whatever?"

"Baby told him to go away but he wanted to wait for you." The small girl explained.

"Is that so?" He tilted his head.

Stepping forward I present my situation, "I'm postponing my travels until I can figure out where my target is and where I can find a good place to lay low. In order to find that out, I need some cash."

"Cash? What makes you think we have any?"

"All the bodies of staff and other weaklings are disposed of down here, many of the students here aren't competent enough to think of looting them. But the two of you plan on building a life down here of sorts, that takes time and money, it only makes sense for you to store away whatever you can find for future use."

Mary giggled, "He's a smart cookie isn't he Crocky?"

"Yeah, guess so. You planning on being the next Sherlock Holmes or something?" I shrug in response. The people in this school were predictable it wasn't my fault I was one of the few to notice. "But even if we have money, why should I give any to you? What's it for?"

"I need it in exchange for information as to where Roman Sionis has fled to."

"Roman set up a sweet deal here for me and doll, you asking me to be a traitor or something?"

"The only person you'd be betraying is yourself. I'm doing this because he treated me like garbage that can be dismissed when in fact none of this would be remotely possible if not for my toxin. I plan on making him grovel at my feet as his nightmares overcome him. By going against me on this you're allowing all the times he's treated you like the monster to go unchecked. Fighting isn't my intentions here," I pull out a vile of my chemical and hover it over the ground, threatening to drop it, "but I won't let anyone stand in my way from making that virmin beg for mercy."

Mary takes a step back but Croc moves in closer, I stand on defense and he slows down in his approach. "Deal." He states, moving past me to the couch to set down the body. And to my surprise it moved and grumbled to itself as it coiled into the fetal position. "Doll, get him the dough. How much you need?"

"Knowing Nygma, I'd say 50- 100." I walked over to the body on the couch.

"Careful." He says. I give him a curious look in response. "She ain't exactly a girl to be messed with."

Now I was definitely interested, I gently turn her over and reveal Harleen Quinnzel. I still remember when I first met her on the bus heading to school, I was a much different person back then. My brow furrowed when I saw the cuts on the corners of her mouth, they were going to get infected for sure without a proper treatment. I guess everyone, including myself, had a soft spot for her. She had to do a lot of adjusting to this place and more for her disturbed boyfriend but somehow she was still a pretty gentle soul. "What happened?"

"To her face? No fucking clue. I found her beneath one of the shoots that lead down here, she got a little beat up. Wouldn't be surprised if she had a few busted bones."

"I'll take her off your hands. Consider it a favor for a favor. Besides if she's hurt this bad, she'll need medical attention."

"Sure whatever, wasn't planning on eating the Freaks girlfriend anyways."

Mary walked over to me with a stack of money and set it in my hands. I placed it in my pocket and moved to pick up Harley. "Thank you, Croc."