The old building was a reoccurring hideout of his, and it tended to carry noise, which was a good or bad thing depending on the circumstances.
Now, however, it was fortunate, because he could hear the creaking footsteps of an intruder downstairs.
Jonathan Crane lowered the vial in his hand, slowly rising from his seat as he listened carefully. Whoever it was, they were about to discover that they had made a grave mistake.
They had made it to the stairs now, creaking under their feet. They were light-footed, he would give them that. But it was hard to catch the Scarecrow by surprise.
Stepping out into the hallway with no sound whatsoever, a skill he had picked up over the years, Crane held the capsule of toxin tightly in his palm. He moved in the direction of the source of the footsteps, silently waiting for the intruder to show themselves.
No one but the Batman had ever found where he was hiding before. So who had been able to find him in all of Gotham City, in the exact hideout he was currently using? It couldn't have been Nygma; he would have heard his voice jabbering on the moment the green-clad narcissist opened the door. And while Tetch didn't have a talent for over sharing, he too would have announced his presence cheerfully upon entering.
In fact, any he could suspect would have either announced their presence verbally or by crashing through a wall. And it couldn't have been the Batman himself, because he still had all of his bones intact at this point.
The intruder was reaching the top of the stairs now, and Crane slowed his footsteps even further. He waited, pressed against the wall, like a snake poised to strike. The moment they showed their face…
The footsteps stopped abruptly, and Crane halted his breath. Perhaps they had seen him. He backed away, still following the wall, until he was able to duck back through a doorway. He waited, and soon enough the intruder resumed their stealthy stride. Finally to the top of the stairs, and then through the hallway, directly towards where he was hidden.
A smirk twisted Dr Crane's lips. Just a little closer…
As soon as they were close enough Crane darted out, and as he went to throw the capsule his wrist was captured in an almost bone-crushing grip. Crane grimaced, and when he saw who the grip belonged to he physically faltered. The beak of the black-coloured plague mask, combined with the draping sleeves of the dark robe gave the intruder the appearance of a giant crow.
"What do you think you're-" Crane cut off his sentence with a hiss as the Crow's grip tightened on his wrist, to the point where the capsule of fear toxin involuntarily slipped from his hand. The Crow snatched it out of the air with its free hand, blank eyes of its mask still staring at Crane. He gritted his teeth before sneering at the intruder in black.
"If you think that you can do this-" Again he wasn't allowed to finish, the Crow shoving him back roughly. He fell gracelessly to the floor, clutching his wrist. Crane snarled at the Crow, and the capsule was slammed mercilessly against his face. Crane cursed himself for using the more potent toxin, but that was quickly replaced by panic as the chemical flooded his system. His eyes widened as the Crow became just that, an inhuman monster of black feathers and a sharp beak, with eyes blazing like fire. More crows joined it, the ones from the chapel that had picked and clawed at him as a youth. There was a loud squawk before they were suddenly upon him, piercing his skin with their beaks.
He shouted and called for help, trying to crawl away from the monsters, before they parted and all he could see was the Crow before it came for him with flesh-tearing talons.