It was another boring day in Angela Carriero's mansion. Her father was off doing god knows what with god knows who. She was curling her long dark hair in swift precision that created loose curls that framed her beautiful face. She had her mothers emerald green eyes. She heaved a sigh at the thought of her mother. Her mother was a beautiful woman who Angela admired, until one day when Angela was in middle school she disappeared, leaving only a note saying that she had found another man who will give her more. Ever since then her father, Vicente Carriero, has immersed himself in work or mob affairs. He owns a string of nightclubs in Gotham City and Angela rarely sees the man. Lots of times when he shows up back home he'll look rough; bags under his dull eyes from either drugs or lack of sleep (or both) and bruises all over himself-sometimes hell be bleeding from his nose or from a gash on his face. He's too involved with the wrong kinds of people and it constantly gets him into trouble.

She walked up the grand stairs to her bedroom once she was done curling her hair. She was excited that she would be attending Bruce's party. She practically lived with the man (and this house bored her to death). They had met when Angela was a small child and Bruce had been in his teens. They quickly became best friends and comforted each other in hard times of their life. Other than Alfred, Angela was one of the first to find out Bruce's identity of Batman. She would help him with the technicalities of the job- she locates wanted criminals, directs Bruce to them, gets him access into restricted areas, and sometimes even helps him with his cool bat gadgets. It wasn't until she was 16 and Bruce was 22 that they started to develop romantic feelings for each other (yea yea big age gap whatever-she's heard it all before) Now she's 19 and today is their 3 year anniversary. She has a feeling that this is the reason Bruce is throwing this party (though he tries to pretend its not) so she saved him the trouble of trying to get her to leave so he can properly set up the party with Alfred-otherwise she would never volunteer to come and stay here all day.

She couldn't help but feel giddy as she admired the dress she had picked out last week. She imagined what Bruce would think about it and smiled with her perfect teeth. It was a black dress with a slight sparkle in it that shone light beautifully off of it. It trailed down to the floor and was strapless with no back. The shade of pale black accented her tan skin perfectly and hugged onto her nice curves in all the right places. Once she had slipped it on, she put on her deadly high heels (though it was no struggle for her to walk perfectly in them). She looked at the time-five oclock. Bruce would be here to pick her up any minute now. She smiled as she took one last look at herself in the mirror on her wall.

As she walked downstairs she heard the TV that she had left on on the news channel and stopped at the sight of the picture on the screen-The made her sick. He had escaped Arkham last week and neither her nor Bruce had any clue where he was. Wherever he was though, he was laying low-which didn't make her feel comfortable. She felt a slight pang of guilt as she thought of how instead of looking for a psychotic killer she's going to a party at her boyfriend's mansion. There were too many things to take care of and do when your looking out for a whole city of people. It even felt weird to have time to herself. She was sure Bruce felt the same way. She didn't want to do what she's doing, but she's saved Bruce so many times from something going wrong that she can never stop helping him-she would go crazy with worry. She's had to show up somewhere wearing her own black mask and her tight black suit (for stealth reasons) to save Bruce. She remembered the night as if it just happened yesterday. She was 17, it was about two weeks away from her 18th birthday. They were hunting a big name criminal named the Riddler who had just killed four innocent people. Bruce (as Batman) had gone out once Angela had found matches on him in an old rundown apartment complex. Little did they know that it was a setup from the start. As Bruce and the Riddler started fighting a unknown man had appeared wearing a rough brown sack over his head.

-flashback-

I sat watching the screen in the Batcave with intense focus. Worry was building up as I sensed something wrong. Through Bruces camera in his mask I could see everything that was going on. I was worried tonight because it wasn't the usual Gotham thugs we had targeted to take down- it was the Riddler. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't find out this guys real identity and it frustrated me so bad. I could figure any problem out in twice the time it takes for the average person to. I had the highest grades in my school, even the district. My knowledge was outstanding so not being able to pin this guys identity made me paranoid. It showed that he was one step ahead of me. I noticed a figure step out from the corner once Bruce was distracted. It was a man with a burlap sack over his face and an expensive looking suit on. Before Bruce could react I heard a hissing sound and the camera on the mask had gone foggy.

"Bruce!?" I called into my headset as I heard Bruce yell. He was freaking out. I didn't have time to process what I was doing before my worry and adrenaline kicked in and I was running out of the Batcave, hopping onto one of Bruce's motorcycles. The apartment complex was nearby so it didn't take long for me to get there. I busted through the doors without even thinking (I realize now that a stunt like that could've gotten me killed on the spot). But as soon as I was in, I was suddenly stopped with a hard punch to the gut. I yelped in pain as it felt like my insides had been pushed to my throat. I coughed and gagged for a second before I heard a voice and looked up. "I knew someone would be on the way. I saw the small camera which was imbedded into the Bats mask and figured someone on the other end would come rushing in like that." It was the riddler. He was skinny but had muscle tone, even beneath his green jacket. His green eyes were livid behind his mask and his auburn hair was topped off with a purple bowling hat. "And who might you be beautifull?" He asked as he gleamed a white smile down at me.

I gave him a glare. "Where is he bastard?" I spat. He chuckled lightly.

"Fiery. Though you don't seem very intelligent considering your plan here." He gestured to me on the ground. "Let's see…" He said racking his brain as he thought for a moment. "We'll go with something easy-very kindergarden shall I say since you look young." He smiled cynically as he placed a purple and green cane next to my neck and a blade shot out. I gasped as the cold blade touched my skin. "Answer correctly and ill let you live, get it?" He smiled. He stared down at me as if waiting for a response and I meekly shook my head, trying my hardest not to look weak.

"Riddle me this: What's a seven letter word in which you take out four and are left with one?"

I thought for a moment and it didn't take long for me to catch on. "Someone." I said confidently. His smile faltered, though he stayed still. "Fine." He sighed after a moment, almost upset at the fact that I got it right as if he expected otherwise. "A deals a deal." He removed the cane and backed up a step as I slowly stood. He was staring me up and down, making me feel very uncomfortable.

"Now you can answer my question." I stated. His lip twitched upwards, almost a smile. "yes, the bat." He popped the t at the end. "Well, you see, he cant come out and play right now he actua-" we were interrupted by the sound of a yell-Bruces yell. I gasped in fear of what was happening to him and went to run by the riddler, only for him to grab me and wrap his arms around my torso. His strong arms gripped tightly as I struggled, but he was too strong for me and he waited until I stopped. "What are you doing to him!" I yelled almost in tears. I had never heard Bruce yell like that.

"Well, you see." Said a voice. A figure appeared from the dark hall- It was the man with the burlap mask. "We needed him. For an experiment." The man stopped in front of me. All I could see was his cold blue eyes staring into mine. His voice demeanor had changed. "I love that look in your eyes. Pure fear" He said as he leaned in closer to touch my face. I struggled to move away but Riddler still had a death grip around me, pinning my arms to my sides. The man in the mask reached over and brushed my hair, looking into my eyes but making no attempt to remove my mask. "Show me more of it, will you?" He said. The next thing I knew I had a gas sprayed into my face. The grip that the riddler had around me loosened but I stayed in place, fear striking into my core. "They call me Scarecrow. I'm new to Gotham. And what you and your friend have been a part of will be great points to use in my research of a fear toxin I have created." His mask warped into a big smile with a thousand razor sharp teeth, blood dripping out of the eye sockets.