The New Batman Adventures 'Fan Fiction Love Story'

By Tayla Drago

Episode # 94 – Never Fear

A man swings gleefully through Gotham's skyscrapers. Onlookers initially mistake him for Batman, at least until he smacks into a bank of lights. The real thing quickly spots him, with Megan, and with Robin close behind.

"An odd weirdo swinging for his life. That's something you don't see every day."

Good point there, Megan, still...she, Batman, and Robin can't let him do this a lot or he'll get hurt. Or worse, killed.

"What's his story?" asked Robin.

"Let's find out." said Batman.

They follow him until the man's wild antics destroy part of a huge ad and leave him dangling over a ledge.

"Batman! Robin! Trouble down below!" Megan tells the boys.

They manage to stop the ad's debris and its live wires from crushing or electrocuting anyone below. As Batman tries to reason with the man, but he simply won't listen, claiming he no longer has any sense of fear.

"Now, there's a window a few feet from here and if you just follow me..."

But the man laughs instead of listening to Batman.

"Window?" he thinks it was a joke. "I'm not going in. This going to be the best night of my life."

Megan arrives to overhear this mess.

"What's your problem, dude? You could've gotten yourself killed! Or...the others down there!" she said. "Batman!"

"She right you know. It could've also be the last." he said.

"Oh, come on! There's nothing to be afraid of. Fear's a prison, y'see, and I've just broken out!" He dances joyfully "Tag." He pushes Batman to start falling and himself.

"Batman!" Megan panics.

After this, he tackles Batman, throwing both off the building. Batman uses a grappling gun to have himself and then snag the daredevil in midair.

"Relax, Megan, I'm fine. Also, I caught him."

Nicely done, Batman. One man saved for the others to be grateful about, even for Megan. As the crowd cheers, a man in a white suit, not looking so satisfied, leaves.

"Please don't scare me like that again..." she sees a strange man who knew about the mess that happened. "(Huh? That man looked like he knew about this mess. Really now...?)"

He then confers in an auditorium with a shadowy figure, who berates him for not keeping a watch on the lunatic, who turns out to be a test subject. He feels, acts, and looks sort of familiar...Hmm...As Bruce Wayne enters his office the next day, his secretary informs him that an employee has been calling all day, and that Tim is waiting in his office. Megan sees him first.

"Hi, Megan, is Bruce around?"

"What are you doing here, Tim?" she asks him.

Even Bruce himself wonders.

"Playing hookie?"

"It's summer vacation! How'd you forget that?" he said as Bruce glares at him. "Never mind, I forgot who I was talking to."

Then Bruce comes in to see Tim fooling around.

"You're lucky that is Summer break for you."

"Anyways, what happen to the man the other night?" Tim asks him.

Tim asks about the man they saved the day before, and is surprised to hear from Bruce that the man was in fact acrophobia – IE., afraid of heights. Megan heard about this type of fear.

"Yeah, that's what Dick had a while back...sounded familiar almost from the Scarecrow event." she said. "And yet, why does this remind me of it...only different?"

Just then, the employee mentioned, Seymour Grey, forces his way into the office and demands that Wayne listen to him; he says he has great ideas for the company, but has always been afraid until now to voice them.

"So that's it! Done! I'm out! No more! I quit!" he said to rushing out of the room. "And one more thing..."

To demonstrate his complete lack of fear of anything now, he also quits his job and plants a kiss on Wayne's astonished secretary.

"Mr. Grey!"

"Hey, pal!" Megan restrains the man to let the cops handle the rest. "Perverted! It's one thing to leave the place, but kissing someone like that...unforgivable! Get him out of here!"

Security arrives and carts him away, and Bruce notices Grey's wallet on the floor. Opening it, he finds a business card with the words: 'Never Fear'.

"Look at this." Bruce shows it to Tim and Megan.

"Never Fear...?"

Megan tries to tell Bruce something quietly on what to do later on tonight.

"You know what this means, right, Bruce? See what you can find out at this place while I investigate around the building." she said.

"I can do that, Megan, you just be careful."

"You know me. And Tim, be ready as Robin for later if we need you." Megan tells him that as well.

Later that night, Bruce disguises himself and goes to the address on the card and joins what is apparently a self-help seminar led by the Guru, who claims that he can help people get rid of their fears. Bruce sneaks away from the meeting and finds a secluded office for Megan to sneak in to let him inside.

"Where is it?" he asked.

Megan uses her x-ray contacts to find something.

"In here."

Opening one of the drawers with a lock pick, he finds a large amount of gas canisters. While he's examining one, a shadow from behind hits him with a heavy wooden stick and knocks him unconscious. The shadowy figure turns out to be the Scarecrow. For Megan to hide in time for Bruce wanted her too as she followed the strange man.

"He knows too much." he said.

And to Megan surprise it was Scarecrow again, in a brand new look of his is creepier than ever.

"(Ah! Bruce...! Oh, man...!)" Megan sees the man behind the mess. "(Scarecrow's back in a brand new look!)"

Bruce awakens in a zoo, where the only exit is next to the crocodiles' cage. From a high hill, the Scarecrow confronts him. Bruce plays dumb, pretending to be a petty thief who was simply snooping around for loose cash. Scarecrow shoots him with a gas gun and then dares him to approach the crocodile cage. With Megan sucking up the air of gas to learn about it from her computer book; Bruce crosses over the cage without fear, and is tackled by the beasts. As Bruce goes under, a red stain dots the water, and the Scarecrow leaves, satisfied.

"Welcome to the food chain."

Suddenly, Bruce reemerges from the water, and as one crocodile's body floats up, he walks away looking unharmed. Dude, he just killed those on his own with their blood in the waters. Holy crap! Even Megan was surprised to whack some sense to the rest to push aside to save them and Bruce to walk out of there unharmed, no cuts, bites, ripped up clothes...nothing.

"Bruce? Are you okay? You had me worried. That was no doubt the Scarecrow. Freaky costume of his..." Megan sees that the gas affected Bruce all right. "This is bad since the gas got to you...killing those crocodiles with your bare hands."

Just then, Bruce removes Megan's hand away from him to say these things.

"I'm fine, Megan. Let's go." he said.

For Megan to have a very bad feeling about Bruce's behaviors, she doesn't like her boyfriend to act this way. Not one bit.

"(Don't tell me that like those two men, they act brave and heartless...I think this gas can take people's fears away instead of giving it to them. Not good!)"

At Wayne Manor, Tim and Alfred are discussing Bruce's absence, when suddenly he enters in a furious mood, abruptly tells Tim to suit up, and they fly out together in the Batwing.

"Oh, Master Bruce-!" Alfred sees Megan to know that something was wrong. "Are you two feeling well?"

"Tim, get suited and get on the Batwing right now." said the fearless Bruce. "Megan, follow us in the car."

Megan tells Tim to watch out for Bruce.

"Tim, do as he says. Get dress as Robin and get into the plane, I'll be in the car." she said. "Do it!"

"Okay! I'm going!"

Batman tells Robin that the Scarecrow has now invented a gas that has the opposite effect of his trademark fear toxin: this one removes a person's fears, leaving them unable to discern right from wrong, and turning them into reckless, nearly mindless and suicidal daredevils, spreading chaos throughout the city. Megan sees that happening to try to do something.

"Oh, no...!" she contacts the Batwing. "Hey! Bruce! Tim! Watch where you're flying that thing! Slow down!"

As he pilots the Batwing through several hair-raising turns and a near-miss with a plane, a somewhat nervous Robin pulls himself back into an upright position and asks him whether he's breathed the gas.

"This gas that takes away your fears...by any chance did you breathe it?"

Batman answers in the affirmative, but insists he can handle it.

"Yes. But I can handle it." he answers back.

Robin, still plastered against his seat as Batman exhibits more aerodynamic stunt work, is not totally convinced.

"Sorry, Megan, but it looks like Bruce is having some trouble with the fearless thing he's in." said Robin.

"So I notice. Be careful. I'll meet you two at Scarecrow's lair." she said back. "Bruce, I'm tagging along whether you're brave or not. (Or too fearless at that matter, I don't like this Bruce Wayne/Batman at all)"

You said it, Megan. When they reach Scarecrow's lair, the canisters are gone, and the Guru intercepts them accompanied by a bunch of armed goons.

"Here today, gone tonight." said Guru. "I wouldn't move if I were you three."

"Crap! Trouble..." Megan her gun out. "Freeze, losers-!" but Batman steps in front of her. "Batman?"

Batman, with his new fearless attitude, chooses to dodge bullets during his charge instead of initially disarming the thugs.

"Batman!" Robin panics.

Fearing for Batman's life amid the fire, Robin disarms several of the goons with his Batarang and Megan too by using her yoyo's, allowing Batman to safely take them all down. Batman confronts the Guru, who refuses to talk, apparently unmoved by the prospect of jail time.

"Where's the gas?" Batman questions Guru.

Like he'll answer back.

"Go ahead. Throw me in jail." he said. "It won't do you any good."

But then Batman smiled, but not in a good way...

"Who said anything about jail?"

Batman resorts to a brutal tactic: dangling him from the building's roof, then slowly cutting through the rope.

"Batman!" Robin tries talking to his boss.

"Quiet."

Megan walks up to her boyfriend to try getting the real Batman back.

"Hey! Listen to Robin or to me, Batman!" she said. "You can't do this! Come back to us."

Batman just kisses Megan to be liking it way too much for her pull away to get some air.

"This is who I am, Megan, I never felt more alive...Get use to it." he said to get back with Guru next. "You didn't answer my question."

He was really going to cut the rope.

"I -I can't! He'll kill me."

"Death is death. Does it matter who administers it?"

This makes both Robin and Megan worry about Batman even more.

"He's not really going to kill him, is he?"

"I...don't know..." Megan sees blood on her lips for Batman to bite down while kissing her. "Ah, sick man! Bad way to kiss me so rough-like!"

The Guru fearfully talks and reveals that Scarecrow is planning to release a massive amount of gas into the subway system, but Batman turns away without pulling him up. Robin and Megan both jumped in and catch the rope just as it breaks, managing to save the screaming Guru who passes out.

"Mommy..."

Well, they did save him in time. As Robin pulls Guru back up to get arrested, Megan was mad to do something about Batman right away, because that's not the super hero that we all know and love...I hate the fearless Batman.

"Alright...that's it!" she runs off.

Robin goes after them.

"Megan! Wait up!" he said.

As Batman prepares to hop into the Batwing, only for Megan to come up from behind with her gun pointed at her boyfriend.

"Megan, what are you doing?"

"Bruce, you need to stop. You cannot do this right now due to the gas." she said to keep her target sighted. "I looked up the fearless gas that Scarecrow made...It's a powerful drug mix with crack to be in your entire bloodstream, to take away your fears that you're afraid to do, for you're afraid to do things to have others get hurt, doing some daredevil moves, breaking the law, and killing animals! I'll stop Scarecrow, but I demand for you, Bruce, to stand down. Otherwise..." she fires on the ground next to Batman. "I will have no choice bu to shoot you."

Batman turns around to walk up to Megan to try to be brave in front of the fearless Dark Knight.

"You wouldn't dare...!"

"Watch me-!" Batman slaps the gun out of Megan's hands. "Hey!" he then pins Megan on the ground. "Hey, Bruce! Get off of me!"

He smiles to have his way with Megan to not be so good at all.

"I've been wanting to do this for a long time now." he said. "Let's have some fun, Megan."

For her to be crying and for Batman to not be himself to do something worse to her next, she had to call out for help right away.

"HELP! Someone please stop him!"

Just then, Robin coils a grapple around him and takes away his belt, saying he is out of control and no longer afraid to kill. At least he saved Megan's life.

"You okay, Megan?" he checks on her. "Why was he on top of you?"

"Don't ask! OK?!"

Feeling scared, they did the ring thing to do the rest on their own now.

"This isn't the time to play games, Tim. Untie me now...!" Batman said in anger.

Megan holds on to Batman's belt until they can find a cure for him.

"This isn't a game, you're out of control. You try to hurt Megan." said Robin.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

As if, Batman!

"That fearless gas made you go crazy, Bruce, I hate this!" Megan said in tears to be brave. "Trying to have your way with me, I hated it! If you don't get cured from this soon, it will make you have a heart attack and die!"

Megan was right for Robin to agree with her.

"That gas has effected you more that you think." he said. "She's right."

"I told you: I can handle it."

"You can't!" Robin said. " You're not even afraid to kill. We'll come back for you soon as we can. Megan, does the Scarecrow have it?"

Megan saw some from earlier before Bruce was taken away.

"I did, it's the only way to cure him and the others. Let's go."

As Robin turns to leave and with Megan, assuring Batman that he'll be back for him with the antidote, Batman pretends contrition and offers to let Robin lead if he releases him.

"Robin, it's hard for me to say this, but you did the right thing. I was out of control and you made me see that. I shouldn't done what I did and to hurt Megan was the worse one I did most of all..." said the Dark Knight. "Please release me."

"Are you sure?" Robin asked. "I did what I had to."

Megan had a bad feeling to sense it out to stop Robin.

"Don't do it!"

"Look, you got my belt, what else can I do?" he asked. "What now?"

Robin answers back.

"We've got to stop the Scarecrow."

"Finding an antidote is one thing." Megan added.

But still, will Robin know if Batman will be fine to still do his own thing again?

"You two can be the boss, and I'll follow is all. Okay?" said the Dark Knight. "I can help you two. I know him."

Robin is nearly fooled, but he sees through the façade just in time.

"You almost had us fooled." he said. "Megan would've sense you getting better, but she didn't. Let's go."

Nice one, Robin! For Megan to see that he was that good, they leave. As Batman berates him in anger, Robin climbs into the Batwing and flies off for Megan joins with the young hero.

"Untie me you little- Untie me!"

Megan uses her powers to give Batman a throw down to knocking him out cold for a while.

"Sorry about this, Bruce, but...SHUT UP!" she said to keep him out for a while. "Coming, Tim. (Forgive me, Bruce, you left me with no choice.)"

In the subway, Robin and Megan both board Scarecrow's train in hopes of stopping him before the gas is released.

"You'll soon see what Gotham City will be like without fear, and it won't be pretty. Fear is the glue that holds society together. It's what makes people suppress their worst impulses. Fear is power. And today it will be quite expensive if you want the antidote." Scarecrow said in the recorded camera.

A shocking threat there, huh? Robin appears to kick the fearless bottle on of the villain's hands.

"Like we'll let that part happen."

Megan restrains Scarecrow by using her silly strings type of glue on him.

"Surrender now, loser, and give us the antidote!" she said.

While they bring down Scarecrow, one of the goons subdues and cuffs Robin.

"Get him off me." said Scarecrow.

"Robin!"

The other goon grabs hold of Megan to get tied up and Scarecrow to have another hostage in mind to keep him company.

"Looks like we have something to use to get Batman to his doom." he laughs. "Megan, come and sit with me."

This was bad here, it'll get even worse next...By then, however, Batman has already escaped from the knife hidden in his boot. Crap! An increasingly psychopathic Batman manages to enter the carriage, and dispatches the bodyguards by throwing them out the moving carriage, apparently unconcerned with whether they land safely or not. Not good for Robin and Megan to see Batman got free and was ready to kill someone.

"This is bad..." Robin tries talking to him. "Don't do it!"

"Batman! Stop!" same with Megan.

Then, ignoring the cuffed Robin and Megan 'to try using her watch to be a knife to cut herself free', he reaches Scarecrow and starts strangling him with his bare hands. In their mêlée, he inadvertently destroys the master controls of the carriage, setting it haywire.

"You'll get us killed!"

"You're not trying to scare me, are you?" he mocks Scarecrow.

As they tangle, Robin frees himself of the cuffs, getting Megan out of her mess next, and tries to deter Batman from choking Scarecrow, but to no avail.

"Thanks, Robin." she sees her partner to try stopping Batman again. "Stop! Don't touch him!"

"You can't."

With no luck trying to pull Batman away, he pushes Robin away from him.

"Watch me." he said.

A bit rude pushing a kid like him, huh? Megan then had an idea to be a very dangerous move while giving Robin the antidote.

"Robin, catch!" she then uses her powers to get the door open while the train was running really fast. "I know how to get our Batman back, it's a risky one so, don't do this either."

Getting the door to open and how powerful the train was moving, Robin was worried.

"Are you crazy?!" Robin freaks out.

"It's better than seeing Batman get worse...Do it now! (I can do this...)" she begins to stand behind the door and close to the edge to hope for the better to happen.

I hope it does work, Robin then takes the inhaler with the gas's antidote and sprays Batman's face with it. Batman comes to his senses, and to see Megan was about to fall out of the train.

"Please work..." Robin said to himself.

For Megan to see the antidote to give it one final test.

"Batman!"

He hears Megan's voice to free Scarecrow to get some air and finally saving his girlfriend's life.

"Megan!" Batman grabs her in time before she fell out. "What were you thinking?"

Hearing him say that to saving Megan's life, she cries with joy to do nothing more than to embrace Batman and kisses him to heal her lips.

"Oh, Batman! You're back!" she and Batman enjoy their love to love that part. "I knew that would work." Megan then had trouble hacking into the mainframe of the train system. "Oh, no. The controllers are completely destroyed. I can't stop this thing!"

Batman also realizes the train is heading for a deep ravine, just in time to jump off with Megan 'in his arms', Scarecrow, and Robin.

"I can't stop it and neither can Megan. She's right." he says something to Robin next. "You're gonna have to jump."

"What about Scarecrow?" he asks him.

"I'll take care of him." this shocks Robin to overhear it wrong. "I'll get him off the train. Both Megan I will."

That makes better sense. For Robin jumps out first, for Batman to carry Scarecrow out and For Megan to be held in his arms, they got out in time with the chemicals safely thrown out and then...boom! Goes the train! Lucky, no one else was on it. A close call there with Scarecrow and his goons arrested now. As Batman embraces Megan again to ask for her forgiveness.

"Batman?"

"I'm sorry...I almost...and that kiss..." he really meant it. "It wasn't me when the gas took hold, Megan, please forgive me. I love you. I would've let you stop me, you know that."

Megan understood to use her powers for something today to knock some senses into Batman. Even the daring move to put her life in grave danger was bald, it did work.

"I know, and that's the real Bruce Wayne/Batman that I know and love. I knew you were in there to not...have your way with me. I did." she said. "So I've forgiven you, Batman. Also..." Megan uses her fingernail acid to burn the rest of the fearless chemicals for good after dropping a little drop in each of the bottles. "We won't be dealing with this nightmare anytime soon. (Finally, it's over.)"

And what do you all know? The sun rises for a brand new day for it was saved once again. Walking out of the subway with an unconscious Scarecrow, Robin tries to apologize to Batman for tying him down.

"Mm...Last night when I tied you up, you were right."

"Don't apologize, I wanted you to do it." said Batman. "Megan was the one I felt bad of almost hurting her the mosr. You saved her for me. Thank you."

She nodded to Robin that they talked, and still it was hard to do.

"Yeah, but that was scary." he said.

Batman replies it was the right thing to do, and adds that a little fear is a good thing.

"It doesn't matter, but still...a little fear is a good thing."

"You said it, Batman." Megan commented her man.

For Robin to smile, he understood and for Batman to say this to Megan calmly while holding hands.

"Megan, I know that you were putting yourself in danger to get me back once I was cured, but still..." he had trouble saying it. "Just promise me that you'll never do anything like that ever again. Please."

Megan kept on cuddling Batman to keep her word for one time was enough after today, and no more ever again to do a stunt she tried to pull with reasons to almost do it. Tell me about it!

"OK, Batman, I promise. It just great to have you back again. (All's well that ends well. And...I guess he didn't mind me throwing him down with my ESP powers.)" she said to herself. "(I guess we're even now.)"

"I'm glad." he kisses Megan's forehead.

And with that for Scarecrow goes back to Arkham and his men arrested, good thing that Batman 'to be back to normal', Megan, and Robin came through in the end with a close all. Everyone's afraid of something to face the fears or not...From back then - "Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself": FDR's First Inaugural Address. Franklin D. Roosevelt had campaigned against Herbert Hoover in the 1932 presidential election by saying as little as possible about what he might do if elected. Yeah...