Thanks RavensWood for the nice review. This one's a bit longer neosavvy :) Thanks for the review QueenCaroline. I know it's disturbing (hope it's not upsetting anyone) but everything I write is, can't do happy.

I don't think I'll be updating tomorrow because I only have a paragraph of the next chapter done. I've a pretty good idea of what'll happen in it though so it shouldn't take too long.

Again, some of the stuff in this chapter is based on comics rather than the film but you don't have to have read any to understand it.

Just to let you know, I did have different fonts used in the extract but I can't make them show up here.

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The first sign Bruce had that anything had changed was when he noticed the door of the guest bedroom was open. A piece of wire protruded from the lock. Fuck. "Alfred! Alfred where are you? Alfred!"

"I'm here Master Wayne. What's wrong?" He seemed to have just woken up.

"Thank god you're ok. Crane's gotten out. I need you to go lock yourself in your room while I search the mansion for him."

"Sir, do you really think he'd stay here?"

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Scarecrow laughed hysterically as he stirred together two chemicals and the resultant mixture turned bright purple. Grabbing a pen he started writing on the nearest wall in quick spiky script. The 'laboratory' in which he was working was really disused storage shed. He was sleeping over by the far wall, on the rare occasions that he slept.

From one of the many holes in the roof Batman watched him throw the pen to the ground and shout at it. He'd found him within a week of his escape and had been watching him for close to a month now. He should turn him in to the police. He knew that. But he just watched. Jonathan wasn't really causing much trouble anyway. The worst crime he'd committed was stealing lab supplies.

'He's still a criminal.'

'That's why I'm watching him.'

'Liar. Besides, he belongs in a cell. There are better uses for your time.'

'Shut up.'

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He wasn't watching when the Scarecrow began to make a new mask. Ripped eyeholes that surely would restrict vision stared out from worn burlap. The stitched shut mouth was silent, for now. He found some string and started to wind it into a noose. Bruce would understand the presence of that item after what he'd read. Jonathan wanted to leave it out. Crane felt it was an unnecessary hazard. But Scarecrow insisted.

-journal extract-

Scarecrow stepped out of my mind and into my body today. He saved my life. And he killed someone.

It was graduation tonight. But they still cornered me after school like always. They brought me to the field by the river, where they could hit me without being disturbed. I tried to cover my head but they still knocked me out.

When I woke up they hadn't left. They were sitting on an old log drinking cans of beer. They were drunk. I pretended to still be unconscious. I hoped they'd leave me there and go but after a while they realised I was faking. They beat me some more. Then one of them said, "Hey! Let's hang him up like a real scarecrow!" The other two laughed, asked how. "On that tree." he replied. They laughed some more and pulled me upright. Jonathan was afraid. He was shaking. One of them had some string. They tied my hands first. They pulled an old sack over my head. Jonathan started crying. Then they made a noose, tightened it around my neck and hoisted me up. Jonathan was panicking, struggling, pulling the noose tighter. We were strangling.

They were laughing. They would have killed me. Their minds were too blurred by the alcohol to be aware of the consequences. I knew I was passing out.

That's when Scarecrow took control. He

I FORCED MY HANDS UP. THE MUSCLES TORE BUT I'M NOT AFRAID OF PAIN. FEAR HAS NO FEAR. I GRABBED THE STRING THE BULLIES WERE HANGING ME WITH AND I PULLED IT HARD. I PULLED IT OUT OF THEIR HANDS.

I LANDED ON THE GROUND LAUGHING. I LAUGHED AND I LAUGHED. SOMEHOW IT PENETRATED THEIR DROWNED MINDSTHAT IWAS NOT THE BOY THEY VICTIMISED. THEY RAN. THE SOUND OF THEIR RETREATING FOOTSTEPS WAS LIKE MUSIC. BUT I KNEW THEIR SCREAMSWOULD BE A SWEETER MELODY.

I RIPPED HOLES IN THE SACK SO I COULD SEE. THEN, LEAVING THE FIELD, I WALKED BACK TOWARDS THE SCHOOL. I KNEW THEY'D BE AT THE DANCE. ON THE WAY I AQUIRED A GUN, A PLASTIC TOY I TOOK FROM THE CORNER SHOP. BUT I PULLED OFF THE RED CAP AND IT LOOKED REAL. IT LOOKED FRIGHTENING.

I WAITED OUTSIDE UNTILL THE INANE MEANINGLESS DANCING WAS FINISHED. AT MIDNIGHT I SAW HIM, THE LEADER OF THE BULLIES, GETTING INTO HIS CAR WITH HIS WHORE OF A GIRLFRIEND. HE STARTED TO PULL AWAY. I STEPPED OUT OF THE SHADOWS. FEAR LIVES IN THE SHADOWS. AIMING MY WEAPON I CALLED HIS NAME. SHE SCRAMED WHEN SHE SAW ME. SUCH A WONDERFULL NOISE. HISEYES WENT WIDE. PANICING, THINKING HE WAS IN REVERSE I BELIEVE, HE PRESSED THE WRONG PEDEL. THE CAR ACCELERATED, INTO A WALL. I LAUGHED. FEAR IS THE ONLY WEAPON I NEED.