Kabourophobia. The fear of crabs.
Honestly, this was a rather unique fear. Jonathan didn't think he knew anyone with the fear until he gassed Barbi. Normally, it was arachnophobia or coulrophobia, at least from what he observed back in Gotham. So, that was pretty interesting.
What was kind of funny, though, was how cowardly everyone at the party was. The terror when he first showed up and gassed the host was expected, to be fair. But once he started to drag her out while she screamed about how they were 'crawling all over her', everyone just stared in horror. No one tried to stop him, or even yelled at him. Only one guy got out his phone to call the police, but all it took to make him put his phone away and shut up was a few threats. Then, they all watched him throw Barbi into the scarecrow effigy he had crafted to make his presence known and he just walked off.
In some ways, it was pathetic. He expected at least someone to try and be the hero. But no. They all just cowered in fear. Just like he did when not in costume.
But in the costume, he felt different. He didn't feel like the same frightened boy who got pushed around by everyone. He felt like what everyone else saw him as. A harbinger of fear. Someone to be reckoned with. Almost like a lord of despair. One who would make people cower before him in witless terror. Not a god, but definitely a threat.
And that was before he got the idea to incorporate the fear toxin into his arsenal. Back in Gotham, he had donned the costume to scare people like Bo Briggs and Sherry Squires, the latter of whom only went out on a date with him to make Bo jealous, dropping him like a molten hot piece of metal as soon as Bo came crawling back. Back then, his fear tactics were more... simplistic. Stuff like jumping out of the shadows, screeching at the top of his lungs like a demented baboon, or chasing after them with a pitchfork or a scythe. Never with the intent to kill (that was one line he wouldn't cross), just to terrify.
But now, with the toxin, he could truly terrify people. Barbi was a prime example. With just one dose of his toxin, the unflappable, smug twit was reduced to a quivering, screaming lump of fear. It was almost comical.
And, even better, he was on a roll with his terror-making tonight. After he left the Minerva property, his next target was a foolish mugger who wanted his wallet. The joke was on him anyway: he didn't bring his wallet with him. One blast of toxin was enough to bring him to the floor, wailing about wasps. Possibly. Jonathan was a little distracted and didn't really pay attention to his ramblings.
The next few people were a little harder to take care of as well. A policeman, a group of college men, and a detective. The policeman wasn't actually too tough. Jonathan just snuck up on him and gassed him. The college men, despite being a little drunk, were evidently coordinated enough to try and tackle him to the ground. The detective was probably the hardest. She was apparently talented in taekwondo and, well, kicked his ass. She nearly unmasked him by the end of their encounter. It wasn't to be unexpected, he supposed. His combat prowess came from his admittedly impressive agility and his weapons, two things he wasn't able to use back there. However, the fights ended the same way. With him standing triumphant over his terrified opponents.
After that, Jonathan decided to break into Karen's house and get something that would make this night easier. Surprisingly, Karen had left her bedroom window open. So, he was able get what he needed and get back to work.
And now, after gassing a few more guys, as he stood in a dark alleyway, facing off against some random knife-wielding carjacker, he felt totally in control.
The carjacker took a step towards him. "Alright, ya freak!" His voice was raspy and rough, like he had been smoking ten cigarette packs a day. "I don't care who you are or how afraid everyone else is of you! You're going down!"
Jonathan just smiled. "Oooh, I'm so scared." He drew his scythe. "Let's dance."
With that, the carjacker let out a roar and charged at him. Normally, Jonathan would want to avoid combat. But now that his mind was focused and he had his weapons in hand, he was ready to fight. As soon as the carjacker got it closer, Jonathan sliced the air in front of him with the scythe, just to scare him a little. The carjacker jumped back, allowing Jonathan to get out his shovel. With a quick swing, he brought it into his kneecaps. The carjacker cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Jonathan laughed and put his weapons away.
"Now are you scared?" Jonathan sneered. "If you are, don't be afraid to crow about it." He chuckled to himself. "Hey, that was actually a good pun."
The carjacker looked back up at him. "Boo, awful! Get off the stage!" He heckled. Jonathan just stared at him, bewildered.
"Wow, that showed me," he said. "I guess I'll just leave."
The carjacker's eyes widened. "Really?"
"No, you idiot!" Jonathan was starting to get mad. Time to gas this loser and move on. He quickly put his glove containing the toxin and looked back at him. "Time to see what you're afraid of."
Now, the carjacker's face flooded with fear. "No, please man! I'll do anything! I'll turn myself in, I'll do your laundry, I'll... promote your LexTube account or something! Just please don't hurt me!"
Jonathan simply laughed again, ignoring the guy's pleads. "Oh, this..." He aimed his glove at his face. "Won't hurt a bit."
Suddenly, before he could react, a sharp piece of metal flew across his hand. He crumpled to the ground, clutching it in pain. "Ow!" He yelped. He looked at his hand, now visible thanks to the metal thing tearing his costume. His hand had started to bleed. He looked over to his left, where the metal thing landed. It was yellow, and was shaped like... like a bat.
His eyes widened. Oh God.
Batgirl nodded to herself. She had hit her target. Now that the Scarecrow was vulnerable, she could swoop in and deal with him! With that, she leaped off the roof and landed behind the criminal, using her cape to slow her descent.
"Villain! Stop right now!"
She saw the Scarecrow slowly place his hands in the air. He was shaking, suddenly looking a lot less threatening. "I... didn't know you were in Metropolis, Batman."
Batgirl's eyes lit up. "You think I'm Batman?" She laughed, scratching the back of her head. "Well, I'm actually Batgirl, but that's pretty cool! I'm becoming more like my hero! Maybe with more training I could..."
She trailed off, clearing her throat. She quickly adopted a combat pose, placing a serious look on her face. "I mean freeze!"
Almost instantly, the Scarecrow stopped shaking. His hands fell to his side. "Oh, thank God. I thought I was dealing with an actual hero." He turned around, his yellow eyes locked directly on her. "What are you supposed to be?" He squinted. "A... cosplayer?"
Batgirl felt her face heat up as she clenched her fists. "I'm Batgirl! A super cool superhero! And the girl who's going to kick your straw butt!" She punctuated her point by pointing at the criminal.
Scarecrow just laughed. "Really? Well... I am fear itself. I am the terror of Metropolis! I am the Scarecrow!" He paused, smiling to himself. "Damn, that was really cool."
Batgirl just sighed, straightening up her posture. "Well, cool or not, your reign of terror is over! I'm taking you down!"
Scarecrow's eyes narrowed as his mouth curled into a grimace. "Oh yeah?" He drew his shovel, twirling it. "You're welcome to try!" With that, he lunged at Batgirl, swinging his shovel. Batgirl jumped back, narrowly avoiding the shovel. Scarecrow just swung again. And again. And again. And Batgirl narrowly dodged the shovel each time.
"Why are you fighting for that guy behind us?" Scarecrow asked, grinning. "He's a criminal! Don't tell me you sympathize with people like him."
Batgirl just rolled her eyes. Did this guy just forget all the other stuff he was doing? "Hey, I'm a hero! I take people like him into the police! You're just doing it for... Honestly, I don't know." She quickly stopped the shovel in between her elbows, stopping Scarecrow in his tracks. With lightning quick speed, she head-butted him, knocking him to the ground. "And besides, you've hurt a lot of innocent people. You're not getting away with that."
Scarecrow just stood up, glaring at her. "Cute. But I know that the world doesn't have a lot of innocent people in it. Trust me on that..." Suddenly, Scarecrow's demeanour changed. His smile fell to a frown and he looked down at the ground. However, it didn't last long. He raised his head again, that evil look right back on his face. "Now leave me to my work!"
With surprising speed, he brought the shovel into Batgirl's face, knocking her to the ground. Scarecrow quickly ran back into the alleyway. As Batgirl struggled to make the world stop spinning, she saw him climbing up the wall of the building at the end. He was doing it surprisingly well, and was scaling the wall pretty quickly.
Batgirl ran towards him. "Oh no you don't!" She screeched to a halt when she got to the wall. Looking up, she saw Scarecrow finally getting onto the roof. "Darn it," she muttered. Then she snapped her fingers. She quickly pulled out her grapple gun and aimed it upwards. She saw a bit of the chimney stick off the top of the building. She squinted and fired her grapple gun. It hit the chimney and wrapped around it. She smiled and quickly scaled the wall.
Once she got to the roof, she spotted Scarecrow and he was... lying on the ground, breathing heavily. "Jeez, I need a drink of water." He sounded exhausted.
Batgirl quickly stood up proudly. "You'll get some water in jail, Scarecrow!" She giggled to herself. "Now that was cool!"
Scarecrow groaned, looking at her. "I've heard better." He stood up. "Can't you just leave me alone? For once, I'm not the one..."
He stopped. "Forget I said anything." With that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out...
Some kind of controller. It looked like a controller for a video game console. Batgirl raised an eyebrow. "Are... you going to play Mario?" She chuckled a little.
Scarecrow just smirk. "Oh, not at all." He began to press some buttons, the smile on his face growing larger. He looked past her, as if expecting something. Batgirl also looked behind her and saw...
A drone. It was hovering there. It had a few blinking lights on it and was making a low humming noise. She squinted. Funny. Something about the yellow and black colour scheme made it look like...
Wait a minute. That's Karen's drone! She thought. "How'd you get that?" She asked.
Scarecrow just scoffed. "That doesn't matter. What does..."
His smirk suddenly shifted into a totally manic grin. "Is this!"
Suddenly, the drone's underside opened up and a small cannon-like came out. Batgirl recognised it as the confetti cannon. She saw the cannon aim at her and...
It show out a small sack that hit her square in the face. As soon as the sack collided with her face, it exploded, releasing a red gas. Batgirl began to cough.
"What is this stuff?" She asked, covering her mouth. If only she had brought her gas mask.
She heard Scarecrow laugh. However, he sounded... different. It was deeper, and had more of an echo. "Oh, just something to drive you mad with terror. Some kid... stole it from me."
Wait... Batgirl thought. Is he talking about Jonathan? Did Jonathan seriously steal it from...
Her thoughts were derailed as she turned to face Scarecrow. Why was the world shaking? Why could she hear her heartbeat? What was...
Then, like a flash, she started to scream. Loudly. She fell to her knees, clutching both sides of her head. "What's happening?!" She yelled. Her voice didn't sound right. It sounded totally alien to her.
Scarecrow just laughed again, his voice growing more distorted. "Oh, don't worry. You won't die. But this will take you out of commission for the night." Despite the sensory overload she was experiencing, she was still able to make out Scarecrow. He looked at her and waved.
"See you later, hero."
With that, he walked away, the drone following him. She didn't see him jump down. He just faded away. Batgirl then fell onto her back, her screams growing louder and louder. Soon, her vision began to fade. And fade. And fade.
Until all she saw was darkness.
Don't worry, she's not dead. Just experiencing the worst trip ever. Maybe they should have gone altogether. Also, since I'm so friendly, I'll give you a little hint for the next chapter. Babs is going to have to deal with more than just bats and flying sharks in her fearful delusions. What do I mean?
Well... have any of you seen the Batman Animated Series episode Over the Edge?