Oracle was paralyzed, it wasn't Scarecrow in the room, it was the Joker,
but it couldn't be. Helena felt that something bad had happened to her.
Scarecrow perceived the same thing, he smiled seeing the expression on the
face of Oracle. Huntress pulled her arms again trying to get free.
"Is this your worst nightmare?" he asked Oracle smiling. She began to remember that terrible night fleetingly. "What was the thing that most scared you? Do you remember?"
Oracle suddenly was again in her apartment, the light beamed down into the room. She was alone in the middle of the living room, somebody knocked on the door and she trembled. She knew who it was. and stepped back. The door opened slowly, Joker was there.
"Do you know something Batgirl?" he began to walked toward her "I don't understand how you can work with the daughter of a thief." Joker grabbed Oracle by her jacket and dragged her against the wall. "I'll give you enough time to think, what will happen with Batman? What's the relationship between this girl and him? Why do you have the daughter of Selina Kyle?" he placed his forearm on her neck "Perhaps you'll cheer up if I show you that I speak seriously."
Barbara was frozen, Joker took out a knife and put it against her waist, he looked at Huntress. "Have you forgotten that we had a good time? Do you remember how it hurt you Helena Kyle?" Scarecrow laughed pressing the tip of the knife in Barbara's abdomen.
"No! Let her go!" Helena got free using the tip of the buckle and she hit him.
"You won't be able to win against your worst nightmare!" Scarecrow laughed.
Helena opened her mouth when she saw the imposing figure of Batman in front of her. A fist in her face made her come out of her confusion, a thread of blood left her lip.
"Real or not, I'm angry!" she told and punched him in his face. She avoided a blow and kicked him in the stomach.
Batman fell to the floor, he took a chair and tried to hit her with it, Helena avoided it bending over, the chair broke when it smashed against the pillar. The door opened and two men dressed in black clothes appeared, his guards. Scarecrow stopped them with a hand.
"No, she is mine" he told them.
"I'm not yours or anybody's" Helena punched him again, and suddenly she heard screeches above her head. Several bats flew right past her, she lifted her arms up trying to cover herself.
Scarecrow picked up one of the tubes from the broken chair and took it in his hand and hit her in her hurt waist, Helena bent down hugging her waist. She couldn't recover yet when Scarecrow kicked her in the wound, the girl fell on her knees on the floor, she felt her head humming, the bandage began to stain blood. Barbara hated herself in that moment, she wasn't able to walk to help Huntress and the fear didn't allow her to think.
Scarecrow sunk down next to Helena, he raised her up by her hair "Do you see this?" he showed her a small black box "You are going to do what I want with this. I'll get you!!."
"If I leave you..." Huntress took advantage of the fact that he was at a short distance and she hit his hand, the black box broke on the floor. With the other one she trapped him by the neck, her anger was stronger than her fear.
Both began to struggle, Scarecrow felt that his air was gone and in a desperate act, he pulled the bandage off her waist and he buried his hand in the wound, Helena groaned, loosing him but Scarecrow held her stronger.
"You are a stupid girl!" he laughed enjoying the pain in Huntress' face "I gave you the opportunity to finish everything quickly, and you didn't want to! Do you really want to know what it's like to suffer?"
Huntress couldn't think, falteringly she tried to grab his hand and take it off to avoid the pain, but it was useless. His hand was a pincer.
"Do you understand? I'm the boss!!" he shouted pressuring the wound harder. "Who's the boss? Answer me or I'll kill you."
Huntress' eyes began to blink and she opened her mouth trying to say something.
"Who's the boss?"
"Let her go!" Barbara screamed.
"She needs to learn who's the boss here! I am! End of lesson one!" he said and loosened her.
Helena breathed a sigh of relief and curled herself in to ball. She was in great pain "Oh God." she whispered.
"Hold her again, I have to fix this now." Scarecrow got up, picked up the damaged box, and pointed at Huntress.
The aching Helena moaned as the men lifted her. They dragged her towards the pillar and chained her hands back again.
"Never forget who your owner is!" he grabbed her lapel and shouted angry "Get it?" Helena was still dazed and her head felt heavy.
"Her also" Scarecrow picked up the buckle piece from the floor, "It's not good to have a conniving brain free, with or without being able to walk" Scarecrow circled around Oracle and stopped behind her "I am not in a hurry, your nightmares will kill you." He hit her in the nape of her neck, leaving her unconscious.
He left the place, Huntress tied, rabid and helpless.
* * *
Reese had already left the police department that night, he continued without finding an illation among the murders in the last days.
"Reese?" The police officer stopped and looked back.
"Dinah?" He felt surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I need your help..." Dinah was wearing her black leather coat, she looked at him worried. "we know who the murderer is, it's Scarecrow."
"Scarecrow?"
"I can't give you details, but he used a substance that fills you with a terror that can eventually kill you. like what happened to those three men."
"Do you mean they really died from fear?"
"Yes... and he has Oracle and Huntress..."
"What?"
"He made Huntress act irrationally" Dinah put her hands in her pockets. "She has a high sensibility in her hearing and he somehow, using a special frequency, blocked her. Last night he went to her apartment and attacked her, she inhaled the gas and he almost killed her."
Reese's face turned pale "Oracle and I arrived on time to help her, but she was seriously wounded."
"But she."
"This morning, while I went to Huntress' apartment to search for a compound that we needed to discover an antidote for the drug, he somehow got into the clocktower and took Oracle and Huntress."
Reese walked nervously in his place. "And are they de...?"
"I don't think so." Dinah said. "he wants vengeance, he's not in a hurry... That gives us time to find them. But I don't know how much."
"Do you have some idea where they could have been taken.?"
"I think so." Dinah felt a heaviness on her shoulders, Huntress and Oracle were in danger and only she knew what was happening, she felt great pressure. "Please help me, I don't know if I can do it alone, Oracle and Huntress are in danger and. and I don't have enough experience, I'm afraid, come with me, please."
* * *
Dinah and Reese were looking over some maps in the lab at the Clocktower. The man was really surprised, the blond youth was very clever.
"And you say that you don't have experience?" he asked her "You are really skilled with these computers."
"Oracle trained me, It's easy when you have a brilliant mentor. Do you remember that we couldn't find the link between the murders? The link was in the children of the murdered men..."
"I Don't understand..."
"The first victim was the son of a worker at New Gothman Systems, the same as the other two victims. NG Security System was the company that installed the new safe-system in Arkham. I think that he pressed them to get the key of the system. Arkham was built over an old nineteenth century prison, and the system also covers that area."
"Do you believe that he's hiding there?"
"I don't think so. I have a better alternative," Dinah typed quickly on the keyboard "nobody would think about looking for him in the prison"
"Will he be thinking about letting those lunatics free?"
"I hope not..." Dinah opened a screen with Arkham maps "His first reason was revenge, he didn't speak only about that... I checked these maps of the prison, I don't know where the entrance is to the old building from the outside, but from inside, you could help me and it would be faster. That's the ideal place to retain Huntress, all the walls are solid rock and the doors are five inches thick." Reese looked at Dinah, concerned "And how will you stop him? The gas or what he gives you is a real danger."
"I'm working on that, I need to finish mixing some components to get the antidote. It will take me a few more hours." Dinah showed him a batarang "And we will have to take some toys."
* * *
Barbara woke up, she didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but apparently it had been many hours, maybe seven, maybe eight. She had her hands tied back with handcuffs. She had a slight headache, Scarecrow had hit her very hard, and that fear, that fear that didn't allow her to concentrate, that made her feel so vulnerable.
She looked for Huntress, she was behind her sitting and tied to the pillar, her head was down, she didn't move. She called her without getting an answer. She passed the handcuffs under her legs and placed her hands in front. They were simple to open, so many years in the business were not in vain, she took a pin from her hair and removed the cuffs. Oracle crawled toward Helena, and sat down next to her side.
"Huntress?" she touched her forehead, she had a fever. The damp of the room, the lack of attention and the loss of blood had affected her, she knew that had to act fast. "Huntress, do you hear me? It's me, Oracle..."
"... Oracle?.." the girl whispered.
"You have a fever..." Oracle told her, concerned "Sorry, I couldn't help you, I couldn't control myself. How do you feel?" she got the hair off her face.
Helena moved her head in agreement, but Barbara knew that it was not true, she trembled and was sweating. Oracle moved back, she was focused totally on trying to open the handcuffs, the panic invaded her terribly but their lives were in danger. In a few minutes she achieved it and loosed Huntress' arms, the youth breathed with relief and she allowed herself to fall.
"I'm afraid..." she mumbled, she was cold and felt terribly bad, but the worst was the panic that invaded her.
Barbara took her cheek in her hand, she needed to force her to get up and escape. Staying here implied a certain death.
"Listen, you have to make an effort, we don't have time, I need you to concentrate it, I know that you feel terrible fear, but you have to block it, the same as the pain, you have to make it stay out here."
"Where am I.?" Huntress tried to open her eyes.
"Huntress wake up!"
"... I'm trying... " she said in low voice.
"Helena look at me" Barbara's firm voice forced Huntress to open her eyes and to see her, in that moment Barbara saw how pale she was, she tried to hide her concern and said:"I know that you don't feel well, but I also know that you have a very strong mind, and you can overcome this. Is the only choice that you have to escape."
Barbara helped Huntress to a seated position. "Come on Huntress" Barbara said "You need do it. You need to escape." "But you..." Helena said, trying to clear her mind.
"Don't worry, I will be fine. He doesn't want to kill me yet, we have a chance, and if you run away, the only thing that could bring you back here is me."
"No... wait..." Helena tried to protest.
"I am not asking you, you have to do it. You don't have a choice, do you understand? You aren't in any condition to take me with you."
"Barbara..."
"Helena I won't discuss this with you. Get up!"
Huntress stood up with effort, her legs trembled, she felt as if the room was moving around her, but she knew that she needed to escape and call Dinah, it was the only chance to save Barbara because in that moment she wasn't be able to fight and help her. She broke the safe door with a hard kick. She looked at Barbara, she hated to leave her alone.
Suddenly the door opened. Huntress saw Batman, although she knew that he was that damned Scarecrow, he came with one of the men in black. Oracle who saw the Joker, quickly picked up the chain from the floor.
"Damn" the man exclaimed.
Huntress got ready for another attack.
"Calm down Helena..." The man took a syringe out of his pocket and surrounded her slowly trying to come closer to her. Oracle didn't think it twice and using the chain like a whip, she threw him to the floor.
Huntress threw a blow at Batman, but he stopped her hand and twisted her arm back with a movement and threw her against the floor, he placed a hand on her neck to put her face to the floor "This key will never fail" he said.
Barbara tried to hit him with the chain but the other man got up and stopped her, he injected the content of the syringe into her arm, immediately she went towards Huntress.
"No!" she screamed when seeing him lean down next to her with another syringe in his hand.
"Calm down" Batman pressed her harder against the floor, preventing her from moving.
"Leave me!" Huntress screamed feeling the needle prick her arm again.
"Ready..." The man took out the syringe.
"Is this your worst nightmare?" he asked Oracle smiling. She began to remember that terrible night fleetingly. "What was the thing that most scared you? Do you remember?"
Oracle suddenly was again in her apartment, the light beamed down into the room. She was alone in the middle of the living room, somebody knocked on the door and she trembled. She knew who it was. and stepped back. The door opened slowly, Joker was there.
"Do you know something Batgirl?" he began to walked toward her "I don't understand how you can work with the daughter of a thief." Joker grabbed Oracle by her jacket and dragged her against the wall. "I'll give you enough time to think, what will happen with Batman? What's the relationship between this girl and him? Why do you have the daughter of Selina Kyle?" he placed his forearm on her neck "Perhaps you'll cheer up if I show you that I speak seriously."
Barbara was frozen, Joker took out a knife and put it against her waist, he looked at Huntress. "Have you forgotten that we had a good time? Do you remember how it hurt you Helena Kyle?" Scarecrow laughed pressing the tip of the knife in Barbara's abdomen.
"No! Let her go!" Helena got free using the tip of the buckle and she hit him.
"You won't be able to win against your worst nightmare!" Scarecrow laughed.
Helena opened her mouth when she saw the imposing figure of Batman in front of her. A fist in her face made her come out of her confusion, a thread of blood left her lip.
"Real or not, I'm angry!" she told and punched him in his face. She avoided a blow and kicked him in the stomach.
Batman fell to the floor, he took a chair and tried to hit her with it, Helena avoided it bending over, the chair broke when it smashed against the pillar. The door opened and two men dressed in black clothes appeared, his guards. Scarecrow stopped them with a hand.
"No, she is mine" he told them.
"I'm not yours or anybody's" Helena punched him again, and suddenly she heard screeches above her head. Several bats flew right past her, she lifted her arms up trying to cover herself.
Scarecrow picked up one of the tubes from the broken chair and took it in his hand and hit her in her hurt waist, Helena bent down hugging her waist. She couldn't recover yet when Scarecrow kicked her in the wound, the girl fell on her knees on the floor, she felt her head humming, the bandage began to stain blood. Barbara hated herself in that moment, she wasn't able to walk to help Huntress and the fear didn't allow her to think.
Scarecrow sunk down next to Helena, he raised her up by her hair "Do you see this?" he showed her a small black box "You are going to do what I want with this. I'll get you!!."
"If I leave you..." Huntress took advantage of the fact that he was at a short distance and she hit his hand, the black box broke on the floor. With the other one she trapped him by the neck, her anger was stronger than her fear.
Both began to struggle, Scarecrow felt that his air was gone and in a desperate act, he pulled the bandage off her waist and he buried his hand in the wound, Helena groaned, loosing him but Scarecrow held her stronger.
"You are a stupid girl!" he laughed enjoying the pain in Huntress' face "I gave you the opportunity to finish everything quickly, and you didn't want to! Do you really want to know what it's like to suffer?"
Huntress couldn't think, falteringly she tried to grab his hand and take it off to avoid the pain, but it was useless. His hand was a pincer.
"Do you understand? I'm the boss!!" he shouted pressuring the wound harder. "Who's the boss? Answer me or I'll kill you."
Huntress' eyes began to blink and she opened her mouth trying to say something.
"Who's the boss?"
"Let her go!" Barbara screamed.
"She needs to learn who's the boss here! I am! End of lesson one!" he said and loosened her.
Helena breathed a sigh of relief and curled herself in to ball. She was in great pain "Oh God." she whispered.
"Hold her again, I have to fix this now." Scarecrow got up, picked up the damaged box, and pointed at Huntress.
The aching Helena moaned as the men lifted her. They dragged her towards the pillar and chained her hands back again.
"Never forget who your owner is!" he grabbed her lapel and shouted angry "Get it?" Helena was still dazed and her head felt heavy.
"Her also" Scarecrow picked up the buckle piece from the floor, "It's not good to have a conniving brain free, with or without being able to walk" Scarecrow circled around Oracle and stopped behind her "I am not in a hurry, your nightmares will kill you." He hit her in the nape of her neck, leaving her unconscious.
He left the place, Huntress tied, rabid and helpless.
* * *
Reese had already left the police department that night, he continued without finding an illation among the murders in the last days.
"Reese?" The police officer stopped and looked back.
"Dinah?" He felt surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I need your help..." Dinah was wearing her black leather coat, she looked at him worried. "we know who the murderer is, it's Scarecrow."
"Scarecrow?"
"I can't give you details, but he used a substance that fills you with a terror that can eventually kill you. like what happened to those three men."
"Do you mean they really died from fear?"
"Yes... and he has Oracle and Huntress..."
"What?"
"He made Huntress act irrationally" Dinah put her hands in her pockets. "She has a high sensibility in her hearing and he somehow, using a special frequency, blocked her. Last night he went to her apartment and attacked her, she inhaled the gas and he almost killed her."
Reese's face turned pale "Oracle and I arrived on time to help her, but she was seriously wounded."
"But she."
"This morning, while I went to Huntress' apartment to search for a compound that we needed to discover an antidote for the drug, he somehow got into the clocktower and took Oracle and Huntress."
Reese walked nervously in his place. "And are they de...?"
"I don't think so." Dinah said. "he wants vengeance, he's not in a hurry... That gives us time to find them. But I don't know how much."
"Do you have some idea where they could have been taken.?"
"I think so." Dinah felt a heaviness on her shoulders, Huntress and Oracle were in danger and only she knew what was happening, she felt great pressure. "Please help me, I don't know if I can do it alone, Oracle and Huntress are in danger and. and I don't have enough experience, I'm afraid, come with me, please."
* * *
Dinah and Reese were looking over some maps in the lab at the Clocktower. The man was really surprised, the blond youth was very clever.
"And you say that you don't have experience?" he asked her "You are really skilled with these computers."
"Oracle trained me, It's easy when you have a brilliant mentor. Do you remember that we couldn't find the link between the murders? The link was in the children of the murdered men..."
"I Don't understand..."
"The first victim was the son of a worker at New Gothman Systems, the same as the other two victims. NG Security System was the company that installed the new safe-system in Arkham. I think that he pressed them to get the key of the system. Arkham was built over an old nineteenth century prison, and the system also covers that area."
"Do you believe that he's hiding there?"
"I don't think so. I have a better alternative," Dinah typed quickly on the keyboard "nobody would think about looking for him in the prison"
"Will he be thinking about letting those lunatics free?"
"I hope not..." Dinah opened a screen with Arkham maps "His first reason was revenge, he didn't speak only about that... I checked these maps of the prison, I don't know where the entrance is to the old building from the outside, but from inside, you could help me and it would be faster. That's the ideal place to retain Huntress, all the walls are solid rock and the doors are five inches thick." Reese looked at Dinah, concerned "And how will you stop him? The gas or what he gives you is a real danger."
"I'm working on that, I need to finish mixing some components to get the antidote. It will take me a few more hours." Dinah showed him a batarang "And we will have to take some toys."
* * *
Barbara woke up, she didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but apparently it had been many hours, maybe seven, maybe eight. She had her hands tied back with handcuffs. She had a slight headache, Scarecrow had hit her very hard, and that fear, that fear that didn't allow her to concentrate, that made her feel so vulnerable.
She looked for Huntress, she was behind her sitting and tied to the pillar, her head was down, she didn't move. She called her without getting an answer. She passed the handcuffs under her legs and placed her hands in front. They were simple to open, so many years in the business were not in vain, she took a pin from her hair and removed the cuffs. Oracle crawled toward Helena, and sat down next to her side.
"Huntress?" she touched her forehead, she had a fever. The damp of the room, the lack of attention and the loss of blood had affected her, she knew that had to act fast. "Huntress, do you hear me? It's me, Oracle..."
"... Oracle?.." the girl whispered.
"You have a fever..." Oracle told her, concerned "Sorry, I couldn't help you, I couldn't control myself. How do you feel?" she got the hair off her face.
Helena moved her head in agreement, but Barbara knew that it was not true, she trembled and was sweating. Oracle moved back, she was focused totally on trying to open the handcuffs, the panic invaded her terribly but their lives were in danger. In a few minutes she achieved it and loosed Huntress' arms, the youth breathed with relief and she allowed herself to fall.
"I'm afraid..." she mumbled, she was cold and felt terribly bad, but the worst was the panic that invaded her.
Barbara took her cheek in her hand, she needed to force her to get up and escape. Staying here implied a certain death.
"Listen, you have to make an effort, we don't have time, I need you to concentrate it, I know that you feel terrible fear, but you have to block it, the same as the pain, you have to make it stay out here."
"Where am I.?" Huntress tried to open her eyes.
"Huntress wake up!"
"... I'm trying... " she said in low voice.
"Helena look at me" Barbara's firm voice forced Huntress to open her eyes and to see her, in that moment Barbara saw how pale she was, she tried to hide her concern and said:"I know that you don't feel well, but I also know that you have a very strong mind, and you can overcome this. Is the only choice that you have to escape."
Barbara helped Huntress to a seated position. "Come on Huntress" Barbara said "You need do it. You need to escape." "But you..." Helena said, trying to clear her mind.
"Don't worry, I will be fine. He doesn't want to kill me yet, we have a chance, and if you run away, the only thing that could bring you back here is me."
"No... wait..." Helena tried to protest.
"I am not asking you, you have to do it. You don't have a choice, do you understand? You aren't in any condition to take me with you."
"Barbara..."
"Helena I won't discuss this with you. Get up!"
Huntress stood up with effort, her legs trembled, she felt as if the room was moving around her, but she knew that she needed to escape and call Dinah, it was the only chance to save Barbara because in that moment she wasn't be able to fight and help her. She broke the safe door with a hard kick. She looked at Barbara, she hated to leave her alone.
Suddenly the door opened. Huntress saw Batman, although she knew that he was that damned Scarecrow, he came with one of the men in black. Oracle who saw the Joker, quickly picked up the chain from the floor.
"Damn" the man exclaimed.
Huntress got ready for another attack.
"Calm down Helena..." The man took a syringe out of his pocket and surrounded her slowly trying to come closer to her. Oracle didn't think it twice and using the chain like a whip, she threw him to the floor.
Huntress threw a blow at Batman, but he stopped her hand and twisted her arm back with a movement and threw her against the floor, he placed a hand on her neck to put her face to the floor "This key will never fail" he said.
Barbara tried to hit him with the chain but the other man got up and stopped her, he injected the content of the syringe into her arm, immediately she went towards Huntress.
"No!" she screamed when seeing him lean down next to her with another syringe in his hand.
"Calm down" Batman pressed her harder against the floor, preventing her from moving.
"Leave me!" Huntress screamed feeling the needle prick her arm again.
"Ready..." The man took out the syringe.