The Penguin's twin henchmen walked towards the Scarecrow's lab. Scarecrow hid his face behind a cadaverous mask, a mask itself mostly hidden under long black hair and a hat, like he was ready for the harvest. Scarecrow carried a rope around his neck like a man who had already been executed. One of them was carrying a box with the Compound V they received from Two-Face earlier. His men stood outside. Their outfits were primarily brown as they all wore masks that looked like those worn by plague doctors with gas mask filters on them. Behind them stood their boss.

"Do you have the formula?" Scarecrow asked, his voice having a noticeable whispery rasp to it.

"It's in the box." One of the henchmen said.

Scarecrow gestured to one of his men to examine the aforementioned box. The henchman walked towards and opened the box. He looked thoroughly at the box.

"It's good, sir." The henchman told his superior as he grabbed the box.

"There's something Mr. Cobblepot wanted to let you know." One of the twins said.

"What is that?" Scarecrow asked.

"There's this group of outlaws from the same world as this Compound V crap. They don't want this stuff to sell on the streets, tried to bug the lounge, and killed some of our guys trying to escape." One of the twins said.

"Two of them are metas. Both of them have super strength, though the Asian one can heal fast while the blonde is bulletproof and shoots energy." The other added.

"You're trying to caution me, I understand. What does Oswald want me to do if I happen to come to blows with them?" Scarecrow said.

"He was certain you'd have some other experiments in mind and is more than willing to let you use them as lab rats." The other twin said.

Scarecrow smiled.

"That I will." He replied.

Homelander looked at the screen as he kept changing the memes about him and Superman with just the click of a button, his fury starting to boil over with each new image. His interview with Clark Kent did not go as well as planned. Many of the people on Earth-One seemed rather unconvinced, at "best" they viewed him as incompetent for stuff such as Herogasm going on under his nose. Others piled on him for coming across as a nationalistic narcissist. He was reminded of when Stormfront first joined the Seven, but this was worse. The masses were starting to love Superman over him. The very thought of that caused Homelander to crush the clicker causing it to stop on a meme titled "The Virginlander vs The Superchad" depicting a cartoonishly scrawny Homelander sulking in front of the muscular Superman striding behind him. The very image enraged Homelander the more he looked at it. His eyes started to glow red as he prepared to destroy the screen. Until he heard a voice enter the room.

"Relax, I've started a campaign against them. Unofficially of course." Stormfront said. "Even if they suspect us, we can always do a little public speech decrying them to save face." She added.

Homelander ignored her, his anger preventing him from speaking to her.

"Look, our people will support you no matter what." Stormfront said as she hugged him from behind. "So will I." She added.

Homelander's anger started to diminish, her embrace and words working wonders. Until he heard her phone ring.

"Oh Logan, what a surprise! How is it going?" Stormfront said. "My meme queen." She told him, distancing herself from the phone before putting it back to her ear.

Stormfront's smile soon turned to one of confusion catching Homelander's concern.

"What?" She asked. "What do you mean you quit?" Stormfront questioned.

Homelander began to listen in on what Logan was saying.

"I'm sorry I can't do this anymore. I've been getting ripped apart." Logan said. "All we've been getting are comments from people defending him."

"Well then counter-argue them!" She told him.

"We can't! All the stuff he has done in his world is starting to spread onto the internet! Like there's this spammer named Bibbo from his world. He's been posting stuff of the guy doing shit like talking people out of suicide and saving their world from aliens and all kinds of shit." He defended him

"So are you starting to take his side?" Stormfront accused him.

There was a brief moment of silence on his end. Until he spoke up.

"Yes." Logan said.

"What do you mean?" Stormfront angrily accused.

"You've been making us post all this bullshit about Supe terrorists. Well, now there are superpowered beings on another Earth helping us and the ones attacking aren't from here." He told her.

"Look I get it you're under a lot of stress. How about I let you take a two-week sabbatical?" Stormfront appealed. "I get it your mental health is at risk, and I'm willing to forget this talk ever happened." She said with only the slightest bit of restraint of her fury slipping during the last couple words of that sentence.

"No deal, you can take my internship and shove it." Logan boldly declared. "Oh, by the way, I'm not the only one. Sarah told me she is quitting, and so is Brian."

"What?" Stormfront meekly asked.

"They're quitting too. One last thing, if you're going to give people gift cards try someplace that isn't fucking Arby's." Logan said before hanging up.

Stormfront turned around and looked at Homelander. The look on his face caused her to actually shudder. Angry was an understatement at the moment.

"I know this is bad, but…" She tried to defend herself before he fried the monitor with his laser vision.

"This is your fault!" He accused her.

"How is this my fault?" Stormfront tried to defend herself, digging back some of her courage.

"You mean to tell me that your team can't handle the supporters of a guy who wears his fucking underwear on the outside!" Homelander nearly yelled.

Before Stormfront could respond the door opened up, it was Ashley.

"Is something the matter?" She asked.

"How many points am I down?" Homelander asked her, his eyes glowing red causing Ashley to pause. Her heart began to race too, Homelander noticed.

"What?" She nearly stammered.

Homelander ripped out a chair from the ground causing Ashley to fumble onto the ground in fear.

"Seven." She told him, sounding as though she was about to cry.

"What?" Homelander asked, completely shocked. His eyes were now back to normal.

"You're both down by seven points! Don't hurt me!" She pleaded.

Stormfront and Homelander paused upon hearing that as though the entire world stopped.

"What?" Homelander asked, his rage diminished now being replaced by one of utter confusion. His chest started to poke out as he fought any tears that started to form.

"Seven points." Ashley said as tears rolled from her eyes.

Homelander tried to work up the nerve of regaining his former anger until he collapsed on a nearby chair. He was practically back where he was after that incident in Africa. He could feel the pain in his chest as his eyes started to sting. Tears started to well in his eyes.

"Hey! Hey, listen to me." Stormfront said as she put an arm around him. "It's the Justice League. They're doing this to us. This is our people, this is our world. They're invaders polluting our culture against us, this is not their place, it's mine and yours. It's them who you should be mad at." She told him.

At that Homelander stopped crying.

"You're right." He said as he kissed her. "What can I do?" Homelander asked.

"Beat them at their own game." She told him. "Show them what being a true superhero means. Besides we still have Ryan." Stormfront encouraged.

Homelander heard her heartbeat falter and looked at her intensely, she gave in.

"The League is corrupting him, one of the kids called Blue Hawk a racist." Stormfront said.

"Like I give a shit about Blue Hawk." Homelander said.

Stormfront looked offended.

"Blue Hawk could have had a future with us." Stormfront said.

"Now he doesn't, if we want Ryan, let the League lock him up. He's dead fucking weight now." Homelander said. "You don't have a problem with that do you?" He asked her.

Stormfront looked like she was in the midst of swallowing a bitter pill.

"No problem." Stormfront relented.

The Scarecrow held the vial close to his eye, admiring its blue shine. Then he compared it to the red replica in his other hand, which was made not long ago. He placed the blue sample on his desk and grabbed a syringe. Once he had enough of the formula in the syringe and walked towards his lab crow. He injected it with the formula eliciting a frantic caw. It flew around in the cage before managing to free itself by burning through the cage and escaping the building by burning a hole in the roof. He got out his phone and let the speed dial handle the rest.

"This is Scarecrow, it's a success." Scarecrow said.

"I am very glad to hear that." Penguin said.

"Your men mentioned the outlaws, I'm fully prepared to deal with them." Scarecrow added.

"Good, I personally hope you break them." Penguin said.

"I can assure you, Oswald, that I can say with the utmost certainty that is a guarantee." Scarecrow said, eyeing a monitor that displayed footage of the Boys around his lab via a hidden security camera.

"This is the place." Butcher said, looking at the Scarecrow's hideout.

"There are no guards." MM said.

"He must think we're stupid." Butcher said.

"So we're still going in, right?" Hughie asked.

"Yes, we'll trash his lab and him too. This cunt doesn't have powers and I don't think a psychiatrist knows how to fight." Butcher said.

"What about the fear gas he has?" Hughie asked.

"Try to hold your breath." Butcher told him.

They walked to the entrance and opened it. There was nothing there, just darkness. Annie used her powers to turn the lights back on.

"You sure this is the place?" MM asked surveying the room.

"I hope so, if not we're giving those idiots a piece of my mind." Butcher grumbled.

Just then, MM stepped on a rug and felt the floor under it clicking. With that, they heard air being shot out in the room as well as someone coughing. It was MM as red gas from the floor was blown into his face.

MM found himself back at his home, his daughter Janine was in the living room with him waiting by the window. He ran and gave her a hug, but she had no reaction. Janine kept staring at the window and pointed out there.

"Daddy, Homelander is outside." She excitedly said.

MM looked out and he saw Homelander stopping some kids who were trying to forcibly open a Mercedes-Benz parked in front of his house. Janine ran upstairs, MM couldn't hold her.

"Mommy, mommy, it's Homelander!" He heard his daughter saying those familiar words. "Come look!"
"Janine, Monique, don't come down!" MM desperately yelled.

The two were walking down the stairs and MM saw Homelander take the Benz and then hurled it through their house like a freight train. Somehow, MM was completely unharmed, but his wife and daughter were under the car. In a minute they were there, and then they weren't. Their bodies were like a memory made of flesh, just like his grandfather. The smell, the feel of the floor, it all felt too real. But MM knew about Scarecrow's gas.

"Not real, not real, not real…" MM repeated. "Not real."

"Of course it's real." Homelander said and slapped MM across the room.

MM's back hit the wall and blood dropped from his mouth, it was warm and he could taste it. He could feel it in his hand when he wiped out.

"That's not happening, it's not real." MM said.

"It might not be happening, but it is real." Homelander said, but not with his own voice, a deeper voice from the past spoke out of his mouth. His eyes lit up red, and when the lights turned off, it was no longer Homelander, Soldier Boy stood there. "It was always real."

Tears fell down from his eyes, his breathing became heavier. MM put his arms up and closed his fists, ready to die in a fight.

"You want to fight me, boy?" Soldier Boy asked, now standing much taller.

MM looked at his body, no longer a grown man, he was now little Marvin in his pajamas. Soldier Boy hit him with his shield and sent him through the wall. By the time he hit the floor, MM was an adult once again, Janine ran to him and gave him a hug.

"Even if this never happens, I will always be here." Soldier Boy said. His eyes lit up red and once again, when the lights turned off, he was no longer Soldier Boy but a different man, looked like Homelander, younger, a darker hair, it was Ryan. This older Ryan held MM's neck. "There will always be one of me around."

Ryan broke his neck and threw his body across the house. MM stood in front of his own dead body, he saw himself as an old man on the floor with a broken neck. He was no longer in his house, he recognized the CIA office. The grown-up Ryan was there with Homelander and Stormfront. The Boys were all there, all older, Janine was all grown up. Butcher tried to attack Homelander with his crowbar, but his body was immediately cut in half by his laser. Frenchie was killed by one of Stormfront's lightning leading to Kimiko attacking her. Homelander pulled Kimiko off of Stormfront and held her arms while Stormfront held her legs. This gave Ryan the chance he needed and he ripped off Kimiko's head along her spinal cord. Annie absorbed electricity and got ready for a blast, Hughie was behind her but before she could attack, Ryan lasered her hands off, and laterally cut Hughie's head, whose brain fell on the floor with his body.

"NOOO…!" Annie started screaming and stopped when Homelander put his arm through her chest.

MM could see this adult Janine crying in the corner with her eyes closed as the three slowly walked towards her.

"Stay away from her!" MM shouted and tried to tackle them, he passed through them like he was a ghost.

Ryan stood in front of Janine, who was still crying, Homelander and Stormfront had their hands on Ryan's shoulders.

"All yours, son." Homelander said.

"Make us proud." Stormfront added.

MM tried to punch Ryan, but his fist did nothing. He saw the bright red light from his eyes and then, Janine was cut to pieces. MM had his back against the wall and watched with tears in his eyes Homelander and Stormfront congratulate Ryan. He yelled and ran to another punch, this time, he felt it hitting Ryan face, and broke his own hand. Stepping back, his body hit someone, Soldier Boy, who kicked MM to the ground.

"You really think you're doing something?" Soldier Boy said. "You're not doing shit, you can't do shit. That's the fucking world you live in. It's how it was in the past."

Soldier Boy threw the bodies of MM's father at him.

"It's what it is now." Homelander said and threw Monique and Janine's body at MM.

"How it will always be." Ryan said and threw the body of an adult Janine and an old MM at his younger self.

Homelander, Soldier Boy, and Ryan all brutally beat MM to a bloody pool, his jaw, arms, and legs all broken while the three kept beating him. The final blow, Soldier Boy's shield, launched MM onto a pile of bodies. Monique, Janine, his father, grandfather, Mallory, Reynolds, Butcher, Frenchie, Kimiko, Hughie, Annie, and many, many others were there while MM's body sank deeper into the pile.

The Boys watched on in horror as MM collapsed onto the floor huddling himself.

"Grab him, let's go!" Butcher told them, sounding uncharacteristically worried.

Kimiko picked up MM only for the door to be locked.

"I'm afraid that escape is no longer an option now, seeing as how the experiment has begun." The Scarecrow's voice announced from a hidden loudspeaker.

"Scarecrow, right?" Butcher asked. "How about this you let us go and I don't shove this up your fudger." Butcher said, brandishing his crowbar.

"I can assure you, Mr. Butcher. I don't fear you, in fact, there is very little that does. However, I will give you and your companions the chance to find me. I've already made headway on your world's Compound V." Scarecrow told them.

Three doors in the building all opened up.

"Split up." Butcher said.

"I'll stay with Mother's Milk and try to get him out of his bad trip." Frenchie said.

"Fine, keep yourselves safe." Butcher told him as they split into groups.

Annie went to the center door, Butcher and Hughie went to the right door, and Kimiko went through the left.

Annie managed to reach the Scarecrow. Two of his men were protecting him and began to shoot her. They were only handguns, so the bullets did no damage. She fired two energy blasts that knocked them off their feet. Scarecrow on the other hand seemed unperplexed; he did not seem afraid.

"You're done." She told him. In the past, she would have given him some sort of speech that she practiced as a child.

"You have no idea who you are up against, child." Scarecrow told her.

She grabbed him by the collar and held him against the wall when Crane put his palm in front of her face. A gas came out from a device under his sleeve, upon breathing the gas she coughed out. Starlight dropped Scarecrow as she fell down onto the floor. She remembered what Red Robin told her about his fear toxin. Annie hoped that maybe the Compound V in her veins would protect her.

Scarecrow examined Starlight as she slowly started to get off the floor.

"Tell me what do you see?" Scarecrow asked as he reached the exit. Annie noted that his tone felt less like a taunt, but more along the lines of genuine curiosity. It was like he thought of her as a patient.

Annie got up from the floor and looked at Scarecrow. She felt a little disoriented upon getting off the ground.

"Nothing." She told him.

"A delayed reaction, nothing more." Scarecrow told her before leaving through the door.

Starlight took after him, but upon opening the door was something she could not imagine...

It was the conference room at The Seven Tower. Starlight's mouth was agape as her eyes darted around the room.

Annie's heart started to race as she started to think why this was here. She heard the door opening and she saw him walking towards her: Homelander. The expression on his face made her take a step back. He was smiling which caused her spine to tingle, even more, when he interrogated her on the elevator.

"Starlight welcome back." Homelander said in a friendly manner.

She tried to find the urge to speak.

"T...this isn't real. You're just an illusion from that gas." She told him, hoping that it would break the hallucination.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Homelander told her.

"You should be pissed at me! I leaked Compound V to Butcher and Hughie!" She told him.

"Why should I be mad at one of our own?" Homelander said as he walked towards her. Annie stepped back further and the back of her legs struck the conference table. She was trapped.

"I am not one of your own!" She defended herself. Annie could feel the sweat starting to form. "Why? Why are you acting like this?" She demanded.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your first kill." Homelander said actually sounding genuine, which only terrified Annie more. "You truly are now a part of the Seven like you always wanted."

Upon hearing that, Annie's heart skipped a beat.

"I don't…" She was about to say.

"That man near Sage Grove when you were over there with William. I know you killed him, and I know just how little you cared." Homelander cut her off. "I mean you don't even know the guy's name do you?" He questioned.

"I was defending…" Annie said.

"I mean you didn't have to kill him to defend William and Campbell, there was a multitude of different ways to prevent that. Instead, you handled the situation just as I would have done." Homelander said. He pointed at the table and the corpse of the man she murdered was just now on the table.

Both seeing the corpse and hearing what Homelander said only made Annie's heart race. She could feel her skull start to condense on her brain like a vise. Her legs started to get buckle and she sniffled, all while her stomach churned.

"I am so proud of you." Homelander said, smiling in a way that reminded Annie of her father.

"It was an accident..." Annie said, defending herself. Despite that, she nearly choked out a sob when saying "accident".

"Same." She heard A-Train's voice and saw him sitting in his usual spot. "I didn't even learn the name of that bitch your boyfriend was dating."

Despite the impossibility of the scenario from A-Train being here to Homelander being proud, it felt very real. Her stomach started to churn. She climbed over the desk and kept backing up.

"Oh come now don't leave us." Stormfront's voice said as though she just materialized on her chair out of thin air. "We're the only ones you could possibly rely on." She said, trying to comfort her.

"Stop it!" Starlight cried out trying to activate her powers, but to her dismay, they were not working. Tears started to form in her eyes. Annie could only back away as the others slowly walked toward her showcasing her hopelessness.

"You're not seriously going to think these other heroes will let you in once they find out, right?" Homelander said as he approached her. "I mean just look at yourself, right now."

Annie kept backing away until she passed a mirror. She went back to the mirror and saw she was wearing the outfit Vought wanted her to wear. Only it was covered in blood which she desperately tried to wipe off. That was when she felt someone touch her shoulder.

"I told you so, Annie." Maeve said, appearing out of nowhere.

A startled Annie turned around and now found herself in new surroundings. It was the same dark tunnel she and the Seven chased the Boys. Where she was nearly forced to kill Hughie. It was dark, she could barely see anything. The only thing she could see was the silhouette of the Scarecrow. As the water started to splash he began to run. Annie started to realize that maybe she was fighting back.

"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real." She desperately told herself as more tears started to run down her face. It was here she started to hear a voice. At first, she did not recognize it, but once the voice got louder she recognized it belonged to the man she killed. They whispered into her ear. Some of these words were:

"Murderer"

"Hypocrite"

"Criminal"

Water splashed and the words started to get louder with each step Annie took. The words only grew louder.

"Killer"

"Liar"

"Freak"

"Butcher"

She closed her eyes and closed out her ears. Practically on the verge of breaking down when she saw someone in front of her. He looked like the Scarecrow. Annie could barely see him, so she fired one of her blasts. They struck the man and knocked him down. She went up to the course and realized it was not Scarecrow. Rather it was much worse: Hughie. Blood started to pour from the back of his head and some came out of his mouth. His eyes were wide open.

Annie was in a state of shock as her stomach started to turn. She retched onto the floor with her eyes shut tight.

Annie kneeled down on the ground upon seeing this and went over to Hughie. The tears started to flow freely from her eyes.

"Hughie…" She cried out sobbing into his chest.

"You know what I was thinking, when I was looking at him?" Her own voice echoed around the tunnel.

Hearing her own words caused Annie to look up. She saw someone standing in front of her covered in shadows.

"Why'd you pull a gun, you stupid fuck?" Her own words echoed.

"Maybe once I would've cried over him, but… Now he was just another person in our way."

Out stepped Starlight with a look on her face that would not look out of place on Homelander's. With the other members of the Seven watching on like it was a rite of passage. Annie lunged at the hallucination and started to strangle it.

Kimiko tried to free herself from Annie's grasp as she struggled to breathe. Not long ago she saw Annie crying on the floor and decided to help her fearing she was gassed. Only for Annie to lunge and strangle her. Annie's grip was strong as Kimikos' eyes started to blur from lack of oxygen. Kimiko maneuvered her legs underneath Annie and started to kick her. Annie was sent back to the other end of the hallway cracking the brick wall.

Kimiko's gasps for breath audibly filled the room as Annie started to get up. Annie grabbed a fire extinguisher that fell on the floor and threw it at Kimiko, nailing her in the head. Kimiko's nose broke and knocked out some of her teeth. Annie yelled out in desperation as she fired an energy blast at Kimiko sending her back.

Kimiko knew that Annie had an advantage over her in a long-range fight so she grabbed the fire extinguisher that had hit her. Kimiko started to spray it at Annie to create an impromptu smoke screen before throwing it at Annie. Further obscuring Annie's vision, fortunately, Annie's energy blasts made her visible to Kimiko. Seeing this as an opportunity, Kimiko charged at the smoke screen and tackled Annie into the wall.

Wanting to end this quickly, Kimiko bashed Annie's head into the wall with all her strength. She managed to do so three times, creating a hole in the wall, but Annie freed herself and punched Kimiko in the next room, which was a bathroom. Kimiko crashed through one of the sinks shattering it as water began to spray around the room. Kimiko grabbed her ribs which were definitely broken at this point.

Annie pinned her to the floor once more and punched her in the face.

"I'm not like you!" She yelled as she punched Kimiko with her right fist.

"I'll never be like you!" She yelled out as she struck Kimiko's left cheek with her left fist.

Annie began to pound her fists against Kimiko's head. Kimiko reached out for anything close and felt something made of porcelain. She grabbed it and hit Annie with a piece of the sink, knocking her off Kimiko.

Annie's face now had a cut on the side not to mention a bloody lip and nose. Kimiko got behind Annie and wrapped her arm around her neck.

"NO! NO!" Annie gasped out as she tried to shake Kimiko off of her by driving her up against the walls. She managed to break through one, but Kimiko's grip was still tight. Eventually, Annie passed out.

Kimiko got off of Annie, immediately checking her pulse and a surge of relief overcame her as she noticed she was still alive. Kimiko got up, still feeling pain from her fight with Annie. Kimiko was exhausted from the fight. She realized that she had underestimated Annie, the fear toxin must have made her lose restraint. Kimiko limped still feeling tired she dragged Annie with her, knowing she should probably keep an eye on her in case the toxin wore off. As she turned the corner, Kimiko saw one of Scarecrow's men holding shotguns. He blasted her in the chest, knocking the supe to the floor. Before he emptied the chamber on her just to be safe as more of his compatriots arrived.

This commotion did not go unnoticed by Hughie and Butcher.

"What was that?" Hughie asked sounding worried.

"Fuck it all…" Butcher cursed as he carefully moved to the source of the sound.

They ran and saw the hole in the wall from Annie and Kimiko's fight. As well as, Kimiko getting bound and dragged by Scarecrow's men with Annie in tow.

"Annie!" Hughie cried out before shooting at the men. Scarecrow's men returned fire forcing Hughie and Butcher to get out of the way.

"Next time try not to warn them." Butcher called out.

Hughie angrily glared at Butcher.

"We have to save them." Hughie said.

Just then Hughie felt something sharp embed itself in his neck. Butcher went over to Hughie and pulled it out. It almost resembled a tranquilizer dart.

Hughie opened his eyes and saw that he was in a graveyard. It was dark, misty, and cold. He looked at the graves in front of him and saw the names of The Boys on them, all dead the present year.

"No! This isn't real!" Hughie said.

"It is real." Annie's voice whispered in his ear.

He looked around and saw the mist transform into an apparition of Annie.

"Annie?" Hughie asked.

"Why did you leave us?" Annie asked, sounding genuinely sad.

"What?" Hughie questioned. "No, I didn't leave you." He said.

"You left us when we needed you, and we died because you are a coward!" Annie's ghost angrily accused him.

Annie's appearance changed to something more monstrous. Her face resembled that of Count Orlok with red eyes. Just then Hughie felt two pairs of hands grab his legs, causing him to fall down. As another pair of hands grabbed his arms and started to pull him down.

Despite their decayed look, Hughie recognized the hands as belonging to Butcher, MM, Frenchie, and Kimiko from their torn sleeves.

Hughie tried to get up, but he was being pulled down into the ground like it was quicksand.

"Annie!" Hughie pleaded as he felt the ground envelope his limbs before slowly sinking his chest into the ground.

Annie's apparition disappeared, and there Hughie saw another woman standing under a tree. He could not see her face, but Hughie could feel that it was his long-lost mother.

"MOM!" He cried out as he fully sunk into the ground.

"Hughie, get up lad!" Butcher called out as he shook Hughie. Hughie was lying on the floor moving erratically like he was trying to free himself.

Butcher slapped Hughie in an attempt to wake him from whatever nightmare he was having.

"Some fucking bad trip." Butcher grumbled as he continued trying to wake Hughie.

Until he felt something strike him in the back of his head, knocking him out.

When he woke up, Butcher realized he was tied up next to Frenchie and Kimiko. Kimiko had a collar around her neck, but she still seemed unconscious. There was an alarming amount of blood on her shirt. The room was dark with only a small amount of light shining over the three of them from an overhanging lamp.

"What happened?" Butcher asked, his head still hurting.

"What happened is you attempted to stop my experiments." Scarecrow told them as he stepped out towards them.

"Scarecrow, right? Tell me where's the lion, tinman, and Dorothy?" Butcher asked.

The lights of the room turned on and they saw Hughie, Annie, and MM trapped in cells continually spraying fear toxin. Annie huddled in on herself, MM tried to break himself free by pounding on the plexiglass, and Hughie kept convulsing on the ground.

"They're right here." Scarecrow told them.

"Let them go! Or I swear, I'll shove that stick up your arse!" Butcher threatened.

"You are not in the position to make threats, Mr. Butcher." Scarecrow told him.

Kimiko tried to free herself, but was unable to despite the fact she was tied with rope.

"The collar inhibits your strength, Miss Miyashiro. Same as Miss January over there." Scarecrow told them as he got over to his table.

"You're going to use us as lab experiments?" Frenchie asked.

"You're perceptive. Yes, that is my intention." Scarecrow said.

"How do you think the crime lords here will feel about you holding us as prisoners? I can imagine the short cunt won't be too happy about you keeping us here." Butcher said.

"Actually, Cobblepot gave me his permission to keep you as subjects for my experiments." Scarecrow said as he held out a breathing mask with a hose. He put the mask on Butcher before walking towards what looked like a gas tank. Scarecrow attached the hose to the nozzle.

"Tell me Mr. Butcher you appear to be a brave man. What is it that you fear?" Scarecrow inquired.

"Speaking to you for another bloody goddamn second, straw cunt." Butcher glared.

"I doubt that. Fear is a natural part of life. It's what drives us in every aspect of life." Scarecrow told him. "People go to the doctor because they fear dying. They get married out of fear of loneliness. They have children to pass on something for generations." He added.

"Interesting theory, I can't see why you were kicked out of being a psychiatrist." Butcher sarcastically said, his entire body tensed as Scarecrow had his hand on the dial.

"Small minds are everywhere, even in the administration of higher education." Scarecrow said.

"Now Mr. Butcher, prepare to face your fears." Scarecrow said as turned the dial.

Just then something was thrown at the hose. Scarecrow angrily turned to his left and looked up seeing Nightwing.

"Let them go, Crane." He said.

"Unlikely, boy wonder." Scarecrow told him. "I find it odd that Batman was willing to use such tenderfoots against the underworld of this city."

"Trust me he isn't." Nightwing said, before turning over to Frenchie. "You really should have taken my offer, Serge. Now stay where you are." He added.

"I really would like to see you try to save us on our own. I guess Batman was busy fucking about with Homelander and friends." Butcher said.

"In the same way as you and I are about to be, yes that's kind of accurate." Nightwing said.

"Enough of this prattle. Kill him!" Scarecrow ordered.

Just then, two henchmen next to Scarecrow were strung up to the ceiling. Scarecrow looked up and saw Spoiler and Batgirl as the assailants. Batgirl swung down the rafters and kicked Scarecrow in the chest, while Batgirl stopped the flow of fear toxin in the cells. Scarecrow's men shot at them before they could cuff Scarecrow.

Scarecrow moved back with a couple of his men forming a perimeter around him. However, something was knocked out of his pocket and slid over to Butcher's feet. It looked like a remote with a button on it. Seeing no other option, he stomped on it. Kimiko and Annie's collars were now off, but while Annie was still feeling the effects of the fear toxin, Kimiko ripped herself free.

"Get the others!" Butcher called out in the middle of the fire.

Kimiko nodded and ran over to the cells where MM, Hughie, and Annie were. She picked up the men in the group and brought them over to Butcher and Frenchie who were over by a stack of crates. Of the two, MM seemed to be the most recovered.

"Are you alright?" Frenchie asked MM.

"No, I'm pretty fucking far from being alright." MM said. "But I'll still do what I can." He added.

Kimiko was now lifting Annie over her shoulder. She looked over at what was happening between Scarecrow's men and the Bat-family. Scarecrow's men were getting demolished by Batgirl while it looked like Spoiler and Nightwing managed to corner Scarecrow. Reinforcements seemed to be getting close.

"Butcher we need to leave." Frenchie pleaded.

"Agreed." Butcher agreed as he barreled through the exit with the rest in tow. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but retreating was their only option for getting out unscathed. Well, a certainly loose definition of the word unscathed.