Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuckity fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Not good yoko nai dame da ne xorosho mal muy malo meioh good as-sakwa li-llah.

Not fucking good.

--

Have you ever felt a moment of absolute fear?

When I feel fear, or anything else, really, I turn it into anger. That's what these notebooks are for. That's why I come off as so self-abusive when things are going bad. Because anger can be channeled into something useful.

It didn't work this time.

So we picked up our little wounded Riddler and carried him between us as we ran, screaming, through the sewers, hoping for the best.

What the fuck kind of plan is that? I may have been training for years, I may be in the best shape of my life, but I know I'm no good for running and I never will be. My damn knee. Still hurts like hell.

The things followed us, but even though they could have caught us no problem, they didn't. Why? There must have been a reason. What were they planning? Why would they let us go?

(Keep reading, boss. You'll laugh when you find out.)

It was night. Late. No one around, no one to notice two semi-hysterical women dragging a very battered Riddler out of the sewer.

Gotham City at night is lit up brighter than Christmas.

Except in the case of a power outage, which was the only thought on my mind when I called the boss and politely requested a ride home and some napalm.

When I got done, Lexy and Eddie were gone. That was a moment of fear and anger for me. They just left me there to face my boss, who does not tolerate failure. I mean, I was even going to engineer a daring escape for them. You know, if it turned out to be necessary.

Too late for regrets now, though.

The boss showed. Saw I was alone. Was pissed.

Flooded the sewers with napalm anyway because I swore it was really, really, really important.

Blew up a chunk of Gotham. Batman will not be pleased.

And as I should have predicted, the Joker read my notebook, realized I was ready to betray him, and said the five words I've been dreading for years:

"Flappie, you're no fun anymore."

So he filled me full of laughing gas and threw me out of the helicopter.

Now, the fall didn't kill me because I landed in an open dumpster. Gross.

And the laughing gas didn't kill me because…deus ex machina? It had no effect on me.

Oh, don't worry. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation.

--

Constant interruptions. No privacy.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad those kids who saw me fall thought to bring me to this clinic. If they hadn't, who knows how long it would have taken me to find my old pals.

Good old Lexy brought Eddie straight here, to a free clinic that doesn't ask too many questions. She must not have expected me to end up in the same place, judging by her reaction when she saw me.

She ran.

I like to think of myself as a good judge of character, and this one didn't strike me as the type who would abandon a guy to his fate just to save her own skin. So I knew if I found Eddie, eventually I would be seeing her again.

Poor Eddie. Finally, he's safe. Sleeping like a baby. I am glad I had a hand in his rescue. I'm glad he's going to make a full recovery.

The same can't be said of some of the others who have been pouring in here tonight. Everyone is frightened and angry and out to get the Joker for blowing up their city. This is something I'll feel tormented about later. Right now, I'm busy.

Lexy came back to Eddie and saw me sitting with him.

"I'm not going to hurt him, you know," I said.

"This place is seriously understaffed. Want to help?"

We presented ourselves to the doctors and were assigned to assist Dr. Thompkins. Neither of us has any medical training, but hands are hands, I guess.

"My boss wasn't very happy when he found me," I said as we washed our hands.

"What's your greatest fear?" she asked. I didn't see what that had to do with anything. Then she asked me how much I knew about the Scarecrow.

So. For years, my greatest fear has been to die with a smile on my face. Not an uncommon fear for people working with my boss.

Lexy doesn't work for the Scarecrow, but she knows him, and she knows his fear toxin. How he likes to develop new strains and test them.

We actually got caught up in this by accident. Isn't that just a fucking RIOT?

Oh, I'm laughing my ass off, here.

There must have been something down there. Something killed George and the twins. Something cut Eddie up pretty bad.

But there were no fucking shadow creatures.

I think…I am extremely pissed off. I have a bone to pick with this Scarecrow.