Chapter 10! I own nothing but the plot.

In Bruce's Mind

Bruce still in his Batman attire was in a dark alley. He looked around to try and figure out where he was, and his heart dropped when he saw a sign with the words 'Crime Alley' written in red over the original streets name. He knew what was coming up next and continued down the alley until he noticed a mugging.

"Give me the pearls lady!" A thug said.

"Bruce! Martha! Get behind me!" A man said.

Bruce looked at the situation and felt he couldn't move. All he could do was watch. Just like he did back then. Suddenly two shots went off and the man went down.

"THOMAS!" The lady identified as Martha screamed.

The boy who would be a younger Bruce clenched on to his mother. Then two more shots. Martha dropped onto Thomas. Her pearls shattering apart.

"Damn it!" The thung said before running off.

The younger Bruce fell over and cried over his parents deceased bodies. Bruce walked over to the scene and Bruce's younger self looked up and fell back.

"AHHH who are you?! Get away from me! Help!" He screamed loudly.

Bruce stepped back surprised at the fact his younger self could see him.

"Are..are you okay?" Bruce asked his younger self.

"What do you think..my parents are dead.." The younger Bruce said through tears. "I could've stopped them..but I didn't do anything.."

"No. There was nothing you could do alone." Bruce said

"Why would I go at it alone..? My father was here I could have distracted the thug and he take him down..but why didn't I do anything.." Younger Bruce said.

Bruce thought about it for a second. He probably could have distracted the thug in some way, but didn't. It's a fact he's felt guilty about his whole life. And no matter how many people he's saved, it would never replace the guilt of not being able to save his parents. He thought about what Catwoman said.

FLASHBACK

"Why do you keep doing this? Giving me lectures and then going off to disappear and I only see you when I'm in danger or in trouble? Luscious told me you loved me..he told me who you are..I just want to know Bruce..Why do you keep taking on this challenge alone?! Why don't you let me help you? I don't want to see you die at the hands of these villains! Why wouldn't you let the one you love help you so you don't have to carry on this burden..?"

END OF FLASHBACK

He thought about what she said and put it together with what his younger self had just told him. Why would he keep doing things on his own? When help would've prevented his parents death? He thought about it.

"Help..." Bruce said.

His younger self still crying looked up at him. Bruce kneeled down and touched his grabbed his shoulder.

"Sometimes a little help is good. But sometimes there are things you have to do alone or you'll get the ones you love hurt. Getting your father to help would've probably gotten him hurt. I know what it's like to lose your parents, but if there was truly something you could have done, you would've stopped the thug." Bruce said.

"What?" Young Bruce said, "That doesn't make sense! Help if anything would've saved my parents! There was nothing I could do alone!" Young Bruce yelled.

"Maybe it didn't seem that way. But there's always something you can do." Bruce said. "Now, there's something I need to do alone."

Bruce stood up and turned and walked away. Young Bruce stood up too, his head down.

"I...I...I..I hope I never grow up to be like you!" Young Bruce said.

Bruce snapped back into reality his eyes wide and sweating profusely. He looked around the room and saw Robin on the ground on his back, and Gordon lay right next to him. He looked down in front of him and there was Scarecrow.

"Do you see Wayne? My new fear toxin doesn't focus on petty phobias. No it goes straight for a persons true fear. Self acceptance for yourself Wayne, that is your true fear. You go and defeat guys like me every night, but what have you really accomplished?" Scarecrow said.

Bruce's eyes were still wide with surprise and fear at what his younger self had said to him.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION WAYNE!" Scarecrow yelled. "WHAT HAVE YOU TRULY ACCOMPLISHED? YOU PUT US IN CELLS AND WE BREAK OUT AND DO IT AGAIN!"

Bruce truly didn't know what to say. For the first time in a long time he felt hopeless.

"You see now Gotham? Your savior. Your dark knight. Has nothing to say." Scarecrow said confidently. "Just a shell of a former man. I don't think you've SUFFERED ENOUGH."

Scarecrow injected more fear toxin into Bruce and his eyes went wide and he passed out. Bruce woke up from the splatter of rain on his face. It was raining very heavily. He stood up and noticed he was just surrounded by black with nothing but water falling down on him. Then he heard footsteps. Out of the shadows a young man with a shaved head and mask appeared. Robin.

"Robin.." Bruce said.

"It's your fault Bruce. If you didn't put me in that cell Scarecrow wouldn't have gotten me." Robin said.

"No..Robin I.." Bruce said fighting back tears.

Suddenly a gunshot. Robin looked down to his chest and collapsed, landing in the same position he was in at the Asylum. Then another figure came out of the shadows. Jason Todd.

"Jason..." The tears were falling down Bruce's face now.

"Scarecrow is right you know. What have you accomplished?"Jason said.

"I don't know..I don't know." Bruce said.

"I'll answer that for you Bruce. Absolutely nothing! OVER A YEAR WITH THE JOKER GOING THROUGH TORTURE I WOULDN'T WISH ON MY WORST ENEMY. Then Haha! Then he blows me to hell and of course you show up last minute." Jason said fuming. "And and to top it all off YOU FINALLY FACE HIM AND DO WHAT?! KNOCK HIM OUT!"

"YOU KNOW KILLING HIM WOULDN'T MAKE ME ANY BETTER THAN HIM JASON!" Bruce yelled.

"Oh no no no no don't try to yell at me now Bruce, YOU messed up and you know it. You could have stopped so many of these guys if you just finished them. So many people dead. Because of your selfishness."

Bruce knew Jason was right. The same guys breaking out and killing people all for Bruce just to go arrest them with a few broken bones.

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU! JOKER EVEN KILLED 15 CHILDREN JUST TO GET YOUR ATTENTION? IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH OF A REASON TO KILL HIM...Then...then maybe you are just weak at heart."

Bruce was tired of it and ran to take a swing at Jason who easily dodged it. When Bruce turned around and looked up it was the mugger that killed his parents aiming a gun at him and Bruce was a kid again.

"Goodbye squirt." The thug said.

"NO WAIT!" Bruce yelled.

POW

Bruce's eyes flew open and Bruce shot up sweating and panting.

"Awake again? I am surprised my toxin still hasn't taken over your very soul. The people of Gotham have seen what I wanted them to see. And now I will project this very toxin over them. And everyone will no there is no hope." Scarecrow said.

Bruce was back where he started in the dark alley. When he looked up the thug was there mugging his parents. Bruce got up and walked towards them.

"Give me the pearls lady!" The thug said.

"Martha, Bruce get back!" Thomas Wayne said.

As the thug cocked his gun ready to shoot he was grabbed by Bruce who slammed him to the ground and stepped on his neck as hard as he could. Bruce looked up himself and his family with killing intent in his eyes.

"GET HOME NOW!" Bruce said.

The Waynes took off through the alley and onto the streets.

"Ohhh ho ho ho ho ho! Very good bats! Now use that same fire on Scarecrow! Use it USE IT!"

Back in reality. Scarecrow was telling the people of Gotham his plans to unleash his toxin on them. Bruce was still slumped. Scarecrow walked over to him.

"And as for your dark knight." Scarecrow said lifting up Bruce's head.

Bruce looked at Scarecrow with bright green eyes.

"What the hell? IMPOSSIBLE!" Scarecrow injected him with even more fear toxin, but Bruce was unfazed. Fearing Bruce would get loose Scarecrow put Gordon's pistol to his head ready to pull the trigger, but Jason, watching from afar with his sniper rifle, shot the gun out of Scarecrow's hand and then shot the restraint on Bruce's right hand.

Bruce felt the restraint go away and grabbed Scarecrow by the throat and threw him across the room. Bruce broke his other restraint and jumped onto Scarecrow and started punching him violently. One of the punches broke his jaw but Bruce continued to punch him. With each punch Scarecrow's face flashed from Joker, to the thug, to Jason, and back to Scarecrow. Gordon woke up to see Bruce mauling Scarecrow and got up to stop him.

"BRUCE CALM DOWN! PLEASE BRUCE THIS ISN'T YOU!" Gordon yelled.

Bruce turned around and grabbed Gordon. Then looked past him at Robin and came back to his senses.

"Gordon...I'm sorry." Bruce said.

"I...It's okay Bruce..you almost killed Crane." Gordon said through stutters.

"I don't know what came over me..." Bruce said.

Gordon turned around to see a man kneeling over Robin.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Gordon yelled.

"Relax. I'm a friend of Bruce's."

It was Jason Todd. He thought about what Bruce had told them the last time they saw each other and thought about giving this hero thing a chance again. Maybe it would help him find himself.

"Jason.." Bruce said.

"Save it Bruce. It's okay."

"We can't keep talking! We've got to get Scarecrow locked up and Robin to a hospital!" Gordon said.

"Well after what Bruce did Scarecrow isn't going anywhere right now and as for Robin..I'm sorry but the bullet went straight through his heart. He's done." Jason said softly.

Gordon turned around and wiped his eyes.

"Bruce come on. I'll grab Robin." Jason said.

Bruce picked up Scarecrow and walked into the main hall of the Asylum. He saw his equipment on a table outside the doors and went to grab it. He fitted his communicator to his wrist and noticed he missed a call from Luscious. He played the message left behind and was horrified to hear Pyg on the other end.

"Hello Mr. Wayne! Very rude of you to ignore Pyg's calls! I just wanted to let you know Luscious has been a gracious host to me and my boy Janoz! Say hello Luscious!" Pyg said.

"Damn you to hell freak!" Luscious said.

"WHAT DID PYG TELL YOU ABOUT THAT LANGUAGE! JANOZ STICK HIM IN THE STOMACH UNTIL HE APOLOGIZES! Sorry about that Mr. Wayne! Take care! I'll be seeing you very soon!"

"Who the hell was that?" Jason said.

"His name..is Lazlo Valentin..and I think he's done something to Luscious."

"Shit. You think he saw the broadcast? Showing who you are?" Gordon said.

"Obviously commissioner, that's how he knew to go for Luscious. Once he learned Batman's identity it was nothing to see who he worked with." Jason said.

"Come on. If he got to Luscious there's no telling who else he got to!" Bruce said as the trio ran through Arkham's halls.

'Selina..Alfred..you'd both better be okay. I can't lose anyone else..'