(Hey guys! Thanks so much for all of your awesome reviews! You've really encouraged me to keep plugging and chugging to put out another chapter in a timely fashion. D Now please forgive this chapter being a bit short, but I figured it was a nice enough stopping point for this segment, and I wanted to give you guys a little something for being so patient with me for updates ;) Thanks again for all your support! You guys rock!!)
The high pitched screams were music to Jonathan's ears. He loved watching them scatter like cockroaches when the lights were turned on; their fear was intoxicating on so many levels.
Jonathan smiled to himself contentedly watching and waiting until the panic stricken young couple disappeared around the corner before leaving the sidewalk. His feet crunched on the recently broken glass as he marched across the 1st National bank's lobby towards the angry looking security guard being held captive by his two thugs.
The Scarecrow held up a small piece of rubber shaped like a skull; attached to it was a tube leading to a gas canister strapped to the Scarecrow's back. He tilted his head examining the man's snarl thoughtfully before squeezing the skull head to spray the guard full in the face with his fear gas.
The man's eyes widened as the rubber skull became an actual skull, its sockets burning a crimson red; the gas erupting from its jaws becoming barely evadable flames.
He hollered horrified as the Scarecrow transformed before him; his nails elongating into talons and his jaw melting down to his chest into a gaping hole of razor sharp teeth in rows that resembled that of a piranha. A buzzing sound grew into a roar as flies and locusts began to pour out of the cavernous maw in deafening hordes to swarm into a macabre dance around the Scarecrow.
The security guard screamed in terror as he twisted desperately against his captors his feet sliding every which way in an effort to escape this demon-spawned creature that now stood before him, but he was held firmly in place.
"Why how do you do," the Scarecrow chuckled as the man quaked at his every syllable.
"Please don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want!" The man whimpered.
Jonathan grinned leaning in close to the man and whispered, "Give me access to the vault."
The man nodded straining to quickly reach his plump fingers into his upper pocket and pull out his employee badge. He held it out nervously for the Scarecrow to take as he stuttered, "Ha... here! Ta... ta... take it! Please forgive me! It'll get you into the vault area, but I don't have the clearance to get into the actual vault. Please don't hurt me! I... I've ga... got a wife and kids!"
Jonathan snatched the card out of the man's grasp impatiently and walked towards the vault entrance as he muttered, "Leave this simpering fool; he's of no further use to me." His thugs followed suit dropping the man to the ground to curl into a ball of tremors.
The trio made their way through the bullet-proof security entrance into the heart of the bank coming to a stop in front of the titanium vault door. Jonathan smiled gleefully at his soon to be prize and commented, "Well boys, I think after this job a vacation will be in order, Aruba perhaps?"
The Scarecrow pointed at the door, "You know what to do," he instructed before walking back down the hall. His henchmen quickly got to work lacing the vault's doorframe with calked C-4 and attaching a copper wire to the detonator the Scarecrow had made before trailing the coil back out to the lobby where Jonathan was waiting for them.
The henchmen handed the wire over to the Scarecrow to hook up to the relay device as they braced themselves against the wall covering their ears while Jonathan triggered the detonator.
The room shook as the bolts holding the door were blasted into a million tiny shards that splintered into the plexi-glass security wall leaving the vault door still standing for a moment before it groaned collapsing to the floor with a heavy clang. The bank's alarm sounded immediately, and the thieves quickly ran towards the dust laden room to collect their goods.
As they reached the room they stopped cold in their tracks. Through the haze of smoke an emergency light flickered on and a message appeared on the vault's wall projected onto the smoke from one of the vault's inner security cameras.
The message read: How is this message like a hound's bay? The answer to the riddle was that both warned the hunted they were on the verge of getting caught. As the smoke cleared, the message disappeared without a trace of it ever being there in the first place.
Edward leaned back in his computer chair grinning wickedly as he examined, from the vault's cross-angled security camera he'd tapped into, the stumped expressions on the Scarecrow's henchmen.
Jonathan clenched his fists seemingly not amused or appreciative of the Riddler's warning. Was the Riddler planning on hitting his bank? Jonathan didn't need to figure out the riddle to know that he'd best get in and out before any more surprises unveiled themselves. He was sure if Edward had targeted the 1st National bank, Batman would already be hot on the trail of his uncontrollable need to leave clues to his crimes.
Scarecrow seethed inwardly feeling slighted by his fellow rouge's M.O. and set his men to the task of only usurping half the cash they'd originally planned on unloading.
As Edward watched the heist unfold from the safety of his computer screen, he couldn't help but wonder if Jonathan had solved his riddle or had just guessed it was a warning.
Either way, he was elated to see that the Scarecrow had enough sense to not be too greedy fleeing the site scant minutes before the arrival of Batman and Robin.
Batman and Robin had rushed into the building first stopping to access the man cowering in the corner. Robin called 911 to send the police and an ambulance, and Batman injected the semi-comatose man with a sedative to knock him out to prevent heart failure due to the extended stress the Scarecrow's toxins induced.
Once the security guard was taken care of, the two heroes jetted into the bank vault to try and catch the Scarecrow. All they found was scattered traces of bills that had escaped their abduction. The Scarecrow and his gang were long gone.
Edward's smile broadened as he retorted to himself, "That's one for Jonathan, and zip for the Bat."
The Riddler sighed happily quite pleased with himself before disconnecting his transmission to the bank's security system and leaving behind a bug to eat all records of his connection to the facility's network.