Chapter 7
Fear
Dick screamed into the Batmobile's suddenly interrupted audio system. "Help! Somebody stop this! Help! Help!"
"Dick?" Batgirl blurted out amidst the screams.
"Oh my God! It's them! They're falling! NO! Don't go! Stop! Stop! STOP!!!!"
"What's happening? What's going on?" Babs asked.
"I don't know," Batman said, frustrated, accelerating the Batmobile.
"Help me," Dick begged, soft, and frightened. "I think it's coming closer. Please no. Don't get any closer. No! Wait! What are you doing? Stop! Stay away from me!"
"What's coming closer?" Babs asked, urgently.
"Scarecrow," Batman whispered, smiling slightly.
"What?" Babs asked, suddenly more frightened.
"Dr. Steven Crane, alias: Scarecrow. Robin's been infected with what I suspect is a new neurotoxin. I need to synthesize an antidote, so you'll need to take him out solo. Besides, this is part of your case."
"Wait," Babs stared at him, eyebrows knitted. "You know who it is?"
"I never said that," Batman smiled smugly. "It's your case. You need to solve it."
Babs pouted. How were Two Face, The Riddler, The Fearsome Five, and, now, The Scarecrow all related? Was the Penguin really involved? How could Batman already have solved this case?
"Take Robin's bike back to the cave when you're done."
They turned into an alley behind Robin's warehouse, lights flooding the dark corners and facets of the alley. Batman slammed on the brakes as Dick jumped out of a back door and into the middle of the alley, skidding to a stop like a deer in the headlights, cringing away from the lights, falling to the ground, and finally twitching uncontrollably as Batman slid open the Batmobile's top, jumped out, pulled a sedative out of his belt, and injected it into Dick's neck.
Immediately, Dick began to slow down, his body cooling as his rapid twitching and breathing slowed. Batman picked him up and set him in Babs's old position in the Batmobile.
Sure that Dick would be alright, Babs ran into the building through the door that Dick had entered and into the inky blackness, pulling out her night vision lenses and clipping them to her mask, the massive factory filling green around her.
"Good evening," a voice echoed around the factory's catwalks and metal walls. "I don't believe we've met. You are?"
"It's Batgirl, Scarecrow," she called out. "Why don't you come down here so we can talk."
"You know my name!" snickered the Scarecrow's voice. "But what's the fun in talking face to face? I prefer talking this. It's so… intimidating"
Babs looked up to an office on the top catwalk, which overlooked the factory. The lights in the office were on, creating a white void her lenses could not see into.
"Not in there, my dear Batgirl," The Scarecrow teased. "So stop trying to see me. I have you surrounded. I am everywhere and I am no where." She shivered, feeling the glee in his voice and the smile on his face. "Sends shivers down your spine, doesn't it? Knowing that I can be anywhere. For all you know, I could even be right behind you."
Babs whipped around just in time to see a shadow dart behind a large container. She sprinted after it, but when she rounded the other side of the container, she found nothing. Where was he? What if he got the drop on her? What if she couldn't find him in time? What if he took her out by surprise because of her inability to know his location? What if she would never prove herself to Batman?
"How's the air? Any good?" the Scarecrow mused. "I think it tastes… beautiful, full of that taste of… Whats' the word? Fear, maybe?
Babs dove to the side, away from something speeding towards her, and pulled out her gas mask to prevent her from inhaling more of Scarecrow's toxin.
"I think it's too late," The Scarecrow said, mocking pity. "Your brain has already been intoxicated. It's too late," he laughed as she stumbled blindly into a tank next to her, sending an echoing sound of hollow metal reverberating through the cavernous warehouse.
Come on Babs! It's a chemical compound! It's diluted throughout the air, there's nothing to fear. He's just an emaciated looking man who's never gotten any dates--
She screamed as a giant pair of scissors dove out of the sky; ducking to one side, she curled into a tiny ball, placing her hands over her head.
It took her several seconds to calm herself down enough for her to lift her head. A giant pair of scissors had cut and flown over her head.
I have nothing to fear. The scissors weren't real. They had only flown in her head.
She attempted to suppress the overwhelming, thoughts that plagued her senses, closing her eyes, listening intently for anything, footsteps, breathing, footsteps.
Footsteps came first, patting at her rapidly from behind. She spun, eyes still closed, and swung her foot blindly to stop the footsteps that were coming from behind her. The steps stopped as her leg swung past.
Fakes. They weren't real.
She continued to listen, eyes still closed. For a split second, she heard slight, quiet, feather-soft footsteps echo slightly on the catwalk above her.
She pulled her grapple out of her belt, fired it upwards, and heard it chink on the metal grating in the catwalk. It pulled her upwards just as a maniacal, unbearable cackling echoed around the room, causing a split second's hesitation, just enough to make her lose her concentration and her grip on the grapple.
The Joker could not be here. No way. He never teamed up with anyone unless he was in control. Which would mean that Harley or assorted thugs would accompany him.
Eyes pressed and forced closed, continued her upward climb as a gun fired from the ground below. She flinched slightly, but continued, as the gun fired again, repeatedly as more and more shots rang out, other people's footsteps run to join the gunshots fired upwards.
It wasn't real. It was the Scarecrow's trick to get her to fall and give in to her fear.
She opened her eyes to see a giant snake intertwined with the metal grating; she smashed her eyes closed again, yelping as she held tightly to her line. Regaining control of her breathing, she swung upwards and onto the bars of the catwalk, but felt something crawl onto her hand as she gripped it. Almost recoiling on instinct, she let the thing disappear from her mind as she pulled herself over the bars, jumping to the grating, and gasping from the strain of maintaining her mental stability, as she felt it begin to take its toll on her body. The familiar feather steps approached her, taking their time and being careful to make no noise.
"Good," she heard the Scarecrow's chuckle echo around the factory. "Good! But you can't keep your eyes closed forever. You never know what could happen."
The inflection of his voice combined with the sound of the grating creaking slightly forced Babs' eyes open, just in time for her to react and grab the Scarecrow's ankle an inch before his foot made contact with her face.
"How? How did you?" he stammered.
"Trade secret," she smirked as she pulled his leg straight up, falling him to his back. She stepped over him, looming. "Where's the antidote?"
"What antidote?" he asked innocently.
"In order for you to pump your fear toxin into the room, you have to be inoculated with a vaccine. Where is it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Scarecrow feigned ignorance.
"Give it to me. Now," Babs demanded.
"I don't think so," The Scarecrow yawned. "I want to know what Batgirl fears most in the world. Losing the respect of Batman and Robin? Failing to fight again?"
Slow footsteps this time. Clink. Clink. Clink. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Babs looked up. There stood the Joker, hat over head, eyes covered, gun pointed at her stomach. He smiled wider than normal, cackling as he pulled the trigger, relishing as she felt the bullet break into her body and through her, shattering her spine. She fell to the ground too paralyzed to move, breathing shallow, bleeding freely.
"Thought so," The Scarecrow cackled as he flipped to his feet and turned, walking away.
Get up Babs. You're not injured. It was just a figment of your imagination. She tilted her head up slightly to watch as the Scarecrow walked directly through the Joker. See Babs? It's not real; just a figment of the Scarecrow's toxin.
But the bullet hurt so bad. She put her hand to the gaping hole in her stomach and pulled it up to her eyes, the blood glistening on her glove. No bullet could stop her, imaginary or real. Slowly, the blood disappeared from the glove as her mind began to perceive and separate the imaginary from the real. The wound disappeared and the warm blood dried and dissipated from her stomach.
She stood up, slowly, careful to hold her stomach as her mind healed her tender flesh and spine.
"Scarecrow!" she yelled, making him turn as he turned the around catwalk's corner. "We're not done yet!"
He bolted, sprinting down the catwalk, Babs hot on her heels, careful to run through the Joker. Figments popped out of the walls and into her path, but she ignored them, adrenaline commandeering the bloodstream and temporarily forcing the toxin from its control over her body. She followed him into the main room, popping out the lenses out of her eyes just as she burst into the lit office, Scarecrow stopping momentarily to flip on the factory lights, hoping to daze her, giving her enough time to swing her fist at his head, catching up to the Scarecrow as he stopped for a split second to turn on the lights.
He ducked, unusually agile and attempted to return the hit.
They fought, Scarecrow dodging everyone of her fast hits, but unable to return any himself because of her speed. He dodged around her and sprinted into the factory, hoping to escape through there. She handsprung after him, jumping out of the third and spin kicking him in the back of the head, sending him to the catwalk, sliding towards the edge.
"No! Don't let me fall!" He screamed.
She grabbed his ankle, holding him from the edge.
"Now who's scared?" She smirked, tying some rope around his ankle and then to the railing, letting him dangle towards the ground. "Where's the antidote?"
"Never," he said, trembling.
"Fine," she shrugged letting some of the slack on the rope, slide so that he fell closer to the ground.
"Alright! Alright!" he screamed. "I'll tell you! Just haul me up."
"Tell me first," she said.
"No," he retorted. "I'll never tell until you let me-"
She rummaged through his pockets, until she found a small red vial. She pulled out an injector from her belt, clicked the vial into it, pressed the button, and injected the antidote into her bloodstream.
"Hey! Hey! You can't do that! Let me down!"
She ignored him, walked outside to Dick's bike, which he had parked farther down the alley, and radioed the police, telling them the Scarecrow's location. She kicked the bike into gear, revved the engine, and she looked out onto Mercy Road only to see a long, purple convertible with two women speed by, chased by three police cars.
Couldn't she ever have a minute to just relax? She kicked the bike into gear peeled after the four vehicles.
"Batman," she said into her helmet's communication system. "Police chase down Mercy. Know who it is?"
"Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy," Batman said after several seconds, keys tapping audibly in the background. "Why?"
"I'm going after them," Babs smiled as she sped up in an attempt to catch Harley and Ivy. More super villains. She wasn't sure whether to be delighted or scared. No. She was delighted. She had conquered fear for the night.