The New Adventures Of The Justice League
Chapter 6: Captain Marvel vs. the Scarecrow
While Batman's computer (with Alfred at the helm) searched for any evidence of Cadmus or anything suspicious at all in Africa Batman found himself battling the Scarecrow.
"Give it up, Crane!" Batman ordered, throwing a roundhouse kick at the deranged psychologist. "The place is surrounded; there's no way out of the bank."
"Never!" the Scarecrow, a.k.a. Jonathan Crane shouted as he began waving his scythe even more wildly, ignoring the frightened hostages who began whimpering even louder. "The Scarecrow fears no man! But even the Batman must fear something!" and with that he yanked a canister out of his belt and began spraying it in the air.
Hastily, Batman covered his face with his black cape but by then it was too late. The fear gas seeped into his nervous system, stimulating nerves and senses that were normally left alone. Images began to fly through his mind even as he stumbled backwards several steps before collapsing to the ground in a fetal position.
"Farewell, Batman," the Scarecrow taunted, his masked face looking even more menacing than normal. "Without you to stand in my way, I can make my escape now!"
No, Batman thought weakly. I mustn't let him…escape. He began crawling towards the Scarecrow whose laughs were getting louder. But Batman's journey was halted by the appearance of a man garbed in red, white, and gold.
"Don't worry, Batman," Captain Marvel said as he flew in front of the Dark Knight. "I've got this one taken care of."
Batman wanted to protest. He wanted to argue that the Scarecrow was his villain, that Gotham was his city, that this was his problem but…he couldn't. He was in no shape to fight and not only did he and Captain Marvel know it but so did the Scarecrow. Reluctantly he nodded and took the time to try and fight the fear toxins in his system while watching the other two men (could he really call the Scarecrow a man?) do battle.
Captain Marvel started the fight by thrusting out his left fist, electricity crackling over the curled appendages. The Scarecrow, however, merely ducked before retaliating with several punches and kicks of his own with no apparent pattern. While he did land several hits, Captain Marvel just stared at him all the while, looking increasingly bored, even going so far as to yawn when the Scarecrow landed one particularly vicious hit with his scythe that caused Batman to wince.
"You're not normal are you?" the Scarecrow finally asked. "Oh well. Even Superman himself would fall to his knees because of this!" he whipped out the canister of fear gas once more.
"Captain, look out!" Batman cried in alarm, his voice sounding very far away.
Captain Marvel took a deep breath, inhaling all of the fear gas then looked at the Scarecrow in curiosity. "Just what exactly was that supposed to do anyways?" he asked.
The Scarecrow's mouth dropped open and he stared at the hero in shock even as Captain Marvel's fist connected with his face, knocking the villain unconscious. Once the cops had begun to claim the scene Captain Marvel went straight to Batman. Ignoring the Dark Knight's weak protests Captain Marvel scooped him up in his strong arms and flew out of the bank, finally coming to a stop in one of Gotham's more secluded areas of town. After gently placing Batman on the rooftop of a building Captain Marvel asked, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Batman said hoarsely. "Just give me a minute." Captain Marvel nodded as Batman took in several calming breaths before asking, "How did you withstand the Scarecrow's fear gas?"
Captain Marvel's boyish grin spread across his face as he said, "The courage of Achilles. It allows me to face my fears and not give into them. It's a very rare gift," he added hastily after seeing Batman's scowl of embarrassment.
"It must be," Batman said sarcastically. "If you don't mind my asking, Captain, just what were you doing in Gotham tonight?"
Captain Marvel shrugged. "Sight-seeing," he said cheerfully.
"At night?" Batman raised an eyebrow.
"Yep," Captain Marvel nodded. "Best time to avoid the tourists."
Batman was forced to agree with him on that point and the two men fell in a companionable silence. Batman hated to break it by asking questions that might sound like accusations but he was curious about a lot of things and curiosity killed the bat as they said. "Captain Marvel," he said at last. "How did you know about Cadmus when I couldn't find out anything about them?"
The physically bigger hero looked at him for a moment then turned his gaze back to the empty street below. "A…friend of mine worked there for a while as a janitor but he was murdered after they caught him trying to help one of their genetic experiments escape. He told me a little bit about Cadmus, mostly the fact that it was in Africa but other than that I don't know very much."
Batman listened to his statement carefully. He could deduce no signs of falsehood in the hero's tale, only sadness and a hint of anger. "I'm sorry about your friend, Captain," he said sincerely. "I promise you that the Justice League will do everything in our power to bring them down."
"Thanks," Captain Marvel said quietly. "I really appreciate that." After a few more minutes of just sitting there he rose to his feet and said, "Well, I gotta fly."
"How will we get in touch with you if we need you?" Batman asked, also standing up.
Captain Marvel blinked then grinned mysteriously. "I'll find you," he said then took off into the sky, leaving a smiling Batman behind him.
"I like him," Batman announced then decided that it was time to head for home and see what results Alfred and the computer had managed to come up with.
A/N: Sorry this chapter was so late but I couldn't figure out what I wanted to write. I know the fight scenes are…terrible and short but I'm not good at writing fight scenes. In fact, I suck at writing fights. I do much better with fluff (like Batman and Captain Marvel's little talk at the end). Please review and let me know what you think!
