Chapter 2
Bruce sits in front of the Batcomputer, reading the latest case files on some of Gotham's most dangerous criminals. It seems that Killer Croc has escaped custody again. If Bruce were still young, he would have chased after Waylon in a heartbeat. "If only I had your blood, Kal," whispered Bruce to himself, wondering what he would be like if he had Superman's strength. Strangely, no one has seen Superman since his last battle with Lex two years ago. Maybe Superman felt guilty and left Earth.
Bruce then hears footsteps from behind him. The person stops, but somehow Bruce knows who it is. "What are you doing here, Zachariah?" Zach fastens his glasses with his index finger. "Still using the Batcomputer at your age?" Bruce turns his head a little to the left. "I told you, Gotham still needs a protector."
"ProtecTORS, Bruce! Plural. Gotham has a police force and Batgirl watching the streets. Leave it to them."
"I don't know if you noticed, Zachariah, but the Gotham police can barely catch one crook, so how can they handle the entire city?" Zach folds his arms and sighs. "But that's their job, Bruce. Their job is to protect and serve, but they can't be everywhere. Just because you were Batman doesn't give you gloating rights."
"As Batman, I cleaned up the streets faster than they ever did because their precinct was plagued with corruption. Commissioner Loeb and SWAT Officer Branden were cutting deals with the crime lords in order to line their pockets!" Zach briefly raises his hand to calm Bruce.
"I'm not saying that you were completely wrong in becoming Batman, but there are consequences in what we do as superheroes. Property damage, avoiding arrest, and working within our legal rights."
"Regardless, Gotham still needs watching. Killer Croc escaped custody just last night."
"Do you know where he is," asked Zach.
"Not yet, but there is another case I have looked at. Mad Hatter was discovered in a warehouse, heavily dosed with a fear toxin."
"Scarecrow," replied Zach.
"Exactly, but Crane hasn't been seen since he drugged Jervis two nights ago. There was something else: when Jervis was taken into custody, he told the police that he gave his mind control technology to Scarecrow, but what could Scarecrow want with that?"
Zach takes out his smart phone and looks at the time. He then places it back into his coat pocket. "Sorry, Bruce, but I have to go. I have to work late at my company tonight. The U.S. military want me to do some patching on my nanobot technology."
Kincaid Industries, after dark. A security guard sits at the lobby desk, eating a sandwich that his wife made for him. On the top floor, Zach is at his desk, filling out some paperwork with a small desk lamp lighting up the dark office. Back in the lobby, there is a knock at the front door. The guard sees someone at the glass doors in a hood. The guard gets up and goes to the door, stopping behind it to talk through the glass. "We're closed, buddy. Come back in the morning." Just then, the man in the hood emits an electronic wave. The guard seems to be in a trance now as he unlocks the door. The man takes off his hood, revealing a scarecrow mask with buttons over the eyes. Jonathan Crane has slits around the eyes to see through his mask. Scarecrow rocks his head back and forth slowly as he stands before the guard.
"Where is your boss?"
"Mr. Kincaid is on the top floor."
"Doing what?"
"He's filling out paperwork to turn in to the military for his technology."
"Take me to him."
Zach walks out of his office, stepping into the narrow white hallway. He takes out his keys and locks the door as he holds his briefcase in the other hand. Zach looks down the hall and begins walking toward the elevator. Zach waits for the elevator to arrive, but when it does, he gets sprayed at by a gas. Zach slams backward into the wall as Scarecrow casually strolls out of the elevator. Zach sees the body of the security guard laying down face first inside the elevator.
"You killed him, didn't you," asked a drugged Zach. Scarecrow crouches down to talk to Zach, who is now sitting on the floor. "He was no longer of use to me. I came here for you, Kincaid."
"You used Mad Hatter's mind control tech on him, didn't you, Crane?" Scarecrow chuckles under his mask. "You know about that? I came here to find out where you keep your nanobots. Not only will I make a lot of money, but combined with my fear toxin, I can plunge entire cities into a panic!"
"And for what, you sad little psycho? Your amusement? Do you think Vanessa and the military will let you get away with that?"
"Enough games! Where is your nanotech, Zachariah?!" Scarecrow sees a briefcase and points at it. "Is it in there?" "No, those are my documents for the military." Scarecrow doses Zach with more fear gas. Scarecrow then grabs Zach's suit jacket. "WHERE IS YOUR NANOTECH?!"
Zach headbutts Scarecrow and jumps to his feet, running away. Scarecrow rubs his head, looking in anger. "I'll find you, Zachariah. You can't hide from me."
Scarecrow enters a large conference room, slowly advancing to watch for sudden movements. With his fear gas combined with Mad Hatter's mind control tech, Zachariah couldn't have gotten far. Scarecrow sends out a wave from the mind-control tech, hoping to pinpoint Zachariah's location. "I know you're in here, Kincaid. Come out and play." Scarecrow slowly steps across the thin, gray carpet in the office, looking on both sides of himself to catch a glimpse of Zach jumping out or trying to run away. As Scarecrow passes up the conference table, Zach becomes visible as he was using camouflage. "Hey, Crane!" Scarecrow turns around, only to get punched by Zach. Zach tackles Scarecrow into the wall, but Scarecrow amplifies the mind-control tech, causing Zach to pause momentarily. Scarecrow then topples Zach and sits on top of him, knees first as the two grapple.
"How are you resisting my fear gas," asked Scarecrow.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" With an unknown strength, Zach pushes Scarecrow off of him. Scarecrow throws a punch, but Zach backhanded Scarecrow halfway across the room and heavily dents the wall. Scarecrow stands up, stumbling, before making a soft laugh. "I get it now. Your nanotech isn't inside of a container, is it? That strength you used just now is a testament to that. You see, Kincaid, I did my homework on your tech. Your nanobots have the ability to self-replicate, but where do you keep them? Simple; they are in the one place where no one can steal them from... inside of you." Zach stands there in silence. Scarecrow has now taken out a gun and points it at Zach. "Since your nanobots can self-replicate, I don't need you alive to take them, do I? All I need from you is a blood sample, and then I will terrorize Gotham through their own fears!" Scarecrow shoots Zach four times, and the young businessman falls to the floor. Scarecrow takes out a syringe and injects it into Zach's arm. He fills it up before flicking it for stability with his fingers. He puts it into his pocket after securing it. Scarecrow then proceeds to hurry back to the elevator.
After making it back to the lobby, Scarecrow takes another look at his prize. He puts it back into his pocket and makes his way to the main door. "Jonathan Crane," said a voice. Scarecrow stops and looks around. "You are a murderer and a sadist, Doctor Crane. You also claim to be the master of fear, but I know what you're afraid of." Suddenly, a swarm of bats fly by the front door, blocking it off. Scarecrow turns around, only to see another swarm of bats headed right for him from the hallway. Scarecrow begins to swat at them to no avail.
"He was the only man you ever feared, because you could not break him. Most people cracked under pressure from your fear gas and went insane, but no matter how much you used on him, he would not break because his will was too strong." Scarecrow sees a pair of glowing blue eyes among the swarm of bats. Scarecrow reaches for his gun, but it is yanked from him and lost in the swarm. Scarecrow sees the glowing blue eyes to his right and sprays his fear gas, but they are gone. With sudden force, Scarecrow is thrown against the guard's booth, sitting there as the swarm of bats begin to form the symbol of The Batman. Scarecrow rips off the buttons covering his eyes, letting his blue eyes see clearly now. "You're back?" Scarecrow now sees the glowing blue features of a bat's face, except the bat-face seems to be stepping out of the swarm of bats. Scarecrow looks in awe of a six-foot tall figure, covered in what seems to be black high-tech body armor. His black cowl completely covers his face with no skin showing and glowing blue eyes in the cowl. However, the most disturbing thing about the person is that on his chest and stomach...
"Is that...," Scarecrow sees the glowing blue ears of a bat with eyes, a nose in the center and the open mouth where the man's stomach should be. "THE FACE OF A GIANT BAT?!" The giant bat face on the man's abdomen squints in anger. "What do you think, scumbag," said the giant bat's face. "IT TALKS?!" Scarecrow shouts in fear, but that fear rises as the giant bat face on the body armor makes an inhuman roar. Scarecrow stands up, at a loss for words. He had heard that Batman retired years ago due to old age, but never imagined that someone would take his place, but seeing this, the face of a giant bat...
"No. NO!" Scarecrow lunges at Batman, covering his hands with fear gas and combining it with Mad Hatter's tech to overpower him, but Batman catches Scarecrow's hands and throws him through the guard's booth. Batman jumps on top of Scarecrow, but then feels his mind being attacked. Batman stumbles back a bit as Scarecrow strolls over to him. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use the tech's full power, but you leave me no choice." Scarecrow grabs Batman's face with both hands, making a cold, obsessed look in his eyes. "Show me what you fear, Batman Jr.! I want to hear you scream!" Images begin to flash before Batman's eyes, seeing a gun pointing at him and a fire. Batman seems to be struggling. "Yes, tell me what you fear. Tell me so that I can tear your mind apart." The glowing blue eyes now cringe in anger. Batman grabs Scarecrow's hands, applying pressure with elephant-like strength. Scarecrow seems to be in pain.
"I'm not scared. I'm angry!" With one blow, Batman knocks out Scarecrow. The giant bat face closes and a cloud of nanotech surrounds the cowl, removing it to show the face of Zachariah Kincaid.
Later, Zach stands inside the Batcave in his new Batsuit with Bruce admiring the giant bat face on the armor. "Well, what do you think," asked Zach. "I like it," said Bruce smiling. "I'll assume you're going on patrol now." Zach, with his cowl off, looks away. "Sorry, Bruce, but this was a one time thing." Bruce looks confused. "Why?"
"I told you before, I'm not a crime fighter anymore. I only put this on because Scarecrow is afraid of The Batman, plus he attacked my workplace and killed my guard." Bruce regains his stance. "Which is exactly why Gotham needs a Batman, Zachariah. Scarecrow was the tip of the iceberg. There are far worse criminals than him lurking out there."
"I know that, Bruce, but..."
"But what, Zachariah? Criminals like Penguin and Poison Ivy can't be handled by the cops! Batgirl is handling things for now, but she needs help." Zach turns around and begins to walk away, but before he can keep walking...
"Ra's contacted Barbara." Zach stops and looks shocked before turning back around. "The League of Assassins? Why would they contact Babs," asked a worried Zach.
"Probably because she is Gotham's only protector now, and even though Ra's wants a male to replace him, he's willing to make an exception. I trained Barbara, so she is more than capable of fighting Ra's followers, but if Shiva gets involved...," Zach storms out of the Batcave in a hurry.
Commissioner Gordon has the Bat signal lit up in the sky, waiting for an appearance. Hearing the sound of a grappling claw, he sees Batgirl arrive on the roof. "Barbara," said Jim. "You needed me, dad? Tell me it's not Riddler again; he is suuuuch a narcissist." Jim squints his eyes a little. "The Bat signal isn't for you, Barb." Batgirl is stunned, but then they both hear the sound of a parachute diving in. A man dive bombs onto the rooftop with what appears to be a living cape, which retracts into his suit. He wears black high-tech body armor with a bat cowl with glowing blue eyes in the cowl, and on his chest is a glowing blue bat symbol.
"Commissioner Gordon. Sorry I'm late."
Next Chapter: He hates the system. He believes that people are better off without brainwashing propaganda, hypocritical laws and greedy corporates. He is anti-corporate, anti-government, but pro-Batman. He is... Anarky!