Nightmare in Arkham
Chapter Two: "Uncovering the Ashes"
Jonathan Crane's hideout, or at least what little was left of it, was crawling with fire fighters and GCPD officers. Commissioner Gordon arrived on the scene with Harvey Bullock about 30 minutes after the fire squad and by the time they got there, what used to be an old abandoned warehouse was nothing but a heaping pile of charcoal and ash. There was still a cloud of smoke rising from the smoldering ashes on the ground as well as a few small pieces of wood that still had bits of flame burning on them. A few of the fire fighters were still spraying the pile of black soot with the fire hoses to make sure the fire did not start back up again.
-"I never did like that place," Bullock said as they parked their car,"It's been sittin there for God knows how long given the scum of this city a place to hide from us."
-As they exited their vehicle Gordon kept his eyes focused on the scene. "I just hope nobody was hiding in there in the past hour," he said with a concerned look in his eyes.
-Gordon and Bullock began approaching the scene. "Commissioner!" called a female voice a few feet away.
-Gordon turned to see Officer Montoya jogging toward him. "Montoya, what have we got here?" asked Gordon as the Spanish descendent officer reached him.
-"From the look of it, we either have a lab accident or arson," Montoya replied.
-"A lab accident?" Gordon asked confused.
-"Yes sir," answered Montoya, "It seems the Scarecrow was the latest creep to set up shop here. From what we've gathered, it looks like he was experimenting with some kind of acidic chemical and in the process he caused a fire to breakout."
-Gordon turned toward the burned down warehouse. "Any leads on him?" he asked, "Does anyone know where he ran off to?"
-"He's right here", said a deep, gruff voice from behind them.
-The three officers turned around and were face to face with a tall, dark figure with blank, white eyes, pointy ears covered by a black cowl that exposed only the figures square lower jaw, a black cape, and a yellow and black symbol of a bat. It was none other than Gotham's very own Dark Knight: Batman.
-Batman held up a plastic bag that contained what appeared to a large heap of black dust.
-"Batman," Gordon said startled, "How long have you been here?" Batman was a pro at disappearing and reappearing out of thin air. No one was more aware of this than Gordon. Batman had even appeared in his office seemingly out of nowhere since the day they first met. By now Gordon had grown used to it but every so often Batman's sudden appearances would still startle him.
-"I was the first one on the scene," Batman replied.
-"Oh is that a fact" Bullock chimed in with a suspicious tone, "Then you care to explain how this place wound up lookin like an ashtray?" Bullock really couldn't have cared less about the building but he'd look for any excuse to rouse suspicion against Batman. He didn't trust Batman and was never too keen with Gordon's choice of letting a costumed freak run the city.
-"Bullock!" Gordon interrupted knowing exactly where this was heading, "Why don't you go assist Montoya on the scene? Call me if you find anything worth checking out".
-"Yes sir," Montoya replied and walked away. Bullock followed, grumbling to himself out of frustration. Gordon turned his attention back to Batman.
-"You said you knew where Scarecrow was?" Gordon asked Batman. Batman handed the black bag to Gordon who looked at it confused.
-"What is this? What does this even-" Gordon's eyes caught sight of something sticking out of the ashes. When his eyes adjusted he saw that the ash contained a charred bone fragment. Gordon's eyes widened.
-"Good Lord!" Gordon exclaimed. He looked back up at Batman. "What happened to him? His entire body's been disintegrated."
-"I can't say for sure. All I know is that whatever caused this, Scarecrow was at the base of it."
-"Do you think it was a lab explosion?" Gordon asked.
-"Not an explosion" Batman replied "I actually saw the fire breakout from that roof top" Batman said pointing to a large building about half mile away. "A lab accident was my first thought. I did find evidence that Scarecrow was working with some chemicals prior to the breakout but I found his body inside of his bathroom".
-"What kind of evidence?" Gordon asked.
-Batman reached for something on his utility belt and took out a small vile containing a dark-red fluid. He handed the vile to Gordon.
-"What the heck is this stuff?" Gordon asked looking at the vile with an eyebrow raised.
-"I don't know" Batman replied "There was a giant puddle of it on the ground right next to Scarecrow's desk. There was also a bunch of broken glass and lab equipment lying next to it" Batman explained. "Off hand, I'd say he was working on some new kind of fear toxin".
-"Do you think he had an accident at his work place that set him on fire while working with this stuff?" Gordon asked, "Then he tried to run to the restroom to douse himself with water but collapsed before he had the chance and the fire spread to the rest of the building."
-"That does seem probable," Batman answered, "but we won't know for sure until we find out what exactly this stuff is."
-"Right" said Gordon as he stared at the questionable substance Batman had just handed him, "I'll have forensics take a look at this. In the mean time-" Gordon looked back up to face Batman, but Batman was no where to be seen. Gordon knew he would do this; he just didn't know how long it would be before he did it. Gordon sighed. Bullock came walking up to him.
-"Hey Comish, we still haven't found anything in the wreckage. Ole Scare-Creep musta made a run for it cause we ain't found no body-"
-Bullock was interrupted when Gordon held up the plastic bag with Scarecrows cremated body. The bone was still sticking out. Bullock adjusted his eyes and realized what he was looking at. His eyes widened.
-"Oh man! He messed himself up real good".
-"As strange as this sounds I hope you're right". Gordon replied
-"What do ya mean, Comish?" Bullock asked confused.
-"I mean, I hope Scarecrow did do this himself because if this wasn't an accident, then we just might have ourselves a homicidal maniac in town. And if this is what he's capable of.." Gordon looked at the plastic bag "….I don't even want to think about what he'll do next".
-Back at the Batcave Batman had been working non-stop. He had given the chemical sample he found at the crime scene to Gordon but kept a smaller sample to study. For nearly 4 hours straight he had been starring at the chemical through a microscope while researching what sort of compound the toxin was made of. Batman had never seen anything like it before: while most of Scarecrow's previous toxins normally carried some sort neurological stimulant (such as the ones commonly found in LSD), which allowed the toxin to raise a person's anxiety and trick their mind's into thinking they are being attacked by their worst fear, this toxin didn't seem to carry any sort of mind altering factor.
-A little after midnight Alfred, the Butler, strolled into the Batcave carrying a thermos of hot coffee. Alfred would have suggested Batman put his work aside and get a good night sleep. But if there's one thing Alfred learned from his many years as Batman's faithful assistant it's that Batman never slept while the moon was out. How he managed to pull off playing a billionaire playboy by day and a masked crime fighter at night without ever feeling the need for sleep Alfred swore he would never know.
-"My, my Master Bruce. I know many big things have been known to keep you working long hours through the night but never anything that's so small you'd have to stare at it for 4 hours straight through a microscope", Alfred exclaimed.
-Every time Alfred would enter the Batcave and find his employer hard at work he would always greet him with some sort of joke or witty comment. He knew Batman was never one to laugh but he did this because he knew Batman faced so much drama and hardship in his line of duty and he believed that if Batman heard at least one remark that was even remotely humorous, or even just flat out corny, once in a while it would ease a little bit of the stress racing through his mind. Even though Batman never laughed at Alfred's remarks he knew what he was trying to do. And the truth is Alfred did help Batman take his mind off the chaos he endured on a nightly basis. It was only a second or 2 of ease but that was a lot time for someone in Batman's profession. However, this time Batman's mind was buried way too deep in his work for Alfred's attempt to humor him.
-"This 'small' thing may have just killed someone" Batman replied without looking up from the microscope.
-"Good heavens," Alfred said while placing the thermos on the counter next to Batman, "Who might the poor, unfortunate soul be?"
-"Jonathan Crane." Batman answered, "He was completely cremated in his own hideout earlier tonight."
-"Jonathan Crane? Jonathan Crane?", Alfred pondered to himself with his thumb on his chin. It didn't take long before he realized whom Batman was referring to. His eyes widened. "My word! You mean the Scarecrow? The only villain you've ever faced, besides the Joker, to tamper with your mind? That Jonathan Crane?"
-"The same," Batman replied.
-Alfred didn't know what to think of this news. Scarecrow was one of the most dangerous criminals to ever strike in Gotham and on more than one occasion he even managed to leave his Master Bruce with a bit of a scare. He even nearly got him thrown into Arkham at one point. But at the same time if there was anything Alfred knew that Batman believed in above anything else it was that all lives were worth fighting to save, even the lives of his enemies.
-"Well, Master Bruce", Alfred began to say taking care not to sound like he was glad that one of the most notorious of Gotham's fiends had been pertinently removed from the picture, "that is tragic, as is any death, but I do suppose this will make your work a little easier with one less fiend to worry about".
-Batman looked up from his microscope.
-"Maybe", Batman replied, "But my goal isn't just to save Gotham from these crazed madmen; I'm also trying to save the crazed madmen from themselves. If I took pride in Scarecrow's death, as I'm sure he would have done with mine, I'd be the same masked criminal that he was".
-"Very noble thinking, sir", Alfred remarked.
-Batman returned his gaze back to his microscope. "Now I just need to find out what exactly Scarecrow was working on at the time of his death before someone else suffers his fate".
-Alfred raised and eyebrow in confusion. "Whatever do you mean?"
-"When I saw Scarecrow's hideout start to go up in flames I busted in to make sure no one was inside. I found Scarecrow's body in the bathroom already burned down to the bone. I managed to put him out but when I did his skeleton disintegrated into dust. I knew that if the building came down on top of his ashes it would be nearly impossible for the forensics to locate the body in the debris from the building. So I scooped up as much of his body as I could in a container and headed out. But before I had a chance I noticed a giant puddle of chemicals lying on the ground next to what I suppose was his work area. The flames hadn't spread into that room yet so took a few quick samples before the place became fully engulfed".
-Batman took a bag from the far end of the counter of his workspace and set it next to Alfred.
-"I kept some of Scarecrow's body has well to do some forensic investigating of my own and, while I haven't had much success with figuring out what exactly this chemical is, I have discovered this: Scarecrow's body carried traces of it inside prior to his death".
-"You mean, he consumed this un-natural looking filth", Alfred asked picking up the vile containing the chemical.
-"That's exactly what it looks like", Batman replied.
-Alfred took another look at the dark, blood red liquid he held in his hand and placed it back on the table, turning his head in disgust.
-"Maybe Scarecrow was preparing some sort of potion, like Jyklle and Hyde," Alfred suggested.
-"That would answer the question as to why he used it on himself and not a bank guard" Batman replied "But that still leaves 2 questions: What was he trying to gain from this 'potion' and what, exactly, was in it?"
-Batman moved aside and motioned for Alfred to have a look. Alfred complied and took a look in the microscope. Through the microscope, the sample appeared as a series of bright red scraggily lines that looked like veins working around giant splotches of dark red craters. It sort of looked like a mass of horribly burned flesh.
-"My word!" Alfred exclaimed, "What on earth is this?"
-"That's the problem: I don't know", Batman replied, "But believe it or not whatever this is, it looks like it might be DNA".
-Alfred turned his gaze from the microscope to Batman. "You mean this came from a living being?"
-"Exactly", Batman answered, "But this DNA doesn't appear to be human or animal; it doesn't even look like it resembles anything found on earth. Not even the Bat-Computer was able to identify it. And I haven't found any flammable or combustible ingredients in this sample either, just this DNA. Which means Scarecrow didn't burst into flames simply by drinking this. Something else had to play a role as well".
-Alfred took the thermos and poured a cup of coffee.
-"Well, Master Bruce, perhaps a cup of caffeine will help your mind concentrate better. You may be a creature of the night but even nocturnal creatures sometimes need something to keep their minds awake".
-Batman took a sip from his cup.
-"Thank you, Alfred", Batman replied, "That just might be what I need". He took another sip.
-"Glad to be of assistance," Alfred replied. Then he let out a yawn.
-"If you don't mind, sir, not everyone here is fit for the night life. I should probably being going off to bed now. If you require anymore assistance-"
-"That's okay", Batman interrupted, "I think you've provided me with all the help I'll need. Go catch some shut-eye, Alfred. I'll see you in the morning."
-Alfred smiled at Batman. "Very good, Master Bruce. Goodnight".
-"Goodnight Alfred", Batman replied.
-Alfred climbed into the elevator in the center of the cave and head back up to Wayne Manor for some sleep. When Alfred was upstairs Batman turned his gaze to the small sample of Scarecrow's body.
-"I don't know what you were planning. I don't know how this happened. But despite everything you've put me and the citizens of Gotham through I just hope that you'll be able to find peace. Goodbye Jonathan", Batman stated with a touch of sadness.
-Batman had hoped none of his enemies would end their criminal lives this way. But now all Batman could do was uncover the ashes of what happened on this night and hopefully prevent them from ever happening again.
-Batman grabbed the thermos and with just a few gulps downed the whole thing. He then continued his work.