Chapter 18: Dark Times

Nightshroud conjured up a large forcefield that surrounded that room. Everyone suddenly heard cracks and creaks throughout the room.
"Separation complete!" Alcor announced. "Go!"
His hands clenched, and the room broke apart from the hospital. The doctors and nurses stumbled and grabbed onto something nailed down to stay standing.
"Sorry!" He announced. "But everyone was in danger. I had to do something."
The scared workers nodded as the room conjured in the Solarium field flew far away from the now burning hospital.
"Gotham Central Hospital stands no chance." Alcor said. "If it is NOS, why would they attack a hospital? I know they were after you but why out in the open? Are they that confident?"
"Is…is it them?" Pam asked weakly.

The baby Jaime started to fuss as she was not used to being outside.

"Sorry again." James pumped some more Solarium into the barrier, increasing its temperature. Jaime soon settled down as they got closer to Gotham General Hospital.
James floated the room down in front of the hospital as the barrier disappeared. "You'll be okay Jaime. I'll protect you."
"Go tell them what has happened." He ordered. "Roll Pamela with you."
Pam still weak from giving birth, could do little but nod in agreement.
"Don't worry." He knelt down next to her. "I'll find out later what's happening, and you'll be fine."
"I trust you." She nodded weakly. "Now go help your friends."
"I can't." James shook his head. "I need to be here for you and—"
"No." Pam interrupted. "Batman and the others are going…to need your help in stopping…Scarecrow. "I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" James took her hand in his.
She gave him a weak smile and nodded slowly.
The young fighter paused for a moment, then nodded back. Backing off, he watched as the bed was wheeled away by the nurses into the hospital. After they disappeared, James as Nightshroud took off towards the Batcave.

"It's most definitely NOS." He thought. "But at the same time is Scarecrow's announcement? Too suspicious."
"Still it's not his style to not be the head honcho of whatever bad things are happening." Alcor said.
"True."
He could see the familiar Wayne Manor appear in the distance as the Batcave's hangar opened. He flew through the large tunnel and settled down next to the Batmobile where he could see Bruce as Batman with Max in front of the supercomputer.
"Is she safe?" He asked.
James nodded. "I moved her to Gotham General Hospital. It's very close to our headquarters and if Scarecrow sets his plan in motion at any time we can move her again if need be."
"Good." Batman responded. "I am not liking the outlook on Gotham right now. After the Joker's death, all the other villains have been silent. Scarecrow is the first one to act up."
James knelt down to Max's level. "Hey buddy."
The little boy looked at him before sitting down and turning away.

He sighed. "I'm sorry Max…But they can't know about you…"
Just then, the Batcave opened and Robin ran in.
"Bruce!" He called. "Things are bad. People are running in terror, the police are all over the city trying to keep calm, and criminals are starting to loot the place!"
Suddenly, the Batcave opened again and Batgirl ran in.
"This is insane!" She cried out. "The city is in complete upheaval since the Scarecrow's speech! We need to evac—"
"Commissioner Gordon is already mobilizing the entire police force." Bruce interrupted. "Evacuation has already begun. That's not the problem."
"The problem is why Scarecrow decides to warn everybody about when he's going to unleash his toxin." James said. "I mean, if he wants to hurt as many people as he wanted, why not just surprise everyone and unleash it now?"
Bruce nodded. "Barbara, I'm going to need your eyes everywhere. Go to the clock tower hideout, you know what to do."
She nodded and left.
"James, take your team and go after NOS." Bruce ordered. "Robin and I will hunt down Scarecrow. I have a feeling there's more to this than just coincidence."

He nodded. "I'll set out immediately."

James as Nightshroud flew high into the sky and activated his mask.
"What are we searching for?" Alcor asked.
"The Watchtower." He answered. "I know Bruce doesn't like it when the League gets involved with Gotham, but right now this is a huge catastrophe waiting to happen. We could use all the help we could get."
"Agreed. I'm increasing the power of the tracker and…wait a minute…this cannot be correct…the Watchtower is gone!"
"What!?" Nightshroud exclaimed. "That's not possible! It's always a Justice League base that floats near Earth's atmosphere! How could it be gone!?"
"I cannot determine its location." Alcor confirmed. "No debris can be located. Judging by the lack of evidence, it doesn't look like it has been destroyed. Just missing."
"This is bad." Nightshroud said, worried. "If the Justice League have disappeared, then that means it's just us."
"Not good." Joe said. "I'm currently looking into the International Space Station's live stream camera. "I'm going to try to pull up the last few hours of videos to see if we can find anything."

By now James had flown back to the old Ace Chemicals hideout where Joe and Abigail were working together. George and Georgina were moving their families out of the city and would not return for a while. By now, all 6 million residents of Gotham City had evacuated through the subways, airlines, and buses that lead to nearby cities and states.
"That can't be a coincidence either." Abigail added. "Scarecrow's fear driven message and then the Watchtower vanishing? Come on that's a blatant connection there."
"If this is NOS, that means they have access to far more advanced and dangerous technology then we thought." James concluded. "There has to be other heroes that were still on Earth when it disappeared!"
"Even if there were, we don't have time to look for them." Joe shook his head. "It sounds like tonight is the night in which Scarecrow sets his plan in motion. We're going to have to contain him and NOS. So for now while Batman and Co. deal with Scarecrow, we'll go after NOS."

They both nodded. "Where do we start?" Abigail asked.
"With Gotham General Hospital accessible through the 7th Floor hallways, Pamela Isley will be safe." Joe started. "As for NOS…I unfortunately have no leads. This is a very secret organization who despite Hanna making progress earlier, have now been able to mask their members much better now."
"Damn!" James barked, frustrated. "This sucks! Had it not been for this crazy crap happening now, I would've had more time to cover and volunteer for the elec-!"
He suddenly stopped. "The 2016 election…"

Joe and Abigail's eyes widened.

"We missed something…" Joe said in realization. "Three things happened tonight!"
"Scarecrow's message…" Abigail started.
"The Watchtower missing…" James added.
"And the ELECTION!" Joe yelled out.
The young genius spun his chair around and started typing madly while James and Abigail huddled around him.
"This was a historic election…" Joe said.
"The last time a third party had won a decisive victory was never." James added. "Not since the 1800s did we have a third party competing and getting results at this high a level."
"The Independent Party annihilated the two main parties on ALL THREE levels!" Joe gasped.
"The Local, State, and Federal level." Abigail said. "According to the news outlets, they had outspent BOTH Democrats and Republicans by large margins! All of these interest groups and political action organizations had poured billions into the Independent Party efforts."
"They were operating in plain sight and we failed to realize it..." Joe spat out angrily.

James turned away from the screen and looked down at the ground.

"It's not difficult to decipher how they won supermajorities at all three levels of government." Alcor said. "At a time like now where many voters are disillusioned with the two-party system, with this third party emerging as a force in American Politics? It's a dream scenario. With a new group, and a new candidate, comes a new beginning? Perhaps the people thought this would be the drive to throw out the old guard and replace it with a new age?"
"Wait a minute…" James turned back to his friends. "Look up President Johnson's campaign slogan."
"Don't need to." Abigail said. "I interned for his campaign back in the summer. It was 'A new hope, a new day, and a new beginning."
Her eyes suddenly widened. "No…"
"NOS was right in front of us all this time…" Joe said slowly. "Do you think it's possible that—"

Suddenly, the base shook violently. James switched to Nightshroud.

"James!" Suddenly Robin came on screen.
"What's going on!?" He called back.
"The new Ace Chemicals factory is about to collapse!" He yelled out desperately. "THE TOXIN IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED!"
"Shit!" James as Nightshroud suddenly flew as fast as he can towards the exit.
"GET TO HIGHER FLOORS NOW!" He called after them.
Nightshroud crashed through the Gotham General Hospital entrance and flew to the remaining doctors and nurses that stayed behind.
"Get to the roof!" He ordered. "The toxin is about to be released!"
All the doctors and patients were quickly rushed upstairs.
"Nightrider has been dispatched." Alcor announced. "It'll be on the hospital roof at any moment. Pamela Isley has been reported on the top floor being moved to the roof now."
"I'm getting her out of the city." James decided. "It's becoming too—"

BOOM.

Flying out of the hospital and over the city, he could see the new Ace Chemicals building collapse and release a brown smoke that started to spread rapidly. Gritting his teeth, he looked at the roof of Gotham General Hospital.
Luckily, Nightrider had already arrived and had picked up all the remaining people and Pam from the hospital. He saw the large ship rise high into the sky and take off.
"Destination: Boston Central Hospital." Alcor said.
"Good." James nodded. "I'm glad they made it out."
Turning back to the rest of the city, he could see criminals and thugs on the ground looting and fighting. However he also noticed the brown toxin suddenly stop and retreat back into the ruins of the factory.

"What the…?"
"James." Robin and Joe radioed in.
"Guys! Are you all alright?"
"We're fine here." Joe said. "Abigail and I have evacuated to the 50th floor of the base. We can see you floating not too far from us."
James looked and saw Joe and Abigail waving at him from the window.
Giving them thumbs up, James flew higher into the air.
"Tell me what is going on Tim." He finally demanded.
"Batman has found Scarecrow but he's escaped! He managed to stop the toxin from escaping but Barbara is gone!"
He gasped in horror. "WHAT!? What happened in there!?"
"I don't know!" Robin exclaimed desperately. "But these red and black soldiers seem to be on Scarecrow's side!"

"His own private army?" Alcor asked, confused. "That's not his style."
"No it's not." James thought. "But there is a first time for everything…"
Abigail growled angrily over the line. "This is nuts! How are we supposed to keep up with all of this!?"
"I don't know. But I'm going after Barbara." James said finally. "I need to—"
Suddenly, Batman appeared on the line coughing and panting.
"Batman!" James cried out. "What happened to you!?"
"I…have this handled." He breathed. "Do your mission! I'm going…to rescue…her…"
"You're not well!" James insisted. "I need to—"
"Wait James." Robin interrupted. "Let us rescue her. You need to find out about NOS."

"But-!"

"Now." Batman demanded.
Swearing under his breath, James nodded and Robin hung up.
"He's unfortunately right." Joe said. "Let them rescue her. We have bigger problems now. Luckily the toxin has not been released and we still have some more time. Batman has sent me some of his files and apparently a device called 'Cloudburst' uses the toxin. It is a mass dispersal device for the fear toxin. A man named Simon Stagg created it. Apparently he is a businessman and wanted to make a large profit off of the device. Regardless, it looks like he's out of commission and Scarecrow is now in possession of it. I'm going to keep analyzing this for now. Abigail will take over for me and help you out.
"Okay." James replied. "For now we need to dig up evidence that links Howard Johnson to NOS."
"All we need is to find the tattoo." Alcor said. "All NOS members must have it on them so he definitely has it."

"Alright then." He nodded. "Time to go meet the future President of the United States."