Chapter 12: Fear Itself

As October rolled into Gotham City, Bruce Wayne found himself surrounded by new opportunities to benefit the citizens of his home town with every passing day. He donated a few million dollars to Gotham's schools and churches and hospitals, began coordinating with city officials to build new homes for people stuck in the slums of Gotham, and administering jobs for the jobless in Gotham. However, he was hoping that his medical department at Wayne Enterprises would soon come up with an antidote for Warren Lawford's condition, for he was beginning to worry that the Joker's toxin might be deadly if not treated.

On Monday the fourth, Bruce was at another major fundraiser for Gotham State University, which had been having a run of bad luck due to a lack of funds for a few months. Vicki Vale was there as well to cover the event, and she was glad to have another scoop if it meant being in Bruce's company again.

"I'm here tonight at Gotham State University where Gotham's most beloved philanthropist Bruce Wayne is hosting another charity event to raise the university to the great standards expected by students and staff," Vicki was saying. She then asked Bruce in her professional manner, "Mr. Wayne, what resources do you have to offer the university aside from the funds that will be raised here tonight?"

"New equipment for the university science labs, offers of literature and archaeology programs, and a new computer program developed at Wayne Enterprises specifically for student usage," replied Bruce.

"Sounds interesting," Vicki complimented. "And will there be any hiring of new professors to teach the courses you plan to add to the curriculum?"

"Given time, yes," Bruce told her. "The process of adding new courses is surprisingly time-consuming, you know."

Vicki shared a laugh with Bruce as she finished her interview with him, and then Bruce went to one of the windows in the student union building to have some time to think. He was there only a short moment when he saw an airship approach the school on a direct line for the school bank Not willing to risk the occurrence of a potential crime scene, Bruce hurried up a vacant stairwell and then emerged on the roof as Batman. Then he spread his cape wide and leapt from the roof, and he glided on the air using his cape as a gliding chute to surprisingly good advantage.

At the university bank, a band of gangsters climbed down from the blimp's gondola armed with machine guns and pilfered tear gas. But the one who led them was another costumed villain nearly as ghoulish as the Joker. The leader of these mobsters was a man who was tall but surprisingly lank, and he was dressed in a tattered coat and trousers sporting patches, and paddings of straw could be seen under the cuffs of his shirt. On his head, the stranger wore a pointed hat over a burlap mask that allowed only his eyes to be seen.

As the gang of crooks entered the school bank, they prepared to make for the tuition vault and take down every guard they encountered when one of the mobsters bumped into something. Right away, they knew that Batman had found them. The goons tried to fight, but their lack of training made it impossible for them to handle Batman with the ease they were expecting. In a minute, all ten mobsters were brought to their knees and one of them had a bruised nose. Then as the university security guards rushed into the bank to cuff the villains, Batman turned to their leader, who was armed with a razor-edged steel rake. Batman thought that this new criminal looked like something out of a Halloween film, but he was neither afraid nor amused at this motif.

"Who are you?!" growled the Dark Knight.

"I am fear personified," the stranger replied. "I am the shadow of dread. I am… the Scarecrow!"

In an instant, the Scarecrow lunged at Batman with his deadly rake. He swung at the Dark Knight, but was easily flipped over with a grapple to the arm and a whirling kick. As the villain rose, he angled his rake like a spear and prepared to throw it. But as he did so, Batman merely caught the rake in midair and tossed it to the ground.

The Scarecrow ran at Batman with a hay fork this time, only for the hero to seize the weapon and snap it over his knee. Resorting to their fists, the two fought fiercely together as the police made their way into the school bank. Luckily, Commissioner Gordon entered with a riot squad behind him as Batman landed a punch that sent his opponent into a filing cabinet.

As Scarecrow picked himself up, he looked up at the approaching police and then looked at Batman and then back at the officers. Then the villain made up his mind. He raised his left hand and released a cloud of green vapor from his glove, and while the police were trying to regain their bearings, Scarecrow made a break for the ladder of his airship. Batman ran after him when he saw something strange happening to the officers. They were shrieking in fear and shooting wildly into the air, some of them climbing onto desks or file cabinets, and some even attempting to scratch themselves or beat some invisible threat away.

Not another chemical attack, Batman groaned in his mind. Then he returned his attention to Scarecrow and said, "What have you done to them?!"

"I merely helped each of these police buffoons visualize their greatest fear, which obviously varies between each of them," answered the Scarecrow with a very proud tone. "For example, that poor officer atop the file cabinet suffers from ailurophobia. Those officers firing at the ceiling are dealing with arachnophobia, while the one clinging to the guard's desk suffers from hemophobia. My fear gas is surprisingly effective, as you see here."

Now that made Batman mad. He lunged at the ladder as Scarecrow climbed up it and into his airship. However, the villain had made it into the blimp's gondola with his gang and immediately burned the top of the ladder with a flare, but Batman kept climbing up after him even as the vessel was in the air. In minutes, the helicopter was over the streets of Gotham and the ladder was about to break as the flames scorched the lanyards in their hunger. Finally, the flames singed through the top rung and then reached the other side. Before Batman could reach the top, the flames burned through the top of the ladder, which broke away from the blimp and took Batman with it.

"Yes! I have done it!" crowed the Scarecrow. "I have evaded the hero of Gotham City, and when I return to Gotham University, I will drive the stake through its heart and my revenge will be complete!"

Then one of his gangsters said, "Uh, boss? If Batman fell with the ladder, then who's that climbing the blimp?"

Scarecrow looked out of the window and saw that Batman was clinging to the airship by his Bat-cable. He was now climbing the cable and gaining speed as he went. Infuriated, the Scarecrow barked to his goons, "What are you waiting for, you dull-minded slowcoaches?! Blast him already!"

The goons in the back took their Tommy guns and opened the door, but as they were firing on him, Batman hurled another batarang and quickly disarmed them. He picked the lock on the hatch using a file on his glove and then rushed in to take on the Scarecrow. The villain's goons tried to fight back, but in seconds, two were tied to their seats with steel cables, another two were out cold as Batman had outmatched them in hand-to-hand combat, and when another one tried to strike his skull with a crowbar, Batman only whirled around and caught the bar before he bent it into a twist and knocked the goon out.

Scarecrow rose from his seat and snarled, "So, you've come for another lesson in fear, have you?!"

"I learned a lesson in fear long ago, Scarecrow," answered Batman. "And I learned how to fight it."

"You can never fight fear!" roared the Scarecrow. "It will always be alive! It exists within the mind, waiting to be awakened! And I have perfected it for the usage it was meant for!"

"You mean using it to terrorize innocent people? You're insane."

Scarecrow said nothing that time. He took his hay fork and ran at Batman, intending to spear him, but he missed by a large margin. Batman hurled batarangs at Scarecrow to disorient him and then disarmed him with a grapple-kick. Thing quickly, Scarecrow took a vial containing a green liquid and smashed it on the cabin floor. A green cloud of gas filled the chamber, but Batman was prepared for that as well, for he applied an oxygen mask before Scarecrow smashed the vial.

For once, Scarecrow was beginning to lose his nerve. He had no idea that Batman was this prepared to face him and ran for the controls of the airship in the hopes that he could get it out of Gotham City. However, Batman tied him to the copilot's seat and turned the airship so it headed for the main park of the city.

When the airship was finally on the ground, Batman dragged the Scarecrow and his goons out from the cabin and into the arms of the police. The officers slapped the cuffs on Scarecrow's goons and hustled them into the vans to be taken to jail. Scarecrow was the last to be brought onto the van, and as it drove away, he shouted at Batman, "You haven't seen the end of me, Batman! You will pay for this! I'll see to it if it's the last thing I do!"

…

OCTOBER 2, 11:30 EDT

It was only the start of October when the Scarecrow wound up in the courthouse under the cold, glaring eyes of Judge Harkness. During his trial, Scarecrow raved and ranted over his intentions of using fear against the people of Gotham City and vowed he would pay Batman out for handing him over to the authorities, and while he was in a straitjacket, the bailiff had to hold him back.

In two hours, Scarecrow was sentenced to serve time in Arkham Asylum as well, and the citizens of Gotham had Batman to thank for putting another criminal madman off the street and behind bars. Little did anyone know that the first three supervillain inmates of Arkham had one thing on their minds: revenge against the hero who had put them there.

A/N: How did you all like the first appearance of Gotham's second scariest criminal behind the Joker, folks? Feel free to let me in a review, and be prepared, 'cause the bad guys are about to concoct the first super-criminal scheme to hit Gotham City!