Chapter 2

The light died down, but Scarecrow was quick to notice that his friends were not beside him and that worried him. "Did Hatter's crystal malfunction?" He asked himself, knowing he and their animal friends had been holding onto Hatter tightly, so he was worried that they had been separated.

Scarecrow walked through a nearby door where he found himself in what appeared to be a dungeon.

"Dorothy? Spade? Echo? Are any of you here?" Scarecrow called out, still searching for his friends until he saw a torture table. "Huh...This is pretty cool."

Curiosity got the best of him, but he didn't see that he had caught someone's attention and they were watching him closely.

"No sign of the others yet, but I seriously should consider asking to get one of these for back home," Scarecrow admitted, placing a hand on the following object.

Around touching the table, he realized that there was no dust or old residue. As if this is either brand new or cleaned recently. Which can only mean one thing...he and the Gotham Grimtales may not be alone.

That feeling only grew the longer he was in the room.

Scarecrow started to get a sneaky feeling that someone was in there. He kept moving and acted like everything was fine...unaware of his spy knowing that the young Scarecrow was carefully setting up his gloves by grabbing a yellow vial to inject them in a hole.

Scarecrow noticed that whoever was watching him was cautious and not moving towards him. He paused a moment before turning to look behind him, but there was no one there. Or so it looked like it.

"If you're waiting for me to let my guard down just to scare me, then you're wasting your time," Scarecrow called out, having his hands behind his back. "You're deal with a pro who knows how fear works. I know all the surprise attacks in being scared. You might as well stop your failed routine while I know it's compromised."

A chuckle filled the room. "You're quite bold for a burglar," a voice said. "Besides, I already knew you knew I was here. Are you as tough as you talk?"

"Depends...Are you as brave as you claim or just scared of not showing yourself?" Scarecrow remarked, keeping a deadpanned look.

Another chuckle filled the room. "You've got guts, kid. I'll give you that," he said. "Let's see how brave you are."

A tall and red four-armed being stepped out of the shadows, looking at Scarecrow with four yellow eyes.

"...Well, this is different," Scarecrow admitted, not flinching. "But that doesn't change my mood...unlike what I'm about to do to you."

The kid revealed his own gauntlets that released some claws on the tips of his fingers minus his thumbs. Yellow was shown on claw parts.

The being crossed his arms. "Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully. "What do you plan to do with those, Junior?"

"Excuse me?!" Scarecrow asked, sounding offended while having the gauntlets out. "Oh, I know you didn't just call me 'Junior'! How'd you like it if I called you Red Crab Man-ster?"

The creature laughed, as if amused. "Really? That's the best you can come up with?" He asked.

Growling in anger that the person didn't seemed fazed by the insult, Scarecrow unleashed his claw attack by lunging towards the red-armed creature and trying to pierce his skin to infect him with his own fear toxin. All he needs is one scratch on this monster from his claws to inject what he has to make his opponent not feel brave anymore.

Four Arms watched carefully and, after a moment, he grabbed the kid, using two hands to hold up the kid's arms at the wrists. He then used his other two hands to grab the gloves and pull them off, much to Scarecrow's shock.

"HEY!" Scarecrow shouted, struggling to get out. "What the heck are you?!"

Four Arms grinned. "I'm a Tetramand; one of the strongest aliens in the universe," he said. "Now, I've got some questions for you, Junior."

Scarecrow glared angrily before swinging forward to have his right leg kick Four Arms' face very hard. "Don't CALL ME THAT! And I'm not telling you anything! I know the different fear tactics and have been through tons of tortured scenarios. Whatever you plan to do to me on interrogation, you're only wasting your time."

The surprise kick caught Four Arms off guard, but he didn't let go of the boy. "Okay, that's it," he said. "Time for an attitude adjustment."

With that, he adjusted his hold so that the boy's wrists were held in one large hand and one arm wrapped around the boy's lower legs. "You've been through tortured scenarios, huh? Well, then, this shouldn't affect you."

With that, Four Arms used his free hands to start tickling and gently prodding at Scarecrow's ribs.

However, Scarecrow didn't flinch, cracked a smile, nor seemed to laugh. He just gave a confused look at his captor. "What are you doing?"

Four Arms hummed. "Not ticklish, huh?" He asked. "Wonder why?"

"Seriously?" Scarecrow questioned, thinking this was some joke. "That was your plan? To tickle torture me until I start confessing? Dude! I went through several tests from my mentor to the point where my system doesn't work on emotional toxins anymore. Not to mention lose practically all sensitivity in my body. In other words...I've lost the feeling of being tickled."

Four Arms was surprised. "That's not right," he said, making the boy look at him. "To deprive someone of feeling. Still, maybe you have one spot you didn't know about."

With that, he began wiggling his fingers into other known tickle spots. His underarms, his stomach, his neck, his feet, even his ears.

But Scarecrow didn't laugh still.

"You're not going to find anything," he said.

"Hold on. I'm not giving up yet," the alien said, before growing curious. "Hmm, maybe it's a spot that isn't common."

With that, he started tickling Scarecrow's shoulders, working his way down his arms. "Seriously, this is...EEE!"

Four Arms paused as he saw his fingers were at the boy's elbows. He wiggled his fingers into them again and Scarecrow squirmed where a muffled squeak left him. This made the alien grin.

"Bingo," he said, wiggling his fingers more into the boy's elbows and the crooks of them.

Scarecrow's eyes widen in surprise before he bursts into laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHOHOHOHOH, MAHAHAHAHAN! I HAD NO CLUHUHUHUE!"

"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Four Arms said playfully. "Sure you don't want to answer my questions?"

Scarecrow just shook his head vigorously in reply, still laughing like mad. He felt like kicking again yet his legs were restrained firmly.

"Alright then," Four Arms said. "Guess I'll keep tickling you then."

"NOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" Scarecrow cried in pure mirth, not sure how long he would last yet didn't want to expose any secrets his enemy wanted to know.

The alien chuckled. "Sounds like you're not able to stand this much longer," he said teasingly. "Come on, kiddo. All you gotta do is answer my questions and I'll let you up."

"NEHEHEHEHEHEVER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I WON'T-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-TALK!" Scarecrow yelled in laughter, tears of joy starting to run under his eyes and mask. His struggles were beginning to weaken.

"Then I guess I'll keep tickling you until you talk," Four Arms said, smiling as he heard the youngster's laughter.

Scarecrow kept laughing until he started to cough and feel exhausted.

Hearing him cough, Four Arms stopped. "You okay, kid?" He asked.

Scarecrow couldn't keep his eyes open and passed out, to which the alien caught him and held him like a father protectively holds his children. "Easy, kid. I gotcha," he said soothingly.

This surprised the boy that the being who had been tickling him was now holding him so gently, holding him as if he was his own child. A large hand was rubbing his back as the alien began carrying him out of the dungeon. "Just rest, kiddo. I'll ask my questions later," he said.

Scarecrow was tired...not to mention a little sweaty from laughing and struggling so much. And the hand rubbing his back was making him even sleepier. He gave in and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly. Around snoring silently, he managed to softly mutter something under his breath.

"Dorothy...,"

Looks like the boys ended up at the Grant Mansion. Who else will they meet? We shall see. :)

Please leave Redbat132 and myself a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418