Synopsis: Scarecrow makes his move, preparing to unleash a massive amount of fear gas onto the city of Gotham, while sending the heroes on a chase though Gotham after him learning the depths of his plan. Meanwhile, Mary tries her best to assist in any way she possibly can and Jacob Kane deals with a Crow who disobeys an order leading to a tragic outcome.
A guard was patrolling a secret large warehouse, owned by Stag industries, going outside for a smoke briefly as it seemed like quite the silent night. As the cigarette was lit, something horrific happened as it seemed to come alive and the world around the guard seemed to come ablaze. They started to panic even more as a figure approached them grabbing the cigarette.
"Nasty, I've experienced a lot of horror, but these death sticks." He waved it in his face, making the man fall over and hide. "Pitiful. Perhaps we've learnt a lesson, yes?" The Scarecrow asked getting close with his intminiting mask, which only looked far worse than a person should witness with the fear gas.
He stepped around with his men following opening the door to the warehouse finding exactly what they were looking for as it wasn't exactly something that could hide.
"Ah, easy. Check for any more guards, gas them, killing them is unnecessary. We're not trying to spill blood." Scarecrow reminded.
"Sir, how exactly are we going to get this thing out of here?" One goon asked.
Crane looked over said thing. "Well, it's a good thing Stag industries designed this hanger so well and our new toy, to help us unknowingly." He declared, staring at the large airship excited by the possibilities from it.
Batwoman
Casting Ruby Rose is Batwoman
Vanessa Morgan is Ryan Wilder
Stephanie Beatriz is Renee Montoya.
Ben Whinshaw is Scarecrow (But older)
The team was down in the cave doing what they'd usually been doing when having down time as a team.
Luke was on the batcomputer looking at information trying to keep ahead of everything going on in the city and trying to keep it all organized to boot.
Kate and Ryan were training themselves in a newer area of the cave they hardly went into besides for training. With some help from their allies over at Star Labs Luke managed to be able to make a program allowing them to use the room to warp it into more or less what they needed, only flaw was not running into the wall. Thankfully put padding on the walls after a couple mistakes.
Finally, Mary was practicing medicine and trying her best to keep off her phone, knowing she'd likely be very tempted to check up on what the latest trends were.
"Oh crap," Luke muttered to himself looking over some recent news.
Mary immediately stopped working and came over in her chair with wheels. "What's up? Did you find something?" She asked.
"Yeah, I certainly did." Luke replied and contacted the two heroes training. "You two are going to want to get down here, Scarecrow made his next move."
They both rushed out of the training room.
"Great, I always love it when that creepy guy shows back up." Mary remarked sarcastically. "He's so ugly wearing that bag on his head, like what person wears a smelly bag on their head and thinks it's a great idea?" She questioned.
The two walked in the room. "What's he doing now?" Ryan asked, coming over first.
"Stole an airship, all the way over in Central City from Stagg Industries."
Kate looked puzzled. "Why would he go all the way over there? Must have really wanted that airship, I'd take a guess Safiyah must have informed him about it."
"He could spread a lot of fear gas with an airship, how are we going to stop it? Though, I'm sure we could track it right?" Ryan asked.
Unsure Luke didn't answer immediately.
"CCPD claimed they weren't able to track the airship, it has state of the art avoiding technology or something, the notes weren't written the best." Stated Luke.
Putting her hands to her face rubbing her forehead she asked. "It's a giant airship, how could it possibly vanish? It's not exactly subtle."
"It's the exact idea of building it, making the seemingly impossible harder to find. Not even sure as to what it'd be used for." Luke wondered.
"Perhaps it's all connected to Safiyah, it doesn't matter we have to get ready for whatever Scarecrow will do with it." Kate declared.
"If Bruce didn't leave the Batwing in pieces, that would've helped us a lot in this situation and don't even ask if I can rebuild it, I'm not that kind of a builder." Luke replied with some sarcasm.
Batwoman nodded. "We'll figure it out, we're going to bring down Scarecrow once and for all this time." She went to their stash of fear toxin cures grabbing as much as both women could hold, proceeding to head out into the city.
Batwoman and Black Bat started going on patrol, looking desperately for any sign of Scarecrow or Safiyah, as Luke continued looking for any clues.
It was over 4 hours now of searching and Ryan was getting impatient. "We have to be able to find him, something."
"We will, I promise. In one of Bruce's journals he described criminals as a superstitious cowardly lot, they'll slip up. They always do and we'll be there to bring them down." Batwoman declared.
After some more searching and stalking the rooftops, she was correct as they discovered a shipment of fear gas being moved away.
"Get it onto the truck on the double!" The one in charge was shouting, as it appeared the truck was about to leave.
The two heroes looked at each other.
"I'll deal with the truck, you take Scarecrow's thugs." Batwoman declared.
Ryan nodded.
They hopped down together, Batwoman hopping onto the window of the truck and Black Bat blocking the shipment landing onto one of the goons.
"Holy crap!" The driver exclaimed.
"Turn off your engine." Batwoman said aggressively.
They didn't listen and slammed the gas, as Batwoman held onto the truck now going for a ride. As Black Bat stood up against the rest of the goons.
"Boss warned us bout you." One of them with poor grammar stated.
"Should've given you a better warning." Ryan replied, cracking her neck.
Black Bat kicked the first one to charge at her and grabbed the second closed thug using him brierley as a shield taking a couple hits from one of the foolish thugs. A third caught on fast and came behind Ryan hitting her back with a baseball bat making her fall down for a moment and hit her again, until Ryan grabbed the bat hitting them in the face with it and tossed it at a fourth thug knocking them out. The first one pulled Black Bat back to the ground and hit her while the final fifth goon joined in holding her down kicking her. Fortunately, she could reach her grapple gun and shot up, pulling herself up and flung both of them into a wall finishing them off. The Boss was the only one left standing now and she approached furiously, grabbing him.
"Tell me everything you know about Scarecrow!" She yelled, pinning him to a wall.
"Like I'm going to tell you! He told us both of you would likely find us. You heroes always stumble onto things you shouldn't!" The thug exclaimed as Ryan pushed more.
She grit her teeth. "Come on, tell me what he's planning! Don't make me ask twice."
"I'm not afraid of you, trust me I've been dosed with fear gas. You can't scare me not like he can." The leader confessed.
Black Bat was annoyed and believed him seeing no fear in his eyes, processing to knock him out and began trying to contact Kate to figure out her status. Until she arrived back bring the truck with the knocked out driver.
"Toxin is secure." Kate stated and got out. "How did everything go on your end Ryan?"
She looked around. "Not as well, their leader wouldn't talk. Maybe there might be some more clues around here someplace."
The two looked around, while Kate contacted Montoya to come grab the fear toxin and they seemingly found nothing.
"What about the truck? Did you search it?" Ryan asked, looking at it.
"Yes I did briefly, found nothing." Kate responded, continuing to look around. "We should leave this crime scene for Montoya."
Ryan nodded. "Yeah you're right." She replied, having some rage in her voice.
Kate promptly looked over at her. "Ryan, What's going through your head right now?"
With hesitation she didn't respond.
"You're thinking about killing him aren't you?" Kate asked.
"No, I'm just angry. He threatened Whisper, we can't stay at our orthange until we know he's put away. We're having troubles and trying to hold on. If not for Black Bat, I can't help thinking she might not have been put into danger." Ryan confessed.
"You are trying to do the right thing and sometimes it puts the people we love in danger. It'll be worth it once we send Crane back to Arkham." Kate said, comforting her.
Unsure Ryan kept thinking. "It's just, these lies. I've kept things from her and she doesn't even know exactly why Scarecrow wants us. Honestly I'm not even certain of what he wants. I'm scared and I just really want this nightmare to be over." She stated.
"I promise, this is going to end." Batwoman replied as the police rolled up, the two heroes left to the rooftop to observe and think of their next move.
Back over in the cave, Luke and Mary were speaking.
"You want to speak to Alice?" Luke questioned.
"Yeah, well no. I don't want to speak to her, but it could help us potentially. She's a talker and worked with bag head before, I'm a talker too right?"
Luke nodded. "Right."
Mary gave him a playful look and crossed her arms.
"Uh, I mean no you're not a talker. Not in a bad way, at all. Not what I meant you are the best talker. Love to hear you talk! You're great at it!" Luke exclaimed.
"Thanks, I'm just playing with you Luke." Mary smiled. "In all seriousness, I do believe talking to that psycho could help us. She could reveal something to me."
"She could also get into your head or hurt you." Luke said with concern.
Mary shrugged. "Maybe, I gotta be brave. I'm going to talk to her." She started to walk off until Luke followed along.
"I can come with you if you'd prefer." Suggested Luke.
"Sure, we'll do it together!" Mary exclaimed.
Together they walked off, heading towards Alice who was strangely doing a handstand. Slowly coming down upon seeing them giving them a wave and a sinister looking smirk on her face.
"Hello there, Mary. It's great to see you, it seemed like Kate was trying to keep us apart for some reason. Very rude of her." Expressed Alice who continued to smirk confidently.
Mary crossed her arms. "Kate cares a lot. You know what caring feels like right?" She suggested taking a jab at her.
Unamused Alice dropped her smirk. "Now that isn't very nice, I thought you were meant to be the nicer sister?"
"Can be hard to be nice to the psychopathic killer who killed my mother and made me watch it happen. You know, it leaves hard feelings that don't exactly go away overnight" Mary replied snarky.
"Would it help if I said I'm sorry? I don't mean it, but would it help?" Alice responded sarcastically.
Luke stood forward. "Leave Mary alone haven't you hurt her enough?"
Her sinister smirk appeared once more as he spoke. "Poor Luke Fox, you want to protect poor defenseless Mary don't you? She's a little dog or cat, needing protection from the big bad world, unable to figure anything out. I hate those little rodents"
Mary frowned. "Why did you have to bring cute animals into this?"
"It's like you aren't listening to my point." Alice rolled her eyes.
"Oh it's because I know you're full of crap. Your cynical world view, I don't believe any of that. Luke's a great guy and thoughtful." Replied Mary genuinely.
Alice continued to roll her eyes. "You're naive, now I've got a suspension. You came here for another reason." She was confident in herself for being ahead of them in her mind.
"Fine, that wacko you brought back to Gotham is on the loose. What's he up to?" Mary questioned stepping a bit closer.
"Why would I tell you?"
"Why not Alice? It'd be fun, you'd get to gloot wouldn't it be nice?" Mary said mockingly.
Alice grit her teeth. "If I knew anything, then I'd tell you whatever you'd like to hear. That old freak betrayed me and sent me down the road of being locked in this cage."
"Come on, he must have said something." Mary continued.
"Nothing, oh besides his usual stick of wanting to spread fear all around Gotham as he usually does. He hasn't been able to come up with something original before has he? By my guess he'd begin sharing his intentions for Gotham already, he's so predictable." Alice said sarcastically.
Mary shrugged in agreement. "Yeah I guess you're right, he's not a difficult person to figure out, just like you and Safiyah." She said.
"Oh really? You think I'm not complicated?" Alice questioned
"Nope, not really." Mary said dismissively of Alice walking away.
Unhappy Alice kicked the bars, but it did nothing; she'd be going nowhere.
Elsewhere Batwoman and Black Bat went back on patrol searching for anything to find a trail onto Scarecrow. Soon getting a broadcast, like Alice had suggested though they didn't know about that conversation.
"Gotham City, this has been a long time coming. Fear will tear this city apart and those of you who survive will be forever changed for the better. Believe me, you'll be thanking me once my toxin is raining though the city. If you wish to stay, you're welcome to fight and have your eyes opened. However, if you want to be afraid, a coward, then you better hop right into your car and pray you are one of the first to leave." Scarecrow declared over a broadcast, it was sound only at this point.
Luke immediately tried to contact them. "Please tell me you heard that."
"We did. How was it broadcasted? And can you trace it?" Batwoman questioned.
"Radio, the internet and TVs. Tracing it the best I can right now. I'll let you know the second I get something." He declared.
Montoya called right after him. "Batwoman, please tell me you're on top of this, the city's going to go into a panic." She stated with some fear in her voice.
"We're tracking him now, he's not going to get away again." Batwoman responded.
"I should warn you too, the Crows are going to hop into this now," She said.
Batwoman sighed. "Thanks for the heads up, we'll be ready." She hung up and immediately contacted Luke once more. "Please tell me you've got a signal."
"I've got it sending you the address now!"
The two heroes rushed off once again to the location.
Batwoman and Black Bat approached an abandoned building that looked empty, but in this city every unsettling building seems to house some criminals. They approached closer, peeking inside of the building carefully, finding some of Scarecrow's goons setting up something electronic along with seemingly having hostages.
"Crap, what if they hurt those people down there? Or might have already gassed them for all we know." Ryan said, looking at Kate.
"We're going to be careful, you're still learning the art of stealth. I'm sorry I have to take down those guards by myself, can't risk those people's lives in case they use them as shields. Watch my back, I might need help.." Kate replied and crept closer slowly.
Ryan didn't disagree at all, wanting to keep the people safest as possible.
In the darkness Batwoman looked around the room, trying to look for everyone in there and every point of attack she'd have to her advantage.
She got to work, grabbing one guard who was out of sight of the rest, bringing them up into the darkness and kept moving quickly. Batwoman knocked out two more thugs guarding a doorway pulling them up into the air, out of sight. She then looked over at Ryan and gave her a hand gesture to move in on sync to take down the rest of them. In a moment, together they leap down and swiftly took the goons down before they understood what was happening.
"Good job Black Bat," Batwoman said to her after successfully taking them all down before any harm fell on the hostages.
"Should we untie them now?" She asked.
"I'm going to check the room first, I don't trust Scarecrow. This was far too easy." Kate stated looking concerned.
Ryan nodded in agreement. "You're right, it was too easy. Right?"
Batwoman investigated the room and found nothing, she thought maybe there could be people in the next room before she opened the door she heard sirens. Which she knew most likely wouldn't be Montoya, if it was the Crows thing could get messy as they had it out for them. "Let's just untie them, I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Scarecrow must be trying to slow us all down, we've got to get a move on." She started freeing them, noticing something was wrong with them, their eyes.
Ryan came close to one. "Are you alright?"
"He predicted you'd fall for it." They replied, grabbing a knife and pinning Ryan to the ground. "Are you afraid?"
Batwoman looked shocked and quickly reacted to the seeming hostages now coming to attack. She carefully disarmed them and pushed them back not knowing exactly what was happening. "We're trying to help you! Are you seeing things?" She asked, suspecting it was possible they had been dosed with fear toxin.
"You are mistaken, we have our eyes opened." Another said continuing to try to attack.
Batwoman was confused by this and tried using one of the cures on one of them which did nothing to them.
"Told you, we've had our eyes opened after many treatments." They claimed, trying to continue snapping Ryan in the shoulder. "He'll open your eyes too."
Ryan spat in their face and head butt them, knocking them out. "What the hell is going on here?" She questioned and knocked out another one of them.
They easily took the rest of them down and now wondered what was happening.
Batwoman kept one conscious and began to question them.
"Why are you doing this?" She questioned wanting an answer immediately.
"Doctor Crane opened our eyes, I don't feel fear anymore. Only for self-preservation. It's all he wanted, to make us fearful of our own shadow only to show us how to defeat fears. Small and large. It was liberating. We volunteered, he freed our minds and made us stronger. The least we could do for him was cause a minor distraction for you. And others in our ranks here, well sadly they didn't react as well to treatments. Still we are close after the years of his treatments." They explained calmly.
Batwoman looked shocked by his response, but ignored it, pressing for more, wanting to understand better. "What happened to those who didn't respond well to your so-called treatments?" She asked getting closer.
"Well it's simple, their minds couldn't handle all of the fear and they don't see the world as you or I would. They're mindless, like a child. Open to suggestions. It's why they're guarding the door, they seem innocent enough. Until it's too late and they react badly to someone outside of our group provoking them. Does it make sense?" They replied.
Taking a step back Batwoman lunged forward at them grabbing them by the throat. "You're very lucky I'm not like you." She knocked him out, throwing him to the ground.
Ryan was surprised by the aggression Kate showed, but understood it.
Suddenly they heard two gunshots from the other room they didn't clear.
"We need to get out of here," Kate said, looking over at her ally who nodded and they quickly escaped while wondering what had happened.
Approximately 5 minutes earlier the Crows arrived and started to secure the perimeter.
"We need to breach, we need to take down Scarecrow now." One Crow stated.
Jacob Kane stepped forward. "We're waiting for them to clear our entrance and the gas masks. We need to be smart. Crane has been one step ahead of us, that ends today we're bringing him in carefully."
The Crows all agreed and nodded.
In a moment the truck carrying gas masks arrived and they all got geared up while the front entrance was checked for any explosives and it was cleared.
He looked around. "Make sure everything is ready, we're breaching now. We need to be careful. Expect the unexpected with this madman." Everyone understood his orders, nodding to him. "Move in now!" Kane replied and they all moved in kicking the door open rushing inside. Immediately they discovered the same thing Kate and Ryan discovered, seemingly hostages blocking the doorway.
"Hands up right now!" Some of the more aggressive Crows shouted immediately pointing their guns at them.
"Do not fire! These look like civilians. We need to get them to safety right now." Jacob said, looking at his people and angry towards the fierce Crows.
The Crows approached carefully and grabbed them one by one pulling them to safety. Until they revealed their true intentions trying to attack them, one pulled a knife and got shoved into a wall. Then another pulled a gun holding a Crow hostage going up against the wall.
"Stay back!" They shouted with their firearm shaking.
Jacob Kane motioned everyone to stand back. "Alright, let's stay calm. Are you seeing hallucinations? He asked.
"I'm not screwing around, you're here to kill us! Take us away from each other. I won't, I won't let you take us!" The disoriented person shouted.
Kane stepped forward carefully. "Please, let our man go. We don't have to have any violence we can all walk out of here. "We'll get you a cure, a doctor and keep you with whoever you are talking about. How does that sound?"
"He told me not to believe people who aren't ours!" They shouted.
A Crow reacted fast and shot them, killing them.
Jacob Kane turned right around. "What the hell do you think you just did!?" He asked the Crow who fired furiously.
"I eliminated a threat sir." They replied coldly.
"You disobeyed orders and killed a likely innocent person who could've gotten help! They could've very well dropped the gun! You had no reason to fire!" Kane exclaimed.
He looked unphased. "I saved one of our own. You should've been more concerned about their life and not someone clearly out of their mind sir."
Jacob looked angry. "Get out, I'll deal with you later. Head back to base and hand me your weapon, understand?."
They complied and nodded to him.
"Clear the rest of the building now." Jacob said, turning back to his people.
Batwoman and Black Bat escaped leaving the area spotting the Crows outside.
"Looks like we made the right call." Ryan said, sighing.
Kate looked distracted. "We still haven't found Crane. He lured us into a trap and we've got no idea what it means. Why did he try using innocent people? As human shields, he's a sick monster."
Ryan looked unsure. "It could be anything with him. Always seems like he's always playing us, 10 steps ahead. Could've been using those poor people for a number of reasons." She paused, recalling her last encounter with him. "He wanted to take me, I wonder if that's what his intentions were going to be."
"We're going to find him, he can't keep hiding forever. Batman caught him multiple times before, we'll get him." Kate declared.
"Scarecrow's had 5 years to plan out whatever he's up to now and has Safiyah backing his plays." Ryan pointed out.
Kate wasn't sure of how to respond to that.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a downer." Ryan replied, frowning.
"We're going to beat him." Kate paused. "I swear we're not going to stop until he and Safiyah are brought down. As soon as we get him, Safiyah's going to lose a major assist. We're going to win this fight."
Back over in the cave, Luke and Mary walked back to the computer, finally having enough of speaking to Alice. She continued yelling at them saying nothing of value, just speaking about how much she disputed Mary's mother.
"Are you alright?" Luke asked, looking concerned.
Mary nodded. "She's a master of knowing how to get under someone's skin. Fortunately, I'm not easily upset, not by psychopaths like her. Sometimes I don't see what Kate sees in her, I don't see any good." She crossed her arms and put them up.
"Well uh," Luke looked not sure of what to say. "I'm here for you. Always I promise."
Mary gave him a hug. "Thanks Luke."
"Of course Mary." He smiled.
They looked at each other meaningfully for a moment, then it became awkward and both looked away. Smiling a bit.
She cleared her throat. "Well, now we tried to speak to her. I think that I should be going to my clinic. It'd be important in case creepy crow starts causing trouble in the city, people could get hurt." Mary declared.
"It could be dangerous, maybe you should stay here for now?" He suggested.
"No, I've made up my mind. Being helpful to the city is the best thing I could possibly do right now." Mary said certainly in her choice.
Luke nodded. "You should get Sophie to watch over you then. Promise you'll call her."
"Of course, I will. Don't worry about it." She replied.
"Well, I'll keep worrying cause there's a supervillain on the loose." He said with some sarcasm and the truth of having some worry. "Oh and we should tell Kate and Ryan about what you're up to."
"Yes we do that as well." Mary replied.
"Am I forgetting anything?" He asked.
With a shrug, she said, "Luke if you keep it up you'll be informing everyone what I'm up to including bag head. Maybe you might even tell him in person without realizing it with all the people you'd be telling." She joked.
"Think it could be an ever reaction." He smiled.
"Could be. Never know. See you laters." She smiled back and departed off to her clinic calling up Sophie to come play babysit again as she'd put it.
Jacob Kane returned back to the Crows HQ, after the raid of the warehouse where they found more hostages already knocked out and assumed it was Batwoman's doing. It frustrated him deeply they were a step behind her and that she didn't clear out the other room. He wondered if that person would've lived if she did, or better yet never exist in the first place. Of course he didn't know she only departed quickly due to their ongoing conflict.
As he continued thinking, The Crow who fired the shot killing that person stepped into his office as requested to speak about the issue. "Sir."
"Don't bother to sit down. You disobeyed orders and killed someone who at this point we're under the assumption was being manipulated by Crane. It was his plan to make that situation go badly. Tox screens showed all of them were under the influence of narcotics, mind altering ones. The person you shot was kidnapped a few days ago. You fell for it with your trigger finger. Those people were pawns, he was using them as weapons!" Kane said furiously.
"They were going to fire their weapon sir, I saved one of our own. It doesn't matter if they weren't in their right mind. I saved a person's life." The man replied.
Kane continued to look frustrated. "You were given an order. We aren't trying to kill people, we're trying more de-escalation tactics. I won't stand for anyone with a happy trigger finger, I'm cracking down. I'm rotting out the filth in our ranks, I won't tolerate people who can't follow order and who have no care for the lives of the people of Gotham. The Crows need to become better."
"And what does that mean sir?" They asked.
"It means pack up. You're out of here." Jacob said, standing up.
He shook his head and put his hands on Jacob's desk. "What about the operation? You brought me in to bring down Batwoman. Assign me to that only then sir."
"You're not making demands. And don't forget how much you are being paid, I should've known better to trust a mercenary. You don't care about lives do you? Only yourselves." Kane expressed. "Get out."
They stormed out of the office and spotted Proctor.
"Kane fired me, what the hell do you see in him?" He questioned furiously.
Proctor pulled him aside. "You should've listened to the commander Jay, I trust his judgment calls this is your own fault. I brought you on to bring down Batwoman and Black Bat, you screwed me. The commander is focused on Batwoman, but Black Bat is as much of a threat, you learned a lot of her moves and now all of that has gone to waste. I needed someone to watch my back!" Proctor exclaimed, rubbing his head.
"I made the right call." He continued exclaiming.
"The commander makes the final call, you listen to orders. Very predictable Jay, annoyingly so man. I'll talk to you later, listen now and leave." Proctor said insultingly and walked away from his friend.
Back in Jacob's office he was thinking of the mess now caused, losing a civilian and now one of the people brought on for Operation: Knightfall. He'd have to answer for both, but there was a more pressing matter.
Scarecrow began affecting the airwaves once again, which immediately got the Crows attention and they contacted commander Kane to get downstairs. He rushed down to see the latest broadcast as quickly as possible.
"This is a message to those who found my signal, you failed to find any evidence as I've been enjoying watching you all run around like headless chicken. Now however, I've decided to see exactly how fast your reaction times are. I'm going to release fear toxin onto a city block, the location is on screen now. Maybe I'm bluffing, maybe not, want to try me?" Scarecrow asked with a camera zoomed right up on his mask, which wasn't moving at all during his speech, making it more ambitious if this was another diversion, a recorded message or a live message.
"Alright everyone listen up! We're splitting up, I want a team to track that signal down and alert the GCPD once you crack it. Everyone else we're going to that street! Move it now!" Jacob Kane shouted repeatedly getting everyone's attention.
Back over with Batwoman and Black Bat, they were contacted about the latest broadcast and the warning by Luke.
"What do we do here?" Ryan asked.
Kate looked unsure. "Luke what do you think the odds are he's not bluffing? And can we even do anything to help?"
He was listening to the police radio and trying to keep up with the Crows at the same time. "To me, it sounds like Montoya and your father are sending everyone they can to help clear and search the area. Along with the rest of the first responders and are calling on volunteers to help get everyone to safety too. I think you should go after the broadcast location again, it's our only lead until we can spot that airship. It just feels like, I've got a nasty feeling we're missing something here." Luke expressed.
"You think either way he's trying to mislead us." Kate replied thinking about it.
"Exactly, it's like he wants us to go on a wild goose chase. It's not like we have any leads on his airship and he knows that it's meant to be untraceable so it can't be that. Why is he trying to mislead us?" Questioned Luke trying to understand it.
"He's a psychopath, trying to make us feel more afraid and confused. He's trying to prime us for his endgame, gas the city." Ryan reasoned.
Kate looked not certain. "I don't know Ryan, I agree with Luke, something is wrong with everything here. He could be trying to give a diversion for Safiyah." She suggested.
"You're right it could be Safiyah trying to screw with us, I'll try tracking all of her movements. Maybe she's making her move now." Luke replied, starting to get to work.
"I don't believe it, he's more dangerous than Safiyah is." Ryan said, crossing her arms shaking her head.
"I'm sorry Ryan, it's our best guess," Kate replied, looking at her.
She nodded, "Well, I hope you two aren't wrong then."
Kate didn't look at her directly as she wasn't sure if this was the right call.
Elsewhere, Mary and Sophie were at the clinic setting up for what they could only imagine would be a long day for them.
"Are you calling anyone else in?" Sophie asked.
Mary shook her head sorting through some paperwork. "If that creep is planning on gasing the city like he threatened, no way I'm getting some of my colleagues put in harm's way on the way here." She replied.
"Yeah, that's understandable," Sophie said, looking around. "Sometimes it still comes as a shock that you're running this underground clinic and keeping it in shape. While doing medical school and still finding time to party."
"Guess I've got very impressive time management skills." Mary remarked.
"Seems you do, I can't have barely any personal time with Julia. I don't understand how you do it." She replied.
Mary smirked. "My superpower maybe?"
As she replied something strange happened, the power went out.
Sophie immediately reacted with a flashlight finding Mary, who also had a flashlight on her phone which was a bit less convenient.
"Are you alright? Where's the breaker?" Sophie asked quickly.
"Over there." She pointed. "What do you think is going on? Is this city-wide, is this what that freak was up to? Citywide Blackout?" Mary wandered and started trying to contact Luke.
Sophie sighed walking over to the breaker. "You're not helping if that is the case. Which I'm sincerely hoping it isn't, we're going to have big problems."
"Hey, Luke! Please answer!" She exclaimed, silently in her mind.
Luke was surprised. "Mary? What's going on? I was just talking to Kate about Scarecrow's next attack."
"A citywide blackout by chance?" She asked.
He was puzzled. "No, I haven't heard a single report of loss of power to 911 or anywhere. Why do you think that?"
Sophie turned to the hallway and spotted a figure. A terrifying one appeared standing still breathing heavily holding a large scythe in his hand, it was Scarecrow.
She immediately hid at the corner pulling her gun. "Mary, call 911!"
"Got it! You understand Luke?" Mary exclaimed.
"I've got it!" He replied and kept on the line.
Sophie breathed heavily. "Don't you move a step forward Crane! I swear to god I'll shoot!" She shouted finding herself becoming more fearful and noticed she was hit by a dart of fear toxin. Sophie immediately dosed herself quickly with the cure and peaked ever so slightly at the hallway which was now filled with smoke to make it impossible to spot anything. She turned back to Mary. "Get in the office right now, I'm right behind you!" Sophie exclaimed, stepping back slowly.
Mary intently complied and rushed into her office.
When Sophie tried to follow along she got shot at and then returned fire quickly.
"Look out!" Mary shouted as Scarecrow appeared behind Sophie hitting her in the back of the head knocking her to the ground, then stuck needles into her.
"Close the door, Mary," Sophie said weakly.
Mary hesitated but replied a few of Scarecrow's goons nearly got in. All she could do now was stare through the reinforced window watching Sophie in danger and hope her sister would be there soon.
"Ms. Hamilton, you are being difficult. I have no doubt Batwoman is one her way by now and your attempts to buy time could cost Sophie's life to come to a horrific conclusion." He moved the scythe to throat. "I wonder, how long would it take for her to bleed to death?"
"Stop it you evil bastard!" Mary shouted.
Scarecrow looked unamused. "It's nothing personal, Safiyah told me if I had Ms. Moore in my crosshairs then to make her suffer. Don't worry I'll give her a quick death. Besides, I gave her a large dosage, I pity whatever she'll see before the end comes."
"If I come out will you let her go?" Mary asked.
Scarecrow stared at her. "No I won't, but it'd be helpful if you stopped wasting time. Do you want Batwoman to see Sophie die? Wouldn't it be better if we get this suffering over with?" He asked.
"Why do you want me so badly?" Mary asked, confused.
"Not relevant, just come out here, please little girl. I can see the terror in your eyes, not wanting to lose her. The guilt would overwhelm you. We both know it. And we both know despite you wanting to believe the contrary, a person can only take so much before they're broken into pieces." Crane said coldly looking at Sophie kneeling down. " She's had a tragic life. And she's been dosed not so long ago. I feel badly harming this poor woman, with all the trauma she's faced. You can spot it, underneath her smile. Trying to live a lie. Many lies of feeling happy, satisfied in life all the while poor Sophie barely holding on for dear life, or will be momentarily as everything she tries to hide comes blasting to the surface of her mind. It can be transformative or destructive. We can only hope it'll be transformative for her. I truthly don't want to hurt this woman, but sometimes we can't always have our own decisions. Some need to carry out someone else's wishes instead, despite our own."
Mary looked at Sophie in danger and seeing the terror begin to form in her eyes and didn't hasiate stepping out hands raised up.
"Thank you and very brave of you Mary. Now please stand still." He said and gassed her. "I wonder what you'll see? Safiyah was curious about-" He stopped speaking, noticing Mary oddly reacting to it coughing more than anything. "What?"
"What the hell was that!? I think your gas is defective." Mary said, confused.
He was surprised, but nodded. "Interesting." He gassed her again.
Mary was yet again brushing it off and confused by it.
"Very interesting. I wonder, it must be true then." He stated.
Before he could make another move, Batwoman and Black Bat busted inside rushing towards them. Kate rushed over faster, having her attention on Mary first rushing at Scarecrow furiously. "Get away from her!" She shouted.
He looked concerned and grabbed Sophie using her as a shield. "We're going to walk out of here. Carefully."
Kate looked over at Sophie now switching concerns after seeing Mary was okay. "Let her go right now, or you'll never hold anything in that hand again." She said as Scarecrow's goons walked backwards to get in front of him on guard.
"Do you want this woman's death on your conscience? I know you don't want her to die, let alone anyone. Believe me or not, I'd prefer her to live another day. Live her life." Scarecrow said, stepping back.
Batwoman looked over at Black Bat, they understood each other from the look and made their attack, Ryan threw her Batarang at the scythe as she had a clearer view. Scarecrow instantly jammed more needles into Sophie making her going nearly out of control with fear and pushing her forward.
Ryan rushed after him and ignored Sophie at that moment, while Kate dealt with the rest of the goons and got down to Sophie's side, injecting her with a cure.
"Breath it's okay, you're okay now." Batwoman said softly.
Sophie was muttering the same thing in a panic as the cure was acting slowly due to her being dosed more then once. "Mom, Sis, it's my fault. They're dead. They won't leave me alone. Please. Please stop. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay you're safe now, your mother and sister are alive. I know you're not close with either of them, but things can only get better." Batwoman said to calm down Sophie.
"Everyone is going to suffer and die because of me. Everyone would be better without me. I hurt everyone. I'm the problem." She then kept saying.
"No, that isn't true. You are a good person who's always done what's best for everyone. It's the toxin affecting your mind, it isn't real." Batwoman said, grabbing her hand as Mary came off to Sophie's other side.
"You saved me, you did everything you could to protect me from him. You're a hero Sophie, thank you for protecting me. Please stop beating yourself up. You've been through so much, you are incredible for continuing to fight so hard." Mary said too.
As Sophie began to calm down, Batwoman turned to find her partner and noticed Black Bat must have presused Scarecrow alone, so she rushed after the direction he fled.
Batwoman rushed after her and found Black Bat questioning one of the goons left behind. There were shells on the ground of the road, making it seem as if they escaped and fired at her while driving off.
"Where's he going!" She shouted pressing on his throat.
Kate grabbed her arm and pulled her back as the goon passed out. "You're better than this, don't do this!"
"He nearly killed Mary and Sophie! How aren't you angrier?" She questioned.
"Of course I'm angry, but I'm trying to resist the urge to snap him two after everything he's done. You are full of potential and I don't want to see you lose yourself. I know you want him dead, but we can't go to his level. We're no better than him otherwise."
Ryan was surprised. "I'm sorry for making assumptions, is Sophie okay? I should've checked on her instead first and Mary." She admitted.
"Yes, you should've, Sophie and Mary, are going to be alright. It's just something you'll need to keep in mind for the future. Be sure of the calls you make." Kate said to her.
Luke contacted them. "Is Mary alright? I heard everything going on."
"She's fine now Luke I promise, I'm going to stay with her. Though we spotted Scarecrow and he's driving away, can you follow him with street cams? Ryan saw the vehicle, I think." She looked over at her, getting a nod.
"Yeah I'll do that right away, I'm just glad Mary's safe. Why would Scarecrow go after her?" He questioned.
"We'll get an answer once we find him, he's not going to get away this time." Batwoman declared, looking down the road.
Scarecrow was escaping with his remaining help that got away, deciding it was time to update Safiyah not caring who'd hear.
"Crane? You're getting on my nerves. This is becoming an increasingly larger mess! Two broadcasts? Your making your presence to well known, I don't give a damn if their bluffs, scare tactics stop risking everything! Get this done!" She yelled at him
"I paid a visit to Hamilton, it didn't meet our expectations, though you were correct about her condition. The fear gas didn't affect her." He replied calmly.
She went silent for a moment. "I assume Moore is still alive and Mary isn't in your care judging by your calling this a failure."
"I'm afraid so Safiyah, but it won't matter when Gotham soon shall tear itself apart." He responded sounding confident.
She hung up saying nothing more.
"It appears the clock is ticking against us ladies and gentlemen. Everything from this point on is a matter of survival. We're moving into the final phase, no more games. Life and death are in the balance for us all. It ends tonight." He declared somber in tone.
Batwoman
Thank you I was faster than the last few months, though I guess it's not the best always like you pointed out I made an error about Whisper knowing Ryan was Black Bat. Thankfully I fixed it and thanks for letting me know about it would've completely flown over my head otherwise. I'm glad you found it intense for Ryan. Glad you thought that about everything else too. I tried to make it a good setup for the following ending of Scarecrow's arc and give Ryan and Whisper's history more development. Yeah, the next one will be the final in-person appearance of Crane as Scarecrow. (Which will be hard for me, but necessary for the story going forward which is most important.) I hope this chapter was a good one, I expect the next one will be better. Hopefully too I didn't make any errors, I'll go and fix them if I do again. And try to look over the story better next time.
In regards to the two post-Scarecrow interlude episodes – Alright I'll be sure to do that with everything and I think it'd make the most sense that he'd already had the spare batsuit at that point using it to train in secret. I like that he'd be able to find the location of where this training is taking place and the headaches prevent him from doing more, also that they'd thank him for all the assistance. I do wonder if Jacob would question how she discovered the top-secret training area. I understand why they'd be concerned over that. I like she'd realize the team is very well trained and could take her down. I like too that it'd be the explanation behind creating the secret new batsuit for Kate to use during the season 2 finale.
In regards to Operation: Knightfall – I'll be sure to remember that thank you.
In regards to my ideas for your Mid-Season 3 finale – It would be for sure be an "OMG" moment yeah, it would be quite the shock. That's a good point, my mistake it would be more impactful than she was disgusted by Sophie to the end. It would give a great reason to hate Krauser for sure and yeah it does show the loyalty to him commenting on such a crime like that.
In regards to Ethan Bennett in your series – I didn't think so, just wanted to make sure. We'll figure that out later.
In regards to Ryan's reaction to the Reverse-Flashpoint timeline – I could leave it up to interpretation as a little mystery that isn't important, but something interesting to think about. There could be a bunch of different choices yeah, maybe they did have a happy life together or suffer a tragic end. Perhaps Ryan might be having a happy life with her mother or would have both been victims, or even having a nice life with her mother alive and still getting to be with Whisper who isn't a criminal anymore. Lots of potential choices of what could've been.
In regards to the Huntress – Well, that's what I get for not looking at the Arrowverse Wiki again. I apologize for forgetting that I never realized all that lore somehow. So yes I agree with you having her appear wouldn't make a lot of sense. I don't want to make it appear that the series backdoor pilot isn't canon so I'll just have to leave her out. I do wonder what all of that could've meant for that series, her having an adoptive daughter and disappearing. Well, now I'm sadder about that show. Also a good thing I dropped any Arrowverse connections for that side project. Thank you for informing me that I feel embarrassed for overlooking it. I let my love for the character cloud my thinking, I'm grateful for your thoughts.
In regards to the Underbroker – Thank you for that.
In regards to Julia – You are right on second thought I do agree with you, it would be nasty of her to leave Sophie in that time of crisis and what trouble are you thinking of? (I assume you mean Sophie becoming a fugitive and it having trouble for Julia too, but I could be not thinking what you are curious to hear if you have any thoughts or SRR related)
In regards to Maggie in your series – Alrighty thank you for confirming what I thought glad to know I was correct in my thinking.
The Reason Why Kate would Ask If Bruce Killed Selina in Your Series – That does make sense she'd be wanting confirmation about that and why he'd be upset by that implication.
Team Batwoman Mentioning to Kate About Kara Revealing herself to the World – I like the dialogue you give to Mary there speaking to Kate. I like how Kate would be so shocked by Kara revealing himself to the public. I also love all the connections you have all the other characters mention and figure out. I'll be sure to do that and I'll assume it too that Kara and J'onn went off-world too regardless of Reverse-Flash screwing around. Thank you for expending more there.
About the Mistake regarding Black Lightning for the proposed version of the "Armageddon" crossover – It's alright I understand perfectly that it happens sometimes. I'll be sure to remember that and I like that she'd be sympathetic towards Barry wanting Joe West back.
In regards to Diggle's sister-In-law and nephew – I apologize for my confusion, I understand what you mean.
Another Important Reverse-Flashpoint Detail for your series – That makes a lot of sense yeah I understand why the villains wouldn't work, I'll be sure to remember that when getting to the event. I do love it that there is some loss as well, though they are gaining people back too it's interesting. (Also, I do have to say I know it's canon so I can't change it, but I am frustrated they saved Reverse-Flash. Well, more so how it was handled honestly. The whole situation could've been done better)
Your Series explanation as to Why Riddler Willing Revealed Batman's Secret identity to Tommy Elliot – I like it that Riddler would've just gotten bored and eventually figured out Batman's identity after having a lot of time to think about it. I love Riddler's reasoning for telling Tommy about who Bruce was. I love it a lot too he wouldn't be happy with Tommy's reaction it was an incredibly stupid plan on Tommy's part for many reasons and Riddler would see that and it makes sense he'd be disappointed by that.
A New Villain in the Comics – Alright depending on how everything goes there I'll be sure to introduce them and do all of that. I also heard of the upcoming event Shadow War which could introduce more characters or could tie into the Failsafe stuff I'm not sure, we'll see how it goes. Looking forward to it, I hope everything goes well, everything coming.
Finally, I'm sorry to hear how the canon season 3 went. And more importantly, I'm very sorry for making that error. I'm so glad you caught that otherwise the entire ending with learning the truth and the breakup would've been ruined. She should've never implied and said she knew Ryan was Black Bat you are right and I hopefully fixed it, I'll go back and fix more if I need to. I'm embarrassed by having such a massive oversight. The entire arc was almost ruined so I'm very sorry again for nearly dropping the ball very badly, I am again very thankful you caught that thank you.