DCU Batman #3- The Vow

====Cobblepot Subway Station====

 

"Get away from him."

 

Flannegan smirks, admiring her makeshift costume. "Hello gorgeous, A for effort, F for execution. Oh boys!" He lets out a whistle, and on cue, rats come pouring through the walls towards her. Kate fires a warning shot, but, realising it's a waste of ammo, sets her sights back on Flannegan, shooting him squarely in the chest. The connection severed, the rats squeek away, back into the sewers where they came from. Flannegan mumbles "Come back, come-" before trailing off into unconsciousness.

Kate rushes to Batman's side, trying to silence his crying, then plunges a needle of adrenaline into his arm, jolting him awake. "Sorry."

 

Bruce sits up, back to business immediately. He doesn't know who this woman is, but, he also doesn't have the time for introductions. "Where are they-?"

 

"The guy in the rags? Must've gone before I got here"

 

"The children, he's got-"

 

"I know, I know. Just hold still," she says, applying antiseptic cream to his bite marks.

 

Bruce mutters in protest, before finally asking "Who are you?"

 

"I don't know yet, trial and error I suppose. But I'm here to help," she replies

 

"If you really want to help, you can start by ditching that," he responds, now on his feet.

Confused, Kate looks at her holster.

 

"I don't like guns." he explains, as he handcuffs Flannegan to a pipe.

 

"That gun just saved your life."

 

"And it could've just as easily taken his. You're an soldier, aren't you?"

 

"Was. Sargent Kate Ka-"

 

"No. I don't need your identity, that's how we end up with-"

 

"End up with what?" she asks.

 

Could it be? "Kate *Kane*?"

 

"Yes, why?"

 

Bruce smiles weakly to himself. Of course it'd be her. "Nothing," he responds, as he examines the Scarecrow's laboratory... The children, who took the children? He looks at the walls, across them are various formulas, essays and theories all linked to fear. On the table, there lies a shipping manifest Paris, it's cargo? A hundred wild mushrooms. Strange.

He opens a drawer, inside a letter. The recipient's name has been marked out, but it's been written by...

"Hellfern."

 

"Who's Hellfern?" Kate inquires.

 

"A Nazi. Figures... A master chemist, run into him before. Whoever this... Scarecrow is, he's learned from the very best..." He moves the letter away, and jolts back. "No."

It's a blueprint of Gotham General's ventilation systems... The kidnappings were only a teaser of what's to come. He pulls a camera from his belt, and hands it to Kate. "Send these to the GCPD. That madman's going to hit the maternity ward. Hundreds of newborns!"

 

"Wait, where the hell are you going?"

 

"To see if I can't get there first."

 

Batmobile's parked outside, must be how she found me. Clumsy... I jump in, and go over the files. "Master Bruce! Thank goodness you're alright. I've been trying to reach you all night!"

 

"I'm fine, Alfred. Had a run in with our kidnappers. I'm fine, but the ringleader escaped. Goes by Scarecrow. Don't worry, I know where he's going..."

 

"That's all well and good sir, but your vitals, they're still far too high... Can't you let the police handle this? We wouldn't want you to faaaaaaaail aaaaaaaagain wooooullllld weeeee?"

 

I pause. "Alfred, what did you say?"

 

"I said, surely the police can take care of this?"

 

I'm still not at my best, still hearing things...

"No, this maniac's got some kind of hallucinogen. I've seen it, Alfred, it's able to bring anyone's darkest fears and phobias to life. Anyone's."

 

I turn the corner.

 

"Now a scarecrow... He chose a scarecrow for a reason. Alfred, bring me up a list of families living in the rural areas of Gotham, cross referenced with students of Karl Hellfern... Any psychologists who specialise in fear."

 

Alfred sighs. He knows something's wrong. "One moment, sir. Here we are, one Doctor Crane, Jonathan Crane. Rather troubled upbringing, orphaned at birth, raised by his aunt. She died when he was a teenager- a rather grisly end at that..."

 

"Go on."

 

"She was pecked to death, by hundreds of... Crows. They never linked it to him, but later evidence seemed to suggest she beat him on a regular basis... A neighbor of theirs claimed she locked him in their family's aviary, on a nightly basis. She said she could hear the screams almost a mile away."

 

"So what happened next?"

 

"Crane left for college a day later, and, upon graduating, took up a role as a professor in psychology at Gotham University up until... One year ago. Reason for dismissal... ah. "Unorthodox and dangerous teaching methods."

 

"So he was testing his toxins on his own students..."

 

====Gotham General====

 

"Who are you, you can't be here!" an orderly yells, as the Scarecrow enters the maternity ward, smiling his Glasgow smile, and stretches out a bony finger. "Earl, stop him-"

 

"Hush little baby, don't say a word," he cackles, spraying the doctor, Earl with gas. "Momma's going to buy you a mockingbird..."

"Spiders! Spiders everywhere!" he screams, rolling on the ground, trying desperately to scratch them off.

"Arachnophobia. How... Boring," Crane says, disappointed, as he approaches the now cowering orderly. "How about you, my dear," he asks, a vial of toxins in his hand.

"Please," she's begging. "Please don't."

"Oh don't worry, there's nothing to fe-"

 

A batarang knocks the vial out of Crane's grip, and it falls to the floor.

 

"Get away from her."

 

Scarecrow laughs. "You're too late, Batman. My work is done. All that separates the newborns from their nightmares is this detonator."

 

Alfred's right... The GCPD *can* deal with the gas, but leaves me with Scarecrow. Have to keep stalling. "Don't."

 

"You know, we never finished our talk. So, tell me, what nightmares keep the Batman awake?"

The gas... I'm still... Keep focused on him, keep focused on-

 

-----------------

 

I'm here. Crime Alley. Dirty, damp, dark... My parents' blood runs along the ground, in the centre, is him. The gunman... Their killer.

 

No. No, it's not. I'm not in the alleyway, I'm in Gotham General.

 

He has a gun. A revolver. Mother is dead, Father is dead.

 

No. It's not him, it's the Scarecrow. They're gone, he's gone, I have to move past it. I need to move past it.

 

"You've failed us, Bruce," my father calls. "You killed us..."

 

It's just the toxin... Not in the alley, I'm in the hospital... Remember Bruce, it happened, they're gone, now fight it! Remember what you promised them, that's how you honour them, not by surrendering to these... Ghosts.

 

Remember. Remember. "By the spirits of my parents-"

 

"Bruce, this is your father!" the ghost screams.

 

"I will avenge their deaths-"

 

"Bruce, stop it now! You're too late," Mother echoes.

 

"by spending the rest of my life-"

 

"Stop it, I command you, I-"

 

"warring on all criminals."

 

-----------

 

The hospital. I'm in the hospital.

 

"Now... tell me, Batman, what did you see?" Scarecrow asks again.

 

So I tell him. "I see... A boy."

 

"A child-?" he inquires.

 

"An orphan. His parents, dead."

 

"Of course... Yes, of course it'd be your childhood... What do you see now? Failure, is that it? The fear of failing, of disappointing them?"

 

"Yes, I... I see bats, and alleyways, and I see birds."

 

For a second, Scarecrow falters. "Birds?!"

 

"An aviary. Filled with them, all of them angry, and hungry, pecking and knawing at this poor little boy... He calls for help, but no one listens... What do you suppose that means, Doctor?"

 

He's on edge... Push him too hard and he might press the detonator.

 

"How do you... How could you possibly-?"

 

"Because I'll tell you what I think-"

 

"Enough!" he cries.

 

"I see a sad, broken man, a man who shuts himself off from everyone else, a man burries himself in his work, all to find that final, pressing answer, the question that's followed him all his life... What drove his aunt to beat him?"

 

"I said enough-!" he bellows. "How... How are you doing this? How are you resisting my toxins!" His finger's on the detonator.

 

"I'm not."

 

His lip's trembling. "Impossible. Impossible!" With a click, he presses the detonator and... Nothing. Gordon... Gordon's done it. Realisation dawns on Crane's face, he runs at me, and then, a crunch. He's stepped on the vial, breaking it.

"No," he whispers, as he falls to his knees. Whatever he's seeing... It's too good for him.

 

"Now," I ask, pulling him up. "Where are the children?"

 

"T-the mushrooms... I needed the mushrooms for my research..." he stutters.

 

"The children, Crane, where are they?"

 

"S-so, s-so I gave him the children..."

 

"I need a name!"

 

"The Monk! The m-mad m-monk," he shrieks, as he returns to his nightmares.

Done