Scarecrow Part-4

"Hey you. Your finally awake."

Batman looks up and stares at Drystan with questioning eyes.

"What's up?" Drystan says awkwardly.

Batman ignores Drystan and takes a look around the mill.

After a being ignored for a few seconds Drystan adopts his usual sarcastic attitude and asks "How did the infamous Batman get captured by someone like Johnathan Crane?"

Batman glared at him before simply saying "He set a trap."

"Why? I know why he took me captive but why did he capture you?" Drystan asked.

From his brief encounter with the Scarecrow he could tell that Johnathan clearly blamed Drystan for the fact that he was fired.

He assumed its because when he was being fired the principal made the comparison to how well liked Drystan was to how disliked Johnathon was among the staff and students.

It was clearly Drystans fault that he was fired and not the fact that he accidentally shot a student in one of his classes on fear.

But why capture Batman?

Surely he knows that's not going to end well.

"Because I'm Batman."

"He kidnaped you just because your Batman?"

"He wants to make a statement that he's better than the rest. Standard procedure for those with a superiority complex." Batman says like its obvious.

But hearing it made Drystan feel like an idiot as apparently his failed plan was also the most common one for new villains.

How was he supposed to know that trying to defeat Batman was the normal procedure in establishing a reputation as a villain.

After answering Drystan, Batman stood up, his restraints falling to the floor like they were never tied in the first place.

He then brought his hand up to his ear and started talking through an earpiece attached to his cowl.

"Any help Bats? I know our relationship has been kind of rocky but that's no reason to leave me all tied up like this." Drystan said like he was talking to an old friend.

Batman didn't even look at Drystan as he threw a batarang that perfectly cut through the rope that attached him to the pipe, before he walk off.

He was really treating Drystan coldly, was it something he said?

Getting up with his hands still tied behind his back he grabbed the thrown batarang before hurrying to follow Batman.

"So what's the plan chief?" Drystan asked while working on cutting the rope binding his wrists.

"You leave and go home while I take care of this 'Scarecrow'"

"But I can help! I know karate." Drystan said internally groaning at his fanboy act.

'Its for the greater good. I can do this.' he thought while mentally giving himself a slap to the cheek.

Batman stopped and turned around with his usual scowl "Go home kid." before continuing his walk.

Drystan ignored him and followed him and got prepared to face the Scarecrow again.

The old mill was quite besides the constant sound of their feet on the metal floor.

It was because of this that they both heard when there was a sound above them in the rafters.

They both looked up as several canisters of gas dropped down on them flooding the room in its gas.

They immediately turned around an tried to leave the room but the doorway they entered through was blocked by a steel door and when they looked at the other exits in the room they were also blocked off.

It didn't take long before the gas started affecting them.

"What is this?" Batman questioned as he felt the fear toxins effects for the first time.

"My Fear Toxin." They heard a haunting laugh sound out, echoing throughout the room "Its an amazing formula really. It acts on that part of the brain that harbors the ego, that dark, primal place where lies our baser selves and deepest fears."

Batman's head whips around trying to find the source of the voice.

"I've always thought that fear is the origin of all other darker emotions. Fear is the path to the dark side of a person. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."

"Show me how you suffer." Scarecrow said as he appeared slashing out at Batman with his scythe.

Batman barely dodged out of the way as he wasn't able to focus due to him currently fighting off his fear.

This started a brief cycle of Scarecrow lashing out at Batman, Batman barely dodging while attempting to fight off the fear toxin, then launching a quick but unsuccessful counter attack back at Scarecrow.

While this was going on Drystan was struggling to stay focused on the current reality of the situation.

He knew that he couldn't afford to lose himself to fear while Batman is fighting the Scarecrow.

But he was struggling to stay aware as he started to hallucinate, Mr. Clark appearing around him letting him know how worthless he was.

Once again he could just not allow the fear toxin to affect him. But then he would have to be able to explain why he wasn't effected, so he just took it as an opportunity to face his fears.

Drystan was barely standing on his feet struggling to stay lucid while Batman had finally shrugged off the effects of the fear toxin and started laying into Scarecrow.

Seeing Batman just shrug off the fear toxin and start wailing on Scarecrow was a heavy hit for Drystan though.

The whispering of worthlessness from Mr. Clark and Batman's clear mental superiority directly sent Drystan into the pits of fear again, as he realized that even with all the power he'd been granted, his willpower just doesn't meet the mark yet.

But this time his trip down memory lane was slightly different, as the moment that Mr. Clark appeared in front of him, Drystan angrily punched him in the face knocking the giant man down.

The punch felt oddly realistic, which allowed Drystan to appreciate Cranes genius for creating the toxin even while under its effects.

But that one punch didn't satisfy Drystan as he climbed on top of Mr. Clarks fallen body and started to ground and pound.

His anger at being inferior to Batman fueled him, his punches barely staying within the limits of what normal humans can do.

But as he was throwing his fists down for the eighth time he felt a pair of muscular arms hook under his and pull him up.

He then heard Batman's voice over his shoulder in a much less intimidating voice than he usually uses "Calm yourself. Its okay to be afraid, but don't let that fear overpower your mind and control you. Just look your fear in the face and when it looks back, don't flinch."

Batman's advice didn't really help but he used his self healing ability to lesson the effects of the fear toxin by a small amount so he could regain focus.

Looking down at the now fading Mr. Clark he saw Scarecrow take his place beneath him while Batman had a death grip in Drystans arms.

"When did he get there?"

"He tried to take you hostage when you raged out on him." Batman answered.

Hmm, that makes sense as his punches felt way more realistic compared to when he was previously being beaten by Mr. Clark.

"I'm okay, you can let go now." Drystan says as he looks around the room and sees that the gas is going through an open hatch on the roof.

The open hatch had a batarang stuck in it so he was pretty sure about how it got opened.

Batman let go of him and started to tie up Scarecrow as he heard police sirens near from outside.

When he turned around Batman had left, leaving him alone with the tied up Scarecrow.

Drystan just sighed and gave Scarecrow a final quick kick before police flooded the factory and took him away for questioning.