Robbing The "Cat Burglar" [Catwoman, Robin, 63]

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Another night sitting in a comfortably padded chair, watching the same old crap on the security cameras. At least that's what the security guards thought. Nothing ever happened here, regardless of crime spurts. The televisions that were brought to life via security cameras were so incredibly bland. They might as well be staring at portraits. It was the same old crap to them. One picture contained an empty reception desk, the other a view from outside the front door, and a bunch of hallways! Every now and then a rather good looking resident might pass through, in which one guard felt the need to call attention to his partner, so they may both undress her with their eyes, and talk about what they would do if they had the chance. But the didn't. They never had a chance. Not with that woman, and not with sanity either.

Completely unaware of the atrocious, the horridly gruesome fate that would await their inevitable demise. It was enough to make even the Joker laugh.

One security guard had his feet propped up on the controls. His face was crammed into a sports magazine. The same magazine he reads 50 times a night and seems to never get old. He tried not to pay attention to his partner snoring, whom of which had his head nestled up in his arms, next to a steaming cup of coffee. Yep, it was another night indeed. Thats exactly what he thought until he saw the image of lanky man holding a scythes shadow dissapear into the hallways of the front door. He rubbed his eyes and started looking into the other screens, which offered numerous views of where he thought he saw the man. To his surprise, there was no one there..

He was reluctant to believe that his eyes were playing tricks on him. They didn't pay him enough to investigate creepy beings entering the building, but he was still paid none the less.

The guard would have to wake his partner up if he were to go investigate. Who cares? That bastard got at least 14 hours of sleep a day.

He shook his partner by the shoulder to wake him.

"Wha..what...?"

He asked half asleep.

"I think I saw something.. I'm gonna go investigate.. I want you to keep an eye on the camera's. If you see anything radio me."

"Got ya..."

For some reason, he felt his pal would fall asleep on him. But then again, it was probably nothing.

The guard exited out of the security room, and made his way to the elevator. It was strange, he pressed the button several times, but it wouldn't come down. Maybe they were doing maintenance, and forget to leave a memo? He would have no choice but to take the stairs now.

He made his way quickly to the door that lead to the stairwell. He opened the door to be greeted by darkness. He couldn't even see 2 inches in front of him!

He still had a job to do though. Quickly the guard took out his flashlight, as well as a can of mase, and slowly made his way down the stairs. As he was wondering down the trail of darkness, he began to think of all those crazy troublemakers on the news.

"Great.. what if its that Joker guy.. or the psychotic ex D.A... Just what I need"

With a quick turn around the corner, the view of a raised scythe overshadowed him. He was suddenly filled with fear. He turned to run back up, but before him stood a man in a hockey mask, bearing a chainsaw. The chainsaw stuttered with a vicious roar that struck fear into his soul. He began to back step, and of course, lost his footing. He fell down a single flight of stairs, his flashlight crashing down with him. He no longer had a source of light. Suddenly from up above, one of the lights began to work, but not completely. It flickered on and off, only offering him split seconds of view, each of which he was being pursued by the masked killer. He dug his head into his arms and whinned out.

"God!!! Please don't kill me!!! What is this!?!? Who are you!?!"

He felt someone tapping ont he back of his head. He slowly raised up, to be greeted by a tall, and rather skinny man. His burlap sack came to life like a vicious jack o lanterns face.

"It's fear.. And to answer your other question, they call me.. SCARECROW!!"

Putting a lot more emphasis on his last words, he lunged into the man. His mask, his body, it all came to life like a low budget halloween horror film. He couldn't move. The guard was overwhelmed with fear. He never stood a chance. Scarecrow raised his scythe with two hands, and slashed through his left arm, and across his chest, completely disemboweling the guard. His fear served as a drug more potent than heroin to the Scarecrow. It was such a thrill.

No time for enjoyment, he was on a mission. This "Selina Kyle" seemed to have come into quite a few artifacts, as he was tipped off by one of his "scouts" as he referred to, that a very.. Interesting woman was living in this building. That he believed there was a lot that everyone could learn from her, but the Crow man especially!

Scarecrow hadn't taken the stairs to ambush the unknowing security officer, but to make his way to the main vents. From there, he would cripple any resistance forces that may occur in his onslaught for his next test subject.

Eventually he did find it in the darkness. He could tell by the sound. One major vent, that all of which were linked to. It was time for phase 1. Scarecrow took out a large vile, and smashed it inside the shaft. From there, the gas would spread throughout the building, and seep into every individuals room. It was show time!

He busted through the door that lead into the hallway where Ms. Kyle would be located. All around him he could hear various screams. Other residents were getting a taste of the Dr's medicine. As he made his way down the hallway, he kept his scythe clinched in hand. Blood dripped from the sharp ends, and were spread across the floor. It would indeed be a frightening site for anyone in the building.

"Lets see here... 1357... 1357... 1357.. Here we go!"

He was now in front of what was Selina Kyle's door. He tried to open it, but of course it was locked. Time for plan B!

Scarecrow raised his scythe high, and began to slash into the door repeatedly. It cut through with hardly any effort. Before he knew it, the door was cut to shreds. Only small parts at the bottom and top of the doorway. Scarecrow leaped in, revealed his scythe, and Freddy Krueger style syringe hand, shouting out the words

"HERES JOHNNY!!!"

An obvious reference to Jack Nicholson.

[Avalikia]

Today certainly hadn't been the greatest day that Selina could remember. From the very early hours of the evening with Bruce Wayne's fundraiser that ended with her temper flared a bit at having to meet Slade Wilson; a notable safari hunter that she happened to despise, to her run-ins with Harley Quin, Robin, Superman and even Batman himself, it was nice to finally arrive back home where she was certain she could be alone for a bit. Well. In a sense. She had the cats to keep her company, if they'd decided to wander inside for the night, which was obviously totally fine by her. Those and the new feline that she'd met early on that evening that proven to be singlehandedly one of the oddest things she'd ever come across. A talking cat! Kind of. More like a modified cat equipped with a mode of communication. Either way, she had him to keep her company as well, though she would figure him to be more the 'let me eat and leave me alone' type of cat.

After the long walk back from South Gotham that'd taken just about the entire half hour that she figured it would; as she was in no hurry now, without any incriminating stolen artifacts in her claws and 63 had mentioned he didn't want to run, Selina gave a light sigh at the sight of the familiar luxury apartment building that was nestled right along the edges of North and East Gotham, though by technicality it was on Gotham's East End. As much as she wanted to rush in, it wasn't as if she could just open the door in her catsuit and take the elevator to her apartment. Easy and convenient as that would've been, no. She had to go about it a more difficult way. Namely, climbing up the side of the building until she reached her balcony. It was a few stories up, but it wasn't as if she was at the top floor; how would she get any feline visitors that way? The fourth floor it was.

"There's a sort of ladder on the side of the building you can climb up. I'm in the back corner apartment, with all the other cats around." She said monotonously and matter-of-factly at 63, not really minding if he protested or not. She couldn't stand out in front of the building for too long. She'd known for a while now that the security detail inside the building was pretty incompetant for the building supposedly being more 'luxurious' and safe for the wealthy, but even they could notice a costumed criminal making eyes at their building if they really needed to.

Walking quietly down the side alley and around the back end of the building, Catwoman got a grip on the side tiles of the exterior of the complex, and began the task of climbing up the side. It was much harder than she made it appear, but after a short climb she leaped over the railing of her own personal balcony, and was welcomed by the gaggle of cats that'd formed in her absence for the night. Scattered neatly around the porch were a few bowls that were designated for both food and water, but most of the food dishes were now empty. Of course, there were back-up dishes on the inside too, that any of the cats could reach if they so chose through the flimsy cat-door that she'd installed, going through the sliding glass door that led to the inside of her luxury apartment.

"Hello, sweetheart." Selina greeted an individual cat that'd come up to her, rubbing it's forehead against her sleeve in what she knew was anticipation for food. She wasn't nearly as self-important as one might think to assume that the cats missed her. More like, they were hungry and wanted their food. With no less than ten cats on her balcony and surely a few more inside, not to mention 63, she had a few mouths to feed.

Walking past the crowd of cats, Selina opened the sliding door and closed it quickly, though she was careful to watch for any stray paws or any other parts of her welcoming commitee as well. Taking off the goggles, she tossed them onto a large black suede couch, and pulled the cowl of her suit off as well, unzipping the large zipper from it's end point near her throat down to just above her chest in doing so. First thing was first; she needed to get out of the suit and into something less revealing of her costumed identity. Out from the open bedroom that she was heading into was a small, sleek black cat that looked to be mostly of oriental cat origin; Isis. The one cat that she did claim to own, as she'd had her well before her time as Catwoman. Though Isis had as much right to free roam as much as the others, she wore a collar that from the outside didn't look much different than 63's.. except hers glittered with precious stones. Diamonds and rubies, to be exact. A slightly high pitched 'meow' from Isis and a smile formed on Selina's lips, bending down to pick the black cat up, who was already purring contently at the sight of Selina and knowing that she'd get some more food as well.

"Aw. Hi, precious." She said softly to the cat, scratching behind her ears and wrinkling her face a bit as Isis licked at the tip of her nose. After a moment more of scratching, she set the cat down gently, and walked into the door, closing it for the moment to seal herself off from the cats while she changed. Off with the tight catsuit, and into something a bit more comfortable for the rest of the night. A black satin nightgown, one of many that she owned that were practically identical in the way they looked. It was much cooler with the air against her skin in the apartment that it had been in the pleather suit; almost to the level of uncomfortable. So, after running her fingers through her hair a few times, Selina fumbled through her closet to get a decently fluffy black robe, and tied that around her waist as well, instantly warming her up just enough to be comfortable again.

After her change, it was off to feed the cats. Within her kitchen was a well stocked container of dried cat food, with a large scoop on the inside of it that she used to split between the two bowls outside and the two bowls inside. First, the inside ones were filled, and a few of the strays that had followed her in rushed to the bowl and began to gorge themselves. Next, she refilled the scoop and walked back to her balcony, stepping outside and filling that bowl as well, giving a few of the cats some scratches behind their ears as well. But for 63, she'd promised him something better, and Isis was spoiled on a diet of fresh fish, other meats, and even caviar.

Opening the door to her refrigerator, Selina puckered her lips in search for something that 63 might appreciate. There was plenty of fish stocked for Isis, including trout, salmon, cod, perch, and of course a few cans of caviar. There was also a bit of chicken left over from a fine restaurant that she'd gone to and given the leftovers to the cat. Deciding he might like fish better, she glanced down, and sighed. "Does salmon sound good to you? Or chicken? Ooor what? What would you like?" She asked, meanwhile grabbing the salmon fillet out of the fridge and cutting it up into small flakes, setting a plate down for the diamond-studded cat.

Just after she'd set the flakes of fish down for Isis, a loud banging and scratching noise sounded at the door, which resulted in Selina standing up straight and looking oddly at it for a moment, before she took a step forward, the knife from cutting the fish still in her hands. As she was about to demand who was at her door, the vaguely familiar mask of Scarecrow; ex-Doctor Jonathan Crane busted through the door, and she took a few steps back, holding the knife defensively while glaring at him. But really, a barefoot woman in a nightgown and robe couldn't be that intimidating. Especially when one didn't know her costumed identity.

"You?" She hissed questionably, and took another step back. "What do you want?"

[cat]

The cat is silent most of the way back, too distracted by his surroundings to focus on saying anything. And he makes no protest about the way into the building; he's no pampered housecat, as much as he'd like to be one, and climbing up things is par for the course.

And the instant he finds himself among other cats, he's quick to lay down the law with them; he demands his space. If any cat violates his space, they get growled at. If they come within claw range, they get swiped at. In cat terms, he's a 'mean one', and it doesn't take him more than a few repetitions for the others to pick up on this and leave him alone - he's surely big enough to enforce his law. By the time Catwoman is done changing, the pecking order has been sorted out: 63 is not in it, he's beyond it.

It actually takes some pondering when she asks him what he wants. He's never been asked that question before; in the lab he'd been given cat food, and on the street he got whatever he could find. Wonderful question that: What would you like? And both salmon and chicken sound so good, and how is he supposed to choose between them?

He's just about to answer that he (tentatively) believes that he'd prefer the chicken when his ears flick back to muffle the sudden crashing noise before the thought can fully form. He cranes his neck around Catwoman from several feet behind her, his collar translating the question, "What's going on?" though it's likely that by the time she knows enough to be able to answer that question, she's too distracted to answer it. He doesn't back up when she does, however, so she'd find herself next to him after a couple of steps. "Why is he breaking the door?" he asks innocently. Though his collar is never good at conveying an emotion, the cat is obviously mostly unphased to look at him; he's merely perplexed by this method of getting through a door - he's only ever seen people do it by opening it.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Jonathon Crane let out a laugh that would send chills up even the bravest of men's spines. He stuck one lanky leg, followed by the other through the crushed doorway. He could spot her from all the way across the room. There she stood. Dark black hair, in a bath robe, bare foot holding a knife. Was she trying to be intimidating? If so, it was by far an epic failure. Her petite figure was hardly a threat to him. But he had to watch out, sometimes big surprises come in small packages.

He began to work towards her, the most devious grin snuck upon his face. From behind him he dragged his blood soaked scythe, leaving a crimson trail on the carpet behind him. Against her dark shaded walls, the scarecrow put his syringe glove against the wall, and began to make 4 long scratch streaks going across it. His approach was indeed terrifying, but he was surprised she was not more scared? Had she not encountered the fear inducing toxins? Well, he would have to fix that.

"Yes! ME!!"

He said enthusiastically.

Of course he had noticed the knife she grasped in her hand. Her only line of defense most likely. Scarecrow wasn't a man intimidated by blades, after all his was bigger.

As he moved closer, he began to take notice of her collectibles. One en particularly stood out to him. It was an Egyptian statue of a cat.

"Wasn't that stolen from the museum a couple months ago?" He thought to himself. Maybe there was more to this woman than meets the eye.

But there was plenty to her that met his eyes. She really loved cats. The closer he moved to their owner, the more the scattered about, frightened. It was almost like the cats had a dose of his toxins.

"What I want dear lady.. Is a new test subject.. An aristocratic female, such as yourself."

He swiped his syringes down off her wall. Behind him he left a 10 foot streak. He hoped she wasn't too much into the interior designing of the condo type place.

At this point doctor Crane stood barely far away enough to avoid a stab or slicing motion from the knife.

"You have a lot of... Nice things! Either your very wealthy, or very good at sneaking in and out of places..."

With a quick motion, he dropped his scythe, and lunged forward. Before her mind could even register his motions, he had her wrist that held the knife gripped. He squeezed her tightly, and twisted it around, triggering a pressure point to make her flatten out her hand. The knife dropped to the ground with a loud thud. He could hear her cats whining and hissing at him. They were about as intimidating as their owners knife.

"Well my dear, welcome to where time stands still, no one leaves and no one ever will!"

He horribly song the metallica lyrics to Selina before raising his syringe hand, and lunging it straight into her stomach. The green liquid rushed from his finger tips, inside the womans belly. It would only be a matter of time before she was mentally broken down. It's at that point he would be able to take her with little, to absolutely no resistance.

Perhaps he should have used the gas instead? The contradicting thoughts crossed his mind. No matter, it was too late. The liquid would work faster anyways.

He dropped her hand, and slowly back paced to watch the show.

[Avalikia]

The approach of the Scarecrow was pretty frightening in it's own sense, but she'd seen the villain before in her own costume while she was prowling about Gotham, and knew enough of his record from her own research that she willed herself not to be that scared of him. Of course, she didn't have a will of stone like other protectors of the city. Though she didn't show it nearly as much as she could have, knowing that he had a weaponized form of fear literally at his fingertips did shake her up a bit. And without her costume, the knife and her own combat skills were her only form of defense.

The cats scattering about only made her irritated; not at them, but at Crane. Their stress in fact stressed her out as well, as if she shared more than just an emotional bond with them. 63's concerns were once again not met, as she was hoping he could make sense of the fact that Scarecrow was another one of those 'odd' humans, though this time he was a far more dangerous enemy than Robin had been.

The damage done to her apartment was ignored for the moment, and would be met with only slight annoyance later on down the road. Nothing that a maintenance man couldn't fix later on. A good looking one, hopefully. Instead, all of her focus was directed at Scarecrow, watching his every move carefully so that she could maneuver around him. Ironically though, in more free-flowing clothing she felt so much more restricted. The hems of the nightgown and robe kept it so that her movements couldn't be as flexible as they normally were.

"Sorry, you'll have to settle for a different test subject." She countered blandly as she thought of a way to get out of the situation as safely as possible, but unfortunately it would seem that the Scarecrow was relatively fast as well. In an instant it seemed like he'd dropped his scythe and had grabbed the wrist that was holding up the knife, the way in which he grabbed it making her drop her main mode of defense. Yelling out in the brief moment of pain caused by the pressure point being exposed.

The cats on the outside of the porch, as good as they were for their company, were just that; cats. She didn't expect them to have much loyalty, especially when she wasn't even their owner. They were gone, but the ones on the inside of the apartment, frightened though they were, stood behind her with their backs arched and their ears pinned back, growling and meowing lowly at the man attacking the woman who fed them, Isis coming up to her side if only for comfort to Selina.

Using as much force as she should, she pulled her wrist away from the Scarecrow, but in doing so she overreacted as to how much strength would be needed to rip away from the scrawny man, and her stomach was pierced by the four syringe needles, each injecting her with a dose of his fear toxin.

Immediately her eyes widened, as the room began to blur and turn into something that certainly wasn't her luxurious apartment. Instead the walls seemed to crackle down until nothing but torn, disgusting, tacky wallpaper lingered on the walls. The lush white carpet turned into broken up bits of linoleum flooring with ripped up rugs scattered here and there, tattered by the claws of the cats. Cats that were everywhere. Cats that completely surrounded her as she dropped down to the floor, the smell of disease and dried up, forgotten spots of cat urine all the sudden wafting through the apartment. Somewhere in the background she could hear the booming, terrifying voice of her father screaming at the drunken mess that was her mother, her younger sister Maggie in the middle of the fight as usual.

That in itself was enough to freak Selina out considerably just because of the sudden nature in which her reality seemed to turn itself inside out; but the cats. They literally were surrounding her to the point of crawling all over her, each one sicker than the other. Their breath stunk horribly, their fur was falling out, and they were crawling all over her. These cats weren't the ones she cared for, but her mother's. Maria Kyle had hoarded them to the extreme, and now it seemed they were trying to smother her to death. Reaching out, she tried to shove them out of her face and get them off of her, but for every one she moved another two were right there. "Get away from me!" She called out irritably at first, but in seeing that her hands could go right through most of them, she shook her head, unable to hear her thoughts through their constant petrified meowing.

All of this, and she hadn't even looked up yet. In the corner of her eye she could see a looming figure that in reality was the Scarecrow, but to her looked more like the figure of her father all the sudden right there. Her breathing pattern increased, past experience telling her that he was just as much, if not more drunk than her alcoholic mother, and had found something wrong with what she was doing. Brian Kyle had never been the world's best father, more often screaming or beating both Selina and Maggie until they ran out of the house. All she could do at the moment was stare up at him, terrified for the first time in a very long time.

[cat]

There is one cat among the others who is not quite responding like the others. While the large Maine Coon tabby has the same instincts as other cats, he certainly doesn't have the same sort of mind as the others: for one, he has a tendency to ignore those instincts, and for two he's considerably more clever. The man who has come into the apartment has the aspect of a predator - and it's this perhaps that the other cats pick up on. But this cat takes such things as warnings rather than threats, and he's not as quick to freak out about it.

His eyes narrow as he slinks off to one side, expecting the man to ignore him. People are always ignoring him, after all, so why should this one be any different? And he figures that Catwoman can handle herself - he's already seen that she's an odd sort for a human that can move quickly and defend herself. But when the man manages to move even quicker, 63's hiss is added to that of the other cats. Hey, that's a nice lady who was about to give him food!

Still, unlike the other cats, he knows full well that he's such a poor match for a human in a fight that a dangerous human like this one is likely to be can freely ignore the threat of a cat except under specific, favorable conditions. Like when he'd managed to turn the tables on Robin, for example. Those conditions aren't present, so he relatively calmly stays back while the other cats make a fuss about the situation - only the bristling of his fur to indicate his disquiet. As cats tend to do, he's already gotten a bit possessive about this new friend of his and he doesn't like someone doing mean things to her.

But after the man backs away, the cat's eyes widen in surprise at the sheer amount of fear scent that starts pouring off of Catwoman. And she starts looking around at things that aren't there and saying things to the things that aren't there. Strange... In fact it's so strange that his collar translates his next thought whether he likes it or not. "What did you do to her?" The perils of wearing a thought-translating device: any thought he has that's clear enough gets broad-casted even if he isn't intending to say anything. "Oops, I didn't mean to say that..." he adds, only making it worse before his thoughts go back to their naturally more muddled state.

His eyes shift from watching Catwoman's odd behavior to eyeing the man carefully. He noticed before his collar broke the first time that people outside of the lab he escaped from were kind of funny about hearing him 'talk'. Sometimes they seemed to think that they were hearing things when they saw no person to attribute the voice to, while others were quicker on the uptake. And he merely stands there next to an armchair, tail flicking in tension, waiting to see what happens next with an understanding expression on his face.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

After being out all night on patrol, Robin was hoping he'd get the chance to just got back to the Batcave and call it a night. He'd literally been out all night chasing down no body criminals after one AM. It never ceased to amaze Robin how dumb some people could really be. One guy had actually tried sliding down a drain pipe. Why would it occur to people that they could just try to slide down a drain pipe of a ten story building. It would have been easier for the benefit of the both of them, if the man had just climb down the pipe. Instead, Robin had had to dive off the roof of the building and save the man while deploying his line-gun. Sure it's one thing to save yourself falling off a building, but with a criminal hitting at you to let them go. Really, the stupidity of some people. Robin wondered how some people were even able to survive on the streets.

Robin had been on his way back heading back to the Eastern part of the city to retrieve his motorcycle where he had hid it. It was no wonder he was so tired, he had managed to work his way North at the beginning of the night to only work his way South. He figured he might as well take to the road by foot rather than call the digital tracking device on his motorcycle to come and get him. It just gave him the chance to extend his patrol that night over Gotham. For all he knew Batman was probably on the streets by now or even had finished up long ago. The life of Dick Grayson would have to wait until late afternoon to even get started that day. It was a good thing he didn't have classes for the rest of the week.

Covering the Eastern part of Gotham had been quiet for the most part that early morning. There was probably another few hours before the sun came up, or at least Dick hoped so. Then a great chorus of screams came from a near by building. Robin had been in an alley a few buildings down and could hear the screaming. He didn't waste anytime, and run straight for the building. There was no point in trying to get to the roof tops at that time. As he neared the building, he could easy rule out a possible fire. There was no sign of smoke or flames and there was no one running out of the building. Robin rushed through the entrance to the building and raced back toward security to find the post abandoned. Robin search the camera that were hooked to many Tv sets. He looked over each one quickly, all angles of each floors halls. There was one that caught his eyes though, it was a hall way with on door almost ripped to shreds from the outside. Looks like he had his place to start. He quickly looked at the record on the desk of want floor the camera was on and narrowed it down to what room it was by a quick glance of the numbers at the doors lining the hall.

Robin took off toward the stair well that was not to far from the entrance. He could hear the sound of someone's voice shouting, "No, keep away! Keep away from me!" The voice was coming from within the hall ahead of him. Robin entered to discover one of the security guard huddled in a corner, hiding his face, shaking in fear. It hit Robin right then that he might know who was behind this crime. There was only one man that could induce fear without having to be around the people. Scarecrow. Robin made his way over to the man cowering in fear.

"Sir, calm down," Robin started. He knew the man was in an induces state of panic. Knowing very well to be careful when handling these type of people after past run ins with the Scarecrow, Robin had to watch himself. He did not want to send these people into shock. Though this man actually seemed to have a second wind in him to try and stand up to his fears.

"I said get away from me," the man shouted once again.

"Sir, it's alright. I can help," Robin knew he was probably not making it through to the man. Robin reached for a small compartment on his utility belt and produced a small vial of serum. Batman and him always carried around a couple of vials just in case they did have a run in with the Scarecrow. If it would work, there was only one way to find out. For all he knew, the Scarecrow could have developed a new formula to use. Robin was going to try and give it a shot though. He pulled out a syringe, and was about to get the serum ready.

"I said keep away from me," the man shouted as he pulled out a gun from his security belt.

"Oh, boy," Robin said. He would have to help these people later if they were going to act this violent towards his help. Even if it was just this man, Robin wasn't going to take the chance, when he could be trying to take down the Scarecrow. Robin quickly latched the serum back onto his belt and pulled out his line gun, making a run for the stair well. He quickly aimed it straight up. He did notice another security guard curled up at the bottom of the steps, shaking in fear. He had been quick enough to get the line to secure itself and start to pull him up before the sniveling man had actually tried taking a shot at him. The other man was safety out of range of fire from the other guard. Robin knew he must have been a distorted figure in the eyes of the man while in the fear induces mental state. As the line gun reeled him up, Robin throw a batarang to knock the gun out of the man's hands with success. There was no way Robin wanted to leave the man armed in his state of fear.

There were numbers outside the entrance to each hall to provide information to anyone trying to find a certain hall. Spotting the number of the hall he was looking for, Robin hit the stop button on the line gun and began to swing a bit. It only took a swing or two be able to get enough momentum to provide a safe landing on the stair case flooring outside the entrance of the hall. As he jumped, he hit the release button on the gun to free himself from the line without leaving the gun behind. Robin landed with ease outside of the doorway. He didn't waste any time as he ran through the opened door before him. This was definitely where Scarecrow must have been headed. It only took him a second to find the room he was looking for, the broken down door gave it away.

Dick knew there wasn't much time. You never liked to give the Scarecrow time, it only gave him more time to subject his victim to his sick and twisted experiments. He could hear the screaming of terrified people through out the hall, and heard a voice asking a questioned as he ran down the hall. Once near the door, he stopped for only a second before he jumped over what was left of the door. He had entered the room only to find the Scarecrow standing back and enjoying the sight of the fallen woman in a state of terror, just like the security guards had been. The fallen woman was Selina Kyle. What did the Scarecrow want with her?

He attention for the most part was on the Scarecrow, but had manage to get a quick glance around the room. There were cats staying back in a panic over their fallen owner. Robin had heard another voice once again, but did not know where it was coming from. The voice was trying to cover up a mistake it had made. Maybe there was another man in the room that had been hiding at the moment and had down given up his position. It was no voice that Robin recognized.

"Scarecrow," Robin yelled as he charged into the situation. That scroungy man was an easy match for Robin. Though, Dick knew to watch himself. He didn't know what time of knew gadgets the Scarecrow might have with him as well. That and to try and avoid any needles the Scarecrow might try to jamb him with. Robin had went charging right for the Scarecrow, ready to strike him with a right fist. Robin stayed alert, so he would be able to make any dodges if necessary.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Scarecrow took a deep pleasure in watching her roll around in her fear. His new liquid form fear inducing formula was working way better than he could have ever hoped. She was so weak and helpless, she may as well have had both her arms and legs broken. It seemed as though no one would be able to stop him now!

At this point all the cats were gone except for a couple. What good would they do anyhow? Before departing out of with his new test subject, Scarecrow retrieved his scythe. He scraped it against her carpet a few times, relieving it of the dripping blood. He thought at this moment, he would just be able to walk out with her. He was wrong...

"Scarecrow."[/b] He heard someone say from behind him

He turned to see the boy wonder charging towards him. A physical attack would be too predictable against him. Instead, Crane raised up a single hand towards Robin, and released a cloud of gas in his direction.

It spewed out and covered the area he was running into. Crane then realized, that Robin was alone.. No Batman in site. Then again the bat was never in site when he was around.

"I see you came without the Bat.. I am to assume he is most likely on his way, or perhaps foiling someone elses plans? No matter, because by the time he gets here, you wont be any better than that woman over there!"

Crane lifted up his syringe hand towards Selina. With Robins onslaught, and Crane releasing the fear gas, what could possibly happen next?

[Avalikia]

Before Selina could see that Robin had bolted in through the door to apparently come to her rescue, first she had to tear her eyes away from the horrific form of what was, in her state of mind, a mix between the bulky figure of her father and the shifting, blurry, tattered mess that was what Scarecrow appeared to be under the influence of his toxin. Her eyes still wide in complete terror, her body visibly shook as she crawled backward a few steps, the only thing keeping her from breaking out into tears at that very moment being her own strong will. It was all just a bad hallucination, and it would pass; It'd pass. That's what she kept telling herself. Though in truth, it would not pass until she was given the antidote. That much however, Selina wasn't fully aware of.

After finally pulling her eyes from the twisted vision of her father, she attempted to stand up but was once again surrounded by the hoarde of imaginary, sickly cats. Their meowing more like screeching in some spots, yowling in others, not anything like what normal, healthy cats sounded like. As she brought herself up, she felt the weight of all of their forearms tugging on her robe, some of them jumping over others so that they could jump on her and keep her on the floor as well. The ones that tugged, she could actually feel their claws sink into her; just another effect of the toxin. "Get off of me!" She cried, her tone far more scared than it had been the fist time. She flailed her arms in all directions to get the cats off, but they didn't. Mostly because they weren't really there.

It was the sudden booming voice of someone else that caught her attention, her wide eyes finally glistening with the first of many tears that'd come if she was to be subjected to this nightmare for much longer. The figure of Robin didn't change much in her hallucination, but the bright colors of his costume were far more dingey and dulled down, his eyes glowing a bright red and a rather demonic look on his face. His voice too was disturbing. About three or four different tones, two screeching high and the remaining two deep. When he yelled out, she grabbed for her ears and covered them tightly, falling back to the ground in a cowardly manner, her fingers writhing through her hair as if she was trying to cause herself pain to wake up from the bad dream.

The words between the two might as well have not have occured at all, as it wasn't a conversation between the madman and Robin that she'd heard. It was another one of Brian and Maria Kyle's violent arguments that she heard instead. Robin wasn't even in the room anymore as far as she could tell, and she couldn't see her mother either. But between the yowling cats that continued to bite and claw at her, she could hear plates and glasses smashing against the walls, and her younger sister screaming at them to stop.

The second release of the toxin, this time in it's gas form only worsened her situation, and the tears that'd welled up in her eyes previously now fell relatively freely as it felt like the imaginary cats were literally tearing her apart. She could feel pain all over her body by this point, and she shakily moved her hands from their spot over her ears down to crossing over her chest as it seemed like she more or less gave up her fight, bringing her legs up and sitting in the fetal position, slumped against one of the walls that in her alternate reality stunk of rot of various types. Though she was in a great deal of pain, she only continuously murmured some pitiful 'get away's repetitiously, stopping only to take in deep breaths as she felt her flesh being torn to shreds by the crazed, diseased cats of her nightmare.

[cat]

From his position on the sidelines, one of the cats watches what's happening very carefully, especially when the sound of footsteps signal the arrival of someone else. He tenses when he recognizes the male he attacked before - Robin, he seems to remember them calling this one? Of course he assumes that he'll also go after Catwoman since he did so before, but to his surprise the newcomer attacks the dangerous one. Wait a sec... whose side is this guy on? No matter, if he's going to attack this 'Scarecrow' person, then that's fine by him!

And when it comes to Scarecrow, it certainly hasn't escaped the cat's attention that he's not being noticed. Not surprising, really - nobody pays attention to the cat. But when Scarecrow's attention turns back to Catwoman, that's when the large tom starts to get really, really annoyed. He's being mean to the nice lady who was about to feed him! And it also hasn't escaped his attention that Scarecrow's attention is being diverted in multiple directions as well. These are specific, favorable conditions!

Crouching low, as quietly and quickly as if he was stalking a mouse, the cat circles just slightly to put himself squarely behind Scarecrow. Most cats, when attacking a potentially superior enemy, would hiss, yowl, or make a fuss about it. 63 is completely silent as he creeps forward and takes aim, ending with a sudden final dash at the man's legs.

But instead of jumping up to attack, the cat is so enraged as to attempt to climb his way up with his claws fully extended to ensure maximum incidental damage. And his target, if he can make it up there, is the center of his back, between the shoulder blades - 63 has long known that the highly inflexible human species has a particularly hard time defending that particular location. And it won't be until he makes contact that he'll let out an unearthly yowl of anger and aggression.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Robin was ready for anything the Scarecrow was about to throw at him. Though the trick with the gas was slightly new using it right away to protect himself. Robin didn’t have much time to react, but he was quick enough to draw out his rebreather to protect himself from the toxin. Even with how quick he had reacted, Robin did inhale a bit of the toxin. He knew it the second he dodged out aborting his first action that he had a bit of the toxin within him now. He fell to the floor and rolled once to get himself away from the rest of the toxin, as he managed to keep the rebreather to his face.

He heard the Scarecrow’s words as everything stared to become a little disoriented in Robin’s eyes. It shouldn’t be as strong since he had acted so quickly, but he was still going to have to face the difficultly of fighting off the toxin so he could try and concentrate. Robin knelt down for a bit as he looked around. The world around him seemed to be moving as he stood still. He could still hear the cries and screams from Selina Kyle. He held his hands to cover his ears, the woman’s pitch seemed much higher. The screams were almost like nails on a chalkboard. The Scarecrow’s voice was much lower and thundering a bit. Robin looked up toward the Scarecrow, the man once skinny frame seemed to loom over him with his weapon looking like a clawed had with knife blades on them. Robin could barely understand what he was saying. He didn’t answer back.

Then a familiar voice came in perfectly clear as he had his glover hands over his ears, pressing the communicator into his ear a bit more. The usually grumbled voice of Batman come over the communicator and it seemed lower now, adding more fear to the Batman’s tone. All he could really make out of what Batman was saying was ‘to meet him at the south-most warehouse on the dock’ and that ‘he had a friend to talk too’. Robin did his best to focus to understand as much of the message as he could. He closed his eyes looking away from the Scarecrow and the room spinning into a terror before him.

“I’m a bit busy right now,” Robin managed to get the words out clearly. He dropped his voice almost to a whisper, “Scarecrow’s toxins are stronger... Selina is attack.” Even having his eyes closed didn’t seem to be helping, he could still see images coming to him again. The scene of the accident at the circus came back to him and were starting to play in his head. “No,” he shouted out, the communicator still on at this point.

Robin’s head shot up quickly, his eyes wide and alert to the situation. His mind was being attacked with the toxins he had inhaled. The cats that were still in the room seemed to turn into man eating beast. All Robin’s mind making it up. They weren’t lions, they were cats, he told himself trying to fight the toxin. He was determined to not fail. He had already lost once that night before, but he wasn’t about to submit to his deepest fears even with the toxin attacking him. ”It isn’t real, it isn’t real,” he repeated into the communicator as he he began to stand up. He dropped his hands from covering his ears, no longer holding the transmitter to transmit his words to Batman.

The Scarecrow just seemed to grow in size and became more terrifying than usual. Robin caught something launching up behind the Scarecrow. Almost looking like a large beast, coming after Robin rather than the Scarecrow, so his mind seemed to make it be this way. Robin ducked to the ground, hoping to protect himself a bit. He tried to focus once more, trying to clear his mind. He tried to reached for the serum and a syringe on his utility belt. His mind making is difficult for him to comprehend where things were at this point.

[simba]

Only static returned Robin's frantic explanation, the voice on the other end growing silent before the communication suddenly ceased. To those who heard this initial message, the recipient may or may not be evident. Regardless, to those who did know who was on the other end, it would indeed be quite a pregnant silence, one that might cause those who seek to do harm to others to at least give a momentary pause. One cannot hide from the one who dwells in the shadows, after all. At least, not for long.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Scarecrow seemed to have his whole plan made out for him. His target was vulnerable for the kill shot, and Robin was on the verge of losing his own mind. He spot him began to go for something in his belt. It then clicked in Scarecrows head, the batman did create a serum for his gas! That must be what he's reaching for! If scarecrow could get a hold of it, he could probably tweak up the gas, making that serum useless!

Scarecrow began to move towards him, when suddenly he felt claws sing into his calf's. It shot in, and the pain rushed up his body. He felt it go up his back, then stop. The claws digged in and out. One of her fricken cats was on his back!!! Crane arched his back and began to move around in small circles, putting his left hand behind him to try and grip the cat. It kept moving around, but finally Crane was able to grip a hand full of its fur and flesh. He torqued his hips, and throw the cat across the room, like a baseball. He was too close to let a single feline get in the way!!

He immediately took his attention from the cat, and started his way back towards Robin, forgetting about the pain in his back. He watched Robin try to open up his belt. From there, he could see the syringes. This was his chance. Crane ran towards the boy wonder at lightning speed. As soon as Robin had touched a syringe, the foot of professor Crane had already kicked them way across the room. His second to last line of defense had been disabled!!

Scarecrow noticed he still had the breathing mask, which would help him from the gas, but he was slowly tripping out from the little bit he had already inhaled.

"Would you like more, my dear boy wonder?"

He raised his hand containing the syringes high above his head. He spaced out his fingers, and dangled them about. This would be a night the boy wonder wouldn't forget. Scarecrow dropped his hand, 4 needles pierced the boys arm. He injected enough to temporary disable him, but not put him completely out of it, such as he had done with Selina.

Finally, it was all under his control. There was no one left to stand in his way!

Scarecrow turned around to see Selina Kyle huddled up against a wall. She was his prize for the taking. He began to move towards her, closer and closer. It would be simple, he would carry her out of his arms, while some goons of his waited in a van in the apartment.

He stopped a couple of feet away from her. It was quiet... Too quiet. Was he already here? It wouldn't matter, he usually wasn't seen till he wanted to be. No matter, he was ready. It was the batman who wasn't truly ready.

He grabbed Selina Kyle and threw her over his shoulders. He walked past Robin, and along the way out of the room, he stomped on all the syringes on his way out.

"And.. thats a 1.. and a 2!!"

He counted out as he stomped on all of his cures for the fear gas. He stopped for a moment and turned his head towards Robin

"I hope your master brought more of those..."

He then took off running. Scarecrow cut out the door, and took a sharp left. He moved at lightning speed to the doorway to the stairs. Crane began to move down each step in the deep darkness, not completely seeing where he was moving. He finally made it to the corpse of the security guard he murdered, merely kicking it aside and continuing his move. He kicked open the door to the reception area. All around him people were crawling around, and hiding in fear. This all went better than expected.

Crane took off out the front door, with the sight of an armored van waiting on him. There were 3 armed men with assault rifles awaiting him.

"Hey thats the boss! Go start the car!"

One of the men ran over and started the car up. The van came to life with loud roar.

"everything's gone according to plan except for one part..."

Crane spoke to the remaining men as he opened the back door and tossed Selina Kyle in the back.

"Now come out!"

He yelled into the distance. Both the guards looked at him like he was crazy. Neither of them were truly aware of what would happen next....

[Avalikia]

There wasn't much that Selina could do for herself at this point. Her entire world was pulled inside out and turned upside down on itself to such an extent that nothing even so much registered as to what was going on in her apartment. People were talking, yelling, and screaming all at once. Their appearances all had changed so much that she hardly knew who was who by now, except for Scarecrow, who had the only constant appearance throughout the whole ordeal.

As he started to walk toward her, she couldn't do anything in the way of defense except try to move backward a bit, her eyes still wide with terror. The room around her was spinning out of control, the cats of her hallucination still yowling horribly, and now the Scarecrow/Brian Kyle beast thing was coming toward her. She didn't even scream this time, as if she was too afraid to do so.

By the time he'd picked her up, her mind was in such a weak state that it seemed to send messages to her brain that she was too exhausted to really fight back. The most she did was grab a hold of his shoulder and dig her own long nails into his skin, much like 63 had done not very long ago; but her attack would be far less effective.

As she was tossed into the van, Selina did nothing but cower in the presence of Scarecrow and his goons before she slowly, weakly pushed herself up and leaned against the side of the van for support, her mind almost at a total loss already.

[cat]

The moment that the cat manages to get himself in place on the man's back, he digs his claws in as best he can, and tries to fend off the groping hand by biting at it when it comes near and moving around as much as he's able to without loosening his grip very much. But though he's able to fend it off for a little bit, it only takes one false move on his part and he's been caught. And before he can react to that properly, he's flying across the room!

Contorting his body as he moves through the air with ease that would make any gymnast jealous, even though the skill is quite normal for cats, he twists himself around so that he lands neatly on his feet. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't land a bit hard, and he stumbles around, slightly stunned, for a few moments. However, by the time he's ready for more action, Scarecrow has grabbed Catwoman and is headed out the door.

Shaking himself, the cat spares Robin a glance and says, "Useless!" But it doesn't take him more than an instant to know what to do next. He runs through the cat-flap to the balcony, and makes his own way back down the building from there. And he beats Scarecrow outside, even though that doesn't do him very much good. He may be innocent to the ways of much of the world, but even he knows what a gun is and knows that he can't take on multiple humans. In a best case scenario, he might be able to take on just one.

Lurking in the shadows around the building the cat watches the men very carefully, looking for an opportunity to do something. It happens when Scarecrow starts yelling, as if calling out to someone else. Surely it's not to him, but it serves as a very helpful distraction. Sneaking around and sticking to the shadows as much as he can, he tries to use this moment to get to the van. If they're going to take Catwoman somewhere, he wants to go with her! If he can make it there, he hopes that there's some place to hide himself, but if not he'll make due with a dark corner. Which should work well enough - nobody ever notices that cat.