End of an Era pt. 1 [Scarecrow]

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“I’m just going to stay for a little bit longer. You can go ahead and start to shut off the lights.” The redhead sent a smile in the direction of her co-worker before using her employee pass to instantly gain access to another part of the vast building. She moved to her designated desk to retrieve her things, finding herself thankfully alone. Looking around to insure that no one had lingered, she was quickly assured that she was the only one left in the room. Unlocking the bottom drawer in her desk, she hastily grabbed her Batgirl outfit and shoved it into her purse. Despite how depleted her energy was from work and school, she was prepared to go on patrol again tonight. The moment that she left the comforting surroundings of LexCorp she would find a place to change.

The lights began to shut off in this sector of the massive and impressive building. With the use of her badge several other times, she headed to leave. The only sound that accompanied her thoughts was the clicking of her high-heels against the polished floors. She tossed her red wavy hair over her shoulders and held her bag close to her athletic frame.

Strutting down the dark corridors didn’t even begin to faze her. After all, she spent a majority of her evenings thwarting the crime life that consisted of Gotham City. Risking her life on a daily basis made this seem like nothing – however, she did retrieve the phone from the depths of her purse, careful to insure that none of the accessories to her suit fell out in the process.

Sending a few quick texts to assure those who mattered that she would be on her way in a matter of moments, the redhead continued down the dark corridor.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Fear wasn’t just the strongest drive in the human form….It was the only drive. It was the mechanical cog that made all the others move in perfection with one another. When the cog is removed, you simply cease to have a human being. Dr. Crane had practiced this art and practiced this hypothesis far too many times for it to remain a simple prediction….Far too long for it to remain a theory….He didn’t need the acceptance of his peers to understand what the truth was. The truth was that fear was none of those things, what he had found was a law and nothing on this earth could change it.

And yet….There was always more to be discovered as one lucky red headed woman was about to find out. The doctor had been waiting in the adjacent corridor for someone, anyone to pass by. The doctor usually wasn’t very discriminatory when it came to getting his patients, unless they seemed far too mentally incompetent to study. But this woman certainly met all the criteria to be a test subject. It was interesting really, the industrious bustling Metropolis was a young female, believing she was safe to walk the streets at night. He was further from home than he would have cared for, but Dr. Crane could adapt to any environment….Besides….He was here for a special reason.

He moved out of the shadows, now shadowing her in the distance. His foot falls hit when hers did but he kept it just a pace behind hers, to linger and remain slow to her. The doctor had his hands in his pockets as he casually strolled. In his right jacket pocket were three sickles that barely fit within the fabric, but he didn’t need them to stay completely hidden. The other pocket held two canisters of fear gas, ready to be popped and deployed at any time. He had come fully prepared and in this case he needed to be….

The doctor pulled his mask out from the back of his pants but didn’t click the fans on just yet. He pulled it over his face and moved to the right of her, back into the shadows. Hooked on the side, inside his trench was his needled glove. Slowly he attached it to his arm, making a soft clicking sound followed by pressured gas releasing in a small hiss. The tubes on his fingers began to glow in the darkness and he hid them behind the thin cloth of his trench to shadow it a bit. He came up just behind her now, staying to the side on her right.

He had been down this corridor before….It was important to stalk the area around your field of research to make sure you’ll have the environment under control. He wouldn’t need it long…. Just long enough. As she turned again he stayed alongside her only stopping as she’d see her first unsusal event for the night. The wall ahead, before the next corridor loop around said in bold red paint. “No Escape” It was his first lesson to her. As she pondered over the weird inscription he drug the tips of his needles along the wall scratching and scraping at the cement that held the building.

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Despite how nice the idea of going home and crawling into her bed sounded, Barbara was dreading the drive home. It was a lengthy drive to say the least and part of her was half tempted to submit to the idea of staying in a hotel for the evening only to return back for work tomorrow. With the obsession of both what she spent her time doing at LexCorp and her boss, the young intern still had the leftover smile from work plastered on her pretty face despite how tired she was.

The only sound to accompany her thoughts was the clicking of her heels against the floor. The noise echoed down the stretch of empty corridor that she traveled toward the elevator. The light from her cellphone illuminated her face as she continued, which also now provided the only light available if it hadn’t been for the phone and her observant nature – she might have missed it. However, her bright blue eyes caught sight of the scarlet letters painted on the wall before her. She used the flashlight application on her phone to read the misplaced letters before her. Something wasn’t right.

No Escape. What the hell was that supposed to mean. There was a visible transition in her mood as she adorned a look of all seriousness. She whirled around to examine her surroundings, the flashlight application still on. Her expression was surprisingly calm, despite the small smirk on her face as if she were accepting a challenge. The redhead had been trained for these situations; months of her life had been spent on it. Babs wasn’t even half sure at this point that she was the target of the
terrorizing message. While most might have taken the opportunity to run rather than decipher it, the redheaded heroin was going to get to the bottom of this.

The area unpleasant scrapping noise was the new target of the light. Even in a dress and heels she was convinced that she would be able to handle herself. After all, she had years of training and martial art achievements under her belt. While this wasn’t common knowledge, she liked having the element of surprise on her side. It was going to take more than a couple of creepy noises in the dark to get the best of her. She already had her assumptions of who might be behind this – though she quickly eliminated all of them when she realized where she was. This was Metropolis, which discarded all of the enemies that the Gordon name had acquired back at home. Not to mention, she wasn’t in her usual Batgirl get up. It was still safely in the bag that hung off her shoulder. Right now she was just Barbara Gordon, whose enemies in Metropolis were limited to those who merely envied her.

Half tempted to retrieve the flashlight that hung from her utility belt in the bag and bath the corridor in light, she didn’t want to let her guard down even for a moment. “Who is there – show yourself.” She demanded. She wasn’t afraid.