Author's Notes: Here it is, the moment that you've been waiting for. The Scarecrow!

Also, I seem to have problems with the Review section. I can't read any reviews that were written after December 29th, if anyone has a solution to this, please PM so I can fix this. Otherwise I can't see what you guys are writing. So until then, if you want to write a review, do so and also leave a PM stating what your review said until it's fixed.

Another pointer, while Batman handles Scarecrow's gauntlet, Blake will be facing something... different.

Finally, Warning: This is the part where it gets dark.

Q&A:

Twain Apprentice: In the RWBY-verse, it takes place just a day after the end of Volume 1.

Guest: Well, to be precise; taking Year One into account as my base point of reference, as well as Arkham Origins being his second year as Batman, this should make Bruce Wayne... 36 years old. Yeah, so there is no way in Hell I am doing a pairing of this!

DragonTurtle3: 1: Emphasis on 'people', these aren't robots. 2: Thank you for pointing out that scene. 3: Eh, I'll give you that one. Joker probably would've pulled a gun on her anyway. But now that I think about it, in the Black Trailer, Adam had every opportunity to stop Blake from cutting the line on the train. So I think it's a similar situation.

I do not own RWBY or Batman

"Tell me, Bats. What are you really scared of?"

-Chapter Four: Fear-

Fear. What an interesting word, with an equally interesting definition.

Those little demons at the back of our heads, controlling our habits and instincts on differentiating on what we see as a threat or what see as something beneficial when we think we are not controlled by these delusions.

From what I can already observed and examined, the Dark Knight... the Batman's fear... is failure.

Failure to save the city he has sworn to protect and failure to save those that are close to him.

But what of the Cat, Blake Belladonna? What does she fear? Not some petty irrational fear such as dogs or water, as it is such a stereotype of cats. But what is it that keeps her up at night, lying in the dark recesses of her mind, threatening to tear apart at her sanity until it is nothing but fragments and a ruined shell of her former self. So this question must be taken into account:

What does Blake Belladonna truly fear?

Blake looked at the scene before her: the collection of spires and old, worn buildings combined with the modern structures that lay strewn about the place, as well as the wild undergrowth that made up the area. It was a sight to behold.

But she had one other thing on her mind. She peered over the cliff and glanced at the steep drop below the two. The area below was a straight drop, leading to certain death for an average human.

"How are you going to get down?" the Dark Knight asked.

The Faunus looked at the vigilante, who had asked the question. She responded by jumping off the cliff and landed on her feet with a quiet thud, from a nearly fifty-foot drop. Her actions seemed plausible, from the Dark Knight's point of view. Besides, like Selina Kyle: cats always landed on their feet.

"That's how," Blake responded from the earpiece. Luckily, she wasn't average, or even human.

Batman wasted no time and jumped off the cliff. The Faunus watched as the Bat-dressed vigilante glided down from the cliff with the help of his cape and landed beside the girl, his cape giving off a quiet whoosh as it returned to it's fabric state.

"Let's go," he only said as they continued to make their way to a set of doors behind three Arkham guards. At first, they let Batman pass through without hesitation, but they stopped Blake as soon as they spotted her, grabbing onto her arm to prevent her from following the Dark Knight. Batman turned to look at the guards with a neutral look.

"She's with me," he responded, watching as they still held firm to denying the girl from passing.

"There are two Blackgate prisoners armed with assault rifles that will kill anyone on sight, sir. We don't doubt your abilities, Batman, and we know that you can take care of them; but as for her-" the man leaned over and took a look at the sword on her back, "-no offense, but we don't want anyone else to get killed by mistake."

Blake pulled her arm away, giving the officer an irritated look, "I can take care of myself."

"But-"

"I said she's with me," Batman said. The guard merely raised his arms in compliance and let her pass.

"Whatever you say. Just take care of yourselves," he nodded to the two of them.

The chime of the Arkham PA system suddenly sounded out, "Hmm. Harley tells me that the Batman's car is still parked just outside of the Intensive Treatment building-"

Blake suddenly heard a set of small beeps going on in her head, she looked around at the source of the noise until she realized that it was coming from her earpiece.

"Now, we can't just have him up and leave us, can we?" the Joker announced from the intercom.

"Oracle, disable the Batmobile's countermeasure system," Batman said as he pressed his fingers to his cowl.

Now Blake suddenly heard a feminine voice from within the earpiece, "I saw the alert, what's wrong? Where are you?"

"I'm outside the Arkham Mansion. Harley Quinn probably triggered the alarm. If she's still got Gordon with her, he could get hurt."

"Okay, done. The Batmobile is still parked up outside the Intensive Treatment building in Arkham North. I've sent you the schematics for the entire island. I've marked key locations like your car," Oracle informed.

"Thanks, Oracle," Batman responded.

"Also, I'd like to say hello to your friend. Hello Blake," the Faunus suddenly flinched at the revelation.

"How-"

"Batman told me that he would put you on the same line as me. I'm still surprised he even trusts you. Care to explain why?" she asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Blake turned to face Batman, who was currently talking with a guard hiding behind the ambulance, sitting beside his fallen comrade.

She heard Oracle sigh, "Alright then, just listen to what he has say and you should get out of this situation in one piece."

"Hasn't failed me so far," Blake smirked jokingly, earning a small laugh from the person on the other end of the line.

"Okay, good luck then," she lowered her hand as she heard the soft click from Oracle, knowing that she had just temporarily cut the connection.

Batman turned to face Blake as soon as he finished his conversation with the guard, beckoning for her to follow as he pulled out his grapple gun and fired above the gate, the Faunus closely followed, leaping on top the ambulance and over the small structure.

In front of them were a pair of inmates armed with rifles in their hands. The black-clad pair looked at one another for a split-second, despite the little amount of time they had spent with one another, they knew what to do. Batman stalked over to the first armed inmate. In less than a second, Batman kicked the man behind one of his knees and threw his arms over his mouth, muffling the man's yells of panic as he dropped his gun before finally passing out. Blake followed suit in a more brutal fashion as she wrenched the gun from the second man's arms and slammed the butt of the rifle into the inmate's jaw. A crack from the man's jaw was heard as he then crumpled to the ground.

When the deeds were done, they wasted no time in turning around and walking through the door ahead of them. As the door slid apart, Blake heard multiple loud thuds from afar, as though something was being hit. As they continued through the door, the PA system chimed again.

"The entire island will soon be under my control! That's right, boys and girls, mine. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine! Just wait 'til you see my plans for this place, it's going to be glorious!" the Joker yelled into the intercom before cutting off.

From there, Blake saw several thugs beating a black car with blunt objects in their hands from a short distance away. She could tell that this was Batman's car, from the way he broke into a sprint towards the band of inmates. Blake merely rolled her eyes and followed after him.

Guys and their cars, she thought jokingly.

She watched as Batman threw himself at the men before following suit, propelling herself into one of the thugs with the help of her Semblance. She tackled the first man to the ground and quickly wasted no time in finishing him off with a punch to the throat. With her cat ears listening keenly, she was able to duck under the next inmate's fist; she spun and punched the man hard in the crotch, causing him to double over in pain.

As Batman was in the middle of dealing with his opponents, he caught one of the thug's fists in mid-swing, grabbed his arm, and threw him in Blake's direction. The said Faunus caught sight of this and vaulted over the man she had fought previously, grabbing the stumbling man by his shoulders, and tossed him against the first man before using her Semblance to maneuver around the stumbling pair and finish them off with a single kick to both of their heads, causing them to fall over in the opposite direction.

When the skirmish was finished, Batman made his way to the trunk of his car, the Batmobile. Blake couldn't help but grin slightly at the ridiculous name that Batman had called it earlier, during his conversation with Oracle.

She watched as Batman opened the trunk and pulled out a strange-looking gun. The gadget had a short barrel and a small canister sticking out of the back. The Dark Knight twisted the canister before closing it.

"What's that?" Blake asked, peering over to look at the contraption that he was holding in his hand, prompting the Dark Knight to look at the girl.

"Explosive gel," he only said before looking back at the area that surrounded the car, "Harley trashed the car, looks like there was a scuffle."

"I'll see if I can find anything that can lead us to her," Blake responded before being stopped by the vigilante.

"No need, I already got it," Batman said before bending over to pick up a pipe, his eyes turned white for a split second before his hand went to his cowl once again.

"Oracle, I found a pipe. It has the Commissioner's initials carved on it," he said.

Blake expected to hear Oracle's voice from her earpiece, but only received silence. It seemed that the two are talking on a private connection. But why? Batman already trusted Blake for some reason with following alongside him. She had helped him track Boles down in a similar event, but why keep her in the dark when it came to the Commissioner? Was there some sort of connection between all this?

"Exactly, he's left me a trail to follow. He's alive, Oracle," Batman said, once again choosing his words carefully to keep Blake from finding out about Oracle.

The two continued down the trail until they came upon a door. Blake saw that the light on this door was red, most likely signifying that it was locked. Instead, Batman came over to wall right next to it and picked out the 'explosive gel' gun from his belt. He held the gun over the wall and sprayed the gel until it expanded to form the shape of a bat.

"Stand back," he ordered. Blake obeyed and took a few steps back, as well as averted her face away from the wall for good measure. The Dark Knight then pressed the button, an explosion was immediately heard as Blake felt a couple of pebbles hit her on the side of the face as well as her several areas on her body. She looked back at the scene to see a smoldering hole where the wall originally was. Blake then brushed off any dust that could've gathered on her.

"Hello! I'm Warden Idiot, just let me welcome you to your new home! Here in Idiot Asylum, we have just one rule: You'll never leave us!" the Joker's voice suddenly rang throughout the PA system again before cutting off once more.

From there, they headed through the makeshift exit towards the other end of the locked door, where they continued through a door that had opened for them as well. From there, Blake had now realized that this 'Harley Quinn' must have locked the previous door in order to prevent the two from passing. She should've blocked this door as well if she really wanted to be rid of them.

Batman was right, Quinn wasn't very smart.

Blake then spotted two inmates kneeling over in front of a building. With tools in their hands, they hammered away at the building with keen precision for some unknown reason. This strange activity piqued the two's curiosity; and since these builders were obviously inmates, it was the pair's job to get rid of them.

With just a few swift strikes, Blake knocked the first man onto his stomach by grabbing onto his leg and pulling it towards her, then finished the job with a swift kick to the head. Batman on the other hand, kicked the other man's legs from under him and slammed him downwards in mid-fall using only his elbow.

They looked towards the halls, the sign above the door read 'Visitor Center'. The two black-clad fighters looked at one another before heading inside.

As soon as Blake entered the room, she felt a chill run up her spine for some reason, but she didn't know why; that is, until she spotted Joker from across the hall, sitting in a chair. Blake almost yelped in surprise before noticing the TV on the man's head, just a fake.

The two continued to carefully walk towards the body, taking notice that this place could be perfect for setting a trap. An explosive would be the most plausible theory. Blake turned to see several small rooms with numbers. This was for visitors to communicate with any Arkham inmates that seemed sane enough to talk with their friends or loved ones.

Suddenly, the television atop the body flickered to life, revealing none other than the face of the Joker.

"Come in! Sit down, take off your mask. So Bats, I was thinking, you really could use a friend in here! Someone to talk to, share secrets with. Shall we start with the big one?" the Clown Prince of Crime asked as he 'stared' at the two before him. Blake felt uneasy, even though his face was on a television screen, she couldn't help but feel as though he was close by. But she passed it off as just her nerves.

"Who is that behind the mask? Why do you feel the need to go out into the world and fight people like me? Do you really think you can win? We'll see. Hahahahahahahahaha," the Joker chuckled as the TV shut off, leaving nothing but static. They got up to turn and walk out before they heard the voice again.

"Oh, I'm not finished yet, Blake-y! Take a seat, I know you're still with ol' Batsy," he ordered, 'watching' as the cat Faunus froze and looked at him with a gaze of dread before walking back over and taking a seat.

"I'll just assume you're in that seat, so I'll just get this show on the road. Now Kitty-cat, even after all this time, I would never forget about you! The day we fell! It was like Christmas Eve! Come to think of it, I think it was Christmas Eve! Oh, hahahahahahah! I was a different man back then, a little... rusty in my Joker-ness, and you were naught but a little tyke with a toothpick, HA! But to hell with it, you look at me like you don't even know me, why's that?! I never forgot that day, ain't that right, Bats?..." the voice trailed off before cutting out again, resulting in the biggest sense of confusion that Blake has ever felt. Knowing of the Joker? Christmas Eve?

Blake turned to face Batman, who looked at the screen with concern, "Do you know what he's talking about?"

"No idea," he responded. The Faunus narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion before standing up and heading towards the door. At first, it seemed as though the Dark Knight himself was lying, but she still played it off as the Joker getting the better of her.

As soon as they passed through the doors again, they made their way to the other side of the area, walking up the stairs and listening in on the inmates standing in front of the medical facility.

They heard the sound of the PA system chime once more, though the new sound was more... deluded.

"I just want everyone to know that I really appreciate all the hard work. You know, watching you guys is like a night-in. Watching my favorite movie. What was the name of that movie? Oh yeah, Attack of the STUPID, BUMBLING IDIOTS WHO CAN'T FIND AN EVEN BIGGER PAIR OF IDIOTS RUNNING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A BAT AND A CAT! Now get to it!" the Clown shouted in apparent rage before violently shutting off the intercom once again.

Although they didn't know it, Batman and Blake simultaneously gave a rare, amused smirk at the Clown's anger, though they hid it from one another.

"It's the freakin' Bat!" one of inmates screamed as soon as he spotted Batman and Blake coming towards them.

Blake used her Semblance to disorient one of the inmates and throw them off balance, she then grabbed the man by the arm and threw him over the ledge, sending the man falling onto the ground below... he'll live. She turned to face the rest of her attackers, but received a punch to the face by one of the inmates. She stumbled back and tried to recollect her sense, only to result in another thug wrapping his arms around her, pinning her arms to her torso. She retaliated by slamming her heel into the man's foot, as well as the back of her head into his face. Blake yelled in surprise as the man fell backwards, taking her with him. She looked up to see the other man standing over her.

"I'm gonna beat you into paste!" he yelled as he lifted his foot, but he was thrown back as Batman lifted him high into the air and threw him to the ground.

The Faunus grunted as she moved the unconscious man on top of her out of the way. She looked to see that the Dark Knight had dealt with the rest of the thugs. She cursed to herself, she had gotten sloppy, and Batman knew it as well.

Despite the flaw she had made, Batman did not acknowledge it and instead beckoned for her to follow. She nodded in agreement and walked closely beside him as they passed through the door of the medical facility.

As soon as they closed the door behind them, they spotted the Clown's literal partner-in-crime, Harley Quinn, sitting on a chair with her legs propped up onto a table. A television was on her right as she continued to pay no attention to the two next to her. Next to her feet was a red mug sitting on the table.

She continued to hum to herself until she glanced out of the corner of her eye. Quinn's head turned immediately to face the two.

"Hey! Scram, you two! This is my me time!" she yelled at the two.

"Where's Gordon?" Batman demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I'm over here!" Blake heard the Commissioner.

"Shut up!" Quinn leaned over and picked up the cup, then proceeded to throw said cup at the Commissioner, causing him to yell in pain.

"Agh! You crazy bitch!" Gordon cursed.

The television screen beside Harley flickered to life, revealing the face of the Joker, "Harley!"

Harley Quinn squealed in delight as she swung her legs off the table and proceeded to stand up to face her partner.

"What's he doing here? It's too early!" Harley then walked over to the screen and pressed her body against it.

"I'm sorry, puddin'! Don't be angry with me!" she then kissed the screen that held the Clown, causing Blake to cringe slightly in disgust.

How did Harley fall for a guy like him? Stockholm Syndrome? No, that seemed too simple.

"Oh, you little minx. I can never stay mad at you," Joker responded before the TV screen flickered back to a demented version of the Asylum's logo.

"Sorry, you two. You'll have to find another way! Buh-bye now!" she yelled before cartwheeling away.

From an up close and personal view, Blake could tell that Quinn was obviously infatuated with that psychopath. But how the Joker could find any woman on this planet to love him was completely beyond her.

"There's no way past this security gate. We'll have to find another way around," Blake observed as she carefully place a finger on the security gate before flinching back and pulling her hand away as the gate shocked her finger.

They turned and walked through the door, Blake watched as Batman pulled out his grapple gun and fired it at the roof of the building. Batman wrapped an arm around the girls waist and pressed the button the gun to reel them up to the top.

Blake continued walking alongside the Dark Knight on the rooftops until they came upon another roof with a worn down wall. The Dark Knight leaped over to the wall, pulled out his explosive gel gun, and proceeded to make a bat-shaped spray on the wall. With a press of a button, the wall exploded, leaving a small room with pieces of a crumbled wall strewn about the room.

"Alright, let's go," Blake said as she jumped through the hole and landed with a roll. She watched as Batman hopped down onto the ground and nodded to her, beckoning for her to follow. She nodded back and walked behind the Dark Knight as they passed through another door.

Blake and Batman climbed over a fence continued to vault over another chain link cover. As they did this, the PA system chimed once more.

"I want all the doctors rounded up. Search every inch of the Medical building," Joker ordered in a serious tone, which was unusual in Blake's ears, "I mean it. Search every room, every office, every trash can," never mind, there it was.

Blake pulled out her sword, sliced a ventilation grate apart as there was no where else to go, and kicked the scrap metal aside before heading inside, with Batman following close behind.

"If another doctor tries to run and get out of the building, then you won't! I'll just flood the room with happy gas and leave you to die. Hell, I may do that anyway. Sounds fun," the Joker threatened from the intercom.

After the two continued down the tunnels, with Batman grabbing a Riddler trophy along the way and crushing it, they fell down a hole from vents and continued on foot until reaching another vent nearby. From there, Blake and Batman continued to crawl through the tunnel until they spotted a room through the grates.

The area was a large room with three floors: the lower, the middle, and the top, as well as a set of stairs leading up to a railed catwalk. Making up each floor were rooms housing usual medical equipment such as printed photos of X-Ray results, tools, and furniture that formed an average room involving the subjects of medicine. On the far right was an elevator, guarded by several henchmen belonging to the Joker. And close to the ceiling? Gargoyles covered the top areas of the walls. Blake knew what was about to happen as soon as she saw the stone statues.

"Get off of me!" they heard, the pair turned to see an inmate shoving a doctor into one of the rooms.

"Shut it and get down there with the others! Move it!"

"Okay, okay, I hear you. I'm going," the doctor responded as she walked closer to the room.

Blake was suddenly confused by the scene that had just unfolded, "Why does the Joker need the doctors?"

"That's what I intend to find out," Batman responded as he stood up from exiting the vent and fired a line onto the nearest gargoyle, then moved onto the next to give the Faunus a vantage point. Blake looked out of the corner of her eye to see Batman holding his explosive gel gun. He looked at her for a moment before tossing it to her. Blake caught it and gave him a confused look.

"Below you," she heard from the earpiece. Blake looked from under her gargoyle to see an inmate standing behind one of the rooms. The wall looked worn out, as though it was about to crumble at a moment's notice. She finally put two and two together before looking over to him and nodding.

"Gotcha," Blake responded before dropping off from her vantage point and landing silently behind the wall. She held up the gun and held it up at the wall. With a press of the trigger, a quiet spray was heard as she made the spray form the shape of a flower before scaling the wall using the pipes and cracks in said wall before leaping onto her gargoyle. With the sound of a grapple gun going off near her, the cat Faunus turned to see Batman on the gargoyle beside her.

"I'm going to need that back," he said, his hand outstretched in front of her, which he then used to catch the gadget after it was tossed to him.

"Take out of the inmate below me on my mark, then assist the doctors, I'll deal with the rest," Blake nodded as he fired the device again and moved away to do just that.

Blake jumped onto the vantage point where Batman formerly was, she peered over to see an inmate holding a rifle in his hands, ignorant of the young woman twenty-feet above him. She curled her fingers into a fist, listening intently as the bones in her fingers popped menacingly.

Seconds passed, she listened to the muffled sounds of thugs panicking, most likely Batman dealing with the criminals, then continued to hear faint noises of another canister of explosive gel being sprayed somewhere else.

Suddenly, the voice in her earpiece came to life, "Now!"

From a distance, the Dark Knight watched as Blake sprang into action; jumping off the gargoyle landing on the henchmen's shoulders with her feet before pushing off with a backflip, knocking the man down on his face. He continued to watch as the cat-eared girl finished him off with a punch to the head.

Once she had finished her job, she heard a click behind her, "Hands up, bitch! You ain't going no-"

The thug behind her was pointing a rifle at her head. He would've pulled the trigger after he had finished his sentence, were it not for the ceiling that exploded above him, sending bits of rock and concrete cratering into his head, leaving him out cold as well. It seems that Batman had done it once again.

Blake breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to face the doctors, only to look back up as she heard the Joker's voice from the speakers.

"Hello! Is there a doctor in the house? No? Pity, I seem to have a pile of wounded henchmen that need medical attention."

She then looked back at the doctors, some were giving her suspicious looks, while the rest were strapped to stretchers covering their faces with restraints.

"Don't worry, you're safe," she tried to ease their suspicions, but they still seemed cautious. That is, until Batman finally caught up to her.

"Good job."

"Thanks," Blake nodded, smiling inwardly at the Dark Knight's subtle praise.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Batman asked the red-headed doctor in front of him.

"I don't know. One minute we were doing our evening rounds, and the next, armed thugs burst into the room and took us hostage," she explained.

"Was there anyone else with them?" Blake asked, earning a strange look from the woman before she turned to face Batman.

"They took someone with them, I couldn't tell who it was," the doctor answered.

Blake walked over to the elevator and pressed the button to call the lift, but nothing happened. She walked back beside the Dark Knight.

"The elevator's not working, they obviously didn't want to be followed," Blake observed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're going to be okay here," Batman assured the doctors.

"We'll be fine," she said, before the next doctor spoke.

"What about the others? We heard gunfire, they could be dead! We should go and help," the man said, the doctor looked at the vigilante in realization.

"Oh no, I forgot! Doctor Kellerman was in the Patient Observation Room and Doctor Chen went to Surgery-"

"-And Doctor Young went to X-Ray," the other man finished.

Blake glanced at Batman before nodding at him, turning to face the doctors, "Alright, stay here, we'll find the other doctors."

They turned and made their way down the stairs to the bottom floor.

"I'm here, Mike. Hold still, I'll get you free," the red-haired doctor said as she walked over to the restraints.

"You okay? We're safe, Batman and his friend saved us," the other man said as the pair opened the door and walked through to the next room.

As soon as the two walked passed the room, they were greeted by a pair of stairs: one in front of them and one beside on the left. They looked up to see the word "X-Ray", this must've been it.

They both turned to the left and continued to walk up the stairs in silence, the only sounds that came out of the two were the pitter-pattering of Blake's high heels and the more dull thumps of the Dark Knight's boots. Apart from them, they had to listen to the noises coming from this area's speaker system.

"Remember, a happy patient is a quiet patient," the sickeningly kind voice emitted from the walls.

Both continued to follow the red and blue stripes along the floors until they came upon a split: one on the left and the other on the right, in front of them were two dead doctors.

"We'll split up," Batman said, "You take the left, I'll take the right. That'll cover more ground and get this done faster."

"You think I can handle it?" Blake asked out of curiosity.

"Hmph, you wouldn't be here if I didn't think you could," he answered as he took the red stripe's path.

Blake only shook her head in amusement, grinning slightly as she turned and walked in the opposite direction.

"Let me introduce you all to the sterling work of our new Head of Research: Doctor Penelope Young. Since joining our team two years ago, Arkham is now at the forefront of research into understanding the human mind," the TV screen showing the Warden of the Asylum had said.

As soon as she turned the corner down a narrow hallway, she began listening to a conversation two inmates were in the middle of. The Faunus crouched low and leaned over to hear the conversation they were having.

"Who's the guard?" the first one asked.

"That mean son of a bitch is Cash," the second answered.

"How'd he get that hook?" Blake leaned closer.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you know nothin'? Cash had a disagreement with Killer Croc a while back. Croc got free and chowed down on Cash's hand. So yeah, if you see a giant monster running at you, just shoot it, or you'll be next on the menu," the second explained. Realization suddenly came to Blake as she remembered that man with the hook where his hand should've been. That... Killer Croc ate it. And what was it that he was accused of? Murder and... cannibalism.

The Faunus shuddered at the thought before revealing herself to the two thugs.

"What the- where'd she come from?!" one of them yelled.

"Who cares? Joker told us she worked with the Bat, get 'er!" the other yelled as he threw a punch at her, only to receive a kick to the face as she dodged the punch. The second man pulled out a knife and ran at her with the knife, stabbing at her with the blade. Luckily, Blake was able to catch the man's hand before it could embed itself into her abdomen, she twisted the blade out of his hand and slapped him across the face with the flat side of the knife, sending him to the floor before being finished off with a hard kick to the stomach.

She looked at the knife for a second before sheathing it near Gambol Shroud, she felt an urge to keep it in the event that it should become useful at some point. Blake looked at the two unconscious men one last time before walking through the door in front of her, only to be greeted by two more thugs, this time facing the glass, where an officer and a doctor stood behind.

"Boss, it's done. The room is full of gas and Captain Hook is stuck in there. Thing is, Razor didn't get out in time, so he's stuck there t-" the man's conversation was interrupted as his face was shoved into the glass, simultaneously breaking his nose and knocking him out. The attacker grabbed the phone from his hand and tossed it into the second thug's face before punching his lights out with a hard punch to the man's left temple.

It seemed brutal, yes, but it was necessary.

"Holy shit," the officer that the thugs called 'Cash' muttered at the scene before looking back at her, "Who are you? Weren't you that girl in the handcuffs?"

He basically answered his own question, but Blake answered anyway, "I'm with Batman."

"Huh, I can tell," he leaned over to get a better look of the battered, bruised, and bloodied thugs that were unfortunate enough to cross paths with Belladonna, "So what're you doing here?"

"I'm here to get you guys out, what happened?"

"There was an alarm in Medical. I heard someone shouting and I found the Doc lying on the floor. When I went to help him, the room was flooded with gas. These doors locked down. We can't get out and don't know how long we can last," Cash explained.

"How brave, let's give Mr. Cash a great, big hand! He could use one," the Joker said through the speakers before bursting into sick giggles.

"You've got to help us. If you can clear the gas out of the room, the doc and I could get out of here," Blake continued to listen to the man before nodding.

"Got it, any way I can get in?"

"There's a ventilation system up top in the other room, it probably leads to where you are right now."

Blake looked up to see just that: a set of rectangular vents above her. With an aura-propelled jump, she managed to leap high enough to grab ahold of it and hoist herself up.

"Damn, never seen anyone jump like that before!" Cash exclaimed at the remarkable leap that the cat Faunus had just pulled off. She pulled out her sword and sliced the vent's grate apart before heading inside and kicking her way out of the other side.

She found herself far above the floor of the room, with poisonous green gas looming just below her menacingly. Blake had the slight urge to giggle, but held it back, it was probably some of the gas still hanging above; she shook her head to clear her head. The Faunus continued to search for a switch to activate the fans, walking around the scaffolding before spotting something sticking out the wall, it looked like a switch of some sort. She couldn't make it at that distance, if only she had a-

"Wait a minute," she said to herself as she pulled out the knife that she had looted from one of the thugs. Blake tossed the knife into the air before catching it by the blade. With a careful aim, she threw the knife directly at the panel, watching as the handle slammed into it, the light from the switch then turned from red to green. She watched and listened as the fan suddenly whirred to life, some of the gas was then sucked out of the higher area of the room, but still leaving enough gas to kill a man.

Not enough, she cursed.

"Hey, uh, I don't know if you can hear this. Board's showing power to Fan One. There should be another switch close by," Cash informed.

Now that the gas was lowered, Blake jumped to a small platform that was absent of gas. As she landed, she spotted an inmate by a rope that just so happened to be far above the gas. She would've asked who he was, but she had a bigger question to ask. How the hell did he actually get up there? Seriously, there was no more rope under him, meaning that what he was holding onto was it's original length.

"Hey! You're with the Bat! Joker told me I'd have time to get out before he gassed this place," he yelled to her, but she ignored him, using her Semblance to get to a higher platform. The inmate was too focused on trying to hold onto the rope to care about the girl's supernatural abilities.

Blake continued to look around the place for another switch, she then leaped to the next metal platform just to see a switch that had been behind her. Even though she was absent of the knife she had 'borrowed', the switch was still close enough to where she could use her sword. So the Faunus unsheathed her blade, grabbing hold of the long black ribbon that was tied to the trigger before finally throwing it onto the button with her left hand in a spear-like fashion. As the panel that held the button broke, the light above it switched from red to green, just as the first one had done; and just like the first, the next fan began to spin until the green gas dropped further.

"Power to Fan Two. She's doin' it, Doc! We'll be out of here soon, just stay cool. Now, there's another power box, but this is where it gets tricky, it's inside that room nearby. Either you have a reasonable way in there or you better take a deep breath and hope that you can make it," Cash said.

She responded by pulling Gambol Shroud out of the power box and sheathing it, then jumped down to the scaffolding below, the building below her was almost literally inches away. Blake had to think about this: the ceiling looked weak, meaning that something like Batman's explosive gel should be able to get past that problem, but she didn't have enough time to go back and interrupt the vigilante with whatever he was doing.

It wasn't until she looked at the man hanging by the rope, then her eyes flicked to the roof of the room; in seconds, a plan was quickly formed. Blake took out her weapon once more, transformed it into it's gun form, and held on tightly to the ribbon. The only thing she hoped for was that the roof was weak enough to be broken by his weight.

"Hold your breath," she said to the inmate, swinging the gun-sword faster and faster.

"Whuh? What are you- no... no non NO No-!" he screamed in realization as she threw the weapon at the rope and quickly retracted it. The rope snapped, sending the man falling onto the roof, which then shattered from the sudden change of weight. The last thing she heard from the man was sick, maniacally forced laughter before silence overtook him.

Blake had to act quickly if she needed to save the man, so she grabbed the sword by it's handle and threw it at the last box, crackling with blue-white electricity before finally doing it's work.

"All three fans are green. We've got full power. Room should be empty any time now," Cash announced as the last fan finally whirred to life, dissipating the last of the green mist. The cat Faunus dropped down onto the floor and walked over to the prisoner, placing her fingers to his neck. Luckily, there was a pulse: he'll live.

"Surprise, surprise! Bat Junior arrived just in the nick of time. Next time, Cash, I'll just shoot you and be done with it," the Joker muttered from the intercom.

"Are you okay?" she asked the officer as she walked over to him.

"Yeah, me and the Doc are just fine. How the Hell did you do all that? I doubt that even Batman could pull those stunts," Cash said, obviously awed by the spectacle that the Faunus had done, scratching the top of his head with his remaining hand.

"I just can," she shrugged.

"Well I won't go too deep into it. So, thanks anyways," he called out to her as she turned and walked away.

"No problem," she then pressed her finger against her earpiece, "Batman, I just finished saving one of the doctors."

There was silence for a few minutes as she continued walking through the empty halls before coming across the large purple box shaped like a present. She carefully walked over to it, sword in hand, and lightly poked it with the end of her blade. The box erupted with benign green gas and several chattering teeth while giving off a ridiculous sounding party noise. From a distance, she heard an explosion, followed by screaming.

Seconds later, she heard, "Doctor Chen and Young have been saved. Meet me back at the Sanatorium."

"Got it," Blake responded as she continued to walk back to the room with the elevator once more.

"Oh I'm not sure I can keep it a secret any longer! Got two friends coming to the party. One of them is just terrified you'll leave without saying hello. The other... well, let's just say he's going to be surprised to see you two as you will be to see him!" the Joker shouted from the TV screen. It took Blake a second to realize that the clown was referring to Batman at first, then including her in the last bit.

Great, another crazy that I'll "know", Blake scowled at the thought. First the Joker, now someone else?! Who's next? Some 'roided out wrestler? Scratch that, someone like that might actually be from this crazy place, but she'll be damned if someone of her description were to exist in this place.

"I've got ringside seats for the big event! Harley's bringing the popcorn, I can't wait!" the Clown Prince of Crime said through the Television screen once more before shutting off into static.

As soon as she turned the corner and walked down the stairs, just a few feet away from the Sanatorium, she saw Batman walk up the stairs adjacent to her and meet up beside her, opening the doors simultaneously.

The red-haired doctor, as well as the others, were kneeling over a fallen officer until they caught sight of the black-clad pair.

"Did you find them? Are they okay?" she asked them as she began to stand up.

"Yes, they're safe now," Blake answered, turning as she heard steps behind her, it was Cash and another doctor.

"Batman, we've got another problem," Cash said as the other doctor stepped closer to the two of them.

"I need to get back to the Mansion. All my research notes are there. We can't risk Joker getting his hands on them."

"The Island's a war zone out there, do you really think you'll stand a chance?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms while giving the doctor a strange look.

"It's my life's work. You, or even Batman, don't have the authority to-"

"I'll get her there. If you ask me, it's about time for a little payback," Cash suggested.

"I don't like it, but-," they heard a buzzing noise sound out, "-Who called the elevator?"

"Wasn't us. It's coming from the lower floor!"

"Cash, take Dr. Young! Get her notes and get somewhere safe to hole up. Everyone else, go to the Observation Room. Barricade yourselves in," Batman ordered before looking at Blake, "You're with me."

"As before," Blake smirked halfheartedly as she held out her hand. With Batman wrapping his hand around hers, he pulled out his grapple gun and fired at the nearest Gargoyle. Batman sped towards the statue at tremendous speeds before finally grabbing onto his vantage point, using the rest of the added momentum to toss Blake onto the Gargoyle on the opposite side of the elevator.

"We'll make short work of them. I'll take two, you take the other. On my mark," Blake heard from her earpiece.

"Sounds like a plan," she said as three thugs armed with guns emerged from the elevator, two formed a pair while the other was brave (most obviously stupid) enough to go on his own; this one was hers.

"...Now!" Blake jumped from her vantage point feet first, placing both feet on the man's shoulders and used the remaining force to kick off with a backflip.

"Holy shit! Where'd she come from?!" one of the remaining two yelled out as he pointed a gun at her, only to fall to the floor as Batman slammed both of his fists into each of them as he fell from his gargoyle. Blake nodded to the vigilante before finishing off her stunned prey with a kick to the gut, knocking him out from the pain.

After that was done, they made their way into the elevator, which immediately closed behind them without warning. Blake was having a bad feeling about this, she just didn't know why.

The screen in front of them then flickered to show the Joker in front of them, Blake couldn't help but glare at the man.

"Too easy! Think about it, I've got you trapped in a little metal box. Hanging precariously over a deadly drop. What say I just blow the emergency brakes and drop you like a sack of puppies," Joker grinned evilly as he said all this. Blake's heart nearly stopped. He was right, they knew that this could be them at their most vulnerable.

Blake felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see the Dark Knight looking at her in concern, "Don't worry."

"Say good night, you two..." Batman continued to watch as Blake was nearly shaking at the thought. She was afraid. Afraid of dying in a place like this. Luckily, the Dark Knight knew that the Joker would never make things that easy.

"BOOM HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Only kidding," Blake froze as the words left the Joker's mouth. Now that was NOT funny, "Got a few more surprise in store for you. Prepare to face your fears... all of them! Hahahahaha!"

Wait, what's he talking abou- Blake suddenly began coughing uncontrollably as she heard a loud hiss come from outside the elevator. Blake felt an odd chill up her spine, she felt something peculiar, but she didn't know what it was.

At first, she heard loud, tortured screams, then suddenly, silence. The elevator stopped, the bars moved aside, and the door opened.

As soon as they stepped out, they heard it. From the hallways and down to a large screen just ahead of them.

"Please, Dr. Crane! Don't do this!" they heard from afar.

"There is no Crane..." they heard a sadistic voice. Blake felt her skin crawl at the sound, the oddly-high pitched voice sounded manic, like some deranged scientist.

"They're all over me!" she heard as they continued to walk over to the large glass screen.

"Only Scarecrow!" the voice took on a more demented tone, as though two ghoulish people were talking at once.

As they got closer, Blake saw that, although they were screaming and clawing crazily, there was nothing on them.

Suddenly a man in an asylum outfit slammed against the screen, screaming in terror, causing Blake to leap back and scream slightly in response, the ends of her hair standing up on end in response.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE SOMEONE! OH GOD!" the man continued to scream. Then, Blake caught sight of a silhouette from across the room. It looked as though it was wearing a hood. And it's hand... oh God it's hand! Needles tipped it's fingers and tubes extended from hand as though it was some sort of gauntlet.

Batman ran towards the bars beside the room with Blake following close by. As the Dark Knight grabbed hold of the bars, Blake barely caught a glimpse of this 'Scarecrow', only a flash of clammy grey skin and torn brown rags.

"Ooh! It looks like the good Doctor has started early! Your appointment isn't for hours. I'm sure you'll be buzzed through when he's ready," the Joker blared out from the speakers. Batman ignored the deranged man and pulled out his explosive gel gun before spraying a wall with it. With a press of a button, the wall exploded into shards, leaving a gaping hole in the wall.

"Tell me, Bats. What are you really scared of?" the Joker asked as they continued down a dilapidated hallway, "Failing to save this cesspool of a city? Not finding the Commissioner in time? Me? In a thong?! Whahahahahahahahahaha!"

Blake nearly threw up as soon as the thought came to her head.

Okay, that's enough nightmare fuel for today, she thought. Ironically thought, the nightmares were far from over, they were just beginning.

As soon as they turned the corner, they spotted the Commissioner hanging onto a grate from across the room.

"Please. Help me, Batman," the Commissioner rasped out before he was pulled away, "No...!"

"No!" Blake yelled, turning to Batman, who only had a stoic expression. From his face, there was something going on, some sort of trick, but it had to be put aside as Batman pulled the ventilation grate off it's hinges and crawled inside, with Blake hesitating for a second before following close behind. For some morbid reason, she began hearing whispers in her head, demonic chants of some sort.

Batman pushed the remaining grate out of it's hinges, moved it aside, and crawled out with Blake. There she spotted him: the Commissioner. She felt her heart in her throat and her stomach drop as they walked closer to the man.

The Faunus watched as Batman lifted his head and checked his pulse. She lowered her head out of respect as Batman closed the Commissioner's eyes. She swallowed past a sorrowful lump in her throat as Batman spoke, "...I'm sorry, Jim."

She didn't know the man very well, but she assumed that he was a good man, having earned the Dark Knight's respect.

"Barbara, I...I'm sorry. I was too late," Batman said as he pressed his fingers to his earpiece, receiving a confused look from Blake before it dawned on her.

He was contacting the Commissioner's relatives. This... Barbara was close to Gordon, this probably explained why the Commissioner and Batman were on good terms: they were friends.

"I'm sorry, the number you have dialed isn't available. Please leave a message after the tone," Blake heard from her earpiece.

"Barbara! Are you there?"

"Please hang up your phone," the voice said before turning to silence.

She thought this madness would've been over, that is, until she turned the corner.

What she was... Ruby? Weiss? Yang? Yes, there they were, standing shoulder to shoulder. Only there was something wrong with each of them.

Yang had a bloody hole coming out of her chest, blood oozing out of the wound, her skin was pale and her lilac eyes faded until they looked dead, in which case, they were.

Next was Weiss, who's torso was riddled with bullet wounds, and like Yang, blood dripped out, splashing across the tile floors as it traveled down her once immaculate white dress.

Lastly, there was Ruby. At first glance, it seemed as though there was nothing wrong with her, but upon closer inspection, a thin, almost unnoticeable slash mark was drawn across her throat, along with a bullet wound on the left side of her head. Blood stained the front of her dress as well as her shoulders.

"You killed us..." they spoke in unison before they suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"What was that?" Batman asked, who had apparently seen the apparitions as well.

"I... I don't know..." Blake gulped. Her friends were far from dead. In fact, it was only Ruby that was (indirectly) involved in the incident at the Docks. So why was she seeing this?

They continued to walk slowly down the hallways, bugs began to crawl out from cracks in the walls, traveling across the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Blake blinked once, oh so subtly, but was greeted by another apparition: Weiss standing in front of a firing squad of White Fang soldiers, with a Commander standing beside them with his hand held high. Weis looked as though she had gone through a war: her dress was in tatters, her hair was disheveled, bruises and cuts were marked commonly across the girl's face; on the side, her rapier, Myrtenaster, lay in a pile of stained white scrap metal. Tears streamed down the Heiress' face as their rifles were held directly in front of the girl.

"Ready!" the Commander shouted, the soldiers cocked their rifles.

"Aim!" they raised their rifles at the girl, who was now bawling at that point.

"FIRE!" he roared.

"NO!" Blake yelled as triggers were pulled, she ran in an attempt to take their shots. But as soon as they were fired, this vision disappeared.

What was that! the Faunus screamed internally, she turned to face Batman, who's face looked unnerved, but his eyes told a different story: he was horrified.

The next one came, this time it was Yang fighting... Adam!? Blake's vision did not lie to her, this was indeed what she was seeing in front of her. Yang was using her shotgun-gauntlets, Ember Celica, against the White Fang soldier, who was easily blocking each blow with his red-bladed sword, Wilt. The blonde-haired boxer continued to fire at him continually, but they were nothing, if not futile. With each blow he delivered to the girl, Blake knew Yang's Semblance would easily reflect it back, as she had seen during their Initiation in the Emerald Forest, but Blake couldn't help but think that this was not going to end as she had hoped.

With one effortless swing, Adam shattered Yang's weapons, and along with that, her arms. The girl screamed out in pain as she crumpled to her knees. The White Fang soldier strode to the girl, her arms broken, as well as her spirit. He shifted his blade into his left hand and his rifle into his right.

"Nothing personal," he told the girl as her pointed his rifle at her chest and pulled the trigger, and like the first apparition, they disappeared.

Why am I seeing this? she asked herself as these visions continued.

"What is this? Who are these people?" Blake heard the Dark Knight demand, but she did not answer.

It was until she turned the corner when her nearly stopped, because right in front of the door was most likely the last apparition.

Ruby lay sitting in a metal folding chair, her hands bound with rope behind her back. Her head hung lowly, her face obscured by shadows, and her breathing labored. The light around this vision dimmed significantly.

"Hey there, Red," Blake heard, she turned to see the first person she expected because of that nickname: Torchwick. In his left hand was a razor and in his right, a six-shooter revolver, "How's it hanging?"

The red-haired criminal walked over to the girl, her breathing shuttered at his presence. He knelt down to face her. Blake could do nothing but cry out in fear as he then stabbed the blade into her shoulder, Ruby whimpered at the action, but did nothing else. Torchwick let go of the blade as it was still embedded in the girl and withdrew a cigar from his jacket, he fished out a lighter and lit it, inhaling the roll of burning tobacco before blowing the smoke into the red-haired girl's face, who was now coughing uncontrollably.

"I'm surprised you lasted this long, no one can last a week in this room with me and my box of mechanical goodies. But an entire year? You're one tough cookie," he cackled as he grabbed the blade and twisted it. Ruby cried softly as the man continued to torture her. He then walked behind the girl and lifted her head up with his hand by the front ends of her hair, revealing her face.

Ruby's face was riddles with scars, some were slashes, stabs, even small, circular burn marks. A black eye protruded from her face as well as a swollen busted lip. She had been tortured by the man.

An entire year?! You sick bastard! Blake growled at the apparitions, knowing that she was unable to do anything.

The criminal pulled out the blade with his other hand and held it at her throat, whispering into her ear, "Any last words?"

"...F..." the girl mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Roman asked as he leaned closer.

"F...ou..."

"Louder, Red, louder," that orange-haired bastard snapped.

"...Fuck. You," Ruby spat at the man, literally. The man recoiled as blood was shot onto his face.

"Oh! You little-! You know what? That's it!" he said as he held the blade over her neck and quickly drew a deep slash across it. Watching as Ruby's eyes widened, gasping out for air as blood began to pour out of the wound., looking at the criminal with a cold-hard glare. Torchwick only shrugged at the girl's misery.

"Oh, nevermind, I'll make it quick. You owe me that much for giving me every secret concerning Beacon," he rolled his eyes as he pointed the gun to the side of her head, cocked it, and pulled the trigger. And like the other two, this one disappeared as soon as the shot was fired.

Blake was frozen solid, her mind still trying to process what she had seen.

This was just a nightmare, she told herself. This is all a bad dream... no Batman, no Joker, no Asylum, no...no nightmares...

She opened her eyes only to be greeted by the Dark Knight, who had looked furious beyond all reason, he then shook his head and beckoned to her, "Let's go."

They passed through the door and entered a new room: the Morgue. They walked to the center of the room, listening to strange whispers muttering in their ears.

"LEaVe... lEave this PlacE..." the voices spoke, Blake entire body stiffened in fear as the doors around her began to move back and forth, slamming shut, then opening back up again.

"Get out of here..." they whispered once more, "You need to get out of here!... Get out! Get out!"

Having seen enough nightmare-inducing things, she and the vigilante turned and did as the voice said, walking through the door, only to greeted by the same room, only with a few slight differences.

For one, the doors stopped moving, and there were three body bags on the tables in front of them. Blake watched as they began to move, lifting upwards before thumping back onto the ground.

She watched as Batman walked over to one of them and opened it up, only to be greeted by a dead body: a corpse in a black suit and a red tie. Her eyes widened as the head of the dead body turned to face the Dark Knight.

"Father?" Batman exhaled in realization.

"You should have stood up to him, son. Like a man!" the body said. This time, Blake was actually shaking in terror as she witnessed this horrifying event. She continued to watch as he opened the next bag, only to see another body, this time a woman.

"Mom?"

"Help us, son! Don't let us die!" Batman's 'mother' pleaded.

Blake saw the man shake his head, possibly trying to clear his mind of these apparitions. He then turned to the last one in front.

The black-clad pair stood side by side as he then opened the last one. At first, she caught a glimpse of a gas mask of some sort, shaped like the face of a... scarecro-

Before she fully realized, the body sprang to life and shoved it's face just inches away from theirs, it's stitched mouth open as though screaming silently and it's eyes glowed like embers. The Faunus screamed in terror as she and the Dark Knight fell backwards, her vision fading black as she saw Batman standing back up.

At first, all she saw was black, staring into an abyss of shadows. Seconds felt like hours as she continued peering into the darkness. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from beyond. She turned to face the source of the noise.

The steps got closer and closer, until a figure came into view.

She tried to scream, but nothing came out: it was Adam, his sword dripped with blood, illuminating his red blade even further. More steps rang out before more figure came: Yang, Weiss, and Ruby, all sporting their current injuries. They glare at her accusingly, giving the girl a sense of guilt, as though it was her fault. But there was something wrong that she had now noticed, aside from the people that surrounded her. There was an empty space between some of them, like there was something waiting to fill in that space.

Blake heard another pair of steps, this time it was someone she did not expect. In his purple suit, sporting a wide, maniacal, red-lipped grin, he stepped into the light, a hooded figure following behind.

"Hello, Kitty-cat! Remember me?" the clown asked, pointing to his smile before pointing at her.

"Get a good look at this beautiful mug of mine, dearie, you'll see it soon," he cackled loudly before stepping backwards and pulling the hood off the other figure, revealing... her!?

She stood wide-eyed, facing herself. This Blake sported a sadistic grin, holding Gambol Shroud in one of her hands. A pair of red stains marked across the edges of her lips, forming a deranged smile. Her skin was pale white and her eyes were a sickly green, rather than her usual yellow.

The other Blake removed the sheathe of her blade and shifted it into it's gun form, pointing it at the girl, who was frozen in fear. The Joker did the same, pulling out a large revolver.

"Smile for the camera!" they both yelled in unison as they pulled their triggers, causing Blake to shut her eyes tightly on instinct. This time, however, she could finally scream.

*BANG!*

She waited for the impact, the pain, anything. But she opened her eyes to be greeted by the darkness once more. Blake then caught sight of a small orange light, disappearing as fast as it appeared before appearing once more, only closer, this time it formed a silhouette of a man. Suddenly, the figure came into view. Blake stared at the creature with wide eyes.

This monster wore a gas mask and a hood in the shape of a burlap sack, a broken noose tied around it's neck. It wore nothing around it's torso, but it had a pair of torn, ragged brown pants tied together by a rope. And around it's hand was a gauntlet with a set of needles sticking out from each individual finger. This must be the Scarecrow.

"Now..." his voice sent chills up the girl's spine, "Madness takes takes you, forever!"

The empty syringes on his hand began to fill with an orange liquid, a strange sucking sound was made as was vacuumed through the tubes and into the canisters under the needles. He pulled his hand back, ready to strike.

"And at the end of fear, obl- wait, what? What's going on?" Scarecrow hissed as he spun around and looked down at his hands, watching in his own horror as his body began to form bright blue cracks in his skin before finally splintering apart into nothing.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" his screams was the last thing she heard before her vision began to fade once more.

She found herself lying on the floor of the Morgue, a black-gloved hand was held towards her as her eyes shot open, she looked up to see Batman standing over her.

"Get up," he said. Without hesitation, Blake grabbed hold of his hand and felt herself standing on her feet once more. She was just glad to be away from that horrible place.

"Can you hear me? Batman, Blake! What's going on?" she heard from her earpiece.

"We're... we're okay," Blake fumbled with trying to form words before making out a clear answer.

"What happened, you two? I lost contact. Are you sure you're alright? Have you found the Commissioner?"

"We're fine. Had a little run-in with Scarecrow, slowed us down. I'll get back to you in a bit," Blake blinked at the man in surprise as he said this. Slowed us down? No, he nearly tore us to shreds with whatever the Hell that stuff was.

"What... was all that?!" Blake yelled, both to herself and to the Dark Knight beside her.

"Scarecrow's Fear Toxin. A chemical that makes you see what you fear the most," he explained.

"But-but that doesn't make any sense. Why was Gordon in my... hallucination?"

"Why did I see those people when were walking down the hallway?" Batman countered, making it clear that he had no answers for either of their questions.

"You saw that?" she asked.

"I saw all of it, who were they?"

"It's... complicated," Blake explained.

"Alright, it doesn't matter then, let's keep going," he opened the door to the hallways, the two stepped out into the hallways and continued onward.

The things she saw... what she was afraid of? But... Ruby, Weiss, and Yang's death made sense, she obviously feared for their lives and would give her life just to save theirs in exchange. But why Adam? What did he have to do with this?

Blake shook her head roughly at these thoughts, trying to get them out of her head. She had to focus on helping Batman and, in extent, finding a way to get back to Remnant.

She just hoped that she wouldn't have to go through that again...

Disclaimer: Holy Hell, that was a long chapter. Well then, I have nothing more to say but to enjoy the chapter, it seemed a little bit rushed in my opinion, but I think I pulled off the creepiness and (NOPE!) feeling of being in that situation for the first time encountering Scarecrow. That's certainly how I felt.

11,000 words! Longest chapter in any of my stories to date, hope you enjoy.

And that ending! Oh, Blake-y, the nightmares are only just beginning!

Alright, stay beautiful, ladies and gents, and I'll see you all in the next chapter of Belladonna and the Bat: Asylum!.

PS: Let me ask you this, how did Blake see what Batman saw when they were both poisoned by the gas (and vice-versa)? Please send any and all theories into the PM box for me to look at.

PPS: Caught that little hint to something special? If you caught it (and it's pretty obvious), then you know how far I'm going with this. (Joker Laugh) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BREAKING ALL LOGIC IS MY SPECIALTY- MY SPECIAL TEA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- *Cough*, well... sh*t... I've said too much! I gotta go now, bye!