Sssssssss....

Batman started to wake up. He was still costumed and masked. But this time, he was gagged and tied up tightly. Scarecrow and Black Mask had gained the upper hand on the Batman and brought him to their underground base.

Thugs blocked the door as Scarecrow and Black Mask were ready to interrogate Batman for the first time. Batman tried his best to get out of the chair.

"Why didn't the guests at Wayne Manor turn into monsters like I expected them to?" demanded Black Mask angrily to Scarecrow. The two were busy arguing.

"I don't know! Maybe you didn't give them the actual shot dose of the drug, you just tossed the damn smoke at them and rotted them down to a damn corpse!" exclaimed Scarecrow. Black Mask growled in reply.

As they argued, Batman shook around in his chair. His arms were aching from being tied extremely down to the chair arms.

The two thugs blocking the door noticed Batman trying to escape and whistled to Black Mask and Scarecrow. "What?!" shouted the both of them.

They then turned to Batman snapping out of the chair, free at last. "No!" said Black Mask. He confronted the Batman, deadly knife in hand. "I need to get going and pour the fear gas on Gotham! Roman, stay with Batman!" declared Scarecrow.

Scarecrow ordered the thugs to move out of the way, so he can open the door to escape outside. He held his fear gas container.

Batman started to beat up Black Mask to reach Scarecrow from escaping. "Come back here!!" Batman ferociously yelled. The thugs confronted the Batman, there was no backing them down.

Scarecrow struggled with the door, as it finally flew open. Batman quickly dispatched the two thugs, smacking them in the face with his gloved fist.

Batman then grabbed one thug and smashed his face into the wall, knocking him out. The other thug took out a knife, as Black Mask grabbed Batman from behind to choke him. 

Batman kicked Black Mask away, and tackled the armed thug. Scarecrow walked outside, but was caught by a Batarang to the back of the head. He spun around in circles, the fear gas container spinning madly.

Batman then disarmed the thug, grabbing Black Mask by the neck and throwing him at Scarecrow before the latter can get up. "This fight is over!!" Batman cried out.

Scarecrow refused to back down, as Black Mask cowardly stayed down. "This is how it ends. Just you and me, and fear. Fear is the only option left," said Scarecrow.

"No it isn't. Gotham police will be right on your tail. You lose, no fear gas," replied Batman. "Have it your way then," said Scarecrow. He then tossed the fear gas into a street. The fear gas was unleashed, spraying out into half of the city.

As Batman began to charge at Scarecrow, he passed by a whimpering Black Mask. "Please..I just want my wife back," he started to say.

Batman dodged Scarecrow's punch, and fought back. The two engaged in a full-on, hand-to-hand combat fight. Black Mask got up and coughed up a bit of blood. 

"You were never the one to save Gotham!" cried out Scarecrow as he struggled to fight Batman. He was growing weaker. "Yes, I was. You never saved it too. Fear isn't what helps Gotham," explained Batman. He elbowed Scarecrow down, and took his hat off. 

Scarecrow panted heavily and tried to get up. He was punched back down. Scarecrow then got his wrist twisted by Batman, who kicked him down once more. "Justice is what will help Gotham," said Batman. 

Meanwhile, the fear gas attacked many citizens of Gotham. Vicki Vale and Jim Gordon escaped to the top of Wayne Manor, as the fear gas passed by down below. "We have to warn Bruce! Where is he?" asked Gordon frantically. "Sir, Master Wayne is perfectly fine," said Alfred. He and Lucius also made it to the roof of Wayne Manor. 

"Okay then. I'll call up the GCPD to help citizens get inside their homes from the gas swarm," explained Gordon. He used a walkie-talkie and called up a few officers at the GCPD (Gotham City Police Department). As Gordon called, Vicki said, "Look!".

A few police officers of Gotham struggled to breathe in the fear gas, they began to go mad. They spun around in circles, laughing. The fear gas had succumbed to them fully. Lucius ordered everyone to put on their gas masks. The fear gas was slowly starting to rise up to the roof of Wayne Manor.

Meanwhile, Batman slammed Scarecrow down again with a heavy fist. "HOW DO YOU STOP THIS?!" screamed Batman. Scarecrow was panting heavily still, and was unable to speak for a few moments. He had become terrified of the Batman finally. 

"I can't stop it," said Scarecrow finally. Batman was extremely angry, punching him again. Black Mask pleaded to Batman for his wife to come back. "I will deal with you later," said Batman to Scarecrow.

Black Mask sat in the corner of the sidewalk, cradling himself. "This whole world has gone..mad," he began to say to Batman. Batman walked up to him in a very menacing tone. 

"Your wife will make it, if you can listen. First, you will be transported to Blackgate Prison for the criminally insane. Next, your healthy wife will visit you during your jail time," explained Batman. Black Mask's eyes widened and he sobbed. "Wimp," Batman whispered under his breath. 

Scarecrow found a pistol and aimed it at his head. "Release me," said Scarecrow. He shot himself. Batman heard the gunshot and turned around in horror. Meanwhile, Vicki and the rest heard the gunshot from far away. "We have to do something to help!" suggested Vicki.

However, the fear gas was too contagious down below Wayne Manor. The infected police officers started to hallucinate greatly. "GCPD can't get my damn signal. We need the Batman," replied Gordon. 

Meanwhile, Batman thought of a solution to clear the fear gas. He traveled to the Gotham river and poured some water into a bucket. He then used the water bucket to drain out the fear gas, as gas was attracted to the liquid water. 

The fear gas began to spread out to Batman, trapping itself into the bucket of water.  Batman used more buckets of water to catch the venomous fear gas. Soon, it was all swallowed up into the water, mixing it in and deteriorated.  It was over.

The fear gas that trapped Wayne Manor disappeared into thin air as well. The sunrise was just coming up as well in Gotham. Gotham City had been saved by the Batman.

The infected GCP officers were then splashed on with water, to drain out their hallucinating fears. As Batman reunited with Vicki, Gordon, Alfred, and Lucius, Black Mask was apprehended by the police and taken to Blackgate Prison immediately.

"You will die the day I am freed out," was Black Mask's last words to Batman. Batman crossed his arms. James Gordon shook hands with Batman, who needed to escape away from the rest of the GCP officers. "I have to go. The police will think I'm a criminal," Batman started to say.

Gordon accepted the terms and tipped his officer hat. That same week, Gordon was promoted to head Commissioner of the GCPD. Vicki met Batman on a rooftop. "Hey. Thank you for everything," said Vicki. Batman said, "No problem". "How can I ever thank you?" asked Vicki.

"You don't. Yet," said Batman. She tried to remove his mask to see his Bruce Wayne persona, but Batman refused. "It's okay," she started to say. She took off Batman's mask and kissed Bruce.

"We will meet again. Now I must take live coverage of Roman Sionis' hearing," she whispered to him. Bruce put on his Batman mask again, and escaped into the dark shadows. Vicki sighed of relief.