before they were ever introduced to the Dynamic Duo They’re here to be helped replied Batman Dr Arkham chuckled These criminals receive the most effective treatments known to modern psychiatry and biochemistry he said But you know as well as I do Batman that many are held here because nowhere else can handle their dangerous madness The trio fell silent as they passed Poison Ivy’s holding cell Inside she sat motionless on a plastic chair in the middle of a climate-controlled plastic box Not a stray microbe or spore could be allowed inside Down the hall were the separate steel cells of Two-Face and Victor Zsasz Both were locked behind solid vault doors Nearby were the specialized holding tanks for Killer Croc Clayface and Bane Killer Croc hissed in hatred as Batman Robin and the asylum’s administrator walked by his swampy enclosure Bane was held inside a thick metal cylinder
with no doors All his vital signs were constantly monitored as the criminal superhuman recovered from addiction to the Venom that made him so dangerously powerful Batman checked Bane’s monitors He’s been calm said Dr Arkham Let me know the second anything changes replied Batman Bane had hurt him too badly in the past for the villain ever to be allowed freedom again Dr Arkham led Batman and Robin to the dark barred compartment where Dr Jonathan Crane also known as the Scarecrow now festered away his days A hazy full moon shone down a beam through a high window It illuminated Dr Crane lying flat on his back on his cell floor He wore a crude woven mask with slits for eyes and jagged sewn teeth
Jack and Jill mumbled the Scarecrow went up a hill How did he get his mask asked the Dark Knight He shouldn’t have that I’m afraid that’s harmful to his mental state We take them away regularly replied Dr Arkham But he always seems to find a way to make another Once he wove one out of his own hair Batman said Robin You told me to warn you if you used any red flag words like scared or afraid Especially around the Scarecrow Batman narrowed his eyes He’s always messing with our minds playing with our fears I don’t like that I can’t trust my own perceptions around him The Dark Knight shifted to look over the whole hallway Wisps of fog swirled along the stone halls of the asylum His Batcomputer readouts still showed no unusual chemicals in the air but Batman knew computer data wasn’t always the whole story
