World’s Finest: Power Girl and Red Robin
Dark Knights: Final Fright
by Libbylawrence
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 1
In a small law office sat a tired old man named Cicero Di Rossi. He was a criminal lawyer… literally! He gazed across his desk at the four clients who eagerly awaited the reading of their late father’s will. He studied them with a keen eye. He knew people. He could read them so to speak. He took his time and formed opinions about the Crane heirs. Their old man had been a crazy scholar who lived like a pauper because of a mania for books. He had a second mania. It was an obsession with inflicting fear and studying how people reacted to it. He had fathered these children late in his life due to the fact that so much of his time had been spent behind bars due to his constant duels with the Batman. Crane had been a gaunt, stark man whose physiology made the nom du crime of Scarecrow particularly fitting.
His oldest child was his namesake. He had his father’s looks. Jumpy, nervous, a bit close to the edge. He seemed to lack a certain something shared by his siblings who even sat closer together and apart from Jonathan Jr.
“Kid lacks guts.” mused the lawyer.
The second son was a brute. That was the accurate assessment. Frank Crane was a muscled giant. He could easily have snapped his sibling in half had he the mind to do so. Ah, that was a key phrase. Had he the mind to do so! Apparently, Frank lacked much of a mind at all. No doubt he was a disappointment to the old man. He did have the cruel look his father the professor had displayed.
The third child was a sleek, lithe brunette named Lilith. She had brains, beauty, and attitude. Di Rossi figured old Crane had been proud of this one. She looked the part of a super villain’s successor.
The final son Nicholas Crane was harder to pin down. He had a physique somewhere between the gaunt frame of JOnathan Jr. and the bulk of Frank. He also had a keen look about him. No, not so much keen… as hungry! Nick Crane might prove most deadly too. He carried a certain insanity in his manner. Di Rossi felt a bit afraid of the youngest son of the Scarecrow. The man idly toyed with a insect on one of the office plants before coldly ripping off its wings.
“Your late father was a client of mine for forty years. He left me detailed instructions about his last wishes. He left little to chance. I must admit that I’ve never encountered such a will in my career… and that’s saying quite a bit since I once wrote a will for the Joker!” he said.
“That would have been shortly before your… shall we say? …breakdown!” said Nicholas calmly.
“Eh, yes. Rather. Now back to your affairs.” said Di Rossi.
“What of your affairs? My notes indicate that you are having one with the wife of the Crimesmith himself!” said Lilith as she smoothed her floor length black dress.
A flustered Cicero said, “How dare you? My business is!”
Frank leaned forward and said softly, “Don’t raise your voice to my sister. Say you are sorry.”
He gulped and did so.
Lilith crossed her legs and smiled smugly.
Jonathan Jr. said, “Listen, Mr. Di Rossi. we don’t mean anything. It’s just we’re all so upset about Pater!”
Cicero said, “The terms of the will state that his entire fortune will go to the one of you who fulfills his last wishes most accurately.”
“What were his last wishes?” asked Lilith.
“Hah! Hah! I can bet!” sneered big Frank.
“So can we all, you hulking great lummox.” said Nicholas.
“They are spelled out in this attachment. No lawyer other than myself would ever countenance such terms since they involve bloodshed and destruction!” said Cicero.
“Oh, how wonderful!” replied Lilith darkly.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 2
Dick Grayson turned to his fiancé Karen Starr and said, “You know I think it would be nice if we invited the other Batman to our wedding… that is if Dr. Fate and the others can remove that barrier between the worlds by then!”
Kara (Power Girl) frowned, “I thought you did not care for him. That he gave you a bad feeling… being so much like your Bruce and all!”
Dick nodded, “I resented him at first… right after Bruce died. But, I mean, he is Bruce… in every way that counts. Maybe, a little darker but deep down he is the hero I revered all my life. It would be almost like having the real thing there.”
Kara said, “Weird. I don’t see Superman of Earth 1 as anything like my Cousin. He’s more modern, more liberated in his thinking. I don’t think he believes all women need protecting.”
Dick said, “True, but he’s from another generation. Give Clark a chance. He cares for you so much that he just acts a bit overprotective. He’s like that with the whole world.”
Kara grinned, “I know. I’m just being the mixer you fell in love with!”
Dick kissed the blonde. “That’s why I love about you… you’re never dull!”
Kara smiled, “And living the sedate life you do, you need excitement!”
The bat signal blazed across the sky and Alfred’s gentle cough stopped their play.
“Duty calls!” smiled Dick.
“To the Batcave!” said Kara.
Alfred and Dick exchanged glanced.
The blonde placed her hands on her hips and said, “What? I’m family now. I can say it!”
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 3
Sgt. Harvey Hainer II watched the skies from the roof of Gotham Police HQ. He had been the keeper of the bat signal ever since his father retired from the job. Like his father, Harvey could never be certain just where Red Robin would arrive.
He liked the hero and had seen him fill his own mentor’s role as Gotham’s guardian to the perfection. Like the late Batman, Red Robin was a friendly thoughtful man who remember to make small gestures of kindness like birthday presents, knowing the Hainer children’s’ names etc.
Red Robin dropped from the shadows to greet Harvey.
“Good evening. Sgt. Hainer. What can I do for you?” he said.
“How’s it going, Harv.?” said Power Girl.
He gulped. The powerful and dominating Kryptonian was harder to relate to. Why, she once mouthed off to the Commissioner himself!
“Fine, Miss. We need your help. As hard as it is to believe after the recent situation, well, he’s back!” said Hainer.
Red Robin frowned, “Which one? They all come back eventually. Joker recovered?”
Sgt. Hainer shook his head. “Mr. Zero!”
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 4
Power Girl shrugged. “Who is he? I don’t recall his name from the Bat chronicles.”
“Mr. Zero was not active much since before Batman’s retirement. He make effective use of cryogenic technologies for crime. Freeze rays and such. He was smart, tricky, and ruthless. We also believed him to be dead. His funeral was only about three weeks ago.” said Red Robin.
“Unless his body was found, he faked it. Standard super villain routine yadda yadda yadda!” said Kara.
“Right. But a body was found. He died from natural causes. Cancer from the unshielded devices he used for so many years.” said Hainer.
Power Girl said, “A copycat.”
Red Robin said, “Most likely. I don’t see Zero as the kind who could pull off a body switch. He was bright but limited to his field.”
“So let’s put him on ice!” said Red Robin.
“That line was a riot back when you probably first used it back in ’45 or so!” said Power Girl as they went down to Commissioner O’Hara’s office for details.
Red Robin nudged her. “Batman always loved my material!”
She rolled her eyes affectionately.
Commissioner O’Hara greeted the pair and explained the situation.
“Good to see you Lad. You too, Miss. We found a body belonging to one Dot Wilson near the old refinery. Her body showed marks of hypothermia.” he said with a shake of his head.
“And it’s not even Winter! Sounds like a Mr. Zero device all right. Any motive?” asked Robin.
“None. She was homeless. One more thing… she had no blood left in her corpse!” said the old man.
“Well, that’s a sick twist!” said Power Girl.
Red Robin nodded, “Definitely a new m.o. from what we knew of the first Mr. Zero.”
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 5
At an old castle outside of Gotham City, a regal man lounged on a throne. At his right side stood a devoted redheaded woman in armor. His name was Crimelord. Her name was Lady Crimson. Before them in mock Camelot styled splendor was a round table. A gathering of rogues filled most of the spots.
“‘Tis well done indeed, my Perfidious Peers. Our serfs have succeeded in their petty crimes and thanks to your stellar protection, the bailiffs have failed to stop them.” said the man on the throne.
Lady Crimson (Melissa Lyons) tossed her red curls and said, “We live to serve you, noble sire!”
Crimelord grinned at her adoration. “Right well said, Milady!”
A dapper youth in a tux smirked and daintily wiped at his chair before sitting down.
“This abode could use some cleaning. What it gains in Medieval atmosphere, it more than loses in terms of creature comforts!” he sniffed.
“Sir Penguin! My apologies! We be a rough and ready bunch here. Your refinement may inspire us all to the nicer things of life.” said Crimelord.
The young man nodded in genteel agreement.
Next to him sat a redheaded woman in armor shaped in an insect pattern. Her name was Valerie Van Cleef -the Killer Moth!
“Ossie, you need to loosen up a bit. I could show you a good time!” she said.
He snorted in disdain. “My good woman, I sincerely doubt that! And never again refer to me by that insipid diminutive!”
A sultry blonde in a black, skintight cat suit purred in amusement as she reclined on top of the table.
“The Queen of Cats is amused!” said Crimelord.
Michelle Kyle smiled wickedly, “Birds are so entertaining. Still, I prefer a more personal and physical form of cat and mouse games!”
Lady Crimson frowned as the flirtatious successor to the late King of Cats charmed their master.
A solitary woman with platinum blonde hair, reddish eyes and a dark costume watched in silence. She sat a bit back from the table near a roaring fire.
“Frostbite, my dear, you could sit with the others.” said Crimelord.
“My needs make it essential that I stay near the fire!” she said.
Killer Moth shivered in spite of the heat. “She gives me the creeps!”
Penguin covered his mouth with a spotless white glove and said, “For once, I do agree with you!”
Queen of Cats merely appeared to groom herself.
The vacant seat caught her green eyes.
“Who is occupy the final chair at our little catty corner spot?” she said,
“That chair has not been earned as yet. It is to be given to that criminal who proves most worthy by proving most foul!” said Lady Crimson.
A straw emblem was on the back of the empty chair.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 6
Aaron Pressman had been a truck driver for fifteen years. He liked the feeling of the freedom of the open road. Thus, he felt nothing unusual as he drove his rig through very foggy streets.
“Man, what a peasouper!” he mused as Hank Williams Jr. blared on the radio.
The damp moisture seeped inside the open window of the big rig and he began to feel strange.
He began to sweat and his pulse raced as the idea of the terrible speed and power of the truck occupied his mind.
“I gotta stop! This thing is a deathtrap! The speed is too much. Can’t breathe!” he gasped.
He swerved off the road and gasped for air.
He opened the door and stepped down.
“Gotta calm down. I’m outta the truck. I’m OK!” he said.
Maniacal laughter echoed out of the dark woods along the lonely road. The lights of Gotham seemed far removed from the foggy scene. The weird sound was not muffled by the heavy fog. It seemed to be magnified.
The trucker turned to see a strange and terrible figure of the night!
His masked face showed a jagged thread formed grin below cold eyes. His suit was a straw ridden patchwork out of a nightmare.
Aaron gasped. “What are you?”
The straw man said, “I? I am the only thing you have to fear!”
The trucker fled in the night as the laughing Scarecrow drove off in the chemical supply truck.
“Fear itself!” cackled the driver as he made off with the vehicle and its cargo.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 7
That night in the Batcave Red Robin studied lab results.
He looked up and said, “Vampirism. I thought that ended when the Mad Monk and Dala met their third or fourth demise.”
Power Girl said, “And I thought you liked necking. ..Sorry, just trying to lighten your mood. I don’t take loss of life lightly either.”
Red Robin nodded, “I know. That’s why I made with the puns back then. I fought the night with humor and it usually worked.”
Kara said, “So this victim was bloodless and marked by signs of hypothermia. Did she have the two puncture marks you associate with vampires?”
Dick nodded. “It’s like a typical vampire attack with the Mr. Zero styled marks. Listen, to me! Typical vampire attack! Does that say something about our lifestyle!”
She grinned, “What’s next? Patrol the city. I’ve done that twice at super speed.”
Red Robin said, “I aim for quality not quantity! Still, I’d like to follow up the Mr. Zero lead. If he’s not the vampire and let’s face it, maybe he is, his technology needs to be accounted for.”
He touched the computer. “Zero had a daughter and a son. The son is in jail for theft. The daughter is currently at large as they say.”
Power Girl said, “Cool. Excuse the expression.”
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 8
Ducky Mallard had led his gang for decades. He was not new to Gotham City and thus, he refused to bow down to the Crimelord.
“This goon demands forty percent of my take? He’s crazy!” muttered the fat mobster. He studied a ledger of accounts and rolled up his sleeves as he worked.
“Cold in here. Ain’t Roscoe payin’ the bills?” he said as he shivered.
“Not as cold as the unending touch of the grave!” whispered a beautiful woman who swept into the room from the deck.
“What the? You hidin’ out on the deck. What are you some type of hit-woman!” he cursed.
“Indeed. But of a type beyond your puny comprehension. Mallard, you should have paid the Crimelord. Now, you must die that I may find warmth!” she hissed. Her ruby lips parted to reveal fangs.
She crossed the office before the fat mobster could stir. He whipped out his gun and fired directly at her. She moved resolutely forward as if untouched by the bullets.
She smiled. It was an alluring yet frightening smile. She took the gun out of his shaking hand and crushed it.
She jerked him close and her hands left damaged skin wherever she touched him. He was freezing even as she took his life’s blood.
Frostbite left him on the floor and departed into the night.
“Cold, so very cold!” she whispered.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 9
Blackwing (Charles Bullock) turned to the pretty woman beside him. She wore a very short red dress and mask. He wore his Blackwing costume. Together they fought crime in Gotham and he was very proud of his new partner.
Meg O’Connor was a Gotham cop. She had been found by Charles after the mad Wraith had dressed her as the Huntress and left her for dead as a message for the heroine he hated. He had become her friend in weekly visits to the hospital and soon, he had dared to share his secret identity with her. She had surprised the lawyer by begging to join his nightly crusade as his costumed partner.
He gave her a costume briefly used by the Huntress herself and Meg became Redbird.
Now, they dropped down to face a bizarre figure who darted across the midnight campus of Gotham University.
“That’s the Scarecrow! I’d know that costume anywhere. As a girl, Dad used to use that crook as a bogeyman of sorts. Comes from having a cop as a dad!” she grinned.
Blackwing said, “He died recently. Must be a new model!”
They confronted the grimly menacing figure as moonlight bathed the scene in a garish light.
“You looking for a brain? Came to the right place!” said Blackwing as he charged the villain.
“Spare me the insipid comments about Winged Monkeys that I’m you’ve got planned!” said the Scarecrow as he waved a gun toward the heroic pair.
Redbird kicked it from his grip even as he clawed at her mask.
“Fear of public exposure is called social phobia. That also includes fear of looking foolish in front of your peers. You best not suffer from that one, my dear!” he said.
Redbird gasped as gas blasted from his gloves into her face.
She screamed, “Make them stop looking at me. They’re all laughing at me!”
Blackwing said, “Easy Redbird, there’s no one here! It’s his phobia gas.”
He clipped a mask across his nose and tossed a rope toward the Scarecrow.
“I’ll have this would be Scarecrow hog-tied soon enough then I can tend to Meg!” thought Blackwing as his partner writhed on her knees.
He gasped in turn as a heavy weight crashed down on him from above.
He groaned and saw another costumed figure through blurred eyes.
“Two of them!” he gasped as he passed out.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 10
Power Girl hurled a paper across the room.
“These Gotham journalists steam me! You put away every pickpocket or mass murderer that hits the city and they give you grief over the vampire killings and these new Scarecrow sightings!” she said.
Dick grinned at her passion. “Easy! They just want what we want: peace and security in Gotham. I hope we can end both problems quickly enough. I have little doubt we’re dealing with successors in both cases. Zero’s daughter Ingrid vanished months ago but the family’s property is worth checking out.”
That night Power Girl wrenched a metal gate open and led Red Robin inside a warehouse.
“Funny how these creeps always buy a warehouse when they hit a big score. I’d love to be the warehouse broker. I’d make you look poor!” she muttered.
Red Robin scanned the scene with night vision lens.
“I see cryogenic equipment. Zero stored his gear here. He owned it legally enough. No doubt he planned some new cold wave of crime with it before his death.” mused the Caped Crusader.
“Ingrid must be behind these new killings but is she really a vampire?” pondered Power Girl.
A sudden blow sent her reeling as the black clad Frostbite revealed herself.
“I am both less and more than a vampire. That enables me to travel by day or night and do this!” she hissed.
She grabbed Kara’s hair and pulled her head back.
“She’s super strong!” said Red Robin as he reached for his belt.
“Tell me something I don’t know, Sherlock!” snapped Power Girl as she kicked back and tried to break the woman’s hold.
“I do not create vampiric followers like a true vampire yet I’d enjoy seeing this one as a daughter of the night!” she hissed.
“I do look good in lingerie but I’d rather just stake you here and now!” said Power Girl as she blasted her foe with heat vision!
“Ah! Warmth! That is what I crave the most!” cried Frostbite.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 11
Exactly, Ingrid, here needs warmth and she gets it via human blood.” said Red Robin as he dropped a flare.
Ingrid gasped and turned away. “My eyes can not abide light although it does not slay me.”
Power Girl smiled, “Let me really turn on the heat then!”
She blasted the woman with heat vision and saw her revel in the experience.
Red Robin dropped a pellet that exploded in Frostbite’s face.
She cried out and curled up in a fetal position.
“Freon! Cold hurts her. Ironic, isn’t it?” he said.
Kara said, “Why? What’s her story? She almost broke my neck. She sure has something supernatural about her.”
Red Robin said, “Ingrid was Zero’s daughter. She was a victim of the Mad Monk or some other vampire. He or she bit her but did not drain her dry. Ingrid did not die. Mr. Zero found her and placed her within one of his cryogenic units in an effort to save her life. LIttle did he know..”
Frostbite raised her blonde head and cut in, “Little did he know he was dooming his only daughter to an endless existence between life and death. Unlike other vampiric victims I was neither cured by the destruction of the vampire who attacked me nor was I made one of the living dead. father’s device turned me into a creature with vampiric thirsts and a desperate craving for body warmth that comes only from blood!”
Red Robin said, “After he died, one of his lawyers checked out the property holdings, found Ingrid, freed her and paid the price.”
“Frostbite! Call me by that name and no other! The woman I was is lost to me… lost to freezing and ceaseless ice!” she shrieked.
She spun to turn over the machine.
“Look out!” cried Red Robin as he leaped for her.
Power Girl caught the machine and groaned as the liquid within poured over her.
Red Robin turned to his love with concern.
“I’m fine! Just call me Ice Maiden… and don’t even think what I bet is going through that pun happy mind of yours! Little Miss Popsicle escaped.” she said. “No sign of her with my super vision either!”
Red Robin said, “I knew the machine could not hurt you but I reacted on sheer concern. Forgive me?”
She nodded. “I understand. The stuff can’t even chill my alien body but it clings like super glue.
I’ll be picking this gunk out of my hair for hours!”
“Poor woman. She is a victim too.” said Red Robin.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 12
Back at the O’Connor home Meg sat on the edge of her bed. She wore a blue teddy and slippers. She frowned at her own reflection.
“I wept like a baby. I’ve been on the force for five years and the Scarecrow made me look like a fool.” she said.
“I let Charles down too. Some partner. Redbird? More like Chicken Little!” she said as she tossed a pillow down in anger.
“Maybe, I can redeem myself by tracking down this Scarecrow mark II! The fear gas enabled him to loot the entire rare manuscripts collection of Gotham U.’s library. Imagine, a gas that makes students afraid of books! I’d never even heard of bibliophobia before. He emptied the place in minutes and carried off all he wanted!” she mused.
“The same trick could work anywhere. What else could he want? Scarecrow didn’t try to sell the books so he must be a lover of books like the last one. Maybe, I better work that angle.”
she mused.
Elsewhere, Jonathan Crane Jr. glanced nervously right and left before rushing into Gotham Police HQ.
“Forgive me mother!” he thought.
Meanwhile, a panic raging at Gotham General Hospital where hoards of patients suffered from nosemaphobia -the fear of illness! Though artificially created the phobia drove them in hoards to the clinic while the artificially developed nosocomephobia or fear of hospitals sent the doctors and nursed running out of the building. Chaos ensued and a shapely female- clad in the straw stuffed costume of the Scarecrow laughed in appreciation.
“Wonderful!” she said as she saw the mass panic.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 13
Later Meg O’Connor made her way through the Gotham rare book shops until she encountered the right man!
“That guy could be Jonathan Crane’s twin! No doubt, that is his son!” mused the lively blonde.
She tried a bit of flirting and soon engaged him in conversation.
“Perhaps, I could show you my collection?” he asked as they talked about books.
“I’d like that! It’s a date!” said Meg eagerly.
“This guy is so timid. If he is the new Scarecrow, he must be scared to death every moment he is in the suit. Of course, I’ve read about the liberating effect of masks. I’ve even experienced it as Redbird!” mused the cop.
Meanwhile, the other Crane siblings were in heated debate.
“Jonathan Jr. refused to join us in honoring father’s last wishes. Father wanted us to create total panic in Gotham and we’ve done just that. By stealing the chemicals and making enough of his fear gas to rob the Gotham U. rare books collection, terrorizing the hospital and what we’ve planned for the other city offices, we’ve done well. If only…!” said Frank.
“If only we could kill Red Robin or the Huntress!” said Lilith.
“More to the point, our lilly livered sibling may betray us to the police. I fear we must punish him.” said Nicholas coldly.
Frank said, “I never liked the punk anyway.”
Lilith sneered, “He was always the odd one wasn’t he?”
Nicholas said, “He is not dead yet but he will be!”
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 14
That night Blackwing waited uneasily for Meg. She had not returned his calls. He hoped the encounter with Scarecrow had not broken the pretty girl’s spirit.
He had been summoned by Red Robin for a special mission and he tried to keep Redbird off his mind as he waited in the shadows of the Gotham Fire Department.
“If he’s right then I should not have too long to wait! Red Robin says the Crane kid tipped the cops off about his nutty siblings and their plan to honor their late father by creating such fear in the city.” mused Charles Bullock.
“Making fire fighters afraid of fire would cripple the city and allow them to perform arson unchecked.” he thought.
He checked his mask for the special filter Red Robin had designed to immunize him from the phobia gas. All was in place.
Then, he saw the Scarecrow! Garish and dynamic! Oddly athletic! Mysteriously darting from one shadow to another.
“Fear gas for the air vents!” mused Blackwing as he swung down to land on his foe’s solid back.
He was thrown across the room by the hulking figure.
“Give up Frank! We know who you are!” he said.
He ducked a swift right hook and connected with three blows of his own.
Frank Crane laughed maniacally and choked Blackwing with powerful hands.
“This kid is strong as an ox!” gasped Charles Bullock as he slammed both palms against Scarecrow’s ears.
He fell free and rolled out of the man’s path.
They circled each other warily and then, Scarecrow hurled his gas canister at Blackwing’s head.
“Got to catch it!” he said as he grabbed it out of the air.
Scarecrow darted in and kicked him viciously in the ribs.
“Die! Die!” he yelled.
Blackwing ignored him and set the canister down safely. He took several terrible blows while doing so.
Then, he stood up. “Now it’s my turn!”
He twisted the scarecrow mask around to blind the huge foe and clamped his cuffs on the Scarecrow’s ham like fists.
Frank Crane roared and ripped at the cuffs.
“By gosh, he’s going to break free!” said Blackwing as he tried to stop his enemy.
“My father wanted to see all of Gotham in fire but you dared cross me! I’ll remember you!” cried Crane.
Blackwing grabbed a fire extinguisher and slammed it against Scarecrow’s head.
He fell flat and Blackwing sighed with relief.
“I would get the biggest one!” he joked.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 15
Scarecrow crouched on the roof of Gotham City Police Hq behind the bat signal itself. He laughed madly at the sight of a bound Sgt. Hainer.
“Spiders are your personal demon, eh? Too bad there are so very many of the little dears crawling across your helpless body!” he ranted.
Hainer screamed as the fear gas drove him into delusions of terror.
Scarecrow (Nicholas Crane) smiled behind his ghastly mask.
“Fear gas in the police air conditioning vent. Fear of police, fear of guns, fear of uniforms! Thus, does Jonathan Crane Sr. conquer in death what he was so tormented by in life!” cackled Nick Crane.
“I think you are as sick as your demented father ever was!” said a grim Red Robin.
“Well! The hero come to right all wrongs! You drove my father to his death because of your hatred.” he shrieked.
“He died because of HIS own hatred!” said Red Robin as he dodged the agile Scarecrow.
He spun to kick the leaping man only to miss.
“He’s as nimble as the old Crane!” mused Red Robin.
“Fear me! Fear me and die!” cried Scarecrow as he released a cloud of foggy vapor.
Red Robin walked determinedly through the cloud and knocked the man down.
He rose again and received a second swift punch.
“Impossible! You are immune to the gas! You wear no mask!” cried Nicholas Crane.
“I came prepared for any gas attack. Immunized myself for any variety of your toxin.” said Red Robin as his foe scampered for the roof edge.
“Like Father before me, I’ll die at your bloody hands! You’ll be ruined!” cried Scarecrow! “I was taught by a better man than you!”
He prepared to leap off the roof only to land in a hidden net.
“I also prepared for such a suicidal tactic. I was taught by the best man of all!” said Red Robin.
He freed Sgt. Hainer and drew the netted Scarecrow into custody. The fear gas canister lay unopened nearby.
“Hope Kara is doing as well!” he mused.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 16
Lilith Crane laughed madly as she piloted a sleek stolen plane over Gotham City.
She wore the Scarecrow costume without worrying that her curves were obvious. She no longer cared if she was identified as a woman. After all, she was going to earn the right to the costume with this sensational stunt.
“Dropping the fear gas across the whole city will reduce Gotham to a no man’s land! The madness will honor father’s name and memory.” she cackled.
“Couldn’t you just send a card like everyone else? I sure Hallmark makes a card for “I’m on a crime spree for you, Daddy!”" said Power Girl as she slipped into the seat next to Lilith at super speed.
“Curse you! Since you’ve started hanging around our city, I came prepared for you or any other flying fool like Green Lantern! Even you can’t stop a gas!” she said and released the fear toxin!
Power Girl inhaled the entire cloud and flew into space where she exhaled it!
She then swooped down to land the plane by force.
“I’ve got super lungs. Your brothers would have noticed by now!” she grinned.
Lilith cursed and sat helpless in rage.
She was smart enough to know she could neither outfight nor escape from the Kryptonian.
Meanwhile, Meg O’Connor found herself in Jonathan Crane Jr.’s library.
“A wonderful collection you have here!” she said as she scanned the room for any clue to his involvement in the Scarecrow crimes. She had no idea that before she met him, he had tipped the police off to his siblings’ mad plans.
“Indeed! It is my pride and joy. My father instilled a love of reading in me. He also taught me about fear… as did my siblings. Oh, they tormented me though I was eldest. I was too retiring for their outgoing tastes. Still, while they went in for the current vogue in slasher style graphic violence and shock value cinema, I preferred the Hitchcock method of suggested fright. The unseen, the suspenseful always delivers more true terror than obvious violence.”
Meg nodded as she listened.
“I turned my siblings in to the authorities. They have been using Father’s costumes and inventions to honor him or so they believe. They lack his subtle genius… which I have!” he said.
Meg said, “The Scarecrow or scarecrows are your siblings. How brave of you to do the right thing.”
He laughed coldly. “I care little about the right thing. I value the aesthetics of fear. They are not in my class or father’s. Thus, I rid society of them. The heroes like Red Robin will lock them away and while they occupy him and his ilk, I shall watch my own plan take fruition.”
Meg said, “What plan?”
He said, “I’m poisoning the Gotham drinking water with toxic levels of fear gas!”
Meg turned pale and rushed for the door.
“It’s locked. We’ll all alone, OFFICER O’Connor!” said Jonathan Crane Jr.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 17
Red Robin frowned as he examined the retrieved canisters of fear toxin.
“We did a good job. All three Scarecrows captured and no real harm done. Still, something rubs me the wrong way about their good citizen sibling. The volume of chemicals stolen would far exceed the amount of toxin they had. Where’s the rest? Their lairs were empty according to O’Hara’s men.” he said.
Power Girl said, “You worry too much. Still, maybe that other Crane is not so saintly. Want me to x-ray vision his place?”
“Yes, and super hearing please?” he said.
“He’s gone nuts! I see a struggle!” she cried.
“I’m on it!” were her final words as he grabbed Red Robin and streaked into the apartment.
Crane was choking Meg O’Connor and laughing madly as he did so!
“You’ll be my first murder… followed by millions others as my toxin hits the Gotham water supply!” he said coldly.
Power Girl slammed him across the room with a gust of super breath.
“Hands off, Straw Man!” she said.
Red Robin bent over Meg’s fallen form.
“She’s OK… just stunned!” he said.
“You dare come here? You, who killed my father!” cried Crane.
He rushed for Red Robin who said, “P.G.! The water supply comes first!”
She flew off and reached the main supply avenue.
“Freeze it all. Fix it later!” she said and did so.
Back at the apartment Red Robin faced Crane.
“I am the true master of fear. While my siblings took the obvious costumed approach, I planned my own subtle brand of terror. Millions dead without warning… is that not true fear!” he shouted.
Red Robin said, “You’re sick. You need help. I can see Scarecrow passed his disease on to all of his descendants but I’m the cure to that breed of madness!”
He approached Crane who hurled down a pellet.
“Fear gas! It’ll make you mad!” he said.
Red Robin passed through it safely due to his earlier immunization.
“Let me help you.” he said.
Jonathan Crane Jr. laughed, “Help me? You are helping me by playing the hero to my villain! What delicious sport!”
Red Robin ducked his punch and shoved him against a wall.
“Murder is not a game. I don’t want to hurt you but I can’t risk any further plans of yours coming to fruition!” he said slowly.
Crane frowned as Power Girl returned, “I stopped all the water from entering Gotham’s main holding pipes. It’s better to leave the city without water than have them all risk drinking his junk!”
Crane gasped. “You can’t do this to me. It is not the way I saw it. The book can’t end this way.”
Power Girl glanced at Red Robin in wonder.
He said, “It’s not a book. This is real life. I need to take you in.”
Crane hurled down a final pellet.
Red Robin deflected it and it broke open to create a fire.
“My books! My precious books!” shrieked Crane as a bookcase went up in flames.
He threw himself toward the fire in desperation.
“SMother the flames. I’ll take him!” said Red Robin.
Kara did so as her fiancé dragged Crane out of the room.
“He’s mental! He’d rather die himself than see his books harmed!” she said.
Red Robin held the villain by one arm as he fingered through charred pages.
“He never connected to anyone outside of books before and that’s another tragedy we can blame on the original Scarecrow. With warped children with ruined lives as his legacy, Scarecrow truly earned the right to his master of fear title. They are his final and terrible creations.”
said Red Robin.
P.G. carried Meg in her arms and nodded sadly.
DARK KNIGHTS: FINAL FRIGHT: Part 18
Later, Meg O’Connor received a visit from Charles Bullock.
“You had the right idea all along, partner.” he said as he placed flowers on her table.
She smiled, “Yes, but again, I nearly ended up a victim.”
He said, “So, we keep training.”
She smiled again. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Elsewhere, Danny Falco rubbed one hand over his bald pate and caressed the brassy blonde in the tight mini dress who sat on his lap.
“Oh, Danny, you are sooo strong!” she giggled.
He grinned, “Just like a little girl like you wants her man!”
A chill wind entered the gangster’s room as Frostbite arrived.
“Strength can not save you from the cold touch of death! A touch ever denied to one such as I!” she said.
“You neglected to pay Crimelord so you must serve as example if not as ally!” said the daughter of Mr. Zero.
Falco shoved the fish netted blonde off his lap and she said, “Now?”
He nodded.
She blasted the dark clad Frostbite with icy breathe as Falco ripped off a bald wig and padding to reveal the Red Robin emblem.
He rushed toward Frostbite as the cold stunned her and he slapped manacles on her wrists.
“The STAR lab boys whipped up a device to contain her long enough for us to trap her. Good thing we were able to convince the real Falco to let us take his place. Seeing the bodies of her past victims did the trick.” said Red Robin.
Frostbite fought to free herself but the manacles kept a constant stream of freezing cold circulating through her body. She seemed in a trance or hibernation of sorts.
Power Girl nodded as her spike heels clattered across the floor.
“Another victim of a bad parent. Mr. Zero’s sins came to rest upon his daughter!” she said.
Red Robin said, “It’s an old story. We’re made by those who raise us… for good or ill.”
