Unwanted Allies- Dr. Jonathan Crane Story

The Power of Fear.

"Welcome to Arkham Asylum." Crane mused with so much disinterest it made Lilah laugh internally. Crane's eyes were locked onto the caged building that held Gotham's criminally insane. Lilah stared at it with a mixture of curiosity and unease as the limousine drove up towards the gate. Rolling down the window, Dr. Crane held out his I.D, drawing the attention of one the guards who stepped over towards the back window while the others all examined the limousine for any weapons, 

"Hello again, Dr. Crane." The guard greeted, holding up his hand to signal for the others to open the gate. As they drove up to the building, Crane held the stuffed bunny tightly, he had told her that the stuffed bunny meant nothing to him, that it was in fact what was inside that mattered, which really frightened Lilah the more she thought about it. Before today, she'd never noticed just how much mystery that surrounded this man.

Hopping out the limousine, Lilah continued to follow Crane into the complex, passing many guards as they continued on, yet none had even bothered to question her or ask for I.D. Crane was basically the Warden of Arkham Asylum, so she guessed that his presence alone served as a sufficient form of identification. Passing Lilah his briefcase and the stuffed bunny once again, Crane pulled out a key card, holding it up against the scanner and listening to a distinct beep that then opened the otherwise impenetrable door.

"This is where we hold our more dangerous patients." Crane informed her. As they passed each individual cell, Lilah noticed that the patients would all take a quick look through the small window in the door before whimpering in fear and darting away. Something had them terrified and something told her that it had everything to do with Dr. Crane. Stopping at one of the doors, Crane looked back at Lilah with a smile that unsettled her to her core. 

"This cell belongs to Victoria Mathers, she was responsible for killing numerous citizens of Gotham and once ran a gang that opposed the Falcone's." He said, opening the cell and stepping in. Lilah followed with caution, she knew Victoria well. In fact, Victoria once offered her a job on a number of occasions before her arrest. Looking around the dirty cell, Lilah took everything in before she looked to Victoria who cowered in the corner of her cell. Lilah had remembered her when she was still roaming the streets of Gotham and now, the woman before her was no more than an empty shell with the same name. Victoria's once long, enviable black hair was now trimmed back to her ears and was a tangled mess. Her brown eyes were hollow and her nails were chipped and broken. Upon seeing Dr. Crane she scampered back as far as possible, trembling as he entered the room,

"What's wrong with her?" Lilah asked, her gaze switching between Crane and Victoria.

"She's insane, dear." he dead-panned taking the briefcase back from her, opening it and much to Lilah's confusion, pulling out a burlap mask. Raising her eyebrow, Lilah looked at the mask; she didn't know what quite to make of it, it had been cut and sewn back together numerous times and had two holes that she assumed were for Dr. Crane's eyes,

"What is that?" She asked, yet something inside her told her she didn't want to know,

"I use it in my experiments." Crane said, removing his glasses and passing them to her. Lilah quickly took them, her eyes not leaving Crane once. "You see, those with less... sane minds, they can't stand it. As you can see from Miss Mathers here." He said gesturing to Victoria who was already violently trembling muttering the same words under her breath,

"Please, please don't." The woman begged. Lilah took a shaky breath,

"Do all psychiatrists and psychologists do this?" She asked. Crane shook his head,

"Just me. You see, fear... interests me. It is one of the most powerful things that can be used to control people, even nations." He explained, pulling the mask over his head and moving towards Victoria who began screaming, "Watch carefully." Crane ordered, lifting his arm towards Victoria and releasing some kind of white smoke that caused Victoria to scream even louder, while Crane watched. Lilah stepped back, she didn't understand what was happening and she didn't want to. Victoria was screaming so loud that Lilah dropped the glasses and the stuffed bunny and covered her ears. Surely someone could hear this? As Victoria began to claw at her face, Lilah took several more steps back, clutching at the wall behind her for support.

"Make it stop!" Victoria continued to scream over and over as she pulled at her hair and clawed her face. Crane was chuckling lightly before looking over his shoulder at her, she couldn't see his expression behind the mask, but she guessed he had a cruel, sly smile on his face. She'd gotten her answer regarding the mystery surrounding Jonathan Crane: he was a nutjob who should be a patient instead of a doctor. 

"Fear is power." He told her. Pushing herself off of the wall, Lilah broke out of the room, running as fast as she could towards the security door at the end of the long corridor, she could hear Crane yelling behind her, but she didn't stop, she had to get out there. She had to find Gordon and tell him about the things Crane was doing. This was wrong. More wrong than anything Falcone could do, she had never seen anything like that before in her life. Reaching the door, she slammed her fists against it furiously, 

"Somebody?! Please, is anyone there?!" She screamed, hoping that another staff member would hear her cries and come save her, looking over her shoulder, she felt a chill as Crane slowly moved towards her, still wearing the mask,

"Where do you think you're going? The lesson isn't over yet." He said, his voice slightly muffled by the mask. Lilah continued to slam her fists against the door, begging for anyone to come and help her, but there was nothing but Victoria's screams and the sound of Crane's slow footsteps coming closer and closer. She realised no one was coming and turned to face Crane, who stopped just a metre in front of her. She was crying, the tough girl act had been shredded by the towering man before her. Was he going to kill her? What was going to happen to her brother? "I had hoped you'd understand my work, having lived in fear for most of your life." He said, tilting his head,

"You don't know anything about me." Lilah replied in a small whisper, her chest was rising and falling rapidly. Crane sighed lightly,

"I guess... I'll just have to make you understand." Hearing the door beep, she quickly turned to face a large man wearing a white shirt who was staring her down. 

Is he here to help? 

Staring at the man, who was just as intimidating as Crane, she guessed not. 

"Whatever happens, please don't hurt my brother." She said more to Crane despite the fact her eyes were locked onto the guard. Lilah felt a sharp pain on the left hand side of her neck before everything went black.