The Son of Fear

Chapter 3: A Poisonous Encounter, and A Upgrade

Batman watched, horrified through the decontamination window as guards in the room before him suffered from Joker's laughing gas. "-re you going to help them Batman?" The only guard out of the contaminated room questioned. He nodded before walking back and looking up to where there was a square hole in the roof. Using his grappling hook, he shot up to the edge and jumped into the hole.

Once there he found a ventilation system that he ripped open with haste before crawling through the vents, Batman started to think to himself before speaking out loud, just as he came to the end of the vent. "This is no regular attempt to escape. Joker"s been planning this." Batman brought his foot back and kicked the vent out of place.

Crawling out of the vent, Batman was surprised to see that the vent cover had been caught by... "Naruto Crane!" Naruto stared at him before walking to the end of the ledge they were standing on. "If you think"

"I have time to think." Naruto interrupted. "You, on the other hand, don't, Dark Knight. You only have time to A. Catch me, or B. rescue these people." Batman growled at Naruto from behind his mask before rescuing a guard that was dangling from the ledge and then rushing off to save the rest of the people.

Naruto watched as Batman preformed his heroics before scoffing. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out what seemed to be something used to detonate a bomb...

~Below~

Batman sighed as he walked to talk to the guards that came from the small room they had been locked in. As one of the guards explained what had happened, behind his mask, Bruce became aware of a rapid beeping. Turning around and rushing to the area it was sounding from, he kicked one of the tanks that had been used to carry Joker"s laughing gas aside, to find a smaller tank attached to it with a note.

The note read: 'Are you afraid yet, Batman!' before he could even warn anyone, the bomb exploded, causing Batman to hack and cough as he struggled to find his toxic breather. But just as he pulled said breather from his pouch, the gas dispersed and Batman cursed himself. "What was that Batman!" A guard questioned, almost having a heart attack at the thought that it had been more laughing gas.

"That was the younger Crane's upgraded Fear Toxin. Be careful, this toxin allows him to prevent from activating it immediately. Instead it allows him to activate it at anytime of his choosing. If he activates it, stay hidden wherever you end up in the nightmare. Because if he can't see you, he can't..." Batman spoke, walking to the back doors of the room.

"He can't what Batman?"

"...Kill you..." And with that, he was gone, rushing down the halls, following the green arrows painted on the floors and walls, intent on ending the mayhem of the Joker. Only stopping once to deal with two Blackgate goons before arriving to his destination.

When the doors opened, it was not just one person though. It was two. The Joker and Naruto, both each on top of giant metal boxes. Joker laughed as Batman growled. "What took you so long bats!" and then laughed again. Naruto sighed at the lunatic and began tuning him out. "-and so, Fear and I made a bet! But you are the judge bats! So tell us which is more vicious, mine!?" At this, Joker stomped the top which allowed a monster out of the containment which roared as Batman looked at its deformed pink face with slight disgust.

"Or his..." Naruto just sat there a moment before slamming his fist onto the containment, thus unleashing his monster. It looked much like man bat, but it also appeared to have a slight similar appearance to Lobo, so Bruce labeled the thing properly: Zombie Bat.

The two monster roared, but as the more deformed, pink monster charged him, the Zombie Bat sat back. Batman dodged to the side and scowled as Joker laughed at him. The monster flung the body of one of the guards at him before once again charging. Doing the same thing as before, Batman dodged, but this time the Zombie Bat caught him in his right hand.