And So Summer Begins (Open, Villain Needed)

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

The voices of the Commissioner and Lt. Valentine could be heard leaking through the door of the Commissioner's office in heated debate. He was grilling her for returning to work after taking two bullets and refusing going to a hostpital. After half an hour of arguing with him she got him to give in to her, but said that if he saw any sign of her injuries inhibiting her then she was off for at least a week.

He also asked her some questions about her arrest. Gordon would eventually ask her about how the man got a broken nose and clavicle. She wouldn't admit it was Harvey, but Gordon told her he figured it was Harvey, he admitted that Harvey had been very protective over Montoya as well. Internal Affairs was only letting him have this one because Vic had been shot. After a little while Vic walked out of Gordon's office, she liked the commissioner, he was a right on kind of cop, but she wasn't going to take time off just because of a measely pair of bullet wounds.

As she walked out of Gordon's office other officers began clapping. The report about the incident was playing on the news on TV mentioning she apprehended the shooter from atop a horse and had taken two shots herself. She huffed at the news report when it started to mention a photographer doing a project in the park that day happened to take pictures of the arrest. The picture they showed was of Vic riding her horse, Vasago with her shoulder bleeding as she lined up her shot. It was a pretty kick ass picture, but Vic never liked much for being on the news. Then the reporter delved into Vic's past talking about the 'Four Star Generals' incident in which she and her family, who they thankfully did not show a picture of, had apprehended nearly a dozen known human trafficking bosses in Houston several years ago. The reporter made her sound like a hero, but a hero she was not, she was simply trying to do what they paid her to do. They then showed a picture of Harvey carrying her over to an EMS vehicle. The report ended with "Lt. Valentine's condition is unknown, as of yet." Vic huffed again and told everyone to pipe down.

She got back to her desk. She would looked over to Bullock and point her thumb back toward Gordon's office.

"I think Gordon would like to see you."

She began to look through her computer for anything important she needed to know about. After a few minutes a call would come to her desk phone. She answered. Dispatch was calling about a developing situation in Tricorner. She took down the address and asked for any additional information, however even dispatch seemed confused. It sounded like something astronamically bad was underway. Hostages were possibly involved, that was enough to make it astronomically bad. She hung up the phone and checked all her pieces before going to bang on Gordon's door.

"Gentlemen, we got a situation in Tricorner, let's roll."

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey could hear the yelling. Clearly. Many of the rest of the officers on duty were hanging around within an ear shot of it as well. He could tell Vic was upset by the usage of words that would made him even blush. When she walked out and the tv was showing the report many cops gave whistles and little 'woooos' when it showed Harvey carrying her to the EMTs.

"Ain't you got work ta do ya buncha dogs!"

They all chuckled at him and went about their business. He was quiet trying to let her calm down then she broke it to him. The old man wanted to see him. He rolled his eyes and stood up with a sigh. He should have known this was coming.

"My sister's numbers are in my desk. there's a good funeral home on Adams & O'Neil. Nice knowin' ya."

He gave a little smirk and walked to Gordon's office and knocked opening teh door a little and popped his head in.
"You, uh, wanted ta see me Commish?"

"Come in, Lieutenant, and sit down."

Harvey winced. Gordon only called him by his rank when he was upset with him. He entered and shut the door behind him as sat, trying to look calm. Gordon stood up and looked out the window. the sun had started going down. The blinds blocking out some of the sunlight, but Harvey admired it, thinking it looked right out of one of his cop dramas he loved, except in color.

"I'm fully aware that you are very protective of your partners, and I know those extra injuries were administered by you. It's sheer luck it wasn't caught on camera...."

He turned and looked at Bullock.

"You realize I'd have no choice but have to ask for your badge if it was, don't you Harvey? As it is, this is going to be a PR nightmare. Again. The mayor's been on my case all day about putting you on suspicion and investigate the matter. If I didn't need you so badly I would do it too, but you need to really try to..."

Vic's knock interrupted them and Harvey looked to Gordon who simply nodded. He bolted up and went for the door but Gordon stopped him.

"Harvey, I know you have a temper, just save it for the thugs that really deserve it more."

Harvey gave him a smirk and exited and looked to vic.
"Let's go get 'em, doll."

[Scarecrow]

Scarecrow’s Nest
15 Minutes Earlier

Scarecrow was about to make a breakthrough in his research of new fear gasses. The gas had not been tested yet, and of course Dr. Crane wanted to test his new drug. The mixture had a faint of a mossy green color, not a like the color his gas used to have, but it might be better than the other drugs. However he wanted to test it out. He had found some thugs in downtown Gotham to be his goons. He equipped them with a gas mask. He didn’t want to make them shiver in fear… or maybe not right away. Scarecrow watched as the goons mixed the liquid gas in the containers. They were wearing the gasmask and the classical scarecrow goon mask.

Scarecrow looked at one of the new guys. He seemed nervous and curious in what he was mixing. He noticed that this new guy was shivering. He was afraid. Scarecrow was thrilled, watching the bare sight of a frightened grown up man was way too satisfying. Scarecrow waved two of his old goons to his side. They had been sticking along with Scarecrow for a long time without getting caught by the police or messing with the fear gas. They were on the other hand also the only two who hadn’t messed up yet. Scarecrow was sitting on one of the crates in which they should transport the gas. The two goons came up to his side and stood in silence, awaiting orders ''Bring him to me'' Scarecrow pointed towards the shivering man.

The two goons, without hesitation quickly moved over to the shivering goon, grabbing him in every armpit and dragged him across the floor and made him stand face to face with scarecrow. One of the goons ripped off the gasmask which this guy was wearing. ''What’s your name kid?'' Scarecrow said. He made sure to keep eye contact with this kid and his voice seemed a bit rusty as always. ''Martin'' he answered short and quickly. He tried to avoid eye contact with scarecrow, looking into those fiendish eyes would only make him be more afraid than he already were about this whole situation. ''are you scared?'' Scarecrow had made his voice seem a little more friendly and warmhearted than before. ''n-no'' he made a gulp and forced to make eye contact with Scarecrow. ''Wrong answer'' the two goons quickly dragged Martin towards a cage and threw him harshly into it. as the goons closed the door in the cage and locked it tight, Scarecrow started saying a few lines as he walked towards the now terrified Martin within the cage. ''Peter Peter pumpkin eater, had a wife but couldn’t keep her! he put her in a pumpkin shell, and there he kept her very well!'' as he finished the rhyme he was standing right in front of the cage and then started spraying out the gas from his mask, out in the face of poor little Martin. As Scarecrow watched the fear gas take effect on this poor little fellow he waved towards the goons to make them raise the cage up under the roof. This was the classical rhyme Scarecrow would make to his ''guinea pigs'' ''alright guys, let’s go!'' shouted the goon who didn’t raise the cage up under the roof. It was time for Scarecrow to test his latest experiment. This time, they were going to Tricorner to test the drug on the residents living in that area.

Tricorner
Now

Scarecrow got out of the van as the goons rushed to the back of it to pull out the crates. ''Alright I want some nightmares spread out in this apartment building, fill the ventilation system, do not let any of these guinea pigs escape!'' two of the goons went into the apartment along with Scarecrow. Every single goon went into the giant apartment building and started ravaging their way towards the ventilation system. Every single goon was equipped with silenced guns. The guns had some special made bullet, hitting the targets with one of these bullets will make them shiver in fear, making them hallucinate and cause dizziness. A big smile spread across his lips as he saw his goons attack the ventilation system and pour the gas into it. Scarecrow was thrilled and started laughing out loud with a rusty and hissing voice.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic was in the back of a black and white with two beat cops in the front seat. Harvey would be sitting next to her as she was pulling her white vest and black shirt off, wearing a thin black undershirt benath it all. She had a bullet proof vest that she was putting on. She would quickly fold her shirt and vest and her duster was laying at her feet. She began putting her holster straps back on her shoulders and checked her guns.

"Ramirez, you said there were an extra pair of assault rifles in the trunk, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. There is also a sniper rifle."

The wound from the day before was evident. Her bandage was getting grungy from the day. Irritated with it she ripped the bandage away exposing the stitching on her shoulder. Vic tossed the bandage at the floor board as she pulled her pack of cigarettes out of one of the pockets and stuck it into her bullet proof vest. The lighter she shoved into her pocket.

The dispatch radio would call the car's number and Ramirez would answer. Dispatch was reporting one of the victims that had dialed 911 claimed a fog coming through the building and then suddenly must have dropped the phone. Dispatch reported they could hear the victim screaming hysterically begging that someone get the snakes off of her. Vic tilted her head in curiosity.

"Fog? But it's a clear day. And snakes? What the hell is going on down there."

She turned her head to Bullock, wondering if her had any kind of input on this strangeness, it was his city, afterall.

"Whatever the hell is going on, you and I need to stick together or go in with seperate teams. I can always hang back with the sniper rifle or bust down doors with you and an assault rifle, Bull-Bull. Your call, boss."

Bullock was the head of Major Crimes, thus he was technically her boss. She would rather him make calls like that he knew better than she how crazy this town could get. Out of the view of the officers infront of them she would slip a hand to Harvey's and wrap her hand around his thumb. His thumb was as long as the entire width of her palm. She could ball her fist up and his hand would still be able to swallow hers.

She winked to him as she let go once again to makesure her Magnums and Megastars were loaded.

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

It was never a dull day for a cop in Gotham, and when hostages were concerned, it was usually one of 2 things: the desperate had become even more so, or an Arkham lunatic was up to something.

He didn't bother with a vest. There were things much worse in this town that'll kill you than a bullet. He had a stern look on his face throughout the ride, but gave Vic's hand a gentle squeeze back as tactics and possible scenarios ran through his mind.

2 words from the 911 report stood out, gas and screaming. He tapped the cop riding shot gun on the shoulder.

"Send word out to all units. Everyone's gotta be wearin' a mask. That's not an option. If they fail n' get exposed we will shoot on site. We'll have no choice."

He looked to Vic with a bit of concern.

"Yer about ta get introduced to the wildside, doll. Courtesy of th' Scarecrow."

[Scarecrow]

As the gas started to spread out inside the building, the screams of terrified and horrified people was to be heard miles away. The hallucinations would be more effective the more inhaled and the more inhaled, the more would the person scream. A lot of the scarecrows goons laughed nervously as they spread gas through the ventilation system. They were still insecure of how all this would turn out, and the screams of all these poor people made it even worse to withstand the fear of the Scarecrow. For the Scarecrow, all these screams were just sweet music in his eyes. The feeling of satisfaction spread across his body as he could hear that his new drug was effective. But this was not all; there was something special about this drug. A little something extra he had added to make it even scarier than his usual drugs.

The feeling of complete satisfaction was not yet achieved. Oh not yet, Scarecrow was waiting, waiting for the special moment and the prime of his new drug. He walked up the stairs with his two favorite goons, Nightmare and Terror, to check on how the gas was ''seducing'' his guinea pigs. Suddenly a message rolled over the walkie talkies: ''the police have been informed about the situation, they are on their way.'' Scarecrow looked at Nightmare’s walkie talkie. ''get everyone inside the building, park the van on the other side of the block, we will transport some of the guinea pigs over the rooftops and back to the nest.'' He said to Nightmare as a hint to pass the message on. Nightmare stood a little back as Terror and Scarecrow continued walking among the apartment doors to see the effect of the drug. Scarecrow stopped in front of a couple who sat still up against the wall. The complete satisfaction was achieved, the drug had made this couple rip their eyes out and kill themselves due to the severe hallucinations.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

They rolled up to the scene as other squad cars were arriving hot on their heels and infront of them too. The car skidded to fast stop and as Vic got out she gave a firm order to Ramirez.

"Pop that trunk, officer."

As Vic got out she hooked to the trunk. Another squad car came screeching to a halt within a few feet of her but she didn't miss a beat to grab one of those assault rifles, the ammo next to it, and loaded the magazine. As that familiar click sounded off as the magazine was now all the way in Vic left the safety on for the moment as she looked over to Harvey and tossed it to him.

"What's the plan, Bull-Bull?"

Vic began loading the next assault rifle. She checked her vest after loading the next magazine and then tossed Harvey an extra magazine, and stuck four into the slots on her vest at the sides. She still had all her pistols, but went ahead and took the two on her hips, she didn't want to give someone the chance to snatch a .44 Magnum or two from her. That was bad news bears for sure.

She would pull a gas mask another officer handed her on and then her hat. As most of the officers on scene now had on gas masks they looked like some post apocalyptic crew. The whole unit was aiming their guns, ready to fire on Bullock's order, and also ready to dive into whatever the Lieutinants would order them to dive into.

Vic threw the assault rifle's strap over her shoulder and hugged it to her body, ready to shoot. She held it to where the barrel was aimed at the ground.

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

The first sound of the screams chilled Harvey making him turn a shade pale. He didn't even want to imagine what those people were going through. His gas mask went on first and he tossed his fedora in the squad car. As he caught the rifle Vic threw at him the fire & rescue arrived in gear with masks as they were warned ahead of time.

As rest of the team prepared, he examined the building a moment.

"We gotta get those people safe first. They'll all be panicked and they won't see us like we really are. They'll either run or attack. Use your tasers first. Ev'rybody got dat? Tasers first. Shoot on defense only if they don't work. If you see dat psycho Scarecrow...."

He started walking towards the building.

"Do what ya gotta do."

[Scarecrow]

Scarecrow could see the blue flashing lights from one of the apartment doors. The police was at the apartment, they were about to enter the building. This of course, was not acceptable. He walked into the apartment and looked out of the kitchen window and down at the huge group of policemen who had gathered in front of their cars.

Scarecrow thought for himself for a brief second. What should he do, he could not allow the big bad wolfs to capture one of his little piglets. Scarecrow got a bright idea, this would be brilliant. ''Nightmare! Terror! Grab that girl!'' he pointed at the couple. Nightmare and terror quickly responded to the given order. Scarecrow quickly searched the apartment for a piece of paper and something he could write with. As soon as he found the piece of paper and a pen to write with he scribbled something on the paper with big fat letters, if the police wouldn’t notice this note, they would definitely be blind.

Nightmare and Terror had brought the girl to Scarecrow. They had no idea of what he would use this corpse to, but they just chose to follow the order. Scarecrow quickly grabbed a kitchen knife, placed the note on the back of the girl, and stabbed the note into her back. The note would surely not fall off with the depth of this wound. ''Throw her out the window'' and without hesitation Nightmare and Terror threw the girl out of the window, partially aiming to hit the police in the head. They could as well just try and hurt them while they were throwing something at them.

After Nightmare had thrown her out the window, he quickly grabbed his walkie talkie and gave a message to all the goons in the apartment. ''Do not let any of the policemen get any of the patients. Kill everyone who does not wear a scarecrow mask and whom is not affected by the drug. Anyone affected is to be captured and transported back to the nest. These are the orders from the Scarecrow.'' Scarecrow looked out of the window and even from the top floor, he could see the note he had written on the poor little girl. The girl had hit the ground head first, her skull was bashed to pieces and her body seemed all wrecked and twisted. but the note was in tact.

''Be Afraid!'' the note said.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic followed in behind Harvey and just as they were about to get to the door a limp girl crashed out from a window. The sound of the glass made Vic look up.

"BULLOCK, LOOK OUT!"
She rolled out of the way, however she didn't avoid a few pieces of glass ripping at her shirt and the girl's body still landed on her as she attempted to catch it. She landed on her back with the dead body atop her and in her arms. As she groaned and tried to get up she felt a shot of pain surge through her bandaged bullet wound from the day before. She grunted as several other officers approached to pull the woman off her. They set her down and as they were about to set her on her back Vic told them to stop and looked at the note. Vic showed it to Harvey and then they turned the girl to her back and examined her body. It looked as though she tore out her own eyes with the mess on her hands and nature of the wounds to her eye sockets.

Vic wiped the dead woman's blood off her brow. She cocked her gun and held it in a ready position, yelling up at the window.

"I AIN'T AFRAID OF YOU, YOU GOD DAMNED STRAW FILLED LUNATIC."

Vic ran to the door and threw herself at it, kicking it down. Two beat officers behind her with flashlights and pistols ready. Vic was enraged and was clearing the first floor and soon moving up to the next floor. She listened for sounds and words that could lead her to the next man in her life she would kill.

Soon, she would speak to the men, not fearing what they had in store for her.

"You know Mr. Scarecrow, I heard you was lookin' for a brain, come out and I'll show you how I brain a man. I'm from Texas and back in Texas you woulda been killed long ago. I'm here now and I'm ready to kill you, you slimy sonnovabitch."

Vic found taunting a man often brought him out of his hidey hole. As they worked their way through the building the scent of fresh death lingered. Dead bodies were allover, they all looked like they died terribly and horrifically from their own doing. The fear toxin was strong and Vic was not willing to let anymore Gothamites die from this terror anymore.

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Bullock helped them remove the dead woman off of Valentine and before he could see if she was okay she had entered the building. He furrowed his brow and entered after her.

The foggy drug was still thick, but he noticed the screams were lessening. He feared the worst that it was killing the victims and as he crossed the path of numerous bodies he knew he was right.

He hated these lunatics, the insane psychopaths that is drawn to this dark city like moths to a flame. He used to think because it was that Batman was here, but he wasn't, not anymore. Why didn't they scatter? What about this city kept them here?

He heard a terrible scream nearby and was tackled by an old man who kept hitting him. Each punch was hard and strong not like anything someone as old as he could produce. He was speaking in a foreign language, Harvey deduced it was Polish. Harvey used all his strength to knock the guy off of him. The old man slammed into the wall and picked up a knife that had been lying on the floor, apparently left by another victim trying to fight off their demons.

"Don't do it! Yer gonna give me no choice!"

He pulled his .38 out and aimed it. The man charged with the knife much faster as if he was young again. Harvey was surprised by this and quickly fired. He intended to just hit him in the leg, but he had moved so quickly. The bullet struck his chest and the old man fell lifeless.

Harvey stood there and looked at him and knelt to remove the knife so no one else could have the weapon and as he did he saw the numbers tattooed on the old man's arm. Harvey instantly knew what the old man saw. and he let out a low sigh of anger out as he threw the weapon outside.

He turned around and went back in a cop saw the look in his eyes and stepped quickly out of his way.

"Make sure no one gets outta here. Get choppers here to watch the roof with snipers. He's goin' no where."

Up the stairs he went.

[Scarecrow]

Scarecrow heard the police enter the building. Gunshots were already being fired throughout the building. Scarecrow laughed, he knew that half of the police right now was literally pissing their pants in fear. Or, those who had heard of Scarecrow at least did. Those who had encountered Scarecrow before… well those weren’t that lucky. A message quickly rolled over Nightmare’s walkie talkie. ''they’re callin in choppers'' it was from one of the goons who carried one of the police radios. ''great… so much for that plan, well we’ll just have to cut our way through.'' Scarecrow’s voice was cold and didn’t sound like this seemed as a big problem. Scarecrow turned towards Terror and said. ''did you bring my scythe?'' ''no Scarecrow, it is in the van'' ''I be damned, oh well lend med that walkie talkie.'' Nightmare quickly handed the walkie talkie to Scarecrow.

''Hello fellow terror bringers, this is Scarecrow speaking. I want you to bring as many of these patients back to the nest for more medical treatment and research. Those of you who do not bring any of the patients back will be caged once I get back to the nest. GET MOVING!'' he threw the walkie talkie back to Nightmare. ''Let’s go have a little chat with the GCPD shall we?'' he said with a very rhetorical tone of voice. Nightmare and Terror didn’t want to tag along, but they were his most loyal goons and they didn’t want to experience any of the unpleasant hallucinations and illusions scarecrow could put them through if they didn’t carry out his orders. Scarecrow was mad, he didn’t want to go home, but it seemed like it was going that way.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic had already shot a few rounds herself. She and the assualt rifle she carried were merciless. She could see the damage the scarecrow had already done. It made her sick to her stomach, but for now she took it in stride. She was out for straw, not blood today.

Vic tagged two goons as she found some stairs. Vic began sprinting up with her rifle cradled to her chest. Police were always trained to be stealthy to a degree, however Vic was too enraged to keep terribly quiet.

"C'mon ya yellow bellied son of a bitch" Vic muttered into her mask as she kept her eyes alert and allover as much as possible. She had her vest on and knew Harvey was somewhere nearby. She heard a step being btaken on stairs above her head. She chased after like a jaguar with a gun, but then slowed her pace and fell in behind Bullock.

"This place is already looking like a graveyard."

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

The fog from the gas was thicker up here. Harvey quietly wondered if these masks were going to be enough and keep them safe. One thing they did was impair vision in a place it was already to see in.

The screams were louder too.
"He must be trying to get the surviving victims centralized. A lot of 'em up ahead."

He could only image the horror these people were experiencing when they reached the top of the stair flight one of his thugs appeared using a victim as a shield. Bullock narrowed his eyes and aimed his gun. The victim was a young boy. He guessed around 11-12. He was wide-eyed unblinking staring at some phantom hallucination and screaming.
"I won't do it again! I won't do it again! Please no! NOOOO!!"


The thug smiled through his own gask mask at Bullock and pulled out a switchblade. The loud *clack* sprug forth the blade and he teasingly dragged it across the boy's neck and laughed, enjoying the advantage he had over the 2 officers.

Harvey growled.
"Between this and an Arkham outbreak....I'd take Arkham. Let the boy go."

The moment was tense, and the gleam in this thug's eyes spoke volumes. He was as crazy as his boss.

[Scarecrow]

Scarecrow walked rapidly down the stairs. The GCPD sure knew how to spoil a bit of fun. But he knew what to do. Nightmare and Terror would be arrested with him, and most likely send to Blackgate. Not that mattered. He could just bust them out of there later if he needed them. The screams from the apartments intensified as his goons duck taped them all together and gathered in one room. He could hear the policemen down stairs and then he slowed his pace. He didn’t want to make it look like he was eager to meet them

Scarecrow walked down the stairs so he was on the same floor as the GCPD. He could see the policemen slowly walking through the hallway, always keeping their guard up. The gas had made a very thick fog which was hard to see through. Nightmare and Terror pulled out their Assault Rifles with the fear bullets and aimed directly at the GCPD, always staying next to Scarecrow to ensure his safety. But Scarecrow noticed someone who looked familiar. Trenchcoat, dark pants, leather shoes and a tie which doesn’t match the white shirt. That could only be good old Harvey Bullock. Scarecrow smiled when he got closer and got it confirmed it was him. ''Well hello there Sgt. Bullock. What brings you to this end of town?'' Scarecrow made sure to make his voice as playful and cheeky as it could get when was to talk with these guys.