Silent Knight

Chapter 7

Gotham General Hospital, run by Herman Fibern. It was where my parents were cremated. I don't have fond memories of the place. The night my parents died, I was admitted into the facility rather bluntly and given a harsh check-up. The doctors didn't think I was within repair. If only they could see me now. With some depressing memories suppressed once more, I entered the facility.

Doctors and nurses rushed back and forth from room to room, most likely caring for injured patients and retrieving antibiotics and medicines. A few of them stopped to note me, but quickly went back to their work. A little girl wandered out of one of the rooms, a bloodied bandage over her left eye and another over her chest and stomach. She turned to me and spoke.

"Daddy? Are you back from the fire?" she asked. I recognized her. Jennifer Walters. Fairly wealthy. A few days ago, her family home was set fire to by a gang of thugs when her father didn't pay them. She was the only survivor and could only watch as her parents were burned into unrecognizable charred objects. She must have seen my black suit and thought I was her dad.

"Jenny, honey, what did we say about leaving your room?" A nurse said. She crouched down to her height and eased her out of whatever episode she may be in.

"Ms. Guintly, I can see my daddy over there!" she happily said and pointed to me. The nurse looked, expecting to see nothing and her jaw dropped in shock. She pulled Jennifer away from the hallway.

"...That's not your daddy, Jennifer." she said. "What are you? What do you want from us?"

"The Scarecrow."

"The what...? C'mon, Jenny... Let's leave." she said. I reinstated myself.

"The Scarecrow, I said. The one with the mask. The one who uses your fears against you."

"Why would we help a monster like you?! You spend your nights running around, harming innocent civilians, fighting homeless people, putting people in financial debt! What's wrong with you?!" she argued. She didn't know how "innocent" the civilians really were, how "homeless" they could be and how much "debt" they'd be in when they were thrown in jail for murder, arson, rape, theft, and worse crimes.

"You're going to help me because all of Gotham depends on it."

She sat there confused for a moment. Suddenly a broadcast came on the televisions from the Scarecrow himself. The camera he was using to broadcast looked old, the lens cracked, total disrepair.

"Greetings, Gotham. Tonight is your night. I am your doctor, and you are my patient. Tonight, we fight oppression. Tonight, we fight hatred. Tonight, we fight fear. Are you prepared?" he said. Everyone I could see was confused by what he had said.

"'Tonight, we fight fear?' What does that mean?" the nurse in front of me asked. I knew it wasn't good.

"It means tonight, Gotham's going to fall."

The nurse stood in disbelief. "Gotham's going to fall...? What do you mean by that...?"

"I mean what I said. Gotham is going to burn unless I can stop the Scarecrow, so tell me where he is."

"...Sir, we don't have anyone in this facility under that name." she said. "Unless you have an identity, or another name he goes by?" she replied, checking her tablet.

"Alright. Jonathan Crane."

"...the Jonathan Crane? The Scientist? But... You saved him from the Scarecrow! How could he be the Scarecrow?" she asked.

"Because Basil Karlo mysteriously escaped from Arkham Asylum and when I last fought the Scarecrow he was mysteriously oozing the same muddy substance."