"From the safety of his lair, he plots and he conspires..."

[scream-and-cry.livejournal.com]

Crane has been released from the hospital since receiving a savage beating from Hush, and has falled under the surprising care of the girl he was tormenting shortly before. One journalist by the name of Alice Logan.

Moron.

Either way, they made their way to one of his chemical dungeons, one that Batman never found, probably because of its distance from Gotham and unlikely setting under the old Overlook Drive-In Movie Theatre. By sheer force of habit he's donned his mask, although he's mostly immune to the toxins he creates. Still, the filtration system in the front of the mask does block the smell, which can occasionally be pretty potent. Once numerous vials of Batch 26B have been put into the system (not his favourite batch, by any means, but one of the easiest to make), he hobbles (still having a very sore knee) to the ubiquitous office, where Alice is patiently waiting.

"Thank you for waiting, Miss Logan. When we are going to war, we need weapons at our disposal, and this should suffice. But, you are the key." He smiles from behind the burlap sack over his head. "I have been in touch with various of my former colleagues, all of whom believe I'm on some form of sabbatical, which means it's just you and me versus the nasty..." He recalls how Alice saw Hush. "... Gorgon Man." He fills the vial at his wrist. "Once you have written your front page story about the good Mr Elliot," not Thomas Elliot, but his father, "glorifying him, making him into a hero worthy of the legendary Thomas Wayne of Gotham City, then stage one is complete. Are we clear?"

Comments

[scream-and-cry.livejournal.com]

"Hmm." Scarecrow takes mental notes as Alice goes through her convulsions. It's always such a joy to observe the effects of one of his drugs, and she seems a very hardy specimen. Even more impressive is the fact that her blood chemistry appears to be altering due to the cocktail of toxicity that's running inside her.

"What do you see, my sweet little girl?" He squats, and runs a gloved hand through her hair.

[alicelogan.livejournal.com]

"Hell." Was her whispered reply. It seems that her own personal hell was Hell itself. "It's so hot... too bright... they won't stop screaming"

Alice wasn't even able to thrash around and strike out at him. She was reduced to a shivering ball that could only scream at what she saw.

Who knew how long this drug would last.

[jla-villains.livejournal.com]

"Is she ready?" Dr. Alchemy had travelled all the way from Keystone City for this; a test subject so full of chemicals that his use of the Philosopher's Stone to change the properties of her blood would hardly affect her physical health.

Not that Dr. Alchemy appears excited, or concerned. He's somehow walked down the slippery stairs and across the messy laboratory all the while holding an open book in one hand, whilst reading it.

[scream-and-cry.livejournal.com]

"She's ready. Look at her eyes... Look at the fear..." Such a sick grin beneath that mask.

[jla-villains.livejournal.com]

Esoteric ideas like fear and hope are rather alien to Dr. Alchemy. The Philosopher's Stone manifests in his hand, and power begins to radiate from it and into Alice. "She will be able to control this power, in a week. Give or take a few days."

[scream-and-cry.livejournal.com]

"I am aware of this, Doctor. I've often changed the workings of a person's mind, but rarely their physical chemistry. The way her fear will manifest through her body? This..." He sighs, happily, "Excites me."

[alicelogan.livejournal.com]

Alice was mildly aware that there was someone else in the room, but completely oblivious to whatever was happening with the stone. She was too busy traveling through visions of hell beasts and succubi trying to eat her for lunch.

Whatever it was that Crane had in mind was not part of the original plan; And whatever it was that they had just done to her was making her nose bleed.

[scream-and-cry.livejournal.com]

"Well, Miss Logan, I need to arrange Dr. Alchemy's payment. I will leave you with my guard, who doesn't know why you're here or who you are, but knows not to let you escape. Watch out. He has an appetite."

Dr. Alchemy and the Scarecrow walk out, and Crane offers a small wave as he plunges the basement into darkness.

[jla-villains.livejournal.com]

A growling from the shadows. He's been sat there all along, eating an entire side of pig. And yet he's still hungry. "Pretty lil thing, aren't ya? Good enough to eat." He growls and groans, rubbing the hard scales over his body.

[alicelogan.livejournal.com]

Without the ability to see in the dark, the strange voice only sounds even more terrifying. Imaginations can do some crazy things when given the license to run wild.

Alice looks around in vain trying to see who or what is talking to her. She stands up only to fall again due to the lack of feeling in her legs. Her whole body felt like it was asleep.

"Stay back..." She whispered.

[jla-villains.livejournal.com]

"Or what? Whatcha gonna do about it, lil girly? Hur hur hurr." He growls again, standing up and pacing around, his tail swishing in the air.

He paws her head, and her body, teasing her with his rough grip. "I'm gonna tear you apart and eat your remains, lil girly. The Scarecrow won't be able to do anythin' about it. He's scared of me. You're gonna be wishin' he was still here."

[alicelogan.livejournal.com]

She already did wish the Scarecrow was still here. Her arms flailed wildly as she tried to stop him from touching her. It felt weird with the minimal sensation, she'd describe it as feeling like an octopus.

"Don't touch me! The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world. Edgar Allen Poe."

Alice had taken to quoting Poe since that fateful night Hush made an appearance.

[jla-villains.livejournal.com]

"What?" If she expects Croc to know anything about literature, she's mistaken. "Tryin' ta confuse me, lil girly." He runs a sharpened claw across her cheek, opening it and letting the blood spill.

"Gonna resist me if my finger goes lower?" He holds it to her throat.

[alicelogan.livejournal.com]

"FIEND!" She cried as she kicked him hard in the stomach. Her foot merely bounced off him, knocking her to the floor again, but it wasn't as painful as it would have been with feeling in her body.

She ran her hand over the cut on her face and then wiped at the blood from her nose.

"You'll burn too."

[jla-villains.livejournal.com]

"Hur hur hurr." Killer Croc gets up and walks over to the stairs. "Sweet dreams, princess."

As he plods up, and out, he leans in to whisper to Crane who's standing there. "You've got her, Scarecrow. Like ya said; she needs ya now." He gives a wide-mouthed grin, takes the bundle of cash he earned for terrorising her, and leaves for the sewer.