Weiss was dragged by Crane's men.

She couldn't move anything. The fear she felt was paralyzing, and her arms and legs felt numb as the toxin burned at her body from the inside, causing her to slowly lose strength in her muscles.

Crane held her weapon in his hand. He observed it with admiration. It would look great on display.

He set it aside, and turned his attention to Weiss. Her state of fear filled him with adrenaline and excitement, as these kinds of things always did for him. As he stepped up to her, she looked up at him, and started panting heavily.

"Who knows you're here?" he said, his voice demonic in Weiss' perspective.

She shook her head rapidly, her panting beginning to accelerate.

This was the only downside of the dosage he gave her, despite how pleasurable her panic was. "Who knows?!"

Weiss turned away screaming, and curling up into a ball, shaking violently.

Suddenly, the lights went out, leaving the room in darkness. Crane looked away from the terrified Schnee, tugging his mask off.

He smiled. "He's here . . ."

"Who?" one of his men asked.

"The 'Bat-Man' . . ."

They heard the sound of metal clanging in the distance.

"What do we do?"

"What anyone does when a prowler comes around," Crane said. "Call the police."

"You want the cops here?"

"At this point, they can't stop us. But the 'Bat-Man' has a talent for disruption. Force him outside, the police will take him down. Go."

"What about her?" a guard asked, pointing to the shaking Weiss.

Crane looked at her shaking form, and let out a content sigh. "She hasn't got long. I gave her a concentrated dose. The mind can only take so much. Now go."

The guards lifted their weapons, searching for their Bat-Intruder.

"The things they say about him," one of them said, scared of what was coming. "Can he really fly?"

"I heard he can disappear."

Crane smiled, backing into the shadows. "Well, we'll find out, won't we?"

The banging continued, and the guards looked around, waiting for the coming attack. The sounds seemed not to have a set source. One came from one direction, the next came from another. The guards split up to look in the different directions they'd heard the noises coming from.

The noises stopped, and the guards did as well, waiting to hear it again.

A black blur swept down from above, landing next to a guard. Batman grabbed his gun, and knocked him aside, before moving on to the others.

He attacked with incredible speed, beating them to the point where they lost their aura, but holding back to avoid breaking bone. Even when attacked from behind, Batman managed to pull off a counter attack without even turning his head, mostly due to the limits of the cowl.

Crane watched from the shadows, wearing his mask, and getting the toxin ready on his wrist.

Once Batman had taken out the last guard, he lunged from the shadows with an extended arm. But Batman caught him without looking. He tugged off his mask, grabbed his hair with one arm, and held the arm with the toxin in his other.

"Have a taste of your own medicine, Doctor," he growled.

He triggered the toxin, and held Crane's wrist to his nose, where a burst of smoke flew out.

The now defenseless doctor coughed as he felt the burning sensation in his body, and Batman lifted him up into eye contact.

"What have you been doing here?" he said.

Crane's eyes widened in horror. Batman had given him just a small dose to keep from destroying his mind, but it was all that was needed for him to see Batman as a monster with pitch black eyes, and blood pouring from his mouth.

"Who are you working for?" the monster growled.

Crane shook in Batman's grip, and he spoke through the fear in the hopes the monster would leave.

"Salem . . ." he wheezed. "Salem . . ."

"Salem is dead," Batman growled. "Who are you working for? Crane!"

"Dr. Crane isn't here right now," he mumbled. "But if you'd like to make an appointment . . ."

The sound of sirens were audible, and Batman scowled, realizing this was all the information he would get out of Crane. He bashed his head into the wall, and hurried for Weiss.

He looked down to her, and saw her shaking, whispering a plea for it all to stop. Bruce felt fear return to him again. This time the toxin didn't prevent him from fighting it, and yet he was still struggling to keep it under control.

This was everything he had been afraid of. Weiss was dying, her mind slowly, painfully being killed by fear. She had gotten between him and the enemy, and she was paying the price.

Batman picked up her weapon, and put it back in place at her belt. He lifted her into his arms, as gently as he could to keep from scaring her.

Outside, he could hear a cop speaking into a megaphone.

"Batman! Put down your weapons and surrender! You're surrounded!"

Outside, Ruby, Blake, and Yang arrived at Arkham Asylum. They had come here expecting to meet Weiss to find out what Crane had done, only to meet dozens of cop cars pulled up at the front of the gates.

They stepped up to the perimeter the police was setting up.

"What's going on?" Yang asked.

"The 'Bat-Man' is in there," the cop explained. "SWAT's on the way."

Ruby panicked as she heard that. Her new friend was in there, along with Weiss, and the cops were trying to arrest him. Whatever he was doing in there, she knew for sure he wasn't hurting any innocent people, especially Weiss.

"What are you going to do to him?" she asked.

"He's attacking the staff," the cop said. "We're going to take him down."

"Take him down." In Vale, for the police or for Huntsmen and Huntresses, that translated to, "We're going to kill him."

Unwilling to stand by while her friend was in danger, Ruby used her semblance to dash past the cops, and into the asylum.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted. "Come back!"

Ruby stopped inside the building, and found herself in a large, empty room. She looked around, searching for any sign of her friend.

"Batman!" she called. "Where are you?!"

She headed for the staircase at the center of the asylum, and looked up to see it leading to the top floor. She called in an attempt to create an echo that hopefully Batman would hear if he was nearby.

"Batman!" she called. "SWAT is coming for you! They're going to kill you! Let me help you!"

She heard footsteps, and looked to the entrance to see the SWAT team running into the building, directly towards her.

Before she could say or do anything, a black fabric draped over her body, and strong but gentle arms wrapped around her waist. She felt her feet leave the ground as Batman pulled her to the top floor of the asylum.

He set her down on the floor, where it didn't take long for Ruby to see Weiss convulsing on the ground.

"Weiss!!!" she shouted, kneeling down to her friend. "What happened to her?!"

Batman looked to the lower floors to see the SWAT team searching for him. When he was sure they had time, he knelt down beside Weiss, and looked directly into Ruby's terrified silver eyes.

"Crane poisoned her with a psychotropic hallucinogen," he explained, "a panic-inducing toxin."

"There's an ambulance outside!" Ruby said. "I can get her to the hospital!"

Batman shook his head. "They can't help her, but I can."

Suddenly, the lights turned on. The generator Batman had switched off was turned back on. This was getting worse. Weiss was dying, the SWAT team was coming up from the stairs, and the lights were back on, making Batman more vulnerable.

He reached down to the sole of his boot, and turned on the high-frequency device hidden beneath. He looked back up to Ruby.

"Get her downstairs," he ordered. "Meet me in the alley on the northwest side."

Blake's bow twitched. She turned her head, hearing a strange chirping noise in the distance, slowly getting louder and louder. She turned around to search for the source, but it was hard to see at night.

Back inside, Batman explained the situation to Ruby.

"Crane's been smuggling his toxin hidden in Torchwick's drugs, and they're dumping it into the water supply."

"What?" Ruby said. "What was he planning?"

"I don't know."

"Was he working for Torchick? Or is it the other way around?"

"He mentioned someone else, someone worse." Batman knelt down to Weiss, and assisted Ruby in lifting her over her shoulder. "I've gotta get her the antidote before the damage becomes permanent."

"How long does she have?" Ruby asked.

"Not long."

The chirping noise was getting louder, and now, Ruby could hear it.

"What is that?"

Batman knelt down beside the guardrail of the stairs, staring to the SWAT team below, and waiting for what he had summoned.

"Backup."

Back outside, Blake finally saw the source of the chirping, and she grabbed Yang, pulling her to the ground.

"Get down!!!" she shouted, as a swarm of bats past overhead, and attacked the police, who were only protected by body armor.

Ruby rushed down the stairs, with Weiss' body over her shoulders, and struggled to stay balanced as she hurried to get out of the asylum. Batman stayed in his crouched position, still as a statue, waiting for the right moment.

The bats burst through the windows of the asylum, and relentlessly attacked the SWAT team, who panicked as they tried to get them away.

Ruby stayed calm as she descended into the swarm, letting her aura protect her body from the attacks, and focusing entirely on carrying Weiss to safety.

Batman reached down to the device on his boots, and held it in his hand. He waited patiently for the swarm to rise high enough. Then, he tossed the device down the stairs.

The bats closed in after the device, spinning downward like a tornado of vicious talons and teeth.

Batman leapt over the guardrail, and spread his cape to fall with the army of bats, like a giant bat commanding his army. The air picked up in his cape, and he landed safely in a crouched position.

He picked up the device calling the bats, and turned it off, allowing the swarm to fly freely. He stood up, and walked deeper into the asylum.

Ruby finally made it outside, and she looked around to make sure her friends were alright. She could see them pushed up against a car's hood, hiding from the bats as they flew into the asylum. Assured that her friends were alright, Ruby hurried for the alley her friend told her to enter.

Batman ran through the halls, inmates watching from their cells as he past. None viewed him as a man in a costume, but as a monster commanding an army of bats. All had different reactions to the sight. Some were confused, some were amazed, most were afraid.

Bruce paid no attention to them, instead counting each cell number to make sure he was headed for the right spot.

115, 117, 119, here it was.

Batman halted, pulling an explosive from his utility belt, and tossing it into the lock of Cell 121. He pulled the door open, and ignored the two inmates sulking atop their mattress as he tossed another explosive against the wall, leaving an opening to the alley.

Batman's only acknowledgement of the inmates was a simple, "Excuse me," before running into the alley, leaving the inmates to wonder what the staff had put in their drinks.

Ruby arrived at the alleyway Batman had mentioned, hoping he had made it out from the building. Weiss' condition was getting worse, and Ruby's shoulder was starting to ache from holding her for so long.

"How is she?"

Ruby turned around to see Batman running up to her.

"She's getting worse!" Ruby said, passing Weiss into his arms. "We gotta go now!"

She turned around to hear the sirens of police cars starting up. "I'll try and get you a car."

"I brought mine!"

Ruby paused. "Yours?"

She turned around at the sound of an engine revving, and saw headlights directly in front of her. She jumped aside as the Batmobile sped past, riding over a police car, and driving out of the Narrows.

"Ooohooohooohoo! I have got to get me one of those!"

Police cars sped after the Batmobile as it began its escape.

One of the officers in the vehicle that had been crushed grabbed his walkie-talkie, and called for backup.

"He is in a vehicle!"

"Make and color?" the dispatch voice asked.

"It's a black . . ." he paused for a moment, trying to think of how to describe whatever vehicle Batman had just escaped from.

". . . Tank . . ."