18 Scarecrow

Wednesday 8th April 2009, 19:05.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

East End.

It was interesting to watch the young child struggle to work alongside his new 'team.'

Black Hood changed under Batman's leadership, all stemming from his disliking the hero's rule of no killing and what that rule had resulted in. This, in turn, related to how well he worked with Batman protégé, Batgirl and Robin as they too shared Batman's rule of no killing and in turn, the effects were the same.

Esau Jacobson was an interesting individual for a number of reasons.

First, he had the raw talent and potential for fighting that few would ever have and if moulded correctly, even fewer would be able to match his skill though if he continued as he was, he would never realise his true potential. Second, he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty as while he may have shied away from his position as Black Hood recently, he had wasted no time in killing criminals again.

The dead bodies of the criminals at the dockyard could attest to that.

Last but not least, he was different.

He was not of the same breed as normal people, the ants that rushed around the cities to continue their pathetic lives. Esau, when pushed to the breaking point didn't shy away from the darkness and instead, embraced it wholeheartedly while making sure to never lose control of himself. Not many could claim to have the mental fortitude to be able to pull something like that off, especially not so young.

Esau also wasn't of the same breed as Batman, the Justice League and all those other heroes.

He wasn't afraid to kill one life to save thousands, even less when it came to the life of his what little was left of his family, Babara and James Gordon. It was almost amusing to him; how would he react when he realised that the very girl he loved, was Batgirl? That the girl he loved was one of the heroes he so despised, what an interesting twist that would be and so amusing to see how he would react and the consequences that would follow.

Discovering Barbara's alter ego wasn't that difficult to make once he learned that Esau was Black Hood. His masters wanted to know if Black Hood could be turned and if not; if he could be controlled? After all, when a vigilante appeared that killed, it garnered the attention of a lot of people and they would more often than not either seek to destroy or control you. Barbara was the leverage they would need to control the wildcard that was Esau and in the beginning, acquiring that leverage had appeared easy.

So, in an attempt to learn more about said girl, to learn her routine and everything about her, he had come across the interesting discovery of who Batgirl really was. He never would have imagined that James Gordon's daughter would be the sidekick of Batman, but it changed little in the control she would provide them over Esau. However, getting Barbara would be even more difficult due to her position as Batgirl and the connection she had to Batman.

Like always though, patience was a virtue and an opportunity would present itself and if events were manipulated in the right way, might not even be necessary.

Yet it was always paid to have a backup just in case.

Turning his attention back to the heroes at hand, he watched as they made their way into the warehouse through the broken windows, having already taken out the guards stationed on the roof. It amused him to see this all unfold, he having already warned Scarecrow that using such an unsecured base for not only his headquarters but production centre would work against him.

Sure, it might be the last place someone would look, especially when someone was designing the chemical weapon that would turn Gotham City into a war zone, but the numerous armed guards that were patrolling the warehouse constantly made it obvious something was happening here. Out here things like that were not uncommon, he could see numerous other buildings with guards stationed outside. But what gave this place away was the fact that while run down, it was in better condition than most places.

It was of no concern to him though.

His masters already had the Fearless Toxin they had hired Scarecrow to make and therefore, ended the partnership between them and the self-proclaimed Master of Fear.

Despite that though, he felt like testing Esau a little more.

If he survived this night then he would extend an offer to the boy.

If not, then he would not be worth his or his master's time.

Pulling out a radio he had stolen from one of the guards stationed around the warehouse, he turned it to Scarecrow's secure channel. "Scarecrow, you have a few uninvited guests about to join you, guess who it could be?" There was silence, he knew Scarecrow had heard him because he never let the radio leave his sight or his person.

This was followed by gunfire.

With a smirk behind his mask, the figure disappeared into the shadows.

-X-

Wednesday 8th April 2009, 19:10.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

East End.

"Batgirl, Black Hood!" Batman called, from his position taking cover behind a wooden crate, Robin by his side. "Take out the supply chain!" He ordered before pulling out a few Batarangs and launching them towards the thugs that were slowly walking towards them while firing their guns at the hero's position.

The Batarangs struck the ground before them and began beeping before they released a large quantity of smoke that engulfed the criminals. Using this, Batman and Robin rushed towards the stairs, while Black Hood and Batgirl charged into the smoke. While Batgirl quickly got to work dispatching those criminals on the ground, Black Hood took a few moments for his eyes to adapt to the smoke clouding his vision, coughing shortly and waving his hand to try and part some of the smoke.

By that point, most of it had cleared and the criminals were once again firing upon him and Batgirl.

"Why didn't you take them out?!" Batgirl cried out, as Black Hood punched the nearest goon in the face before kicking him into the guy behind him that had taken aim at Batgirl who was taking on four guys simultaneously.

"Well some of us aren't used to seeing through smoke!" He shouted, taking note of the seven guys Batgirl had already taken out.

Esau hated to admit it, but Batgirl, just like Batman and Robin were still better than him, but it didn't mean he had to like being outdone by others. Using that anger and frustration as fuel, he came at the thugs with a bit more brutality than he needed, at least in the eyes of Batgirl.

Pocketing his guns, Black Hood instead decided to go for his knives and came up close, slashing one man across the neck while rolling underneath gunfire that would have riddled his chest with bullets. Coming up, out of the roll he stabbed the knife into the side of the man's knee and ripped it out, also removing his kneecap at the same time.

Allowing the thug to drop to the ground with a cry of pain while holding his knee, Black Hood continued on to the next person.

Batgirl was too busy fending off another group of guys, each having surrounded her in a circle hoping that this would catch her off guard. It didn't and instead, Batgirl continued to masterfully parry and evade every strike while simultaneously landing blows of her own. While not having as much strength as the fully grown men she was fighting, Batgirl had much more precision and knew exactly where to hit to gain the maximum results.

Each blow she struck was aimed at certain areas that disabled her opponents or slowed them down, their bodies' susceptibility to pain working against them.

When one guy dropped to the ground unconscious with a spinning hook kick to the temple from said heroine, the thug he was charging towards had taken aim at her exposed back. So, he came up behind him and stabbed his blade into the guy's neck and as the man fell to his knees, his life ebbing away slowly, Black Hood grabbed his falling gun and took aim.

The bullets fired from the gun cut through the air and struck the goons surrounding Batgirl and knocked them to the ground, the vast majority were dead. However, some escaped with only major injuries and would probably die due to blood loss if not treated soon, not that Esau cared as he rested the gun on one shoulder, surveying the warehouse.

"What the hell's your problem!" Batgirl raged, storming up to Black Hood and ripping the gun out of his hands, chucking it away in disgust. "You just killed them!"

"Your point?" Black Hood replied dryly, not flinching in the face of her anger. "This guy was going to kill you and so were them, I saved your life. You should be thanking me."

Batgirl gave a short laugh, honestly amused by what he had said. "You think I'd thank you, a murderer?" She questioned and Black Hood said nothing. "I don't know what Batman sees in you, but whatever it is I don't see it. For all I care, you should be locked up in Arkham just like the rest of the crazies in Gotham."

"You think I'm crazy?" Esau asked, his eyes narrowed but his tone sounding amused.

"What else can you be?" Batgirl returned, not backing down despite him being taller than her. "You're a murderer who's playing the hero, if that doesn't sound crazy to you then I don't know what will."

Clenching his fists tightly, Black Hood fought the urge to start a fight no matter how badly he wanted to hit the heroine who was insulting everything he was doing. 'I ought to rip that stick out your ass and beat you with it, you uppity bitch.' He snarled mentally and could feel himself losing in the battle to control his urge to fight and actually started to move towards her.

But that's when he noticed someone coming up towards them from behind Batgirl.

Thinking back on this moment later, both Black Hood and Batgirl would be embarrassed by the fact that they had gotten so distracted in arguing with one another to not notice that the very person they were after had almost snuck up on them.

Even so, they both reacted in different ways.

Batgirl had seen his eyes flicker to a place behind her as something stole his attention and quickly summarised what it was and so, trusting her instincts leapt to one side.

It was a good job she had as a stream of gas flowed through the area she was in.

But unlike Batgirl, Black Hood had not moved out of the way quick enough and so, when he breathed in, he also took in some of the gas.