[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
Has the new patient quieted down?
Yes, Doctor. His hallucinations seem to have stopped.
Such a pity, really.
To think, after all he's accomplished, that he should end up here, like this.
Yes, he does seem calmer.
You can turn on the lights.
It's all right, Batman.
I'm Dr. Bartholomew, your psychiatrist.
Did you contact Commissioner Gordon and Dr. Wu?
Calm yourself. Everything is under control.
Haven't you listened to anything I've told you?
He needs more time.
See that he's not disturbed.
Bartholomew, we don't have any more time!
Now, now.
There's always time to heal.
Such a pity.
BATMAN: "There's always time to heal," the doctor told me.
But he was wrong.
There was no time left.
Not for me, not for him and not for Gotham City.
And as long as I remained trapped in Arkham,
there was nothing I could do.
Except wait for the end and remember the beginning.
The word on the street was that something big
was going down at the Health Spring Spa.
I guessed a robbery,
but that night,
I guessed wrong.
Yo. Getting set to make the final connection.
MAN: [ON RADIO] Superlative, Torchy. Precisely on schedule.
BATMAN: He thought he was gonna do something to the spa's drinking water.
I decided to make him think again.
Huh?
Bummer.
MAN: [ON RADIO] A-ha. Precisely on schedule.
Now, Torchy.
[SCREAMS]
[STRAINING]
[GRUNTS]
[COUGHS]
BATMAN: He was in no condition to tell me what he was trying to do,
or who he was working for.
My only clues were the strange device
he had welded to the drinking-water pipe
and one half of a video communication link.
As for the gas, I thought it had no effect on me.
But I was wrong again.
[GASPS]
What...
Alfred?
I beg your pardon, Master Bruce. Did I startle you?
No. I must have been staring at the screen too long.
Here are the reference materials you requested on water-purifying systems.
Might one inquire what they're for?
BATMAN: Someone stole a huge water-purification system last month.
This device is a miniature test model
which means someone was trying to contaminate the spa's water.
Good heavens. With what?
The gas residue was completely oxidized.
I can't be sure. Yet.
BATMAN: The man I'd captured was still in the hospital.
The doctor said he was able to talk.
Red eyes.
Those teeth.
Stay away.
But what he had to say didn't make any sense.
According to the chart, he was hallucinating wildly
due to a massive fear reaction in the amygdala of his brain.
Who's in here?
Batman?
I need to know what's affected this man.
-Why? -Because it may have affected me too.
Your blood titers are elevated.
You've been exposed to it also.
Percentage is smaller, so it's taking longer to affect you.
But I will begin to hallucinate as well?
I'm surprised you haven't already.
But don't worry, I can give you an antidote.
It will make you sleep for two days.
Batman, you must let me treat you.
Otherwise, in 24 hours, you won't be able to tell reality from fantasy.
Batman?
BATMAN: I couldn't risk being out of action for that long.
What had happened at the spa was only a trial run.
Someone was planning to poison Gotham's water supply
with the same fear-inducing gas,
and I knew only one person capable of such a deed.
[GASPS]
Robin!
[TIRES SCREECHING]
BATMAN: Robin, look out.
Don't do it.
It's a trap.
The hallucinations were getting stronger.
I could've sworn I had really seen Robin in front of me,
but I couldn't tell them that.
I was raving, incoherent.
Look out.
Joker's got a bomb!
Some thought I'd gone mad.
Others thought I always had been.
And so they put me where they thought I belonged.
Not yet.
His mask is at the root of his delusional fixation.
To take it off might plunge him into a catatonic state.
It's time we had another chat, Batman.
Now, tell me about this supposed gas again.
I've already told you.
When the gas is put into Gotham's water supply,
the entire city will be affected.
Why won't you believe me?
Easy.
Well, how could such a complex plan
be implemented without attracting attention?
I think this plot is just another delusion.
And deep down, you believe so too.
Otherwise, why come to Arkham?
The one place where costumed delusional personalities
can receive compassion and help.
I didn't come here for help.
I came to find the criminal behind all this.
Really, Batman.
As if a criminal could run an outside operation from in here.
Jack Napier? Harvey Dent? Pamela Isley?
Or, as you call them, the Joker, Two-Face and Poison Ivy.
We keep them all under constant watch.
They're not responsible for this madness.
There's only one criminal twisted enough to come up with such a scheme,
The Scarecrow.
Professor Crane? What nonsense.
I saw him this morning in his cell.
He's probably asleep even as we speak.
First truck's almost empty, boss.
SCARECROW: Excellent.
Keep going. I expect no interference.
What about Batman?
Batman?
He's no longer of consequence.
It was no accident, his turning up at the health spa, you know.
I leaked rumors of a burglary there.
You set him up?
Of course.
And now that he's been exposed to the gas,
he's achieved the fate he truly deserves.
You mean Batman's...
[CHUCKLES] Oh, he's much worse than that.
Much, much worse than that.
Who's there?
[GASPS]
Mom? Dad?
No. Stop!
No!
Don't go in there!
[GROANS]
-No! -[CANNON FIRES]
[PANTING]
I hope I'm not disturbing you.
Isn't that why I'm here?
Because I'm disturbed?
I asked an orderly to look in on Professor Crane, and...
And he's not there.
He can't possibly have left the grounds. Our security is absolute.
-Completely... -No security is absolute.
The Scarecrow has already proved that.
But I think I know where he is.
Where?
Where's Arkham's water supply?
Arkham Cavern. The asylum was built over it.
There's an underground river that feeds the city reservoir.
I've got to get down there.
In your condition? I can't allow that.
You're staying here.
You're still very ill, Batman.
This will make you feel better.
The last truck's here. Once we start pumping it,
there's no stopping the chemical reaction.
SCARECROW: Excellent.
The opportunities to study the nature of fear will be unparalleled.
It's time for the greatest controlled experiment in mass madness
to finally begin.
[LAUGHING]
Don't worry, the police will handle Professor Crane.
[ALARM BLARING]
GUARD: Get him!
[GUARD GRUNTS]
Take me to the basement. Now.
[GASPS]
[LAUGHS]
[CACKLING]
[GASPS]
[CACKLING]
[SCREAMS]
No.
You're not real.
No!
Robin. Alfred.
You've got to help me.
It's too late for that, Bruce.
You've lived in darkness too long.
Yes. Do come along, Master Bruce. It's time to go home.
[YELLS]
SCARECROW: The great Batman, scared out of his mind.
How does it feel?
-[SCREECHES] -[YELLS]
[BAT SQUEAKS]
[SIGHS]
[TIMER BEEPING]
Full pressure on pump one.
Mixing chamber two on standby.
We are go for injection.
Three minutes and counting.
That's the last of it.
An entire city screaming in fear.
I wonder if we'll be able to hear it.
[GRUNTS]
[BOTH GASP]
You've run out of time, Scarecrow.
This experiment in terror is over.
[POWERING DOWN]
Get him.
He's been exposed to the gas, remember?
He'll be terrified of you.
[GASPS]
[WHISTLES]
[GROANING]
-Turn it off! -Turn it off!
Fool. Did you really think I wouldn't have backup controls?
It's over, Scarecrow.
[POWERING UP]
-[HISSING] -Ah!
[SQUEAKING]
It's gonna blow!
[GASPS]
No! No!
Help me!
[SCREAMING]
One second. One... Send for an ambulance...
[MUMBLING]
BARTHOLOMEW: Well, he was right all along.
This time, see if you can keep him in there.
ALFRED: There you go.
As simple as that.
Thanks, Alfred.
It's good to know I'm safe here.
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]