Scarecrow- Barbara Hallucination

  Scarecrow’s voice came over Batman’s comm, but he was talking directly to Barbara.

  “Do you see the horror behind the glass?” he said. “The monster that will be your doom? You know he wants to use those claws to tear you apart.

  “He wants to feast on your blood and viscera, and watch you die. But worst of all, he wants to turn you into another monster. Another creature of the damned. You’re not going to let that happen, are you?”

  Batman called to her, desperate to get her attention.

  “Barbara, don’t listen to him. It’s me.”

  But she still couldn’t hear him.

  “No!” she shouted. “You won’t kill me. I won’t let you. Scarecrow, please don’t let him…”

  “You have a way out, Barbara,” Crane said. “You know what to do, so do it.”

  Batman saw Barbara reach for the gun behind the pitcher of water. She held it up, waving it at him.

  “Get away from me.”

  “Don’t,” he said. “Barbara, don’t do it.”

  “It’s too late, Batman,” Scarecrow responded with murderous glee. “You bring death to everyone you love.”

  “Crane’s right, Bats,” the Joker said. “You are a real downer.”

  “Barbara,” Batman said frantically, “I’ll leave the room. I won’t come back. Put the gun away. Please, for God’s sake, don’t use it. I promise I’ll leave you alone.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Barbara said as she put the barrel of the gun under her chin.

  She squeezed the trigger, and fired.

  Batman stared as she fell to the floor, dead, then dropped to his knees and cried. He had failed Barbara Gordon… again.
...

  “More nightmares. Nothing but nightmares,” he muttered to himself. He stood up straight, looked again into the cell and saw that it was empty. Nothing, not even that single chair, had ever been there.

  Barbara might, in fact, be dead, but Batman was willing to bet his life on the slim hope that Scarecrow wasn’t yet done with her. If he wanted Batman to suffer, there would be more.

  He made his way back to the Batmobile, collapsed in the front seat, and called Alfred. His shoulder throbbed.

  “Sir, did you find her? Ms. Gordon?”

  “Crane’s playing games with me. He made me see Barbara. She was locked in a cell. I watched as she killed herself. But after… Alfred, she wasn’t there. She was never there.”

- Batman: Arkham Knight, chapter 28