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Her strands wapped around the scythe, missing Scarecrow completely.
But...in her mind, they snared him and held him tightly in front of her. She let out a small relieved sigh as the room became utterly dark again.

At least she had him trapped before....

Wait, that voice was coming from somewhere else. But...she HAD him! Didn't she? No....no what she had a hold of was far to thin to be a body...

Slowly the image of Scarecrow faded, and she could see what she really had ahold of. Instantly, Gossamer started panicing becasue it seemed like magic. Which of course, made her start panicing because Gossamer was radiating fear through her body, and just because it was like magic to her as well.

And then the nightmare started all over again. She took two steps back, and bumped into someone big and muscular. A hand latched onto her neck and lifted her off the ground, as another one came around her diaphragm and began squeezing.
She let out a strangled cry and tried hard to get air into her lungs again.

A little girl started screaming again. Two little girls. The more they screamed, the more Gossamer paniced, the less she could breathe.

Amid the screaming, angry voices were hissing out in the darkness. All voices she knew, all berating her, reminding her about how she betrayed everyone, let everyone down, can't save herself so how can she save anyone else, traitor, liar, slu-

Suddenly she screamed again. Gossamer's voice a little more dominant, but she still screamed. Just as suddenly, her body was engulfed in light agian. A single beam shot out of her and over to one of the dark corners of the room, taking the rest of the light with it.
As it faded, the little girl stopped screaming. Some of the voices went away, there was only an arm pinning her tightly against whoever was behind her, and the room was....a bit lighter.

Sapphire was still trying to pull air into her lungs. She couldn't quite figure out why she couldn't breathe if this was all supposed to be in her head....other than her body reacting to what it thought was happening. Her lungs just tightening up by themselves.

She heard the Scarecrow's voice again, and tried to focus on where it was coming from. Blindly sending another stream of blue strands in that general direction.



Gossamer, meanwhile, was sitting on the floor against the wall in the dark corner of the room. Her legs curled up in front of her, hands on the sides of her head trying to block any sound, and her eyes shut tightly.

Sapphire heard the voice again, and tried to send more strands. The gas was still strong enough that she couldn't see where the man was, so she could only go by his voice. She also tried to push though the illusion and voices bombarding her and see what was actually going on around her.



Gossamer was having the same problem. She knew this was all supposed to be just in her head. But the screaming....that....aweful screaming. Julie wasn't here, but it was enough to make her want to run and try to find her. She had pushed through the gas enough that she mostly see what was actually going on around her, and hear what was going on around her.

She could hear the man continue with the rhyme, but she couldn't make out just where he was. She was too afraid to move, and she was FAR to affraid to use anything to be able to find him.

Gossamer sensed movement close to her. Actual movement. She opened her eyes and found someone kneeling down in front of her. Her eyes widened and she pressed herself against the wall as a snow-white face smiled back at her.
It certainly looked like Joker....and because he was here....she could't tell if this was the real deal or just anohter illusion. She was sure that there was someone in front of her though.

The little girl's screams became more terrified as she stared at the man.

Gossamer didn't answer. The voice she heard didn't belong to Scarecrow anymore, and the laughter continued after the actual voice had stopped. It was....one of the more malicious laughters she had heard from Joker. And that look in his eyes.......he was going to kill her.

She couldn't use her magic, and she....couldn't quite make her arms move.





Sapphire, meanwhile, was fighting off the gas as best she could. Since there was no one messing around with her, it was a little easier compared to Gossamer. The room lightened up, she could breathe at least some easier.

Carefully, she turned and tried to look around the room for what was actually there. She found two figures huddled in the corner of the room. She grimmaced and glanced over at the disscarded weapon that was still in her posession.

Gossamer's eyes widened and she pressed herself tighter against the wall. The hand that was reaching for her was the one Joker wore his buzzer on. She let a small sound slip from her that was close to a whimper.



Before the hand could reach her, blue strands whipped around BOTH of Crane's hands and yanked them behind his back. A knee pressed into his back to help keep the arms tight behind him.

And then the blade of his own scythe curled around his neck.

"Playtime's over..." Sapphire growled behind him.

Gossamer kept herself pressed against the wall. She could see Sapphire and the scythe perfectly fine, but she still thought that it was Joker in front of her. The man's chuckling still sounded like Joker's laughter.


Sapphire grimmaced and pulled the blade closer against the man's throat. "I have enough potential stalkers as it is. I DON'T want to have to deal with you again. If I do I just might forget about the whole 'no killing' rule."
With that Sapphire slid the blade away from the man's throat and went about wrapping the man up. She kept his arms behind his back, wrapped each hand in a good layer or two of webbing, then secured him in a nice blue cuccoon. Normally she'd just stick her capture to the side of the wall, but stringing him up and hanging him from the ceiling seemed a little more appropriate. She didn't want him getting loose (or down) very easily.
She created a few strands to wrap around the cuccoon, then lifted the man up into the air and suspended him a fair distance off of the ground. Not high enought that he'd be seriously hurt if he fell, but enough that he shouldn't be willing to just fall.

Once he was up and secured, she covered the blade of the scythe with her webbing and rounded if off, making it considerably less dangerous for a while. She then tossed it to the side and looked down at Gossamer. It seemed like the stuff still wasn't out of her system.

......right. Now what?


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Zira sighed dissapointedly and leaned against the top of Rosie's chair, watching the screen. "Shame....would have been nice if had lasted longer."

"That's the guy that makes people see things and get really scared? Right?" Rosie asked, looking up at her.

"Mmhm. It was rather interesting though...seeing how two people in one body reacted. The vision just kind of...mixed together." Zira replied with a small smile.

Rosie paused a moment, then looked over at the other screens. "What were you saying earlier about your favorite kind of Rose?"

Zira's smile grew. "Oh, that's in the garden in the Park still. The little Lantern hasn't found it yet."

Gossamer shut her eyes and placed both her hands on her ears as "Joker" continued to laugh. Echoing throughout the entire room.

Sapphire turned her attention back to her and frowned behind her mask. This wasn't going to be easy. Not only did she have to make it out of this building alive, (try to anyway), she'd have to try and keep Gossamer moving along as well.

She leaned down a bit and streached out her hand. "Come on...lets see if we can find some fresh air." Not that she thought they would....but it was a start to try and get her focusing again.

Gossamer opened her eyes and looked at the hand in front of her. After a moment, she hissed something under her breath and took the hand. Once on her feet, she leaned against the wall and rubbed the side of her head. Trying to focus as best she could. The laughter wasn't helping.



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Rosie looked over at him, then back at the screens. "How many surprises do you have in here?" she asked.