38***DISCLAIMER***
I don't own anything Batman-related except any OCs! This is story is specifically based in the 90s/early 2000s animated universe timeline (The New Batman Adventures and/or Justice League Wild Cards)
This is the direct sequel to my first story, "Sweetie Pie." I hope you liked it as much as the first one, and if you do, please let me know! :) Thank you all so VERY much for your thoughts and opinions! :)
Sophie Michelle Pieska sat on her bed, and, despite being wrapped up in a fluffy pink blanket, she was shivering. Although, she wasn't shivering from the cold. It wasn't as if she'd jumped into a frozen lake looking for a magic relic in the middle of winter, for example. No, she was shivering because she was utterly and completely petrified. Her huge, sapphire-colored eyes were even wider than they usually were and filled to the brim with fright. She breathed heavily and nervously glanced around the messy hideout she shared with the Joker and his henchgirl, Harley Quinn. She heard a loud creak coming from somewhere nearby, and she gasped, her breath getting caught in the back of her throat. Sophie wanted to cry out for Harley, her friend, her guardian, her protector, but she was too scared to speak. Sophie's eyes glanced at the flickering night-light plugged into the wall nearby that Harley had stolen from a corner store. It was shaped like a four-leaf clover, complete with a huge, painted-on kitschy clown-like grin and dimples. For a split second, Sophie felt a tiny bit of comfort when she saw the sweet reminder of her friend. Looking at the shining light, she remembered the exact day Harley had given her the "Welcome Home" present, and she smiled a little.
"Just a little good luck charm to always keep you safe, sweetie!" Harley had chirped happily upon gifting the small present to her small, easily-frightened friend. "When you look at this lucky light, you'll always think of me, and then you'll never have to be scared of the dark, again!"
If only it were that easy to rid Sophie of her fear of the dark. Either way, even if she knew it wasn't as easy as Harley had hoped, Sophie had welcomed the gift with open arms and thought the gesture was one of the sweetest things she'd ever seen. The Joker had, of course, scoffed at it, but Sophie didn't blame him one bit. After all, she knew herself that it was absolutely absurd for an 11-year-old to need a nightlight to protect her from "scary" things that go bump in the night. Then again, not many 11 year-olds had gone through the three-week torture she'd just recently survived. Sophie had been safely back with the Joker and Harley for about a week after all the craziness she'd been through. It had been a few months since the petite blonde orphan girl had been adopted by a doting, wealthy family outside of Gotham...and not too long after their untimely death in a river boating accident that Sophie had made her way back to her real home with Harley. But, within the short week back in Gotham, she was starting to feel her mind going back to the worst time in her life: the horrible, frightening things she had encountered before her official adoption into wealth.
True, it had been months since Sophie had been rescued from suffering a terrible fate by the motley crew of Harley, Robin, Batgirl, and miraculously, the Joker himself. But the horrific, near-death situation Sophie had been subjected to at the hands of her deranged masked kidnapper was not something she could just quickly or easily overcome.
That particular night in their hideout, Sophie was on edge even more than usual. She was undoubtedly sure she heard something strange coming from inside the hideout, and it gave her an uneasy feeling of dread. She knew it couldn't be Bud and Lou, Harley's pet hyenas. They were asleep in the back room, probably nestled warmly at the end of Harley and the Joker's bed. Sophie had secretly wished the giant dogs were sleeping on her bed, so they could protect her by barking at any sign of an intruder...and then, of course, tearing the intruder to shreds within seconds. Sophie had barely slept a wink for the entire week she'd been back with the Joker and Harley, simply because even the slightest noise caused her blood to run cold and her nerves to be shot. When she finally was able to fall asleep, her dreams were always vivid, horrific nightmares filled with darkness, poking needles, red-eyed monsters, and worst of all, the one being who had organized her kidnapping and torture in the first place – Scarecrow. For this reason, Sophie preferred to stay awake no matter how exhausted and loopy it made her the next day. To her, not sleeping at all was better than being subjected to her frightening ordeal over and over again in her slumber.
Sophie heard the strange sound again and she gripped tighter to the pink blanket as her whole body shook. She had a growing sense of dread, but she was too terrified to get up from her bed to get help. She knew the Joker would be beyond furious if she attempted to wake him on account of "scary noises," and there was no telling what he'd do if she disturbed him. She knew running to him for help was simply out of the question. This time, she knew better. The bruise on her cheek that he had so generously given her three days ago was just now healing, and she didn't feel the need to collect more of them.
Outside, the wind howled with rage as a storm brewed. Through a window, Sophie could see the trees blowing fiercely and listened as the rain pelted against the glass. Surprisingly, she wasn't a fan of thunderstorms, either, and she shivered again. Suddenly, the door to the hideout burst open from an intense, hurricane-like gust of wind. Sophie gasped and immediately jumped up, running to close the door as fast as she could so nothing creepy or scary could rush inside her safe space.
After successfully slamming the door shut, Sophie sighed heavily and leaned her head against the door, slowly closing her eyes. "Come on, Soph. Cut it out! Nothing's gonna happen. You're fine!" she mumbled to herself out loud.
"That's what you think, my little Sweetie Pie," said a dark, menacing voice from behind her.
Sophie blinked her eyes open with a horrified, throaty gasp. She turned around quickly, her heart beating in her chest and her eyes filled with terror. To her horror, standing in front of her was Scarecrow, with a sinister smile on his evil, twisted face.
"No!" Sophie choked out, dashing away from her living nightmare that was the horrific Jonathan Crane.
Sophie didn't get very far in her fleeing when she felt a pair of long hands wrap around her tiny waist and pull her backward.
"Oh no, you don't!" said Scarecrow, laughing a deep laugh as he pulled his victim closer. "You're not going anywhere, Little Mockingbird."
Scarecrow used the sick, demented nickname he had called her when she was held hostage in his laboratory, and Sophie's heart stopped upon hearing it again. Memories began to flash back in her mind as if it were yesterday, and she almost couldn't stand it.
Sophie tried to resist his grasp as she thrashed and twisted, but he held her as tightly as he could and she couldn't shake his grip. "Let me go!" she screamed out in panic, then suddenly gasped for breath. "Harley!" she screamed in panic. "Harley, help m-"
Without hesitation, Scarecrow clamped an icy-cold hand over Sophie's mouth and shoved her hard against the back of the door. "There's no use trying to scream for help, sweetie. After all, if you remember...when you're with me, no one can hear you scream." He cackled as fresh tears poured from Sophie's terrified eyes. "Did you really think you could escape me a second time, Mockingbird? Those friends of yours ruined my plans, so it's only fair that I get to finish what I started, isn't it?"
Sophie still tried to cry out for help, but she barely made a peep through his cold hand. She needed Harley, she needed the Joker, she needed Bud and Lou - she needed someone to protect her, but she couldn't signal them through her gag. It was no use, as the Scarecrow's clammy hand made it certain that no sound could escape her mouth.
"First, I'm going to kill you, but slow-ly," Scarecrow continued, his eyes shining. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."
Sophie gasped, tears rolling like a faucet out of her eyes. She felt faint, but Scarecrow's strong grip held her up as she listened to his dastardly plans.
"Then when this is all over...when you're dead and gone," Scarecrow continued. "I'm gonna get your precious little Harley Quinn." Scarecrow cackled wickedly as Sophie whimpered. "Oh, yes," he continued, relishing in her panic. "I'll take Harley back to my laboratory, too. I'll fill her entire bloodstream with my Nightmare Toxins until she dies from the intense, unliveable pain. And, you know something, Mockingbird? It'll be all your fault! Harley has to die because you didn't die the first time like you were supposed to!" He chuckled, again. "But, at least I have my chance, now!"
Sophie was unable to move as he reached inside his long trench coat and pulled out a huge, shining black needle. Once she saw the needle, she immediately knew what was inside. It was the Scarecrow's deadly toxin that had almost killed her the first time he had administered it. Sophie began to feel faint. She screamed as loud as she could, but it came out sounding like nothing but quiet, intense cries. Neither Harley nor the Joker, or even Bud or Lou heard a single sound coming from the room next to them.
"Time to say goodnight, Sweetie Pie!" Scarecrow didn't waste any time as he jabbed the needle directly into Sophie's heart and jammed his thumb down on it. The last time, he had used Sophie's arm as an entry point, but this time, he wanted his deadly poison to be injected directly into her heart, just to be sure she wouldn't survive this time.
The pain was worse than Sophie had ever felt in her life, and she screamed in muffled agony as she felt the venomous liquid seep through her bloodstream. In an instant, Sophie collapsed onto the floor, her eyes wide with terror and her gasping, rapid breath becoming short and staggered with each passing second.
The Scarecrow bent down and caressed Sophie's flushed freckled cheek with his finger, clicking his tongue. "How dreadful it is to see you go like this, my sweet little bird. All alone on this cold, hard floor without a friend in the world to protect you. I wonder how sad Harley will be tomorrow morning when she wakes up. I can see it all now," said Scarecrow, as Sophie's heavy breathing grew louder as the toxins spread throughout her body. "Our silly, giddy clown-girl will come strolling over, ready to make some delicious morning coffee, hm? And then she'll see you, her sweet wittle Sweetie Pie, passed out right here on the floor, as cold as ice. No more giggles, no more hugs, no more heartbeat." His eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a grin. "No life left."
Sophie's eyes filled with more tears and they trickled down her face one after the other.
"Oh, she'll mourn you, that's for sure," Scarecrow continued. "But, don't worry. She won't have too much time to mourn your death, because I'll be waiting to grab her, too. And I promise I'll make her suffer much more than you ever did!" He chuckled loudly as he stood up. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" He took one last look back at Sophie, still laying, barely breathing on the concrete floor. He tipped his hat, opened the door, and was gone, leaving Sophie alone to die.
Sophie's chest felt tighter than ever, and she tried with all her might to call for help. "Harley!" she screamed. Or rather, she thought she screamed. What came out was nothing more than a quiet whisper. "Harley!" she tried again, desperately.
Sophie willed herself to crawl towards the back room where she knew Harley and the Joker were, but her arms and legs were paralyzed from the toxins and she was stuck in place. She then knew she was a goner, and nothing else could be done to save her. Defeated, she cried hot, heavy tears, and tried one last time to call for Harley, at least to say goodbye. She barely managed to get the first syllable out before her eyes slowly closed, not a moment before a loud, yet sweet, concerning voice pierced the darkness.
"Sweetie? Sweetie wake up!" Harley rushed over to Sophie and sat down, trying to shake her back awake, again. "Sophie, little bunny? Wake up, wake up!"
But, Sophie couldn't wake up, anymore.