Solicits[]
The Turtles must face their worst fears when they confront the deadly Scarecrow! Meanwhile, Batman takes the fight to Shredder and the Joker only to find that the greatest danger has yet to be revealed!
Appearing in To Laugh so not to Cry[]
Major characters[]
- April O'Neil
- Batgirl
- Batman
- Donatello
- Harley Quinn
- The Joker
- Leonardo
- Michelangelo
- Raphael
- Robin
- Shredder
Minor characters[]
- Baxter Stockman
- Bebop
- Bud (mutates)
- Fishface
- Footbot Soldiers
- Lou (mutates)
- Mad Hatter
- Rahzar
- Rocksteady
- Scarecrow
- Tiger Claw
Hallucinations[]
- Alfred Pennyworth
- Catwoman
- The Penguin
- The Riddler
Main Locations, Vehicles, and Accessories[]
Synopsis[]
Batman walks through the crowded streets of New York City in the East Village, now flooded with fear gas. People all around him are screaming as they imagine their worst fears come true. Unaffected due to the gas mask he is wearing, Batman moves against the crowd, sometimes having to fight people to get by. Ahead of him he sees Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow.
When Scarecrow turns down an alleyway, Batman follows him and calls out his name. Suddenly the alley vanishes to be replaced the ruins of the Monarch Theatre and the city around it. Batman removes his gas mask, realizing there’s a crack in it and he’s been affected. A voice calls out and he rushes to the fallen figure of Alfred. This doppelganger asks why he went, why he abandoned Gotham. He accuses Batman of leaving the city alone with “them”. Batman looks up and sees a rogues gallery of his enemies. While he is distracted by his vision, Scarecrow hits him in the head with a shovel and knocks him out.
Elsewhere, the Joker, inside the Foot Headquarters speaks on the phone with Harley Quinn. Near the Joker, Baxter Stockman works at a computer station attached to a huge vat of mutagen. Behind them both sits the Shredder, still laughing from the gas Joker hit him with. Joker asks Harley about the night’s errand and relays that the boys at the Zoo said they had some luck. Harley replies that she also made out well and loves this new city. There are no super people in capes, no disgruntled sidekicks and no hard-as-nails police commissioner with a heart of gold. Joker dons Shredder’s helmet and asks if she found all the necessary ingredients. Inside a warehouse filled with barrels of a toxic substance, Harley says she found enough for a batch of Joker Gas to keep the whole city in stitches – literally.
In Chinatown, a fight ensues atop a building where two portals have appeared. A contingent of Footbot Soldiers with wildly painted faces, like those helping Harley, are attacking Donatello, Michelangelo, April O'Neil, Robin and Batgirl. When Robin says this isn’t good, Mikey comments that he kind of likes the new look. He says that sure they want to maim or kill them, but they’re super friendly about it, sort of like really good customer service. Donatello then calls out that he thinks he’s found something and needs a minute with it. The object he’s holding is about the size and shape of a dime and has the image of a bunny on the face. Donnie says he doesn’t know what it is, but it doesn’t look like Kraang tech. As April slices the head off a Footbot, she tells Don to take two minutes because they’ve got this.
April and Batgirl fight a Footbot soldier together and April asks if Joker is another one of the escaped convicts. Batgirl replies that he’s the worst of the worst, and when April guesses he’s now running the Foot Clan, Batgirl says it’s a safe bet. One of the Footbots runs for the roof’s edge and Robin says to let that one get away so they can follow it. He’s too late though because Mikey has already sliced the Footbot in two with his kusarigama. When Robin starts to complain, Mikey tells him they’ve known where Shredder’s hideout is for years. Robin thinks this is the weirdest dimension ever. He and Batgirl realize that they can’t take on Joker and the Shredder alone. Robin says he’ll make the call.
Meanwhile, Batman awakens chained to a brick wall. Scarecrow stands over him and Batman looks over to see Leonardo and Raphael are also captives, both still trapped in their own personal nightmares. Scarecrow tells Batman he believes this is the worst nightmare terrain and the gang’s all here – as it appears he has Catwoman, the Ridder and the Penguin all standing with him.
Then Robin’s voice comes through Batman’s communicator, telling him it’s the big one, that it’s the Joker. Batman’s eyes narrow as he focuses past the fear, but Scarecrow, believing he’s still under the fear gas spell, leans in close. He asks if Batman has no final words and when Batman mutters something, Scarecrow comes even closer. Batman quickly head butts him and tells him he’s no Joker. Straining, Batman pulls against his chains and snaps them loose from the wall while Scarecrow shouts for him to stop. Freed, Batman advances on Scarecrow who back away and then leaps through a portal to escape. Batman falls to his knees, panting from his exertions.
At the Foot hideout, Harley is directing the Footbots as they unload barrels of toxic chemicals. She fusses at one of them for walking away while she’s talking and when she goes after it, sees Batgirl, April and Don. Harley runs to Batgirl, exclaiming that she’s glad to see her and that things have gotten out of hand, even for her. She turns and heads for a pair of doors in the warehouse, telling the heroes to see for themselves that what he’s doing is just… monstrous! She flings open the doors to present a giant pair of hyenas. Both wear suits and ties and are named Bud and Lou.
Inside Shredder’s throne room, the Joker tells Stockman his latest idea. They put the gas in peanut brittle jars and send them to old folks’ home all over the city. When unsuspecting Eunice opens up her sweet treat, everybody smiles. Shredder sits on the floor against the picture window, still laughing. Stockman asks why not just pollute the water supply and then there’s a crash, causing Joker to ask if it’s that same bat-time already. Donatello comes flying into the room, hits the ground and slides to a stop at Joker’s feet. Joker says he doesn’t remember ordering shellfish.
Suddenly, the door bursts as Batgirl and April kick Lou through it. Watching from nearby, Bebop says they should get out there, but Rocksteady lifts an arm to block Shredder’s mutants from entering the fray and says no. Rocksteady says that the clown makes a mockery of the Foot, and the fight belongs to him alone. Outside on a ledge are Batman, Leo and Raph. Batman calls Robin to say they’ve arrived and to ask if he’s on his way. Robin replies that he can be, that Mikey volunteered to stay back and watch the portals and he volunteered to stay back and watch him. Mikey is tossing peanuts up to catch them in his mouth, leans to far forward, and almost falls into a portal. Robin inches the bridge of his nose and says he thinks he made the right choice. Batman tells him they’ll make do, and Robin asks how. Batman looks over at Leo and Raph, still suffering from the gas, and says he’s going to rally the troops.
Batman turns to the two Turtles and tells them he’s headed down to the fight and needs their help. Raph is petrified, believing that Leo and Batman are giant roaches. Leo sees Raph and Batman as melting living corpses and says it’s already too late. Batman explains that whatever they’re experiencing isn’t real and that he’s dealt with Scarecrow’s fear gas before. He tells the pair that the clown down below them is very real and he’s worse than anything in their heads. Batman then tells them that they have two options; they can see the world how Scarecrow wants them to or stop it from becoming that way. Stating that he’s made his choice, Batman bursts through the skylight.
Landing on top of Lou, Batman’s weight drives the mutant down to the floor, which knocks him out. Batgirl shoves Don out of the way to save him from getting hit and blushing, he thanks her. Batman leaps up and starts to turn but doesn’t move fast enough to avoid being grabbed in a crushing hold by Bud. Raph and Leo enter the throne room, though Raph groans that he can’t do this. Leo reminds him that nothing he sees is real, that they are ninja, trained by the best of the best. He tells Raph to think of Master Splinter and all he taught them. Leo says that Splinter could see through this in a second.
Shredder suddenly looks up and clamps his mouth shut to remove the grin. He mutters Splinter’s name as he hears Leo tell his brother that if their father could do it, so can they. With that, Leo and Raph attack Bud, causing the hyena to drop Batman. The Turtles knock Bud out and Batman turns towards Joker. However, Joker holds up a canister and says he didn’t know Batman was coming, so he only has a tiny bit of Joker Gas to share and though it’s not much, it’s enough to fill the room and….
Before he can finish, Shredder hits him from behind and knocks him out cold. Shredder retrieves his helmet and places it on his head. He tells everyone that it’s over and to take their clowns and get out. Harley is about to hit April with a mallet, but Don stops her by placing his bō under her chin. Now with his own mutants around him, Shredder tells the group that their fight is for another day.
Atop another building, the heroes have the still unconscious Joker and Harley tied up. Leo asks if it’s even possible to shrug off Joker’s gas like Shredder did. Batgirl tells him the answer is no. She doesn’t know what Shredder is made of, but he must have a will like iron. Suddenly, Don calls out that it’s not the Kraang. Everyone turns to him, and Leo asks what he means. Donatello is examining the object he found and says that this whole time they’ve assumed that the Kraang were behind the portals, but it’s not them.
Batman walks over to him and Don hands him the object. Don calls it a beacon and says he’s studied it and he’s sure it’s somebody else’s. A someone who has tapped into the Kraang’s frequency. He says the beacons are receptors, manmade receptors. They’re built to control minds from somewhere far away. Don is also willing to bet that the metals are from Batman’s dimension. He asks if that sounds familiar and if Batman knows anyone who could pull that off.
Cut to a large room in disrepair, with cobwebs and spiders all around. Seated at a table is the Mad Hatter, the final Arkham Asylum escapee. An inventor, genius – and the maddest of them all.
To be continued…
Trivia[]
- Most of the screaming people on the first page are modeled after the creators of this mini-series.
- There is a cameo of Miyamoto Usagi and Mega Man on the last page.
- One of the Mad Hatter's teapots resembles an Angry Bird.
- The truck used to deliver the chemical barrels is labeled “Eastman and Laird Toxic Chemical”.