In the chill of the early morning, Robin stood by the window and watched Batman's plane take off. He knew that Batman's next stop was Washington. Barbara, behind him, rolled her wheelchair up to his side and spoke.
"Don't worry too much. He has never been troubled by such mundane issues. We have our own matters to attend to."
"It's not that simple, Barbara." Robin turned to look at Barbara seated in her wheelchair, "Don't you find all of this strange? We still don't know who knocked out the whole town."
"Maybe we should ask Scarecrow in jail." Barbara sighed, "Who else could be so crazy?"
Robin's lips moved, but considering that all his presumptions were merely groundless guesses, he headed for the sofa nearby, sat down and said, "Believe it or not, I have a bad feeling about Batman's trip to Washington. We have experienced too many unexpected happenings."
Barbara naturally discerned the implication in Robin's words. She couldn't say she had no suspicions of her own, but she comforted him anyway, "Don't overthink it. Right now, the most urgent thing is to quickly restore order in Gotham. Dick mentioned that he would stay, didn't he?"
"He is always happy to help. But, he needs to return to Brude Haven first to ensure everything is fine there. Are you going to the police station?"
"I will be on standby in the Bell Tower. Business as usual, I'll inform you where there's trouble that needs handling through the Sky-eye system. Remember to keep communication."
After Barbara left, Robin remained seated in the same place, burdened with thoughts. Not long after, he noticed that Peter had actually left with Barbara.
Robin rushed to the monitoring room in the Batcave at top speed. Upon discovering that Dick was not there, he sneakily began to track Peter's movements.
He saw that Batman's new assistant first went to the Bell Tower with Barbara. Of course, he didn't do anything there, merely had a chat with Barbara. But this made it seem even more suspicious.
Then he went to the Gotham Police Department, something Robin had not expected. Again, he didn't do anything there, other than having a chat with Gordon, which seemed suspicious in the extreme.
As for him heading to Penguin Man's mansion afterwards, it seemed not as astonishing in comparison, considering he could possibly have gone to beat up Penguin Man, which was a completely plausible explanation.
However, not long after, an action that Robin couldn't comprehend occurred: Peter began to dart around in Gotham City.
He hurriedly went to the Northern Island for a while, moving about in various buildings, rooms and basements, then he was near Stagg's airship, coming in and out of elevators and porches.
Stranger still, this guy could even climb up and down walls and often took off vent hatches to crawl into them, causing Robin to lose his trace on the monitor.
Generally, humans imitating insect movements do not seem graceful, it only appears very odd, and brings back some unpleasant memories.
If Robin were forced to describe his observation of Peter Parker's behavior in Gotham City, it's like a cockroach entering a room– you don't know what its purpose is, you only know how quickly it scurries about, and how creepy it appears.
Robin swallowed, took two steps back. He wanted to call Nightwing over to show him this, but remembered that Nightwing might still be in Brude Haven. While Robin was considering whether to give Nightwing a call, Nightwing called him first.
"Hello, Tim." Nightwing's voice was accompanied by a hint of static, he said, "There are strange tracks at my base, and surveillance footage has been deleted. I am not sure what's going on. Perhaps I can send the data to you for a look?"
Robin received the data Nightwing sent over with his communicator. The most noticeable part was the marks left by a truck. There were no license plates, but it was possible to roughly determine the company the truck was hired from, through the tread pattern of the tires.
Following this clue and looking down the thread, there were not many suspects. Most of Gotham's inhabitants were drugged unconscious. Those able to move were either superheroes or super villains.
Robin didn't think that any super villain would seize this opportunity to drive a truck to Brude Haven, let alone break into Nightwing's base.
While Robin was considering this issue, he heard sounds coming from the lab underneath the Batcave. When he cautiously went down and opened the door, he found Peter Parker standing in front of the laboratory bench.
Upon seeing him, Peter was startled, quickly diverted his gaze, but soon threw over a set of protective clothing, saying, "If you want to come in, put this on. But I would advise you not to."
"What are you doing?"
"Some chemical analyses... wait, don't come any closer." Peter used one hand to stop Robin from moving forward. "I don't know if you remember the lab safety regulations, but either put on protective clothing or leave."
Robin deeply furrowed his brow, holding the door handle while looking at Peter, "You should know that Batman's lab has the most complete safety measures in the world, right?"
"There is no such thing as safety measures that are safe enough in this world, only researchers who are safety conscious." Peter said with some resentment, "If you are not professional enough, just listen to me. This is for your safety."
Robin's hand holding the doorknob halted. Almost no one in the Batman Family talked to him in this tone. Not even Batman would, who usually just told him, "Wait outside, we'll discuss this in half an hour."
But Robin didn't rashly march in either. He just stood in the doorway and asked, "What kind of experiments are you doing?"
"As I said, chemical analysis."
"I'm asking what specifically are you analyzing?"
"A kind of chemical substance that can be analyzed."
Robin was speechless as he watched Peter. Peter shook his head, "Sorry, I'm unable to explain in detail what this thing is because it can only be known after it's analyzed."
"If you want to come in, put on a hazmat suit. If you're not interested, leave and close the door behind you. Don't forget to secure the air-tight seal," said Peter.
After saying this, Peter turned around and went back to his work.
Robin could tell that Peter wasn't lying and everything he emphasized was sincere. The biggest issue, however, was what Peter was currently working on.
Robin didn't have a pathological fear of chemistry. He didn't believe all chemical experiments were evil. If the experiment was truly harmless, why didn't Peter do it when Batman was here? Why did he wait until Batman was gone before secretly conducting the experiment alone in the lab?
However, Robin had no background in chemistry. He knew that if he rushed in, he probably wouldn't understand what Peter was working on in a short period of time. It might even alarm him and warn him off.
So he chose to step back for the moment. After leaving, he closed the door for Peter. Turning his head, he then went to the security room and recorded footage of Peter's experiments.
Famous chemists were rare in Gotham. Even fewer were awake at this hour. So finally, Robin decided to visit Scarecrow in his cell.
Before going to court, all criminals were detained at the police station. Considering the danger posed by Gotham's criminals, the cells in Gotham Police Department were located underground with tight security. At least criminals like Scarecrow wouldn't have much chance to escape successfully.
After telling Gordon why he was there, Gordon arranged a secure room for Robin. Scarecrow knew he couldn't escape, so he didn't waste many words.
"Take me directly to Arkham. I need to pick a good cell so you don't put me where all the noisy people are when you throw them in," said Scarecrow impatiently. "We all know the outcome of the court. Spare me the red tape."
Although Robin felt somewhat infuriated by Scarecrow's carefree attitude, he knew he needed his help. So, whilst he didn't agree, he didn't say much else - instead, he threw a disk containing footage of Peter's experiments onto the table in front of Scarecrow.
Scarecrow picked up the disk with a puzzled expression, and Robin produced a small projector. Scarecrow leisurely inserted the disk into it.
In the dimly lit room, the flickering light of the projector caught Scarecrow's attention. He initially played with his shirt sleeve and muttered to himself, without paying much attention to the screen.
However, the footage quickly drew his attention, and from his expression, Robin could tell that Scarecrow knew something.
Scarecrow paused the footage and rewound it. The projection freeze-framed on a notebook filled with cryptic words that Robin found unfamiliar. Yet, his reaction suggested that Scarecrow did not share the same confusion.
After looking over it repeatedly, Scarecrow lifted his head slightly, a look of realization on his face. He then offered Robin a chilling, all-too-familiar smirk.
"Clever boy," Scarecrow remarked.
"You'd better not hide anything from me. You know I can see through all your lies," Robin said sternly.
"And you don't have to imitate Batman. You're not him, and nobody in this town is afraid of you," Scarecrow retorted curtly.
His hands were handcuffed, and his feet were shackled and fixed to a chair. Despite this, he didn't show any fear as he watched Robin approach him.
"You can beat me up if you want, but remember, if you land me in the hospital, there'll be nobody to stop this kid," he continued.
Robin paused mid-action, a frown crossing his face. He stood on the other side of the table, staring at Scarecrow, "I want you to prove to me that you're the best chemist in the city, not just some smooth talker."
"If you continue to be stubborn, I might arrange your cell right beneath Two-Face's. Then you'll be listening to his coins hitting the floor all day long."
Scarecrow gave a cold huff, muttering a few words under his breath, "You don't even begin to compare to Batman. But I suppose I could do you a favor. Time to show this Peter Parker who the best chemist in this city really is."
"So, what is he working on?"
"Chemical analysis," replied Scarecrow.
"Be more specific!" Robin demanded, clenching his teeth.
"He's analyzing a 'virus.'
Robin's eyes widened.
Scarecrow crossed his fingers and placed his hands in front of him, thinking aloud as he spoke, "He's likely analyzing its contagiousness. The things written in his notes are quite unusual. I can only tell you that it's the result of immunostaining a certain virus."
"And the result?"
After a few minutes of thought, the Scarecrow answered in an unusually cautious tone that Robin had not heard before.
"It might be a type of prion disease, but I would need an image of the brain cortex to make a specific conjecture."
"And this virus causes…?"
Scarecrow looked at Robin as if he were illiterate but replied after a snide grimace, "To put it in words you would understand, it usually causes insanity."