Meanwhile, Batman is in pursuit of the Scarecrow and the kidnapped child, Colin Wilkes. As instructed in the message left for him by Crane, Batman heads to Bald Hills Caverns alone. He arrives there to find that Crane too has come alone without any henchmen. Unfortunately things are never that simple.

Crane had outfitted Colin, a child plagued with fear and with a natural predilection towards violent outburst, with a Venom disbursement system similar to Bane's. When Batman attempts to help Colin, Scarecrow triggers the release of the Venom toxin into his brain and releases a colony of bats frightening Colin and provoking him into attacking Batman. During his battle with Colin, Batman blacks out and his mind drifts back to a memory from his youth.

A globe trotting Bruce Wayne returns home briefly and attends an event where he runs into Tommy Elliott and his mom. Tommy refuses to meet up with Bruce in Venice out of fear that doing so may jeopardize his chances of his mother letting him leave for med school. When he is sent to fetch something for his mother, Tommy Elliot has a brief encounter with a kindred spirit named Peyton Riley (the future Ventriloquist).

Bruce comes to back in the present and manages to sic Colin on the Scarecrow before cutting off the supply of Venom going into the boy's brain. After handing over Crane to the authorities and making sure the boy was safely in their custody as well, Batman receives a message from Oracle. Oracle tells him that Selina is in the Gotham General Hospital Emergency ward.

Batman races to the hospital and arrives to find Selina lying in traction kept alive only by machinery. Hush has taken out Selina's heart.