"This way, Mr. Wayne."

"What did they take?"

"Nothing, sir, but there was a large power spike inside the room last night."

"Do we know who did this?"

"We're not sure sir."

Liar, thought Bruce Wayne. It's obvious from the bodies alone. You just don't want to admit it.

"Actually, sir, you seem to have gotten lucky this time."

"I wouldn't call eight dead staff members 'lucky', Mr. Bullock."

"Well...you know...you big shots don't usually care."

"Thank you, Mr. Bullock. I'd like to access my laboratory, if you don't mind."

Bullock paused. "Of course, Mr. Wayne," he muttered, before trudging out the door.

What a disagreeable man, thought Bruce. If he didn't insist on chasing the Batman down like a common criminal, perhaps he might actually do some good on the force.

After all, the Batman was no common criminal. Just an uncommon one.

He placed his hand on a large industrial refrigerator. There was a quiet beep from somewhere behind the walls. Then the refrigerator slid sideways to reveal a room filled with what looked to be computers. At the very centre was a platform that seemed almost alien in design. That should have been all. But it wasn't.

Hovering over the platform was a glowing orb that shimmered and rippled as if it were alive. Bruce looked straight into it. The Joker probably used this. How had he known?

Good thing he brought a spare costume with him. There was work to do.


Vegeta surveyed the landscape with a solid expression. "There! There it is!" he yelled suddenly, and darted forward to investigate further.

"Vegeta! Wait for the others! We don't know what we're getting into!" shouted Goku, who had just appeared over the ridge. He sped forward to try to keep up with the Saiyan prince. He saw Vegeta up ahead. He had stopped on the edge of a large crater and was staring down into it.

"What is it?" asked Goku, coming up beside him. He didn't have to hear the answer.

Inside the crater was Buu. Or at least, what looked like Buu. It was convulsing violently on the floor and foaming at the mouth. Its hands clawed the rock around it leaving great marks everywhere. No longer was this the confidant and collected creature they had fought only minutes ago. This was a sorry suffering animal brought down to earth. It almost seemed...sick.

In the blink of an eye, the convulsions stopped. Buu stood up, sighed in what seemed like relief and turned to face them. Except that wasn't Buu.

The creature now facing them was pale - almost white. Its eyes were still a solid red colour, but the rage was replaced by a serenity that almost covered a wild insanity. The antenna that had once graced its head was now what looked like many tiny green spikes - almost like...hair. The thing that stuck out the most, though, was its mouth. It had stretched into what looked like the most grotesque smile Goku had ever seen. Then the creature spoke.

"Huh. So I'm in control now," it said. "Looks like that Buu character couldn't take a joke."


Batman slipped through the debris along the tracks Joker had left behind. Cotton candy, the head of a stuffed bear - it was almost as if he wanted to be found. Knowing the Joker, he probably did.

BOOM!

Batman dodged behind a rock. That noise had come from over there in that big crater. He looked around to see what was happening. There was a tiny figure floating in the air holding what appeared to be a small man by his hair and punching him repeatedly. No, stabbing him. Batman pulled out a pair of heat-detecting binoculars and scanned the area. There were a few heat signatures but they were all dying fast. Probably just bodies. He looked back at the smaller man. It had been thrown aside and now lay in a pool of blood on the ground.

Then Batman heard a laugh that he knew all too well. The Joker. He looked at the figure. Yes, there was no mistaking it.

The creature screamed and a hole seemed to appear out of nowhere. Batman couldn't see much but he didn't need to. There was no mistaking that skyline. The Joker was back in Gotham.

He knew exactly what he had to do now.