If you looked at stately Wayne manor on the outskirts of Gotham City, you would not notice anything special about it. It looked like the average home of a billionaire. It had a huge garage that could fit twenty of the largest cars and ten motorcycles. Inside the mansion was a cabinet holding the finest china. An enormous chandelier with diamond tipped fixtures hung proudly from the ceiling. In one room was a museum of weaponry including the finest samurai swords and medieval weapons. In one corner of the living room was a polished grandfather clock. Probably the most noteworthy object in the grand house was an almost life-size portrait of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

One might have guessed from the painting that this house belonged to Thomas and Martha and that might have been true if it had not been for a horrendous tragedy that occurred several decades ago. Thomas and Martha Wayne were taking their young son Bruce to see the latest Grey Ghost movie who had been Bruce's favorite superhero. Bruce was on an emotional high until his parents decided to take a shortcut through a dark alley. A man with a gun stopped the family and demanded that the young couple hand over all of their money. The robber took great notice in Martha's sparkling pearl necklace. Thomas foolishly tried to fight the robber and got shot dead for his trouble. As the pearl necklace disintegrated and flew all over the alley, the robber killed Martha to silence her screaming. Young Bruce would have been in mortal peril if it had not been for the approaching sirens. In the years to follow, Bruce Wayne made a vow that no one else would suffer the same fate that he had. He would dedicate his life to fighting crime. He would strike fear into the hearts of evil doers everywhere as Batman, the dark knight.

If one would look behind the grandfather clock, one would find a dark passageway leading into a foreboding cave where several bats flew around the ceiling. The cave was a museum of several odd relics. One of them was a giant coin with a scratch on one side. Another was a playing card with the face of a joker on it. There was also a rather large hat with a numbered card on it that looked suspiciously like a hat on of the characters in the book Alice In Wonderland would wear. Aside from the museum was a rather large computer with all of the latest crime fighting equipment.

Seated at the computer was a rather dark man wearing a suit shaped like a bat who was studying a silver hourglass he had found on a dead man. He was Batman, the caped crusader. He would have been very scary if it had not been for the even taller man standing behind him wearing a blue suit and a red cape. Even the most powerful enemies of the universe had to respect the man who was faster than a speeding bullet, Superman.

"What do you make of it, Bruce?" Superman asked the dark knight.

"I don't know," Batman growled. "I have ran several tests on this object but I have not been able to determine anything about it."

Batman open a small compartment in his computer and slipped the silver hourglass inside it. When he closed the door, a light scanned the device and a computerized device gave its master its findings.

"Unknown object. Unknown composition. This object is made out of a substance that is not on file."

"Where did you find this?" Superman asked his friend.

"I found this on a rather odd looking man," Batman explained. "I don't know who he is, but I definitely know what happened to him."

Batman rapidly punched several keys on his computer and a snapshot of the poor unfortunate weirdo appeared on the monitor. The man was a balding dead man with a rather ugly grin frozen on his face.

"The Joker, huh?" Superman said, making a rather unnecessary observation.

"I would think so," Batman gruffly replied. "It would also be my guess that the dead man is the one who has been killing off pawn shop owners lately."

"Why would the Joker leave this behind?" Superman inquired.

"He is rather strapped for cash these days," Batman answered. "I doubt he knew what it was anyway."

"I can tell you what it is," a strange woman's voice spoke out from behind Batman.

Batman bolted out of his chair to confront the intruder. Who was this intruder with shocking pink hair and a plain pink robe and had she discovered Batman's secret? What's more, how did she get into the cave undetected. Batman grabbed a batarang from his utility belt and threw it at the woman. The woman whipped out a short stick and turned the projectile into a harmless balloon. She was not so fortunate in dealing with Batman's friend. In a flash of light too quick for the human eye to see, Superman grabbed the stick and pulled the woman's arms behind her back.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Batman demanded in almost a yell.

"Easy," the woman pleaded. "I didn't come here for trouble. My name is Tonks and I can tell you about the object you're looking at."

"Go on," Batman ordered as Superman let her go. "But no funny stuff. I don't have a sense of humor."

"That is a time turner," Tonks replied. "I ordinarily wouldn't be allowed to tell you, but these are rather dark times."

"I've never heard of a time turner," Superman declared.

"It is a device wizards and witches use to observe time," Tonks spoke.

"There are no such things," Batman spat.

"How can you say that when we are friends with Zatana?" Superman wondered.

"Fair enough," Batman agreed.

"I'm here because that device is too dangerous to be…" Tonks proclaimed but stopped when she saw the picture on Batman's computer.

"What's wrong?" Superman asked.

"I know him," Tonks whispered as she walked towards the computer.

"Who is he?" Batman growled.

"His name is Peter Pettigrew and he's supposed to be dead," Tonks explained.

"He is now," Batman offered.

"What happened to him?" Tonks wondered.

"He happened to him," Batman answered as he punched some more keys on his computer causing the picture of the clown prince of crime to appear on the picture.

"Who is he?" Tonks squeaked with a shudder.

"His name is the Joker and he is the worst monster I've ever come across," Batman explained.

"He can't be as bad as the dark lord," Tonks refused.

"Just because the Joker can't do magic, it doesn't mean he is not as bad as this dark lord, whoever he might be," Batman argued. "If he could, your dark lord couldn't hold a candle to him. Picture exploding whoopee cushions popping up out of nowhere."

"Sounds like an evil version of Fred and George," Tonks giggled.

"The Joker is no laughing matter," Batman barked.

"I'm sure he isn't," Tonks agreed. "I think your group might be able to help us with our new problem."

"Maybe," Superman replied.

"First, can I have my wand back?" Tonks asked.