Saturday Night


"These streets belong to us now!" the leader of Vale's White Knife gang shouted, rallying his men.

"Mike!" his second in command reported to him. "The Red Faces are coming out to meet us.

Mike drew his signature weapons, two kukris with bleach-white blades. "Tear them apart." He led the charge against the opposing gang.


Blake looked down on the gang war from a rooftop above. Animals, she thought as she watched the violence. There are bigger enemies out there like the White Fang and the Grimm, and they're still too busy fighting each other over a few blocks of territory.

"I just hung up with Junior," Yang said as she walked up to her partner's side. "I told him Ruby's coming to get information and exactly what will happen should anyone lay a finger on her."

"Do you think he'll risk it?" Blake asked her.

"After the work I did the first time I showed up at his club? He's not that stupid. Heard from Weiss?"

"Yes. She messaged me saying that she got copies of all the files on Batman and the Joker the Schnee Dust Company could provide. She's says it's a lot to sort through."

"Sounds like these two have a long history together."

"Yeah. She also said that she's going to go ahead and meet Ruby at Junior's. So you won't have to worry about her as much," the Faunus girl assured her partner

"I'm still ready to head over and lay some smackdown if I have to." The blonde brawler accentuated her remark by punching her fist into her palm.

"You know, Yang. You could've gone with your sister. I can do this myself."

"Come on, Blake. Ruby's going to get information from a club that's too afraid of me to make a move on her. You're going out on the gang-ridden streets. One of these holds a bit more danger than the other."

Blake gave a half smile. "I guess you have a point."

"And since I mentioned us being on the gang-ridden streets," Yang got to the question that had been plaguing her for the last several minutes, "what exactly are we doing out here? You said we were gonna get information. How is watching a bunch of dirtbags trying to kill each other gonna tell us anything about a vigilante and a psychopath from Atlas?"

"Not much. But that's not why we're out here," Blake answered. "If this Batman is truly a vigilante, he won't be able to just stand by and let two gangs with no amount of concern for collateral damage just go at each other."

Yang guessed the next step. "And when he gets here, we take him down and contact this Joker guy saying we got him?" There was a touch of concern in her voice. I wouldn't mark her to be the type to give in to demands like that.

"No," Blake assured her. "I just want to talk to him."

"I'm listening," they heard from a gravelly voice behind them.

Yang acted in an instant. She turned around and threw a punch… a punch that landed directly into the dark knight's waiting palm. In the moment she took to be surprised, he reached up with his other hand and tapped her gauntlet's locking mechanism near her palm. With the lock disengaged, Ember Celica opened up and ejected all of its unspent shells.

"I'm not here to fight you," Batman growled at her and let go of her fist. He looked to Blake. "You were clever to wait for me to show up here. But if you want to talk, you'll have to wait until after I'm done with these punks." He walked past them to the building's edge.

"Wait," Blake stopped him. "We can help you."

"No," he responded. "I don't need to fight them and worry about you two."

"We're huntresses," the Faunus continued to argue with him. "This is the kind of work we're trained to do."

"Yeah," Yang chipped in. "Besides, you saw how well we can handle ourselves last night, remember?"

Batman paused for a moment, pondering the consequences. "Don't make yourselves liabilities." He then leaped off the edge of the building to meet the criminals down below.

Blake looked to her partner, who was just finishing reloading her emptied gauntlet.

"Y'know," Yang said, "he's kind of a dick. But at least we're getting to see some action tonight." With that she followed the dark knight down, Blake close behind her.


The Bat was an unrelenting force in combat. His hits were brutal, but methodically non lethal. His presence was terrifying. For every thug he beat down, another fled in fear. Those who were brave enough to stay and fight were punished for their decision with bloodied teeth and broken bones. His opponents suffered all of this, while he remained untouched.

Blake couldn't help but admire his skill. Deathstroke had been the greatest warrior she had ever met. Batman was his equal at the very least. All of his skill, but used for a noble cause.

Blake was snapped out of her admiration by a White Knife thug charging her with his dagger raised. She raised Gambol Shroud and blocked his attack just as Yang ran up and blasted him to the ground.

"You doin' alright?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah," Blake answered as she kicked the downed thug in the head, knocking him out. "How about you?"

"Yeah," Yang said as she blasted her gauntlet at a retreating gangster. "Getting kinda bored though. He's hogging all of the action." She gestured over to Batman. "Gotta admit, though. He's doing some serious work."

"Yeah he is." Blake collapsed her weapon to Kama form and threw it at an approaching enemy, hitting him in the face, and pulled it back to her. "Maybe I should ask him if he'd like to be my new crime fighting partner."

Yang laughed, "You're so mean."

She turned back to face an approaching Red Face. Before he could reach her, though, a mechanical claw on the end of a cable latched onto the back of his jacket and he was pulled backwards off his feet. He flew right into Batman's waiting hand. He grabbed the thug by the back of his neck, lifted him into the air and slammed him to the ground, thoroughly breaking his nose and rendering him unconscious.

"That's the last of them," the dark knight informed the two huntresses as he reholstered his grapnel gun. The girls looked around them to see that all of their opponents had indeed either fled or been incapacitated.

"Hold up," Yang said as she spotted movement. "We've got one still up."

Batman looked to follow her eyes and stalked towards the gangster trying to slink away. He was crawling on his belly, hoping to be able to escape unnoticed. His hopes were dashed when the Bat grabbed him by his ankle and dragged him back to the center of the street. Once there, he flipped the thug over, grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. He was a small one, and with Batman's towering height over him, his feet were almost two feet off the ground.

Batman gave him a menacing glare. "Cowl, scan for ID." He paused a moment while the technology in his cowl communicated with the supercomputer in the Batcave. After a few seconds, he had an ID. "Dylon Saramago. Member of the Red Face gang. Where's your leader?"

Dylon didn't plan on resisting after the display he just saw. "Andy? N-no problem. He got taken in by the cops just last night. Small time robbery gone wrong."

Yang raised her hand up to fist bump her partner. Blake slapped her hand back down.

"With him gone, who's in charge now?" The dark knight questioned.

"I was kinda Andy's go-to guy. So I-I guess that'd be me," Dylon answered.

"So you should be informed about what goes on in Vale's underworld, shouldn't you?"

"I know some things."

"Tell me everything you know about the Joker." The vigilante held the street thug inches from his scowl. "And don't make me ask twice."

"The clown who wants you dead? I know a little. Been in Vale less than a week and he's already a top power player. He contacted the Red Faces, offerin' openings in his gang. I hear he did the same thing with the Knives. Invited everyone for a big get together to join up with him. Andy wasn't gonna do it. But with him gone, I dunno."

"When is this happening?" Batman growled. "Where?"

"Tomorrow night. Some old club in the industrial district. South of the river. I think it's called The Wall or somethin'."

"Thank you. You've been very cooperative," Batman said to him before punching him in the face, knocking him out cold. He dropped the thug and let him fall to the ground. He reached to the earpiece in his cowl and spoke, "Cave, I need the coordinates of a club in the industrial district of Vale called The Wall. And send an anonymous tip to Vale's police department with my current location. I left some garbage for them to pick up." He stood still for a moment, listening to whoever he was communicating with, before turning back to the girls. "I have my lead. If you still need to speak with me, meet me on the rooftop."

"Wait. What?" Blake asked confusedly. But before she could get any clarification, the Bat was already being pulled up to the rooftops by his grapnel gun. The Faunus girl groaned in aggravation.

"Well that was helpful," Yang remarked. "You sure we need to talk to this guy? Cause I'm starting to consider taking this Joker-guy's offer."

"Yang, he's our best chance of rescuing Professor Ozpin. And need I remind you of how fighting him last night went?"

Yang thought back to being in a block of ice. "Good point. So let's get up there, I guess. Again."


The two Huntresses made their way back up the building they were waiting on just a few minutes earlier. The dark knight was waiting for them at the edge.

"You two took three minutes getting back up here," he said in a rather disapproving manner.

"Well sorry," Yang snarked back. "We don't exactly have a bunch of fancy gadgets to help us get up here in six seconds flat."

"I didn't either when I started out. And I wouldn't have dared go out and do this had it taken me that long to disappear."

Before her partner could come up with another smartass remark, Blake tried to move the conversation back to what she needed of the crime fighter. "We're out here because we need your help. My name is-"

"Blake Belladonna," he finished for her. "And Yang Xiao Long. First year students at Beacon Academy. I know. I ID'd you last night. And I used the time you took to get back up here to read over your files. I know who you are." His scowl lingered on Blake as he said that. "And I assume you're here because of your headmaster, Professor Ozpin."

"Yes. He was captured by the Joker."

"I know. And I'd be concerned that you were here to pay his ransom had I not heard you say to the contrary earlier. So tell me, why are you out here looking for me?"

"We're out here following any leads we can on how to rescue our headmaster. And since it seems you and this Joker guy are… familiar with each other-"

"You want my help in tracking him down," he finished for her again.

Blake paused awkwardly. "Well, yes."

"I'll admit that that's an admirable, and for Huntresses, responsible thing to do. But trust me when I say this: back away from this. Huntresses are trained to take on some of the toughest of foes. But nothing can prepare you for him."

"I've dealt with psychopaths before," Blake declared confidently.

The dark knight simply glared. "No you haven't. Mr. Taurus may be beyond radical in his actions, but he still has a purpose and cause behind those actions. And every action Slade Wilson takes is for money."

Blake was stunned at Batman's knowledge of the people in her life she'd kept secret to most. Most people she knew didn't even know about her role in the White Fang. This complete stranger suddenly made her feel very small.

"Both of those men have reasons why they do things. But Joker is pure anarchic evil. He can't be reasoned with and should never be underestimated." He paused and looked out on the city. "I've made that mistake and paid its price too many times already."

"So what are we supposed to do then?" Yang asked.

"Go home," the dark knight answered bluntly as he walked to the buildings edge. "Return to your training and studies. I'll return your headmaster." He reached the edge and stopped. "Stay out of this. Don't let me catch you out here again." As he finished, he leaped off the rooftop, extended his cape, and glided off.

The two Huntresses watched him go before Yang released a heavy sigh and spoke up. "I guess we should get back off this roof and go meet up with Ruby and Weiss. You know, I'm getting really tired of climbing up and down this building tonight."


By midnight, Team RWBY was back in their dorm. They had all brought back findings from their various trips to gather information.

Weiss shared first. "According to the Atlesian records I found, these Batman and Joker characters were at each other's throats for over a decade. Batman has been fighting crime alongside the Atlas police since I was a child. Apparently, he's the actual reason why some of my father's less dignified business associates don't come around anymore. This Batman had them arrested for money laundering, drug smuggling, and apparently covering up the deaths of working class Faunus."

Blake was visibly appalled by that last one. "You didn't know about this?"

The Schnee heiress sighed. "It looks like my father was better at hiding things from me than I thought. I guess I'll give him credit that he cut ties with those associates when they got caught, as little as that says."

"What about the Joker?" Yang asked.

Weiss paused a moment. "What I found about him was… horrifying; a list of atrocities committed that seemed to have no end. He's killed thousands of people. He's a bigger threat than the White Fang." She stopped again. "I finally know what actually happened to several of my father's board members."

There was a moment of silence before Ruby asked the big question. "If he's this bad, why haven't any of us heard of him?"

"He's been in prison for four years," Weiss answered. "You were eleven the last time he was active. The rest of us were thirteen."

"Not to mention Weiss was sheltered from this by her father," Blake added. "I was caught up with the White Fang and you and Yang were on Patch. Patch tends to keep to themselves more. We were all out of the loop or too distracted with our own issues."

"Did you find anything about who these guys actually are?" Yang asked.

Weiss shook her head. "That may be the strangest part. These two have been around for fifteen years and nothing is known about who they are; no name or explanation. They just showed up one day out of the blue."

There was another moment of silence. Weiss was clearly disturbed by her discoveries today, her stare a thousand miles away.

Blake lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry you had to learn all of this."

Ruby walked over to her teammate and gave her a warm hug. "If you want I can share now."

Weiss came back to the present and wiggled out of the hug. "I'm okay. It's part of the job. Yes, Ruby. What did you find?"

Ruby backed off and cleared her throat before reporting. "I went to Junior's club to ask about the Joker in Vale. And, by the way, you guys totally should have seen the look on the doorman's face when I walked up. He was all like 'I'm sorry, little girl, but you're a little young to be here.' But when I dropped Yang's name, his eyes got all big and he said-"

"Ruby!" Weiss snapped. "Focus!"

Ruby's cheeks turned red and she clammed up. "Sorry. Haha. Anyway, Junior said he hadn't seen or heard from the Joker himself, but he did get approached by a new client named Jack White who wanted to rent out the whole club tomorrow night. But he said he never met the guy in person."

"Did he sell?" Weiss asked.

"No," Blake answered instead.

Ruby looked to her quizzically. "How did you know that?"

Yang stepped in. "Because Blake and I found out which club he did rent for his gang recruitment party."

"How did you find that out?" Weiss inquired.

"We met the Batman," Blake declared to the shocked Ruby and Weiss.


Cinder was using her Scroll to go through records of the White Fang's losses and their impact on her plans, when there was a knock at the door. Emerald drew one of her guns as she approached the door to check who it was.

She did her best to disguise her voice, channel her best Ruby Rose, and called, "Who is it?"

She heard a sigh and the familiar voice of Mercury from the other side. "It's me. Let me in." Emerald rolled her eyes and opened the door. Mercury stepped inside. "Someone needs acting lessons. That was one of the worst impressions I've ever heard."

"Oh haha. You're so funny," the dark skinned girl snarked back as she holstered her weapon.

Cinder looked up from her Scroll. "What have you discovered from the streets?" she asked.

"From what I can tell, this Joker guy is making quite the power play in Vale's underworld," the kick boxer reported. "He's looking to take over the local gangs to solidify his presence. Heard he's sent out invitations for a meetup to give them a chance to join him willingly before he forces them to."

"How'd you learn that?" Emerald questioned him.

"It's amazing what a gangster will tell you when you buy him a couple drinks."

"Do you know when and where this meetup will take place?" his boss asked him.

"Tomorrow night at some old club in the industrial district called The Wall."

"Then that's where I want you to be tomorrow evening," Cinder ordered.

"Want me to crash the party?" Mercury asked, a smile crossing his face.

"No. I want you to slip in undercover as a part of one of the gangs. Get in, find out where Roman is, and report back to me. And do not engage the Joker. I want this done with finesse; not force. We don't want attention brought to us directly yet."

Mercury's smile changed to a look of disappointment. "It won't be as fun, but I should be able to do that."


Not again! Dylon thought as he crawled through the alley. First the Knives, then the Bat, then the cops, now this! If I get outta this, I'm done with this crap!

"Where do you think you're going?" he heard from behind him before the Huntsman attacking him grabbed him by his collar, lifted him up, and shoved him against a dumpster.

Qrow leaned in close and snarled, "I've been asking around town and nobody's been much help. Do yourself a favor and cooperate." To enunciate his point, he drew his sword and held it's edge inches away from Dylon's face. "Joker. Spill it."

"You too?! How many people want this guy?!"

Qrow paused. "Who else is looking for him?"

"That Bat guy!" Dylon answered. "He kicked the crap outta my guys and did the same thing to me that you're doin' here right now."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him what I know! The Joker's holding a meet up with the gangs tomorrow night at The Wall. It's a night club south of the river. That's all I know! I swear!"

"Don't worry," Qrow said as he put his sword away. "That's all I need." He then lifted Dylon over his head and threw him into the dumpster. He closed the lid and turned to leave. He pulled his Scroll from his coat pocket and called General Ironwood. "Jimmy, I've got a lead."

"How did you- nevermind. I don't want to know," the general responded. "What do you have?"

"Clown's holding a welcome party for the other gangs tomorrow night. That's my best bet of getting to him."

"Do you have a location?"

"Wouldn't be much of a lead if I didn't, now would it?"

"Good. I'll get a squad together by tomorrow night."

"Don't bother. I wanna handle this one personally."

A/N: I finally finished Chapter 4! I was less than a thousand words from posting it. I just couldn't make those words happen. I'll try to do more, but I'm happy to get this chapter out at least.

And yes, I chocked this thing full with Internet Box Podcast references for the few who catch them. I wrote most of this a lot longer ago when I was relistening to them.

I crave feedback and I hope you enjoy.