Nightmares from Hell

"If Daddy was anymore protective, he'd build a moat around my bedroom!"

"Ms. Beaumont, fancy running into you here."

"So, what's this big plan of yours?"

"I...don't know. I just don't know!"

"We can make this work."

Like a broken dam, Bruce was overwhelmed by the flood of memories he had once believed were dead and buried. Apparently he wasn't the only one that could be forcefully resurrected.

How long had it been? Six, seven years? Not a word spoken, sight seen, or even a rumor of how the other was doing. Right now, Bruce wished it had stayed that way, but with Andrea standing in front of him, hand raised expectantly, and a warm smile on her face, it took everything for the billionaire to simply raise an untrembling hand to accept the handshake.

"It's nice to see you, Andrea," he greeted with what he felt was an even tone. Feeling her grip his hand and return the shake, Bruce held steady until the redhead released her grasp.

Her expression didn't wane for a moment as she replied, "It's an honor to be doing business with you. On behalf of Beaumont Accounting, I wish to extend our deepest gratitude for agreeing to meet about our proposal."

Bruce's eye twitched. What was this? Although her face was warm, there was a distance about it he wasn't used to seeing. It was as if Andrea was acting like they had no history. The very thought irritated him. "I seem to recall your firm, Ms. Beaumont. Wasn't it run by your father?"

Andrea nodded, her hair brushing against her shoulders. "It was. He's stepped down since and-"

"You assumed the throne," he interjected.

The smile didn't diminish the slightest from the interruption. "So to speak."

Apparently, Lucius noticed the negative undercurrents coming from Bruce, so he stepped in to attempt damage control, perceived or otherwise. "Beaumont Accounting is a rising star, Bruce. They're handling quite a few accounts, namely a couple of our bigger competitors. They have a proposal we should consider."

"Oh, I have no doubt about that." Right then, a server came walking by, carrying a tray with glasses of champagne. Deftly, Bruce snagged a couple, holding one out to Zatanna, who had been unusually quiet throughout this. Feeling the dark-haired woman take the drink, Bruce dropped that hand so he could wrap his arm around her waist, placing his hand on her hip. Holding his champagne glass with his other hand, he then took a sip, noting the rather overly sweet taste to it. It clashed with the aftertaste, so it must've been a cheap bottle. "Though I do recall it had been doing very well for itself a number of years ago before abruptly leaving Gotham. I hope you don't mind if I ask you what happened."

Finally, he struck a nerve, Andrea's expression faltering for a split-second. Lucius seemed interested in the question too, which explained why he didn't automatically reprimand the dark-haired man. Instead he looked to the young woman questioningly.

"We...hit a rough patch," Andrea said warily. "All businesses do-we just had more than our fair share."

"That being?" Bruce pressed.

"That is an internal matter, so I apologize if I cannot go into any more detail."

Bruce would've snorted at the answer, but he held himself back-for now. "We all have our little secrets," he remarked before taking another sip of champagne, then quickly deciding he had enough-of the drink and the redhead. "I'm sure we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other in the near future."

Andrea nodded. "I believe we will."

Turning away, Bruce began to lead Zatanna away. "Just don't leave us hanging," he called back other over his shoulder. "I'd hate to see what that would do to your portfolio."

If there was a response to that, he didn't hear or see it, and he was content with that. Impressively, Zatanna managed to hold her tongue until they had put some distance between Lucius and Andrea and them. "What was that about?" she asked lowly, a hint of incredulousness in her voice.

"Not the time for it," Bruce muttered back, though in his eyes there would never be a time for it.

That wasn't good enough for the magician. "Bruce, you were really being a dick at the end. To a potential business client. I know your public image isn't all that great, but even you could at least pretend to tolerate people that you didn't like. What gives?"

Perhaps it was the mood he was in. Perhaps subconsciously he agreed with Zatanna. Regardless, he gave into her digging. "Andrea and I are acquainted, despite the cool facade you saw."

There was a brief moment of silence before, "How well acquainted?"

"Well, it ended badly, to put it mildly."

"So you were a couple...and broke up?"

"...yes."

Bruce could sense some apprehension in Zatanna. Her body had slowly stiffen against his arm, through self-consciousness or jealousy, he didn't know. "Is that how you treat all your exs?" she suddenly asked.

"Just her," he grunted. He then tightened his arm around the dark-haired woman, pulling her closer to him. "I don't know about you, but I'm tired of this gala. I could use some fresh air."

"And something to hit?" Zatanna responded dryly.

"Well, if you want to put it that way."

As they were passing a small group of people, one of them suddenly spoke, "Oh my, there seems to be trouble downtown."

The dark-haired couple slowed at the mention, their heads tilting towards the group. Bruce was quick to note one of the men had their smartphone out and was looking at the screen intently. "My daughter just texted me. Apparently some of those Joker hoodlums are rioting."

"Lowlifes," another person agreed in disgust. "I swear, the police really need to do something about them. Or one of those vigilantes. This is really getting absurd."

"Well, I think we found you someone to hit," Zatanna commented.

This was not good for his health. The moment he had opened his morning newspaper and had seen front page, Valestra was clawing for his oxygen tank.

He hadn't been in the best of moods to begin with. Of course he had known about what had happened at the pier. There were going to be words between him and Chuckie about it. Now those words would never be said. It was hard to say them when the other person they were meant for was dead.

Not only had Chuckie managed to mess up an important arms deal, he had been murdered by a lunatic in a cape.

This was not good. He was too old to deal with this!

But deal with this, he would have to. He brought in Buzz as soon as possible, though the man had taken his sweet time getting here. This was not the time to tiptoe around the issue.

"Heh. He always was a loser," Buzz had said once Valestra had informed him.

"Now is not the time, Buzz," Valestra reprimanded. "One of our own is dead. We need to retaliate before anyone sees this as a sign of weakness."

"You want me to take down the Batman wannabe?" Buzz suggested.

"In a manner of speaking...I do," Valestra confirmed. "We need to do what Falcone and Maroni were never able to do. This Batman, or whoever he's trying to pretend to be, needs to retire before he can come after us again. Preferably to a place that is six feet underground if you understand me."

"I understand," Buzz answered. It might have been Valestra's imagination, but Buzz looked very pleased at such a task.

"Might I add one last thing," Valestra stated, even though his words came out as a request. "The man who is able to eliminate the Batman impersonator that's running around would have quite a reputation. In fact, I might be willing to turn things over to the man who accomplishes such a feat."

Buzz paused, giving Valestra a pointed look. Slowly, a smirk creased his face. "Has anyone ever told you you know how to sweet talk someone, Sal?"

"You're the only one bold enough to say it to my face," Valestra replied, pleased that his meaning had been understood.

"I'll be showing you some boldness soon enough," Buzz quipped. "I'll do what should have been done long ago."

"I don't care about your words, only that you do what you say," Valestra stated, not having the tolerance for bravado. There were probably countless punks who had said the same thing, but how many had actually done what they said? Since those vigilantes were still around, sticking their noses where they shouldn't be, the answer would have to be none. "If I have to, I'll contact some guys who do know what they're doing."

Buzz frowned. "What guys?"

"Guys who were integral to the rise of this organization," Valestra replied. "That's all you need to know right now. The only thing you should be concerned about is bringing me this so-called Batman's head on a platter."

Buzz gave him a look, but nodded in understanding. Good man. Years of experience must be telling him not to press further with him. Valestra kept his eyes on him anyway, watching as Buzz took his leave.

Once he was alone, no one else around to see him, he sagged into his seat and sighed. He was too old for this. Why was it happening now? And to him?

This was not going to be good for his health. You know what else wasn't going to be good for his health? Getting help from people you shouldn't be getting help from. Okay, sure, they were helpful for getting him where he was now, but he felt like he was selling his soul in exchange.

If Buzz didn't come through on his end, then Valestra was going to have to go to this last resort. That was if this Batman wannabe didn't decide to skip ahead and crucify him first. This needed to be taken care of before it could get worse.

The roar of the motorcycle filled Huntress' ears. The buildings to either side of her blurred as she weaved between cars. A little further back and following her was Black Canary on her own motorcycle, Katana sitting behind the blonde with her arms wrapped around BC.

It had been Breaking News not too long ago. Jokerz were rioting in the Industrial area, making a general spectacle of themselves. Considering the heavy blows they had been suffering lately, between losing the Joker as their leader and losing countless members during the chaos that had ensued, it was no wonder they wanted to make sure everyone remembered they were a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, the time spent getting dressed and collecting their equipment between the three women had allowed who knows how much property damage and unnecessary violence to play out. Huntress was going to let quite a few of these makeup obsessed idiots know just how fed up she was with them.

Assuming that the other vigilante group hadn't dispersed them, that is.

Taking a sharp right, Huntress and Black Canary turned onto a street that was a straight shot to the Industrial area. As their bikes roared, they could see rising smoke clouds from somewhere there. Just great, some idiot had begun setting things on fire. As if Gotham hadn't had enough of those lately.

"Okay, girls, we hit them hard and fast," Huntress shouted into her mike. "Hurt enough of them and the rest should scatter to the winds."

"That's always your plan," Black Canary complained back.

"It works, doesn't it?"

"Huntress makes a valid point," Katana agreed. "Physical violence does scare off our opponents."

"Thanks, Katana," Huntress replied. "Remind me to send you a Christmas card."

"You're only saying that because Katana agrees with you," Black Canary groused.

"Fine then, BC. You come up with the plan," the purple-clad vigilante challenged.

There was a moment of silence before "We...go in...and...hit them hard...and fast…"

"What do you know, I like that plan. Don't you Katana?"

"I approve of this plan."

"Shut up, the both of ya," the blonde woman grumbled. "We're almost there, so look sharp."

Huntress just smirked-after all, Canary was right, they were reaching the riot. Ahead of them was a street full of men and women dressed like insane clowns. The very sight made the dark-haired woman snarl. There were some people in this world that needed to be put in jail, have their butts whooped, or just drowned to save the rest of the human race from their stupidity. Anyone that thought emulating the Joker of all people deserved that last option.

Revving her engine louder, Huntress raced head first at the crowd, many of which hesitated as they saw her fast approach. As so happened, there was a noticeable bump in the middle of the road, made from normal wear and tear of cars and trucks driving on the asphalt. At this moment, it made for a makeshift ramp, which she chose to make use of. Pulling back on the handlebars of her motorcycle, the front wheel lifted off the pavement, the roar of her engine growing louder as poured on more speed. The moment her back tire hit the bump, she was launched into the air, flying over heads of the ducking crowd.

In midair Huntress began turning her bike until it was perpendicular to the buildings lining the street. As gravity began forcing her down, she and her ride landed on the ground roughly, their momentum causing the motorcycle to skid down the road with a shrill squeal. Men and women dove out of the way until she ran right into two unlucky guys. Moving her leg from the colliding side, Huntress' bike rammed right into the clown thugs and slammed them up against the side of a parked car, denting the vehicle's side.

At the moment of impact, Huntress leapt off the bike, turning feet over head as she flipped. At the same time, a gloved hand went to her back and pulled out her contracted bo staff, flicking the switch to extend both ends.

For a second, the dark-haired woman found herself hovering upside down in midair, giving her the odd sight of seeing a crowd of punks upside down. But that was all it lasted for as her world began to right itself as she continued flipping. She was practically on top of a Joker thug once she was rightside up, causing her to lash out with one of her legs, her foot colliding with the man's face.

First blood was hers.

An instant later, Huntress was landing on the ground, just as her first victim crashed onto the pavement. Immediately the purple-clad woman began twirling her bo staff, a shrill sound being made as wind was forcibly made by the spinning shaft before she shot one end out, bashing it into another Jokerz' face.

Sweeping the staff out, the vigilante crouched down as she spun in a circle, knocking out the legs of several nearby Jokerz, causing them all to cry out as they fell to the ground. Quickly, Huntress shot out to the nearest one, shooting out her leg to kick them in the face and knock them out cold. She would've gone for a second one had she not caught sight of a large, burly Joker punk rushing at her, whirling a chain high above his head.

Holding her ground, Huntress waited for her new opponent to attack, which he did, swinging the chain at her. Raising her bo staff, she used it to block the blow, seeing the chain wrap around it several times in response. Quickly, she grabbed the chain and yanked it towards her, causing the Joker thug to come stumbling towards her. Immediately, she dashed forward, shifting her bo staff to one hand as she raised her other arm up, bending it at the elbow.

With a crash, the two foes collided, Huntress ramming her elbow into the bigger Jokerz' face. She could hear the satisfying crunch of cartilage breaking, informing the woman that she had broken the man's nose. With a feral grin, the purple vigilante stepped back, only so she could swing and extend her bent arm out, backhanding the bleeding Joker in the face, snapping his head to a side and sending him crashing to the ground.

"Get her!"

Snapping her head to look behind her, Huntress saw three men and a woman rushing towards her, each coming to a stop several feet away and armed with handguns or automatic rifles. They were too far for her to make life difficult for them, so that just left her with-

That thought was stopped when she saw a flash of light and the sudden appearance of Katana crouched down in front of the four Jokerz. Held out to her side was the sword, the light from the street lamps gleaming off its sharp surface. Barely a moment passed before the barrel of each gun, along with a healthy portion of the weapons' bodies slide and fell to the ground. Each Joker looked dumbly at the sight of their ruined guns, blinking their eyes owlishly.

Then, Katana leapt off the ground spinning in midair as she lashed out with a leg. Her kick landed on the side of the face of the Joker to the farthest right. He immediately went flying to the left, crashing into his buddy, who then fell into the woman Joker, who then fell onto the last Joker. It was like watching a set of dominos falling onto each other.

Heh, Huntress knew there was a reason she wanted Katana on this team.

Knowing Katana could handle herself, Huntress began to turn when two arms shot on either side of her, closing in and wrapping around her. Due to her arms being jerked downward and against her body, the purple-clad woman dropped her staff, the weapon clattering on the ground.

That didn't bother Huntress the least Feeling hot breath against her ear, the dark-haired woman leaned her body and head forward. Then she shot her head backwards, the back of her skull colliding with someone's face. Huntress winced from the jolt of pain she felt, but she could deal with that as she felt the thug's arms loosen around her. Forcing them off her by jerking her own arms out, the vigilante then grabbed one of the man's arms, turning around to face him as she did so. With her leg, she kicked out the Joker punk's leg at the knee, the man falling to a side and ultimately spinning around until he landed on his backside on the ground.

However, she wasn't done with this bozo. Still holding onto his arm, the purple-clad woman held it as high as she could and then rammed her knee against the elbow joint. The arm bent at an abnormal angle as a sharp crack! was made. The thug shrieked with pain as he shot a hand out to grip his injured arm.

Dropping her raised leg down, Huntress let go of the arm before she kicked out with her other leg to knock the hurt man out. With that done, she was ready to go to the next punk when a flash of black and yellow caught her eye. Turning her head to look she caught sight of BC engaging with three Jokerz. She was a flurry of fists and kicks, hitting each man in a choreographed manner. A sharp elbow to the solar plexus left one man breathless, followed by a punch by the same arm left another dazed from the blow. Jumping and spinning, Black Canary delivered a vicious roundhouse kick to the third Joker, which knocked him into next week. That was quickly followed up by subsequent blows to the two stunned Jokerz, which ended their short forays in consciousness.

Say what you wanted about Blondie, she knew how to fight. Perhaps she was a little too cautious for Huntress' tastes, but BC was definitely someone she preferred on her side than against her. Between the three of them,they would have this riot quelled in no time.

So naturally that was when things took a strange turn.

It came out of nowhere, so she never saw it coming. One moment she was looking for her next opponent, the next an explosion of...of...well, air blasted from the street. Jokerz were sent flying high into the air as an invisible force shoved others over or down onto the street. For Huntress, the blast sent her crashing into a parked car right behind her. Collapsing onto the ground, she hissed as she felt the first signs of a migraine forming.

And then the unfortunate souls that had been thrown up into the air came crashing down. It was literally raining people for five seconds and when they landed, they didn't get back up. Seriously, what the hell happened? What had caused that invisible blast right out of nowhere? Even for Gotham, this was strange.

"What the hell is going on?" she spat out, wincing as she did so. Damn, this migraine was not going to be pleasant.

She got her answer a second later. Descending from the sky, a black mass came flying in, landing right on top of a stunned Joker thug who had been standing up dumbly taking in the carnage of the scene. The mass hit the man right on the shoulders, and caused him to crumple down to the ground, a surprise cry ringing out into the night.

Huntress found herself staring at the sight. She really wasn't able to make out much, which was unusually for her. She was normally sharp, yet she was having trouble focusing. Something was wrong with her. Yet, as she stared at the black thing, she was able to figure out a head.

A head with two horns sticking up into the air.

Suddenly, the black thing spun around, what looked like a cloak or cape flying off of it as two arms blurred out in front of it. Two spinning projectiles went flying through the air, Huntress following it as she turned her head. The projectiles slammed into two Jokerz' faces, knocking them out.

Despite the daze she felt, Huntress had alarms going off in her head. She knew that move, intimately too. With the ease that it had been used, the purple-clad woman felt a shiver run up and down her spine, as if someone walking over her grave. There...there was no way that was who she thought that was. He was dead, buried, and sorely missed. He was not...he was not…

Batman.

The concussion detonator had done its job, releasing a concussive blast in the middle of the riot. Jokerz members had been scattered from the force, many of whom were sent flying into the air.

Standing in the street, Batman stared down the remaining rioters. There were many that looked as if they were unsure of what to do, be it fight or run away.

He needed to encourage that second option.

Launching himself towards the crowd, the vigilante closed the distance between him and the crowd in a matter of seconds. At the last moment, he leapt into the air, arm raised and hand balled into a fist. With a warcry, he came flying down at the nearest thug, ramming his fist into the man's face. The moment he landed, he pivoted to his right and lashed out with another punch, decking the next man, quickly followed by another as a vicious uppercut sent the rioter flying off his feet and into the air.

That had a mixed reaction. While some of the crowd chose wisely to turn tail and run, there were still plenty that decided to charge. Backing off a couple steps, the vigilante eyed the closest Joker, the man holding a 2x4 high into the air with nails sticking out of it. With a cry, the Joker swung his crude weapon.

In response, Batman ducked backwards and to his left, the 2x4 sailing by harmlessly. Instantly, the dark-clad man closed the distance between him and his foe, one hand grabbing the Joker goon by his forearm, the other at the shirt collar. Heaving the man up, Batman grunted as he twisted his body around and pitched the goon forward, throwing him through the air. The Joker screamed as he sailed through the air until he rashed face first with a wall, dropping to the ground in a heap.

Even though he had his back to the charging Jokerz, that didn't mean Batman was defenseless. Lifting a leg up, he sent a well-time back kick backwards, his foot embedding itself into a thug's abdomen. Bending his other leg, Batman then sprang up, spinning as he did so and lashed out with the same leg, landing a roundhouse kick to the thug's face and sending him crashing to the ground.

The moment he landed, the Dark Knight prepared for his next approaching foe. However, at that moment he felt a wave of nausea hit him. It had seemingly come out of nowhere, this sick feeling welling up in his stomach. He had to fight down the urge to vomit. For a second, his eyes went unfocused, causing the dark-clad man to shake his head to clear up his vision. Now was not the time to be feeling sick.

Unfortunately, a Joker thug was damn near on top of him, swinging a baseball bat at his head. Ducking the swing, Batman shot his arms up and caught the backswing, blocking the rioter's forearms with his own. Looking to the man's face, he was taken back when instead of seeing a painted face, he saw a pale white face with cat-like eyes glaring at him. Unnaturally long teeth jutted out of the thing's face, hot breath pouring out as it growled.

It wasn't often the Batman was caught off-guard. It had been known to happen from time to time, but it truly was a rare occurrance. Yet, when they did happen, he had come across a rather effective coping mechanism.

He punched the creature.

Hard.

Right in its frightening mouthful of teeth.

The creature went flying off of its feet, letting out hoarse cry until it crashed right into one of the other Jokerz. That caused the other Jokerz to stop in their tracks and stare at the monster and their fallen comrade.

However, when they looked back, they were no longer men. Instead, monsters of various grotesqueness stared back at the Dark Knight, a low hissing sound coming from them. From deformed faces, exaggerated features such as large hooked noses, sharp teeth, needle-like hair, claw-like fingers, and the like, the only thing that made them look remotely human was the fact they were humanoid shaped. These creatures clearly thought themselves frightening, if not dangerous.

Batman would prove them wrong.

Diving head first, Batman charged at them, a flurry of punches and kicks. Despite their frightening appearance, they fell before him as his knuckles knocked out teeth, booted feet kicked out joints, and were quickly followed by devastating punches. The vigilante lost track of the number of creatures he fell, but he knew they wouldn't be so aggressive ever again.

Suddenly, he stilled his fist. The monsters before him-the ones still standing anyways-turned and fled. Yet, they weren't the ones he was concerned with. There was a presence behind him. Slowly, he turned around and saw a completely different creature.

Unlike the grotesque clown-like monsters, this one looked different. It was purple in appearance, with horns jutting out of its skull. It held a crude-looking staff in one clawed hand, it's other raised between them, held out towards him. "Glatban?" it's rough voice said.

There was something about this purple monster the Dark Knight didn't like. He didn't know why, but he got the feeling it was just like the other creatures; it wanted to hurt him. Like hell he would let it.

Falling into a defensive stance, Batman began to circle the beast to his right. The creature didn't look fazed by this, simply following his movements. However, the vigilante wasn't mistaken when he notice the monster shift its stance, taking a defensive one as well.

No, not defensive-offensive.

Due to his circling, this allowed his back hand to disappear from the purple creature's sight. Dropping it to his belt, he retrieved his bat-shaped shuriken. Once he was ready, he sent it flying at the creature, giving chase an instant later.

In response, the monster raised its staff, tilting it at an angle and bouncing the shuriken off of it and away. Jumping into the air, he sailed towards the creature, swinging his leg up and kicking the staff to a side. The moment he touched down on the ground, he turned to his side and shot forward, raising a bent arm up and ramming his elbow into the creature's face. This sent the creature stumbling backwards as it cried out, "Vhat dar blu greing?"

Not bothering to reply, Batman dashed forth, swinging his other fist through the air. This time, however, the creature was able to use its staff, bringing it up vertically and blocking the blow. It then brought the weapon down, slamming its end onto the vigilante's shoulders, causing pain to shoot up his arm.

With a grunt, Batman backed off, stumbling a step from the blow. Yet, the purple creature wasn't done as it sent the end of the staff jabbing at his face. Jerking his head to a side, he dodged the strike, only able to watch as the monster drew back the staff before jabbing again and again. Each time the dark-clad man dodged to a side, usually moving his head, yet occasionally twisting his body to a side. In his head, he recognized there was some sort of skill in the monster's use of the weapon, but he wasn't sure what that meant.

However, he was getting a hang of its pattern. As the monster pulled back another missed jab, it then twirled the staff in a circle before raising it high above its head, swinging it downward at the vigilante's head.

Immediately, Batman shot his hands up, catching the staff. Pulling it to a side, he then moved into the monster's space, turning his body as he did so. Swinging a leg, he kicked out the creature's knee, causing it to cry out as it stumbled forward. Spinning his body around, the dark-clad man raised an arm up at shoulder height, bent at the elbow. Letting out a war cry, he slammed his elbow into the back of the monster's head, an uncomfortable jolt shooting down his arm from the blow. Must've hit the nerve.

That didn't stop him from continuing his pivoting, once more swinging his leg up, only this time he landed a roundhouse kick to the purple creature's head. The strike sent it careening through the air until it hit the ground, skidding across it until it came to a stop. Keeping his guard up, Batman stared it down until he was sure it wasn't going to be getting back up.

Suddenly, he heard a voice, pleasant and familiar, yet it was distracting. "Batman, what are you doing?"

For a moment the world around him seemed to fade before it readjusted. Shaking his head, Batman pushed away the swimming feeling he felt. Something was wrong, he could feel it. But-

He caught the glint of light first, his only warning. Shooting an arm up, he was just in time to feel a strong blow land against his forearm, a sleek, sharp sword nestled between his triangle blades. Eyes glancing away from the blade, Batman saw a new monster, this one red with a head of yellow flames.

So the purple monster had a friend.

Unlike the previous monster, this one had a more lithe frame and it proved just how agile it was when it backed off, pulling its finely crafted sword back with it. Strange, where would a monster get a hold of such a weapon?

Any further thought was shelved the moment the red creature launched its next attack, a diagonal slash to his left. Shooting his arm up, he blocked the strike high, backing off a step as the monster pressed its attack, pulling the sword black and arcing it through the air to strike at his midsection from his right. A low block stopped the attack and pushed it away. Again and again, the monster struck at him, its blade slicing through air only for the Dark Knight to use his triangle blades to catch it repel the blow. High, high, low, left slash, thrust, high to the head, right slash, all were stopped and forced away.

For the second time that night, Batman got the feeling there was some serious skill involved in this monster's attack.

And then the red creature with is flaming head made its first mistake. As it went in for another slash, it stepped too far in. The moment he blocked the blow, Batman immediately stepped forward, the blade scraping against his metal gauntlet with a shrill screech! With his other hand, he drove his fist low and into its ribs, causing the creature to take a step back with a grunt.

Pulling back his fist, he then arced it up into the air before dropping it down, the bottom of his fist colliding with the red monster's hand. This resulted in the monster dropping its weapon with a pained cry, one that Batman silenced by swinging a backhand blow at it, the back of his balled hand ramming into its face and snappings its head to a side.

However, if the vigilante thought that hit was enough to daze the monster he was sorely mistaken. It recovered quickly, using the sudden momentum it had gained from the dark-clad man's previous blow to its advantage. Spinning its body in place, it then lashed out with is own leg, the heel of its foot slamming into Batman's jaw, his head being the one to jerk to a side this time.

Forcing his head back to his opponent, he bared his teeth as he swung a haymaker at the creature's face. Surprisingly, it shot both of its arms up, using one to block his wild punch, the other bracing the arm that made contact. A moment and the bracing arm then snaked up, its hand grabbing onto Batman's wrist.

Immediately, Batman recognized the hold the monster was trying to do. In that instant, the vigilante pressed forward, forcing his forearm up against the red creature. With his other hand, he sent it down and grabbed a hold of the monster's leg, pulling it up until his foe stood on only one foot. Due to his sudden rush and the creature being on only one foot, it's balance was thrown off, causing it to lean backwards and ultimately falling to the ground.

Pitching himself forward, the vigilante fell after the monster, the two crashing onto the ground with the creature landing on its back and the Batman on top of it. Because of his arm's placement against the monster's neck, the moment they hit the pavement his forearm rammed into the creature's trachea, causing it to gasp from its crushed windpipe.

Once more, Batman wasn't able to revel in his victory. Before he could even get off of the choking monster, something rammed into the side of his head, sending him flying off the creature until he landed on the ground in a heap. Growling, Batman forced himself onto his feet, looking up to see yet another creature. This one was completely black, a curtain of yellow spikes descending down from the back of its head. Just how many of these things were there?

"Grats ecough!" it barked at him, holding its clawed hands up between them.

Glaring down this new beast, the vigilante allowed his cape to envelop him, blocking his body from sight. Taking a step to his right, he began to circle the black creature, his movements causing his cape to shift and ruffle against his body, disguising his hands reaching to his belt and pulling out a smoke pellet with one and a shuriken with the other.

"Ve gront daght to do bless," the monster grunted at him then, reaching the edge of the nearby sidewalk. If Batman wasn't mistaken, the monster's stance, though defensive, seemed to pour out reluctance in waves. How strange. However, it did provide him a chance to strike and he took advantage of it. Tossing his cape off of him, he threw his bat-shaped shuriken, watching it spin as it raced through the air.

As expected, the black creature dodged to a side, its attention on the projectile long enough to make sure it wouldn't harm it. That was distraction enough for him to send the smoke pellet flying towards her, the small marble landing on the ground just in front of its feet and erupting into a large cloud of smoke.

Immediately, Batman shot a hand to the back of his belt and pulled out his grapple gun, aiming it at an overhanging street lamp and fired it. The grapple claw exploded out of the gun, flying through the air until it made contact with the pole with an audible clang! Hitting the retraction button, the cable went tant and Batman was pulled off ground, shooting through the air towards the pole. He didn't make the journey to the light though, letting go of the grapple and allowing momentum to force him higher and higher. When gravity finally got a hold of him, he was right above the smoke cloud, hovering for a split second before he began falling back to earth.

And just as he expected, the black creature was backing out of the smoke cloud, coughing harshly to clear its lungs. It had yet to detect his skyward approach and it would be feeling just how much of a mistake it was making. Raising both of his fists above his head, the vigilante held them there for a moment, waiting for the time to strike.

Now! Swinging both fists down, the dark-clad man aimed to slam them on top of the black creature's head. However, it seemed he had underestimated the monster as it suddenly leapt backwards, leaving Batman to hit nothing by empty air, his feet landing on the ground as he completed his swing.

Keeping his eyes on the monster, he saw it leaning backwards as it swing its feet up into the air, performing a backflip. As it sprang off the ground with it hands, it flew feet first into the building behind it, and then used the brickwall as a springboard, the black creature launching itself at the Batman. With large fist drawn back, the monster threw the punch with a roar.

In response, Batman darted backwards, buying himself a second to get an arm up to block the blow. The monster pressed its offensive though, throwing punch after punch at the vigilante, taking a step forward for every one the Dark Knight took back. He could only block the fists, sending his forearms high and low.

And then the creature pivoted on one foot and lashed it with its other, slamming a kick into Batman's chest. Gasping as air was forced from his lungs, Batman was stunned for a second, stumbled backwards from the hit with one hand pressed against his upper torso.

However, he was quick to recover and just in time to see the black creature bring its extended leg down and pivoting with the foot. The monster spun around, lashing out with its other leg in a roundhouse kick. This time, though, Batman was quick to counter, dropping to the ground as the kick sailed harmlessly over his head. With his own leg, he shot it out, kicking out the creature's ground-bound leg and causing it to crash to the pavement with a surprised cry.

At least, that's what he expected to happen. Instead, the black creature shot its hands out, one touching down on the asphalt, the monster holding itself up as it swung its legs up into the air. At the same time, it brought its other hand down to land on the ground just as the other hand lifted off, the creature performing a cartwheel as it landed back on its feet.

With a scowl, Batman forced himself to stand, raising his hands up as he got back into his stance. Once more, the black creature charged at him, throwing a haymaker at his head. Unlike their previous clash though, the vigilante leaned to his left, shooting his right arm up to block the blow. The moment they made contact, he then threw his left fist at the monster's face, only to see it lean its head back and shoot its other hand up to catch his punch.

Though unexpected, the dark-clad man was quick to counter again, once more kicking out his leg to knock out the creature's knee out. Again, the creature cried out as its balance was thrown off, leaning back too far as it tried to steady itself and instead fell hard on its back on the ground.

Instantly, the vigilante was pressing his advantage, bending his other leg at the knee and driving it down, allowing gravity to assist him as he drove his knee right into the monster's gut. A choked gasp tore out of the creature's mouth as it was left breathless from the blow. Raising a fist up, the vigilante made to slam it right on the black creature's face when a whistling sound caught his attention.

Instead of throwing the punch, Batman instead snapped it out, briefly relaxing his fingers before tightening them up. That allowed him to catch an arrow in midair, stopping it from piercing the side of his head. Turning his attention away from his stunned foe, he looked beyond the arrow he held and caught sight of the purple monster standing once more, holding up an arm with two spikes extending out on either side of its forearm. It gave the creature's arm a crossbow look.

Batman couldn't help but growl through. With a glance to the red creature, he saw it too was getting back onto his feet-not something he was pleased about. Soon he'd have all three of these monsters attacking him and each one was formidable on its own.

Not good.

As it turned out, he would never get a chance to see if he could overcome such odds. One moment he was staring down two monster, the next a bright white light exploded out of the street, the blast throwing Batman off the black creature and through the air. He landed roughly on the ground several feet away stunned. Vision swimming, Batman laid there, trying to fight back the daze he was in. He didn't know what fresh hell had arrived, but he was not in the mood for it.

Grimacing, the vigilante tilted his head up and caught sight of a bright white glow. There was no sight of the monsters that he could see, not that he was really looking for them. The glow drew his attention solely onto it, as if he were an insect captivated by a bug zapper.

And then something emerged from it. It took him a moment to recognize that it was a person, a woman at that. She had long black hair and seemed to glow with that ethereal light. The pure white gown she wore flowed off of her as she slowly approached the Dark Knight, her growing beauty overwhelming the man.

So this was what an angel looked like.

"Shhhhh," she said as she came to a stop in front of him, kneeling down towards him. Batman let her get close, even to the point when she reached a hand out and cupped it against his cheek. Her hand was cool to his surprisingly feverish head, calming him as he closed his eyes, drinking in the sensation. When he opened his eyes again, the glow was dimming, the angel transforming before his eyes. It hit him a moment later as Zatanna stood before him, giving him a reassuring look.

"It's okay, Batman," she cooed at him, reaching with her other hand, to touch his shoulder. "I'm taking you home."

Numbly, Batman nodded. "Nruter ot evac," Zatanna chanted and his vision was soon filled with rose-colored smoke. For some reason he felt there was something else he should be doing, but for the life of him he couldn't remember. Couldn't focus.

Couldn't care.