Copy cat no. 1 was the convenience store robber. He was found early one morning in front of one of the stores he plundered, beaten to a pulp, barely alive. There was a a cardboard hanging around his neck, saying:

"I'M A CLUMSY AMATEUR. I DON'T DESERVE THE MONEY I HAVE STOLEN SO YOU'LL FIND EVERYTHING I TOOK IN MY POCKETS. SORRY FOR BEING AN IDIOT AND SORRY FOR TRYING TO BLEMISH JOKER'S GOOD NAME. HA HA HA"

Copy cat no.2 was found tied to a tree in front of a house he has broken into. He was in the same miserable state as copy cat no. 1, and his card board said:

"TAKE ME TO GOTHAM'S FINEST. THE STUFF I TOOK IS MY SORRY ASS VAN PARKED IN FRONT. SORRY GUYS FOR GETTING INTO YOUR NICE HOME. I'M NOT AT JOKER'S LEVEL SO PRISON IS MY HOME FROM NOW ON. HA HA HA"

Copy cat no. 3 was watching the news and knew that trouble was coming, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. He was grabbed from his street, ushered into a black van where a very grim Joker was staring at him. The drove for a while and the copy cat was too afraid to make a sound. When they finally came to a stop, he was surprised to see they were in front of the very same building where the young girl he raped lived. They went two floors up and knocked at the apartment door. A short Mexican lady opened the door, but as soon as she saw the Joker, she desperately tried to close the door. Ron had no problem getting his massive body in the way. He grabbed the woman, put his hand over her mouth and pushed her into the kitchen.

- Apologies, ma'am – the Joker quietly said – We only need to talk to your daughter for a short while and then we're gone. Don't worry, the kid won't be harmed.

Ron and Timmy shared a confused look. They knew, of course, that the girl won't be harmed. What confused them was the Joker's manner of speaking. They were used to see him violent and insane, but this was new – a deadly tone to his voice, indicating true danger and deeply set rage.

Ron stayed with the woman in the kitchen, while Joker went towards what he presumed was the girl's room. Timmy pushed the copy cat through the door.

When the girl saw who entered the room, she was speechless, her eyes showing such terror that even the Joker has not ever seen. Her eyes were, of course, glued on the copy cat.

- Young lady – the Joker rasped darkly – I'm sorry to disturb you. I heard you were harmed in a very cruel way.

The girl was frozen, not breathing, not even letting out a whimper. She was so young – just a child. She didn't look even those thirteen years, she looked like a fragile, soft 10-year old.

- Is this the man who hurt you? – Joker asked.

She slowly turned her eyes towards Joker. It was one of the few times that Joker experienced someone looking at him and not bouncing back at the sight of him. Every little piece of fear she had in her short life was reserved only for her monster rapist. The girl slowly nodded.

- Girlie. What this piece of shit to you did was very, very wrong. And I wanted you to see with your own eyes how he will pay – Joker said slowly – Now look.

With that, he punched the man right in his face. The copy cat's nose broke instantly, blood pouring freely.

- Is this enough? – Joker smiled a bit towards the girl. She was reluctant, but then she shook her head. – Didn't think so. This is not nearly enough.

The next blow was aimed at his jaw, then his torso. The men fell, and Joker continued kicking him. A few ribs were surely broken. The copy cat was grunting in pain, trying to curl into a ball in order to protect himself as much as he could.

- Look at him. He's just a guy. He's not invincible – Joker nodded to the girl who stared at the spectacle unfolding in front of her – He's not a monster that you'll have to fear the rest of your life. Look at him crying!

And the next few blows in the head made the copy cat cry, his tears mixing with blood.

- Why don't you join me? – Joker smirked at the girl. She look at him, but she shook her head, too afraid to come near the guy who took something so special from her in such a gruesome way.

– No? Well, I won' push ya, girl. But lemme tell you this – the Joker kneeled over the terrified man, taking his sweet time as he started playing the tip of his knife over the man's exposed back – This, what happened to you, that's a low blow. No little girl should have to experience what you did. And it's not something you'll forget easily or..well, let's face it, ever. And I know that right now, you're so young, and you're scared. But lemme tell you, in a few years, when you're older, you'll start feeling very, very..angry.

Joker slowly looked at the girl. Scared as she was, he got a feeling that she understood what he was trying to say. She was still tearing up, but he could see some small resolution forming on her face.

- So, you know, I don't know if I'm gonna be around in five or ten years to help you out with this..but tonight, right now, I'm here and you..you can get at least some little bit of revenge. How does that sound..? – slowly, slowly, he handed her his favorite knife.

Clumsily, she took it and hesitantly approached Joker, who still held the man face-down.

- Could you please..please get his shrit a bit higher up? – she asked timidly

.- Of course, angel.

- Can I..? – she asked, uncertain.

- Yes, you can, darling, whatever you want – Joker nodded softly.

She carved a line into the man's back, not longer than 5 centimeters, just below the back of his neck. The man whimpered in pain, but Joker held him down, wondering if this was it. Just this one line? It was carved deep, though, but still, just this one line?

But the girl continued.

Below the line, which actually was an "I", now there was blood trickling out of an "S"..then an "A"…soon enough, the man had a very simple message carved over his back:

I

SAID

NO

- You done? – Joker smiled at the girl – Sure you don't wanna kick him in the balls or something? No? All righty then. Listen, sweetie. I'm gonna take this scumbag back with me now and I'm gonna do some things to him that are really not for little girls eyes. You go back to bed now and stay safe, ok?

As he turned around to leave, dragging the piece of shit behind him, he heard the girl:

- Mister..?

- Yeah? - he turned his head, a bit surprised. He didn't get an answer, but he got the most adorable timid smile of a girl who eventually will come through.

…

How can such a big city have such tiny flats? Molly didn't understand it. The flat she's got was nicely furnished and located in a good neighborhood, but still – it was comically small. She unpacked the same day she arrived in Gotham. She already visited her new work place and met the entire staff, including her new boss.

She suffered her jetlag, and had trouble sleeping at normal hours. She was too tired for being very excited about his new city, but since she would live here a while, she figured she had time for everything. So, even if she promised herself she would change and quite her Molly-hidden-at-home routine, she found herself on her new couch, watching TV, checking the various TV stations.

Boy, the Americans sure have a lot of news stations, and most news is about crime. It made her feel a bit uneasy, but then she remember the fact that she actually slept with the guy who the other bad guys of this city were afraid of, and somehow it made her smile. Suddenly, a picture of Joker filled the screen behind the pretty news anchor, and Molly jolted up on her couch.

Breaking news in Gotham! Apparently, the criminal known only as the Joker is back in the city. After two men were found earlier this morning, both of them with different messages implicated that they acted as copy-cats of the Joker, just half an hour ago, a third man was found. His cardboard message said: SHE SAID NO, I SAID YES, JOKER SAID NEVER AGAIN. I WILL NEVER AGAIN TOUCH A CHILD. SEE YOU LATER HA HA HA". Before we show you the images our crew has taken on site, we would like to advise our viewers that the images are very graphic. The man was found in front of the police quarters on 22nd street in a very bad state and appears to be severely beaten and cut. Also, his eyes appear to be cut out. Unofficially, we found out that this may be a child molester prior known to the police and may even be involved in the heinous rape of a 13-year old girl that happened just a few weeks ago. It remains unclear how the findings of the three men relate to the Joker, but more and more people are of the opinion that the Joker is seeking revenge on criminals that tried to get away with their criminal acts by framing the Joker. We remind the public that the Joker is an extremely dangerous individual and if any of our viewers should spot him, the police should be called immediately.

Suddenly, Molly was not so sure about Sherlock saying that Gotham was too big and crowded. Joker was around the corner, she felt it. And, craved it, too.

….

Timmy had a rough day. Joker was back in business, flashing his ideas, calling in his goons, pushing everybody's buttons. Admittedly, what they did today felt ok. First they got the two sorry-ass robbers, and then, they got that god-damn rapist. That felt really good. Timmy was a criminal, no doubt about that, but there were lines he wouldn't cross, and raping children was one of those lines. He was glad that apparently Joker felt the same, and he was even a bit proud of how his boss handled it. Letting the girl have a bit of her very own revenge-that was pretty sweet.

Feeling a bit tired, but happy, he decided to go to a near-by bar to have a few. The bar was crowded as usual but he managed to find a spot near the bartender. He ordered a whisky and took a look around, checking for some nice girl to maybe take back home. Soon enough, he spotted four girls, all of the young and pretty, having the time of their lives – and judging by the number of cocktails they drowned, they would crawl out of the bar if they'd continued like that.

He was just about to turn away, when one of them shrieked:

- Ey bartender! Give us one more round, Joker's girlfriend here is thristy!

This got his attention. Joker's girlfriend? Was that some hip new slang now or what? He nodded at the bartender, a guy he knew from before:

- Say, what they talkin' about?

The bartender rolled his eyes and leaned over to Timmy.

- Yeah, good you're here. Why don't you take you bosses squeeze home before her hens drink the last drop I got here?

- His what?!

- I thought you knew, man! The smallest one of them, you see her..? With the "J" tattoo on her arm? That's Joker's girl. She's getting all this booze for free, and boy is she taking advantage of that!

- I didn't even know he had a girlfriend..

- Man, you need to check the streets. Everybody knows her. Wherever she goes, she's treated like god-damn royalty, everybody's afraid Joker will turn on them if they don't kiss her god damn ass..I heard she got her nails done, her hair, clothes, shoes, new furniture, every-fucking-thing..ah I guess there must be some perks if at the end of the day you get screwed by Joker's ugly face…

Timmy left them in a hurry. He knew he had to talk to Joker asap. The story was way too weird – he knew Joker had female company here and then, but those were mostly hookers, and none of that woman was crazy enough to try to pronounce herself his girlfriend. He simply wasn't the boyfriend-type and had no problem whatsoever to scuttle them away.

He came into Joker's quarters and found him lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, obviously in one of his moods.

- Uhm, uh, Joker? – Timmy was afraid to ask personal stuff but knew he had to.

- What – came the short bark of a reply.

- So, uhm, I'm sorry to disturb you, but there is this thing and I have to ask you something – Timmy was clearly uncomfortable.

- Yeah, ask – Joker didn't bother to get up.

- Do you..uhm, do you, like maybe, have a..girlfriend? – Timmy asked, dreading the reaction.

Joker looked at him and his face was a mixture of surprise and annoyance and of course-anger.

- Why would you ask me that? What have you heard? – Joker didn't give a damn that he gave up the answer like that. Alarms were ringing in his head-did someone somehow knew something about Molly?

- It's only that I was in the bar an hour ago, the Irish bar around the corner, and there were some girls, and the bartender said that one of them was your girlfriend. She's and her friends been drinkin for free the whole time. The guy also told me that she got a lot of other stuff for free, too, since everybody is convinced that's she yours..she even got a "J" tattooed on her arm, I saw it…

- She's not mine, Timmy – Joker said, now less annoyed, realizing that this has nothing to do with Molly – But I sure as hell had enough of this bullshit. I leave this city for one minute, and everybody start using my name. Enough is enough.

- Ok then – Timmy chuckled a bit, relieved – I was just thinking, that's not your style, but still..

- Still what? – Joker lifted an eyebrow.

- Well, you know, don't take this the wrong way, you know I respect ya – Timmy said shyly, looking at the Joker with caution – But ever since you came back, you sometimes have this goofy look on your face..like you're miles away, dreaming..so I kinda thought..maybe there was someone.

- Maybe there was, maybe there is. Maybe I'll rip your tongue out if you repeat this conversation to anyone, you hear me? – he threatened but didn't put the usual terror into it.

- Yeah, yeah, I know…just wanted to give you a heads up.

- I know, Timmy. Not let me and my, uh, goofy look, alone.