"A bit on the nose don't you think?" I asked Bruce, staring at the sign that read "Cannibal Colony". It wasn't too long of a walk from the bar I massacred to here. We were just on the outskirts of the city, leaving the chaotic hustle and bustle and entering a quieter neighborhood. Admittedly it was eerily quiet. I could feel Bruce gripping the back of my suit coat, his shuddering shook my back.

"I hope you aren't crying on me, this suit is one of a kind and it doesn't need anymore stains," I said, rolling my eyes. I sent a foot back into his chest, kicking him off of me. He grunted as he toppled to the ground, then gasped and scrambled back to my legs like a scared puppy.

"D-d-do we have to g-go?" he asked, terrified of what this town held.

"If by we, you mean me, then yes. I'm quite interested in this Alastor fellow, and I want to know why he's so popular. You on the other hand," I turned my head down to look at him, "can leave if you wish."

I was lying to him of course, if he tried to walk away I would kill him. He looked up at me, almost considering my offer, but he must have seen my intent and shook his head. I shrugged, "If you insist. Come along then."

With a smile on my face I walked into the quiet town, and Bruce followed like he was my shadow. Although the name was quite sinister, the town itself was very quaint. Small shops lined the sidewalk, cars that looked like they belonged in the 1920s were parked parallel on the street, they even had a church. The sight of it made me grin, a church in hell, faith among the faithless; the upside-down cross was especially amusing. I bet if I continue walking, I'll run into the suburban neighborhood district, with white picket fences and happy families. Does Alastor have a family? Might have to kill them if he does, that seems to always draw out the people I want to see. I rounded the block and felt something was off. There were no sounds of sniffling, or annoying stuttering. Did he-?

I turned around, the sidewalk was empty. I turned back around the corner, completely abandoned. "Oh for the love of-" I stomped my foot, pulling out a gun. It was annoying when the other Bat did it, but this was just inconvenient. Alastor would have to wait.

"Brucie! If you ran off, I know you didn't get far! Just come back to me and I promise I'll kill you quickly!" I shouted. I kept walking forward, my arm bent back with the gun pointed towards the sky.

"GETOFFAMEGETOFFAMEGETOFFAME!"

The shouting was very close by. My walking sped up until I found myself in front of an alleyway. Stopping, I turned and looked down it. Bruce was on the ground struggling, crying out in terror as he tried to keep the figure above him away from him. Looking at him I saw he was a purple demon, with goat horns. His mouth was open wide to reveal rows of sharp teeth, saliva dripped down from them onto Bruce, which only made him cry out more. I watched them struggle for a bit, Bruce shaking side to side while the demon above him kept his arms pinned. The only thing stopping him from getting mauled was the knee he placed onto the demon's chest forcing him to stay above him. The demon grunted a couple times, failing to get closer to Bruce. Then he let go of one of Bruce's hands and raised a claw up, ready to strike down. While his hand was still raised I aimed right at it and fired, putting a hole straight through it. The demon yowled in pain and reeled back, along Bruce to get free, and he immediately crawled over to my side.

I looked down at him annoyed. "Having trouble boy blunder?" I quipped.

He sat there shaking on the ground. "I said this was bad, this was so bad. We're both going to die here!"

"Well look on the bright side, your stutter is fixed!" I laughed.

Bruce relapsed back into his usual sobbing, "Why don't you just kill me man? I don't wanna be eaten alive!"

My smile turned to an annoyed frown. "Oh for hell's sake, would you quit being so dramatic? Look, the bad man isn't going to hurt you. This bad man however-". Before I could finish my sentence I was struck from the side as the demon I shot earlier rammed into me. The wind was instantly knocked from me, and the gun I was about to point at Bruce went clattering into the street. The demon then picked me up and slammed me into the ground with strength that I couldn't believe he had. Although dazed, I faced the demon as he kept me pinned down much like how he had Bruce earlier. From this position, I looked into his rectangle eyes that match his goat-like horns.

"So hungry… tasty meat…" he grunted out between huffs. Blood from the hole I put in his hand soaked into my coat sleeve as he kept my arms pinned. Like Bruce, I put a knee up to his chest to prevent him from clamping his razor-sharp teeth down onto my face. Looking away from his eyes I turned my head in multiple directions trying to find my gun. Then I spotted it, sitting in the middle of the road, just out of reach. Looking past the demon I faced Bruce who still sat on the sidewalk.

"Bruce! Quit sitting there like a rock and get my gun!" I barked at him.

Bruce stopped shaking and looked at me. His big bat ears perked up and he looked at me with his mouth slightly ajar. He looked left and right, viewing the empty street. What the hell was he doing? I only realized what was going through his head when he turned his head back to me with a small smile. My eyes turned angry, but maintaining my smile I said, "Bruce…" I paused, avoiding a few lunges from the demon above me still attempting to eat me. "Bruce! Don't you dare think what you are currently thinking!"

The bat sauntered over to the left, back to where we first entered town. "S-sorry J, but I w-want to live. I warned you this pl-place would kill you. S-so, nice knowing ya!" And with that he ran out of town, back towards the main city.

"I'm going to fucking kill you Brucie you hear me?!" I shouted after his receding form. "And you're going to feel every second of it!" I was going to shout more but the demon still failing to gnaw at me snapped me back to my current situation. Bruce, when I get out of here, and I am going to get out, I am going to beat you to death with your own arms. If you have any wings under that suit, I'll rip them off too. Then I'll drag your wingless, armless, body back here and watch the cannibals eat what's left. And the last thing you'll ever hear is me laughing at you. Nobody makes a joke out of the Joker. The anger I felt surged through my body. I could feel acid paint my teeth again, that taste. And the voice, my other voice.

The gift, Jack. Show him, make him understand. That you are special, and this is not your fate.

Withdrawing the leg I used to hold him up for a moment, I pulled back and sent it forward as hard as I could, kneeing him directly in the chest. I could see his teeth grit from the impact, and felt his arms loosen their hold on me. At that moment, I pushed myself up and flipped him onto his back, putting me on top. I slammed the demon into the ground, hearing his skull crack against the road. He looked up at me dazed, and I didn't hesitate. I felt my jaw unhinge again, I revealed rows of sharp teeth as my skin broke across my face. Hissing I latched onto the demon and bit down, the acid melting through his muscles allowing me to go straight through, ripping out half of his neck. Feeling the chunk of meat in my mouth, I snapped out of my cannibalistic reverie. I spit the piece of him out onto the road and looked down at the demon I mutilated.

His eyes were already faded, dying near instantly from the attack. Blood poured out onto the road from the gaping hole in his neck. Green lines zig zagged from the wound into his face, and down towards the rest of his body, spreading like a virus. My mouth once again closed back up, forming back into its normal shape. The acid retreated from my mouth. Reaching a hand up slowly, I felt the fresh blood caking my mouth and pulled away. I looked at my bloodied hand, then back at the body. Then I turned my head to the pool that formed beside it and looked at my own ghastly reflection. For a moment I was pulled back to that night in the rain, when I experienced my rebirth. It was happening once again. The changes that made me what I am, the changes happening now. A bat, leaving me for dead. And Jack, that name, it feels familiar but I can't say why. I looked back at the blood that coated my hand. And I smiled. Reaching up to my mouth I smeared the blood in sweeping arcs, to the left and to the right. I licked my lips, tasting the iron. I leaned back onto my knees, my arms stretched out on both sides. I looked up at the blood-red sky, and I laughed. It started small at first, but it gradually grew, until I could hear my laughter reverberating down the street and off the buildings. I knelt there, laughing, for a couple minutes. Eventually my laughter died down, and silence filled the streets once more. I breathed heavily trying to regain composure. I was reborn once more.

"Well ladies it looks like someone has been enjoying themselves." I heard someone say, followed by hushed giggling.

I turned my head to the sidewalk across the street, and saw a group of four demonic women looking at me. The one in front, who I assumed made the comment, wore a fine black dress with a complimentary black hat that sported a red rose. She stood taller than the others and looked older too, judging by her grey hair. Of the other three women huddled behind her, one had red hair with horns poking through, and wore a light green dress with a green coat, another had white hair and wore a red shirt with a pink skirt, and the last one was the shortest of the four, with blond hair and a full pink dress. Like most demons I've seen already they had skin tones that were anything but normal. Of course I was used to the crazy characters down here, but what made this group stand out to me in this moment had to do with the town they were walking through.

Taking another breath I composed myself and waved to the women with a smile, "Hello ladies! Not to be rude, but are you aware of where you are right now? Not to imply you couldn't handle yourselves but, it is a bit dangerous around here."

The group of women giggled to themselves. The one dressed in black spoke again. "Oh we're quite aware, we live here in fact. But thank you for the concern, kind sir."

"Are you going to eat that?" The one in green spoke up from the group, pointing a finger at the body below me.

"Evelynn!" The black-dressed woman said in shock, "Don't impose yourself on the gentleman, we'll find someone to eat down the road."

"Oh but Jane, we've been walking for a while and we haven't found anybody. We can't keep eating at bakeries either, it's going right to Mary's waist."

The shorter one, who I assumed to be Mary, got angry at this comment. "Oh like it's making you look any better, you ordered five blood-filled chocolates from the last place and you already look bloated, cow!"

Evelynn and Mary bared their sharp teeth at one another, hissing and spitting. The other two women turned to try to break them up. I smiled at the group bickering amongst themselves, finding the interaction almost normal, practically a juxtaposition to the place we find ourselves in. I stood up, gesturing my hands towards them in a 'calm down' motion, and spoke up.

"Ladies, ladies, there's no need for hostilities!" I said, ceasing their arguing and drawing their attention. "You are more than welcome to the partially eaten corpse."

Evelynn, who asked for the body in the first place, gasped and walked up to me smiling. The other women stood behind her, calm once more, with polite smiles on their faces. "Oh really sir? You're alright with that?"

"Oh of course, I wasn't all that hungry anyways, he was just souring my mood." I stood to the side and gestured at the body with a slight bow, "Hopefully he won't do the same to your taste buds, heheh. Enjoy ladies."

Evelynn clapped her hands in delight and briskly walked over to the body on the street.

"Evelynn dear please bring him over to the sidewalk, let's not eat on the street like animals," Jane requested politely.

"Of course Jane!" Evelynn responded, taking the demon's arm and dragging him across the street, leaving a trail of blood behind. The women waiting on the sidewalk watched her approach with hungry eyes. It was Jane who averted her gaze from the approaching meal for a moment to address me once more.

"Thank you sir for your kindness, I apologize for my friends, they can be very forward sometimes."

"No thanks necessary madam, I understand it's a man eat man world out here," I joked. "The name is Joker by the way."

Jane smiled showing rows of sharp teeth, "I can tell, you have quite the sense of humor. I bet you'd be quite the catch."

I smiled, normally I'm not one for small talk but I almost enjoyed talking to these lovely ladies. It was a nice break from the carnage of the past many hours. "Well unfortunately I'm not looking to be caught today, rather I would like to catch someone. You ladies wouldn't happen to know an Alastor by chance?"

The question caused Jane to gasp with a blush, the other ladies on the ground about to eat their mid-day meal paused to look at me as well with similar expressions.

"Did he say Alastor?"

"The radio demon?"

"I think you mean radio gentleman."

"He has a voice like an angel."

"If an angel had a beautiful voice."

"I want him to do unspeakable things to me."

Jane stood silent while the women behind her whispered excitedly among themselves, waiting to speak in her usual formal way. "Ladies," she said, prompting her friends to stop speaking. Once they went silent she continued. "Y-yes we do know him, were you trying to find him?"

"As a matter of fact I was," I responded, trying to be equally formal. "I've heard a lot of great things about him, and I thought it would be nice to have a chat with him, get to know him better."

"I see," Jane responded. Clearing her throat slightly she said, "Well unfortunately he doesn't have a residence you can visit, to our knowledge at least-"

"And we've tried to find it!" Mary shouted.

Jane closed her eyes trying to maintain her composure. "We only see him walking around. Sometimes he visits the café, but if you want to guarantee you'll encounter him, try a butcher's shop."

"A butcher's shop?" I asked.

"Yes, he makes a habit of visiting every one. He isn't one to eat bodies off the side of the street," she said, gesturing to her friends. "Always so proper, such a true gentleman. You won't find a lot like him around here," Jane said with a wistful sigh.

"It sounds like it," I said. Clapping my hands together, I looked at the women and said, "With all this glowing praise I guess I'll be on my way to check every butcher shop in town, enjoy your meal ladies, I hope it brings a smile to your face." I put my pointer fingers to the corners of my lips, mimicking stretching them out to a smile. This ushered a few small laughs from the women, and as they turned their attention back onto the corpse I turned mine back towards my main goal. Bruce would have to wait, Alastor is close.

-30 minutes later-

"Good morning ladies!"

The four women were slicing and tearing through the meal Joker had left them, but stopped once they heard that familiar voice. Pausing their chewing and eating they responded, "Morning Alastor!"

He had a tipped hat in his hand, with a smile he threw it towards them and turned away. It arced through the air and landed in Jane's hands. "Give Rosie a hello from me!" he said before humming off around the corner, following the sound of smooth jazz notes.

Jane clutched the hat in her hands, feeling blessed to receive such a gift as she held it close to her chest. The other women weren't feeling as content, and they eyed her with jealousy.

"Ok Jane, let me hold the hat!" Evelynn demanded.

"Evelynn hush, such outbursts are unbecoming of you. Alastor gave the hat to me, perhaps he would send you gifts if you were more ladylike."

"Ladylike?!"

"Yes, look at you, you're covered in blood. I wouldn't be surprised if he confused you with a barbarian."

Evelynn was getting more heated by these comments. Mary spoke up, "Oh please, you're covered in blood too Jane. Besides, this doesn't mean anything. You heard him, he only has eyes for Rosie, he asks us to greet her for him every time he sees us."

"Don't confuse politeness with infatuation Mary," Jane said. "Regardless of his intent, the hat came to me, so it's mine. You can go bahaha-" Jane stopped confused. Shaking her head she said, "You ca-haha, can go bahahack, toooooAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"

Jane dropped to the ground, clutching the hat tightly to her chest, tears forming in her eyes. She rolled around, staining her dress in blood as laughter poured uncontrollably out of her mouth.

"Oh now look who's having an unbecoming outburst. You finally drop that prim and proper act? Now lemme see that ha… the hahah… three hahahaaHAHAHAHAHA-" Evelynn dropped to the ground as well, her body convulsing as laughter rocked her body.

"What is going o-ho, on-ahaha, AHAHAHAHAHA," Mary too dropped to the ground laughing, her eyes bulging out of their sockets.

The last demon, Genine, looked at her friends in confused shock. They were all rolling around and laughing, almost in pain. It was then she looked at the meat she held in her hands, dropping it as she came to a horrifying realization. "Oh no, oh Satan, the meat… that ma-ahah, the man-aaaaaHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

And like her friends before her she too fell to the ground. Within seconds they lay motionless, a smile painted hauntingly on each of their faces.