The next day, the duo were back to normal, and ready to continue the investigation. Since the Jokerz were teenagers, they both went undercover at the high school.
"I don't feel that different, then again, I don't think I aged after I turned 16." Cherry said on the way, looking a bit steely-eyed.
"Wonder why?" Lionel asked.
"I'm just born with grace and beauty..." Cherry shrugged as they wandered.
On the way, there seemed to be a pink-haired girl.
"Yeah, that seems accurate." Lionel shrugged.
"Who are you guys?" The pink-haired girl asked.
"Transfer students..." Cherry made up on the spot. "We'll be visiting Hamilton High School for a little while."
"Hm... I don't remember hearing anything about transfer students, but welcome, I guess." The pink-haired girl shrugged.
"Thanks," Lionel shook her hand. "I'm Lionel Schwartz."
"Maxine Gibson, but please, call me Max." The pink-haired girl replied.
"And I'm Eartha West." Cherry said, using a pseudonym because her real name would be too obvious.
"Alright, we got intros outta the way." Lionel replied.
"I guess you guys should come with me." Max said, leading the way for them.
Cherry nodded as she followed after, seeming like a stereotypical goth as she and Lionel investigated the school like detectives in disguise. While Max's head was turned, Lionel repeatedly sniffed around the area in search of clues.
"Where'd you guys come here from?" Max asked.
"Hm...Jump City." Lionel replied.
"Well, I hope you can make it around here okay." Max said.
"It's okay so far..." Cherry shrugged. "I guess you could say I feel like I've grown up here already."
"Same here!" Lionel added.
"You two sure are interesting." Max commented.
"More than you know~" Cherry whispered ominously.
"Yeah, we get THAT a lot! You're plenty interesting yourself!" Lionel replied.
"Heh, well, thanks." Max said as she took them down the hallway.
"Ah, no prob, Max." Lionel shrugged.
A man soon came out of his office and looked over.
"Principal Nakamura." Max told Cherry and Lionel.
"Nice to meet'cha." Lionel shook his hand.
"Good morning..." Principal Nakamura greeted. "I don't believe I've seen you two in this school before."
"We're new," Cherry replied, looking around, but speaking directly to him. "Not troublemakers though..."
"Yeah, we're pretty decent people." Lionel added.
"Mostly." Cherry whispered ominously.
"Hm... I'm not sure if I remember seeing anything about new transfer students in my files, probably an error..." Principal Nakamura replied.
Lionel twitched his toe, and inserted the "new student" notice into the system. "I dunno...perhaps you could check again?" he asked.
"Hmm... Let me check... This thing is always on the fritz," Principal Nakamura said before checking. "Well, whatya know?"
Lionel winked and smirked at Cherry.
"Well, welcome to our school... I trust that you won't get into any trouble, like some students I could mention..." Principal Nakamura said to them.
"Relax, sir; we'll try our best." Lionel replied.
"It's the least we can do for being welcomed into this new school." Cherry added.
"Yeah!" Lionel added.
They were soon shown to be exploring the school and being told about it from Max after she was given an excuse pass for if she missed any classes.
"Pretty interesting place..." Lionel commented.
"It is what it is." Max replied.
"Isn't every school?" Cherry smirked.
"Some more than others..." Lionel replied.
"I hope you guys can like it here though." Max said to them.
"Eh, no problem. We'll take to it like a duck to water." Lionel replied.
Afterwards, they went to the party celebrating Bruce's reclaiming of Wayne Enterprises along with the retired Dark Knight himself and Terry.
"Man, I need a drink..." Cherry muttered.
"Leave it to me-owth." Lionel commented, poofing up a drink.
"Thank you..." Cherry said, taking the drink and drank it right away.
"Guess all the hero work is putting a ton of pressure on you...?" Lionel asked.
"A little bit..." Cherry said. "I haven't been feeling too much like myself lately."
"Well, Bruce is about to give his speech," Lionel commented. "We can discuss it afterwards."
"Fair enough..." Cherry said as they walked off.
Bruce looked over to Cherry and gave a small chuckle. "How is it I got older and you stayed the same?"
"Just lucky, I guess." Lionel smirked.
"I told you you'd end up being a Gray-Haired Knight." Cherry quietly quipped to Bruce.
"Well, I couldn't have helped it with your dangerous childhood." Bruce playfully retorted.
Bruce and Cherry soon shared a tender and heartfelt hug.
"Aw... That's sweet," Lionel commented. "But you got a speech to deliver. So get up there and wow 'em."
"I'd say break a leg, but that sounds dark." Cherry said.
"You always did have an interesting sense of humor." Bruce told her before going off.
"He's right, y'know." Lionel replied.
"Think of me as a young female Steven Wright..." Cherry shrugged.
Lionel shrugged as Bruce approached the podium. "Whatever ya say, dear. Whatever ya say."
Cherry soon looked up with the others as the lights were dimmed and a spotlight shined as a woman introduced Bruce to the audience.
"Thank you, Joyce. It's a pleasure to see you all again," Bruce smiled as he came to the podium. "In the future, I hope to-"
"Augh!" Cherry yelped from the microphone feedback, covering her ears.
Lionel hissed through his teeth at the sound of the feedback, before it stopped. Cherry's left eye twitched behind her glasses from the uncomfortable sound.
"Uh... Spend time getting to know each member of our company," Bruce soon continued with an apologetic smile. "Learning about you individually-"
The feedback then seemed to come back and there was a laughter heard.
Lionel's face went pale. "No... That horrible laughter..." he gasped.
"But... He... He's..." Cherry stammered.
Woof soon snarled, coming out of a bush beside a woman who shrieked from the scare he caused. He dashed towards the stage and cornered Bruce, leaping from side to side, before trying to attack him. Terry tried to stop Woof, but was unable to. Bruce narrowed his eyes to the mutant. Woof then tried to attack Bruce but kept missing until Bruce then hit him with his cane, he still had it after all these years.
"I knew I should've neutered him before..." Lionel grumbled. "Time to get to work." He placed a black dot over his chest and it covered his body like a blob, forming into his Bat-Mite suit.
Up on stage, Bruce was approached by the Dee Dee twins, with bad intentions in mind. Cherry looked to that, she then turned to the shadows, and instantly became her superhero guise of Lady Gothika, or LG for short.
"Well, if it isn't old Mr. Wayne?" Dee Dee 1 smirked.
"So debonair~" Dee Dee 2 added, hugging Bruce's arm.
"So dashing!" The other added, clinging to his right arm.
"So going to be black and blue twins in a second." Gothika glared as she came towards the Dee Dee twins.
"So ready to join in on that!" Bat-Mite added, streaking in next to her.
The twins gushed over him.
"Hey, I'm not cute, I'm fearsome!" Bat-Mite insisted.
"Dudes! Stop being such duds, and just... MOVE!" LG glared at the twins before shoving them violently while a Ludacris song played in the background to highlight her aggression.
"Right! Let's rock and rumble!" Bat-Mite nodded before leaping into action.
Purple smoke soon came out with a shadowed figure behind it.
"So... We meet at last... Whoever you are..." LG glared. "Though I have a hunch."
The smoke then cleared to show it was The Joker with a bigger grin on his face than usual.
"YOU?!" Bat-Mite gasped in shock.
"Hello, Gotham... Joker's back in town~" The Joker smirked.
The people looked shocked and horrified.
"It can't be..." Bruce whispered.
"Oh, but it is, Brucey," the clown smirked. "You know ME better than ANYONE."
"Back off, Gruesome." A voice said before everyone looked up to see the new Batman flying down in front of the Joker.
"Ah... The new boy... Ears are too long, and I miss the cape, but not too shabby. Not too shabby at all," The Joker commented. "WOOF!"
Suddenly, Woof sprang up onto the stage and attacked Terry, before Bat-Mite appeared and slammed a trick bone down his throat. He snapped his fingers, and it blew up in his throat, causing a trail of black smoke to come out.
"Let this be a lesson, Fido," Bat-Mite commented. "Don't take bones from strangers!"
Woof staggered and passed out, smoke trailing from his mouth.
"I see you two haven't lost your touch." Joker smirked to Gothika and Bat-Mite.
"I see you haven't found your sanity." Gothika retorted.
"We're still just as tough as we were all those years ago..." Bat-Mite replied.
"Perhaps you'd like to put yourselves to a little test." Joker chuckled.
"Perhaps. Whaddya got in mind?" Bat-Mite asked.
"Why don't I test to see how fast you are?" Joker smirked as he checked his watch before taking out what looked like walkie-talkie and checked in with something before smirking to the twins beside him. "Time to go, ladies~"
The Dee Dee twins nodded and the Joker soon pushed a button which brought out an aircraft, and they all rushed off to make their escape while Bruce had a hard time getting over the shock of seeing The Joker again after so long.
"You stay here; we'll take care of the circus troupe!" Bat-Mite told Terry while he and LG took off after Joker.
Joker grinned as he soon took out a remote and began to cause explosions everywhere.
"Save the people!" Bat-Mite ordered. "We go after the clown!"
Terry nodded and soon went to take care of the people while Gothika and Bat-Mite went after The Joker and his new friends.
"I dunno HOW ya came back, but you WON'T be doing it again!" Bat-Mite growled, becoming his monster form and lunging at the hovercraft.
"I'm afraid a magician like myself doesn't reveal secrets." The Joker replied.
The Dee Dee twins soon leaned over to kick Bat-Mite off of the hovercraft.
But Bat-Mite clung on tightly. "Sorry, ladies, but I've got a GRIP on the situation!" he joked, revealing that his hands were glued to the side of the craft.
"You've been a thorn in my side far too long!" Joker glared to him. "Along with that emo friend of yours!"
Gothika's left eye twitched as she had been labeled as an 'emo'.
"She's! A! PERKY! GOTH!" Bat-Mite punctuated. "AND YOU'RE A DEAD DUCK!" he raised his hand, and it grew razor-sharp claws.
"Ooh... Touchy~..." Joker replied.
"You're about to see HOW touchy...when I slice ya to ribbons!" Bat-Mite growled, slashing his claw at him.
Joker soon began to dodge. The Dee Dee twins then leaned over to try to get rid of Bat-Mite, though they both yelped as they got cut by a claw, each having a scar on their arms.
"Ooh...my apologies, ladies," Bat-Mite shrugged. "But hey, if you get in the way, then expect to get hurt."
"My helpers may be new, but I consider you almost an old friend..." Joker smirked to Bat-Mite. "An old friend who should get lost!"
"Well, with friends like you, who needs enemies?" Bat-Mite smirked before he soon got grumpy and suddenly groused. "The hell with it...we've wasted enough time playing with the clowns..."
"Oh, are you leaving so soon?~" Both Dee Dees smirked.
"Sorry we can't stay; places to go, bad guys to jail, so on," Bat-Mite replied, grabbing LG with his feet and flying off.
"You actually like the small fry?" asked Dee Dee to her sister.
"He's rather interesting actually." The other Dee Dee replied modestly.
"Sure, I guess." the first replied.
Cherry soon came to Bruce, looking relieved that he was okay while Terry looked around while The Joker rode away.
"Good...you're alright..." Bat-Mite sighed with relief. "Let's get back home..." he suggested. "We're definitely gonna need time to figure this out..."
So they left as the people were trying to recompile themselves.
They soon rode away, going with Bruce and Terry just to make sure they would get home okay.
"How... How did he come BACK?" Lionel pondered in the car. "It's impossible...we SAW him die..."
"That's what I'd like to know..." Bruce replied as he firmly held his cane.
"He looks pretty spry for a guy who's gotta be, what? In his mid-80's." Terry commented.
"Even moreso for a DEAD MAN," Lionel added. "Can't be him... Gotta be some kinda clone... Clone? This is starting to sound like a bad comic-book plot..."
"That feels too cliché." Cherry replied.
"Robot?" Terry suggested. "Perhaps suspended animation due to floating around frozen in a block of ice?"
"No way, man; that's like Saturday-morning-cartoon levels of ridiculousness..." Lionel replied.
They soon pulled up and stopped once they where they were needed to be.
"You two get going now, I don't wanna drag you into this Joker madness." Bruce told Cherry and Lionel.
"We've BEEN dragged into it since we were teens," Lionel replied. "And if he IS back, then no doubt he'll come after all of us."
"We have to help someway... Even if this clown's back." Cherry added softly.
"She's right; we made a vow to combat crime wherever it may lurk." Lionel nodded.
"If you really want to... Don't say I didn't warn you..." Bruce said.
"He's been a major part of my life since I first came to this city." Cherry reminded, a bit stoically.
"Not to mention, we got unfinished business with 'im," Lionel added, "I gotta pay 'im back for the one time he stole my powers."
"All right... I'd just hate to ruin your visit." Bruce said.
"Bruce, this happens all the time, I can basically sleep for an hour and then spring into action after ten seconds." Cherry smirked.
"And I hardly need sleep." Lionel added.
"Just wait 'til you're my age." Bruce smirked.
"We'll see." Lionel smirked, as he and Cherry left.
Bruce waved as he soon had to get going inside with Terry.
"I think I'm starting to grow gray hair now with Joker back..." Cherry muttered as she left with Lionel.
"Seriously? That guy could give ANYBODY gray hair," Lionel replied. "Though personally I never noticed..."
"I've had gray hair since I was 12..." Cherry replied.
"Yeesh..." Lionel commented. "The last time things got this crazy was when I tried giving Batman my powers to fight Joker...unfortunately Joker got in the way, and...things went from bad to worse..."
"Yes, yes, I know... That wasn't a pretty story..." Cherry replied. "Then again, if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't become the superhero I became after my other visits to Gotham City."
"So...blessing in disguise..." Lionel shrugged.