Three weeks patrolling Gotham.

I already made a name for myself.

Thing is?

I'm not the only one.

BATMAN BEYOND REVISTED

EPISODE:

BATMAN INQUE

"Her name is Inque." said Dick's voice from the earpiece in my cowl. "She's a shapeshifter. Can take virtually any form."

"Not impressed." I spoke with a bored tone. "In the short time of her so called reign of terror against Gotham, all she did was steal a few dollars."

Dick sighed. "Why do you think someone with her powers would commit such a small crime? She wants you to find her."

"Then I will. What are her weaknesses?"

Oracle chimed in. "Her body is as solid as clay in water. If you get her in the water or freeze her, you can bring her in."

"Got it. Now how do I find her?"

"Easy." Dick said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Follow the black goo."

I nodded and made the batjet go invisible, flying off to look for a trail.

Looks like she did want me to find her, because it was easy to find the said trail.

It brought me to an old ink-making factory called Ink inc.

I sighed at the name.

"Really? Horrible name, worse pun."

And how convenient it was where Inque led me to.

I landed the jet, wondering just how much sillier tonight was going to get.

I stepped onto the roof and entered the clearly shut down factory.

"Careful." Oracle said. "She can become invisible by blending in with anything purple or black."

"I'm in an abandoned factory with next to no light. That's not helpful."

"Would you rather us not help you, Vance?" Dick snapped.

"Screw you." I snapped back.

Dick and I haven't been getting along, if you couldn't tell.

I guess it's because he can't stand the idea of replacing Bruce.

Barbara says if it was up to him, I'd be on the streets right now instead of tracking down super-villains.

I guess I understand.

Doesn't mean I have to take it, though.

I stopped dead in my tracks at the sound of quiet movement and pulled out a batarang.

I pressed a spot above my eyebrow and switched to heat vision.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

"That won't work, Beyond."

Dick refuses to call me Batman, which only backs up my theory that he doesn't like the idea of me being Batman.

"Inque generates no heat. No cold, either."

"That would have been useful to know. I guess I'll have to even the odds."

I pressed a button on my wrist and the suit went into stealth mode.

I creeped around, trying to find her, but not a clue as to where she was hiding.

Eventually, I managed to check every floor.

"Oracle? She's not here. I'm coming back to-"

Something covered my mouth.

"Leaving so soon?"

She wrapped herself around me, so I couldn't move.

"Just let me crush your body without a fight and I'll grant you a painless death."

Her voice sounded as if she was talking from underwater.

"Don't resist. Just accept your fate."

I managed to get my hand free and remove her arm from my mouth.

"Tempting..."

I reached for my belt and pulled out a blue Batarang and stuck it into her arm.

She froze, encased in ice.

"But I'll pass."

I broke myself out of Inque's grasp by breaking apart the ice.

"I'm going to need some help transporting her, guys."

I wish I could say she didn't get away.

After we towed in the frozen blob, Dick managed to get a small part of her out of the ice and onto a microscope slab.

"What do you plan to do with that?"

"Research. Learn more about her."

"Shouldn't we just kill her first? So she doesn't get away?"

"You're a pathetic excuse for a Batman. That's not how we did things and it never will be."

He went to put the extracted piece of Inque into the analyzer, but it quickly came to life and managed to get away.

"Dammit." Grayson swore.

"Would Bruce have let it get away?"

"I didn't see you doing anything about it."

"At least I-"

Suddenly, the woman in the ice dissolved to nothing.

Of course that could only mean one thing...

I sighed.

"Great...

...She got away."