Part 4

"Harvey! How nice to see you again old friend, still a two-faced lawyer I see?" The Joker grinned as a man walked into the top room in his building, his face was disfigured halfway. This man was known as the Harvey Dent of this dimension, better known for his alias as Two-face.

"I wish I could say the same to you Joker. I've received information involving a resistance to our forces…"
"Oh I know all about the old bat-team resisting me, but they won't last long." The Joker suddenly broke into hysterical laughter.

"Hahaha! They're only alive right now because I need a hobby! Hahahaha!"

Harvey never had patience for Joker's games, so he decided to get right to the point.

"Everyone knows who the Gotham Knights are, I'm talking about the Titans."
"The Who?" Joker raised an eyebrow, walking toward Two-face.

"The Titans…" Harvey reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small black device and aimed the end of it for the ground. He turned it on and a hologram was projected onto the white tile of Joker's office. The photo was revealed to be of a tower shaped like a 'T'.

"OOHH the TEEN Titans! The Original Boy Blunder's old gang… How exactly could they be a threat? They broke off years ago." Joker threw his hand up and turned to look out the window.

"They're not exactly Teens anymore… Since they split and we took Gotham city along with half the country, each of their members have been pressing against our forces on their own… Now four of them have found each other.

"So? I've taken an entire city! I took out the Batman! Why should I have to worry about some little resistance I don't know about?" Joker was losing his patience with Harvey, as the information he was being given seemed to be wasting his time. Two-Face just grinned.

"Haha, you obviously haven't done your research Joker… The Titans have proven themselves a four-person army, taking out several of Luthor's combat synthoids as well as clearing Metropolis of crime nearly on their own, and now it appears they are heading in our direction."

Joker smiled again, "Hahaha, so what's the plan Big Bad Harv? Are you gonna whup the brats into their place? Or am I gonna haveta play my… Trump Card?" Joker's grin widened as Harvey's eyes did as well.

"Trump card?"

"Hahahahahahahaha! How do you think I stopped Superman? Even I can't take down that meathead on my own!" Joker walked over to a curtain in the back of the room.

"I have my own little 'Ace in the Hole'." He pulled a rope and the red curtain rose to reveal a giant glass tube filled with liquid. Harvey could see something else in the water, he moved closer and saw there was a young woman with short black hair floating in the water. She was wearing a black and white bodysuit with a club on the white side, seemingly unconscious, she had her eyes wide open and several wires in her forehead.

"Oh my…" Harvey said, stepping back while Joker laughed hysterically.

"Hahahahahahaha! Why so serious Harv? Haven't you met Ace? Why this little girl single-handedly turned Superman's brain into jelly along with the rest of the Justice League! I just had to give 'er a little nudge!" Joker pressed his hands to the glass and walked around it. Harvey stared in horror at Joker's madness… Then he was brought back to his senses.

"I see… Well I guess you have everything under control, I'm afraid I must be going…"
"Don't be a stranger Harv! I do love our little chats! Ahahahahahaha!"

Terry closed Harley's door behind him as another slew of questions flew through his mind… If the Joker had taken over with only those certain villains… What about the others? The boy walked outside in the night, the others were asleep so he hoped that he could leave without being heard. He retrieved his cowl from the drawer in the front room and pulled it on, switching on the cloaking device and leaving silently.

It wasn't at all difficult to see where the Joker had made his base of operations; it was almost exactly where the old Wayne Manor was. In fact, he might have built it on top of it. The building was several stories high, with a massive red paint streak across the side of it painting a smiley face. As Batman soared over the old Gotham City, he heard a voice and a crash down below. He touched down in an alley and saw a gang of familiars holding down a girl… With great difficulty.

Terry got a closer look, they had covered the girl's eyes with some form of metal blindfold and had her hands tied behind her back. He couldn't get a good enough look in the darkness, so he decided to do what Batman does best. A Batarang flew from Terry's wrist and sliced through the gang of people. Missing them but letting them know they were being watched. Upon closer inspection, Batman could tell that these people were this world's Royal Flush gang… If they hadn't been wearing their card uniforms, he wouldn't have guessed due to how different they were. The King raised the black staff he was holding and the club on the end began to glow, illuminating the entire alley. If Terry had done his research correctly, this was one of the first of the Royal Flush gang. He didn't know what exactly they were doing with this girl, but he knew he had to get her out of there.

The Jack was knocked back by an invisible Batman and the gang became more aware of their surroundings, watching in every direction, trying to pinpoint the exact location of their attacker. But almost instantly, the King was knocked unconscious and the Queen and 10 were tied together by a cord. It was then that Batman made himself known, reappearing and taking the girl away from the gang, who could only watch in anger.

Batman set the young woman down, she then opened her mouth and spoke.

"Who is there? Please tell me who has recued me from that gang!" Her voice was rather high, as if she was very young. Upon closer inspection, Batman noticed she had incredibly tan skin, it was almost orange.

"Don't worry, you're safe now." Terry said, and out of his left index finger rose a small blowtorch, and he went to work on the cuffs on her arms.

"This may take some time…"
"This type of metal is nameless… I cannot break through it no matter how hard I try."

Batman raised an eyebrow, "You could break through other metals?"

"On my home planet, such skills are the norm for people like me… Unfortunately these people took me from behind and blinded my eyes."

"Sneak attack… Cowards."

The girl smiled, "You remind me of an old friend of mine, he always knew how to fight fairly and still defeat even his toughest foes… I haven't seen him in a long time though."
"What happened?" Small sparks continued to fly as the heat from Batman's torch cut slowly through the cuffs.

"A friend of his… Was murdered, and he left me and my friends and never came back. Eventually we all separated."
"Sounds rough..."
"It has been…"
"If you don't mind me asking… What's your name?"
"On my home planet, my name is Koriand'r…"
"And here?"

"My name translates to Star, Fire. My friends called me Starfire before we split up."
Terry finally snapped the cuffs and began to work on the blinder.

"Why was the Royal Flush Gang after you?" Terry asked. Her name seemed familiar to him, but he thought it was just déjà vu.

"That was their name? I haven't heard of them…"
"Consider yourself lucky to have survived."
"I do."
Batman finally finished cutting through the Blinder, and quickly dodged a laser of green light shooting from Starfire's eyes.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry…" Starfire gasped when she saw Batman in the light.

"It's fine, really."
"That is a very intimidating costume you wear… Tell me, what is your name?"
"Terry…"
Batman pulled of his cowl and revealed his face, to which Starfire blushed.

"Terry McGinnis, you can call me Batman if you like." Terry had already deduced in his mind that in this dimension, if the original Batman was dead and gone, then it didn't much matter if his secret identity was known. Of course, the fact that nobody in a different world could hurt someone from his world because of his identity helped too.
"It is very nice to meet you Terry, and thank you for rescuing me."
Starfire turned and began to float away, but Terry called after her.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"I must find the friend I came here searching for, so I must say goodbye to you Batman…"
Starfire continued to fly away, when she was joined by Terry, cowl on and wings spread.

"I could help you look… What's their name?"

Starfire stopped in midair.

"Such kindness for someone you just met… Why would you help me? Do you not have other things to do?"
"Oh I have plenty to do… But that doesn't mean I should leave you on your own, you may be captured again."
Terry said, then thought to himself, -And if the Royal Flush Gang's involved in this, then there must be some link between this girl and whoever they're working for… And unless I miss my guess, that person is the Joker.-

(Read and Review folks!)