The Joker let out a cry of ecstasy as he threw himself back onto the throne.

"What do you say, Bats?" He asked, his face being broadcast all over Gotham. "The girl…"

The camera rotated to show a struggling Vicky Vale struggling to break herself free of her bonds as she lowered into a vat or acid.

"Or the cops?" He asked, his grin widening, as he raised a detonator. Bombs strapped all over the Gotham Police station were set to go off at a moment's notice.

"Choose wisely, Bats!" He cried.

The door burst open. The Joker blinked.

"That was fast…" He began, only for his gaze to narrow. Standing there in the doorway was not his beloved archenemy, but a stranger. A boy with slicked back hair and an almost permanent scowl on his face. "Who are you?"

The boy raised a large metal baseball bat towards him.

"I'm Bat." He said. "The real one."

The Joker stared at him. For the first time since he could remember, the smile faded from his face.

"No." He said. "You're not."

The boy with the Bat advanced, the metal bat glinting in the dark warehouse light. The captured woman looked on fearfully as the two of them squared off, eyes narrowed.

"Boy." Joker said. "Don't test my patience."

Bat said nothing.

"You come to me calling yourself Batman… To be frank, I don't find that funny. I don't find that funny at all. In fact it rather pisses me off."

He raised his hand to the detonator and raised it, pressing his thumb against the trigger. Bat started forward.

"Go back out the very door you came in, boy. One more step forward and dozens of people will die."

Bat shifted his eyes upward.

"Batman!"

The Joker turned around. Bat took a massive swing, and with one brutal blow slammed the bat into the side of Joker's head. The detonator went spinning out of his grip as the Joker's brain exploded all over him.

Vicky Vale screamed.

"Shut up, I didn't forget about you." Bat said, annoyed, as he turned around to the interface. After a little bit of struggle with the controls, eventually he managed to move the hook she was strapped to safely to the ground. She pulled away from him slightly as he approached.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you." He said, trying to reassure her as he undid her binds. She calmed down, somewhat, nervously sitting completely still as he freed her.

"Why did you kill him?" She asked.

He gave her a strange look.

"Because you were in danger."

She stared at him, open mouthed. She seemed completely at a loss for words. Before she could speak again, however, a voice reverberated throughout the entire building.

"Come out with your hands up!"

Bat rolled his eyes.

"They always show up when you don't need them."

Vicky Vale let out a nervous giggle.

"Go on, they won't hurt you." He told her, as he prodded her forward.

"What about you?" She asked softly. "They may think you're a henchman, or-"

"I can take care of myself. Go!"

She gave one nervous nod and then shakily made her way to the door.

…

"We had the entire building surrounded, but the guy got away." Detective Harvey Bullock said. He was on his fourth cigar of the night and was beginning to smell more like smoke than a person. "A couple of my guys caught 'im coming out of the back exit, but he beat them senseless. They didn't see where he went after that."

Commissioner Gordon nodded, his expression grave.

"What did the girl say?"

"Nothing we didn't already know. The guy's young… real young… looks like a Jap. Carries a baseball bat. Dresses like a punk, with an attitude to match."

"Do we know where he came from?"

"No." Bullock answered. "There are no records of anyone like this. He's come almost out of nowhere… like a ghost." He paused, his expression grave. "Like Batman."

"That will do, Detective." Gordon said. Bullock nodded, placed his hat upon his head, and then left.

Gordon did not have to wait long until a familiar shadow descended upon him.

"This one isn't one of yours?" Gordon asked.

"No." The real Batman said quietly.

"Is there any possibility that he's an imitator… or a copycat?" Gordon asked, as he perused his notes.

"You seem intent on blaming me for this matter, Commissioner."

"Well he's going around calling himself the 'real' Batman…"

"I would never condone his behavior."

"Yes…" Gordon said quietly. The Joker had not been the first target of this new Bat. Many low level thugs, some of whom had made a name for themselves doing work for the Penguin or Two-Face, had been found broken and bloody on the streets of Gotham. Those that survived would never be able to walk again. The GPD had been investigating the situation, but now it had resulted in a death.

With the Joker gone, the gangs of Gotham had erupted into chaos. Already other gang leaders were making moves to seize his territory and his people. A full blown war between the gangs of Gotham would result in more damage than the Joker ever could have been caused if he had been allowed to live.

"This man is dangerous." Batman said. "His actions have put this city at risk. He needs to be dealt with."

Gordon nodded shakily.

"The city wants to throw a festival in his honor."

"We can't allow that." Batman said immediately. "Honoring his actions would only inspire more to violence."

"I'll speak to the Mayor about it." Gordon said gravely. "But I don't think it can be stopped. People have been demanding the Joker to be given the Death Penalty for years. The boy is a city wide hero." He paused. "There are those who would say he's done more for the city than you." He ventured forth, cautiously.

"They're wrong." Batman said shortly, as he turned into the night. And then he was gone.

…

Bat had been living on the street ever since he had first come to this Universe. Following the situation with Blast reaching a head, the Hero Association had been split apart into different universes to push their skills to the next level. Bat, to his displeasure, had found himself in one of the lamer ones. Where heroes weren't appreciated for their actions.

"You're under arrest!"

The officer fired off a single bullet as Bat swung the bat, catching the bullet in mid-air and flinging it right back to where it came from. He ignored the shocked gasps from those around him as the officer crumpled to the ground.

"Sorry about that." Bat said to the shocked crowd around them. No one tried to stop him as he made his way down the street.

The city, Gotham, seemed to be plagued by a strange desire by just about everyone to not do anything about the problems. Criminals were rounded up only to be put back onto the street in a matter of weeks, and the justice system seemed more interested in punishing civilians for trying to stop the problems than they were in stopping the problems themselves. In his own universe problems were dealt with quickly and efficiently, so that heroes would not have to worry about them when the next threat came along. Yet the people here were content to allow criminals and monsters to do whatever they want.

"You're the new Bat?"

Metal Bat glanced to the side at the man who had spoken to him.

"The one who killed the Joker?"

"Yeah." Bat said coldly. "You got a problem with it?"

"A problem?" The man repeated, grinning. "Nah man. You did a great thing. Wish we had more like you. Can I buy you lunch?"

And so Metal Bat spend his afternoon deep in conversation with the one person who understood what he was trying to do.

…

Batman sat and watched the two men as they spoke. The surveillance camera he had hacked into in the restaurant to give him a complete look into the goings on in the restaurant was able to perfectly make out every word the two spoke.

His target, Bat, spoke little about himself, instead focusing on the criminals in the city. The man he was with, however, kept pushing him to tell him more about himself. Batman was quickly about to discern that not only was Bat not from this city, he was not from this world. Only an outsider would have intervened In the going ons in this city they way he had.

"Any luck?" Barbara Gordon asked, as she leaned over the computer chair to get a better look at his target. "That's the guy, huh?"

"Yes." Batman said, as he clicked on a couple of keys, registering the boy's face and voice to his private records. "He needs to be dealt with."

"He looks like a normal guy to me." Barbara commented.

"His actions have caused the city problems."

"Has he, though?" Barbara asked. "The gangs are getting uppity, sure, but they always are. Nothing's changed."

Batman glowered at Metal Bat's face.

"First blood has been spilled." He said quietly. "More is soon to follow."

Barbara fell silent as her eyes turned upward to the boy she had just called normal. She had honestly completely forgotten that he had recently killed a man.

…

Bat made his way back to the homeless encampment where he had been staying, his shoulders slumped over. A handful of punks had tried to throw themselves at him as he walked the streets, but he had come out the victor every time. He wondered what it would take to cure this city of what plagued it.

A shadowy figure dropped down from the alleyway next to him. Bat turned his head to face it, his weapon at the ready.

"I saw you." He glowered. "Show yourself."

The figure got to its feet and walked towards him, its shoulders slumped.

"So you're the old Bat." Metal Bat rasped. "I've heard a lot about you."

The Batman said nothing as he stared at Bat.

"What do you want?" Bat asked impatiently. "Come to congratulate me on beating your greatest rival?"

"I have come to condemn you."

"Condemn me? For what?"

"For killing."

Metal Bat threw his head back and laughed.

"Yes, because allowing criminals to go free to cause more problems as worked out so well for you." He sneered. "Step aside, old man… there's a new Bat in town."

The Batman lunged at him. In one furious blow, Metal Bat caught the Batman right on the head. The cowl, which was a reinforced fabric meant to cushion blows attackers, did nothing to protect him. He slumped to the ground, unconscious, as Metal Bat stood over him.

"Stay out of my way." He said coldly. "I'll do more for this city than you ever have."

Metal Bat turned around. A passing by stray dog walked past him as he was heading back to his encampment. It stopped at Batman's still body, sniffed, and then raised his leg, marking its territory on his face. The encounter had already been forgotten by Metal Bat: All he could think about was his next move. Cleaning up this city was going to take a lot of work, and it didn't seem as if there were a lot of people who would be willing to make any real changes.

Well. He thought grimly. He had always enjoyed a challenge.

…