Despite swinging his fist at the Dark Knight, Saitama realized that the blow failed to land as his punch harmlessly hit thin air, the shockwave of the mighty attack blowing back all the grey smoke and revealing an empty street behind it.

“The Joker isn’t the only one with experience in chemical warfare,” Batman stated as he suddenly appeared behind the bald hero. “This wasn’t a smoke screen, it was a gas that affects the part of the Human brain that perceives predators and threats. It causes a delay in anything seen as a potential opponent, so you’re seeing me as I was a few seconds ago.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA hey, that’s pretty clever!” Saitama laughed as he threw another punch at the bat hero. “And not only that, but you made it so that your afterimage was standing in front of an empty space so that my punch didn’t hurt or destroy anything. Pretty smart, I’ll hand it to you!”

The next blow dissipated the last of the gas with its massive force, though Saitama had again lost sight of the caped crusader. Laughing to himself as his heightened senses scanned for Batman, the caped baldy’s true personality attempted to resurface, where he forced himself to lower his arm as he desperately fought to keep his wits.

“I heard through my associate Nightwing’s costume that you’re just a hero for fun, wherever you’re from,” Bruce Wayne continued to say from somewhere unseen. “I think the Joker did something to you to make you this way, I don’t think you’re a killer. Let me help you.”

“N-no, I-I want…hehehe….HAHAHAHA,” Saitama continued to laugh as he pinpointed where the voice was coming from. “Game over, Bats!”

Throwing yet another punch, the corner of the brick apartment building exploded as stray chunks of building material crashed down onto the streets below. His eyes pinpointing the source of Batman’s voice, Saitama picked up a tiny microphone amidst the rubble. He’d been duped.

“Hehehehe awe, c’mon, where did you go?” the bald hero asked, only to sense several fast-moving projectiles behind him. Raising one of his red-gloved hands, Saitama caught 4 bat-shaped blades between his fingers. “Oooohhhh what are these? You should know, I’m fast enough to dodge bullets at-”

Before Saitama could finish his sentence, the 4 batarangs in his hand exploded, where the overpowered hero could sense a massive drop of temperature as the smoke cleared to reveal that his arm was encased in ice.

“HAHAHAHAHAH!! I like you, you fight smart!” the one punch man roared with laughter as he simply flexed his arm to shatter the ice that covered it. “Now c’mon, let me turn you into a fun red mist.”

Batman had again vanished, however, where he cloaked his costumed body beneath his cape in the darkness of a rooftop. Upon seeing the failure of his frozen batarangs, he knew better than to try anything involving close combat with his opponent. The skilled detective had quickly deduced that Saitama’s true power was immense, and despite the threat that he posed, he could tell that the bald man was still holding back. As much as he wanted to avenge Nightwing, the Dark Knight forced himself to retreat for the time being.

“HAHAHAHAHA…heheheheh…ugh, my head,” Saitama moaned as he clutched his bare scalp. “B-bat guy, you might wanna stay away. I don’t know how much longer I can repress…whatever the hell it is that’s happening to me.”

Still watching from the darkness, Batman leapt into an alleyway where his batcycle was hidden, and quietly sped off as he contacted Wayne Manor.

“He’s strong, Alfred, really strong,” Bruce spoke into the earpiece hidden in his mask. “You’re right, I’ll need to go to the Justice League. If Clark were to have a go at him, then maybe I’ll be able to gauge any weaknesses of his and go from there.”

“Of course, Master Wayne,” the butler replied from the other end. “But sir, don’t you think that you should take a break to mourn Dick? We’ll have funeral arrangements to-”

“No, I’ll have time to mourn when that bald guy is either locked up or sent back to where he came from,” Batman answered with a growl. “And get in contact with Starlabs, they had a break in last week, and I’m pretty sure that the Joker stole something from their Project: Mother. How else would he have been hopping around the multiverse?”

“I’ll get right on it, Master Wayne,” Alfred affirmed. “I’ll have the Wayne Enterprise satellites monitor the threat in the meantime.”

His head pounding, Saitama trudged down the street as his slipping sanity continued to cling to life. A tear in his eye, the hero watched the passing cars as their drivers headed to work in the morning, where the break of began to crack over the city’s dreary horizon.

“I’m a hero, I’m a good guy,” Saitama repeated to herself as he rubbed his tired eyes. “T-this is all in my head, I’m not going to let whatever this is get to me…”

Stopping in front of a storefront that read “24 Hour Dollarmart”, the bald man grinned as he stepped inside and gazed around at the aisles of cheap, easily-breakable merchandise. Sighing, he figured that shopping for bargains might calm his mind, where he perused the food section and picked up several small bags of dollar rice and nearly-expired canned seaweed.

As he turned another corner in the store, Saitama stopped in front of the art supplies, where he began to giggle as he spotted a pack of clown facepaint that was intended for children. The cheap kit contained easily-washable white, blue, and red paint, where the user would be able to use a template to color their face like a clown’s. Picking it up, the caped baldy laughed loudly as he left his other items and went to exit the store with the paint kit.

“E-excuse me sir, you need to pay for that…” the elderly clerk piped up as the oddly-dressed man paused while opening the door.

“Oh, you don’t mind if I use the 5-finger discount, do you?” Saitama snickered as he raised his fist and threw a punch at the unsuspecting old man. Most of the store was obliterated in a second, with shelves, merchandise, and floor tile flying everywhere as blood splattered amidst the dust.

Freezing as he realized what he’d just done, Saitama groaned as he embarrassingly ran out of the store and sped off down the street.