He goes on patrol but encounters a being from another dimension.

Nothing quite felt like traversing Gotham City at night. The wind rushing against his cowl as he sprinted and vaulted from building to building, grappling up high and steadily gliding over the dreary gothic jungle of light. The fear he inspired in criminals when they looked to the sky and saw his symbol looming menacingly overhead. The thought that they were always watching the shadows in horror, scared to **** that the living urban legend would emerge and strike them down, well, it almost made even the Dark Knight smile. Almost.

Radio chatter jabbered over the police frequency, Batman listening intently for anything worth his time. But as he stood valiantly on a rooftop, his cape billowing in the wind, he noticed something peculiar. He glanced away from the holographic screen on his gauntlet, peering downward. The second he caught the glimpse of something that wasn't there a moment ago, he sprang into a defensive posture, batarangs in hand.

"Oh-my-god! It's really you!"

Squinting with the white eyes of his cowl, he glared down at the creature. The first thing he noticed was the bat ears. Was this some kind of kid in an ill-fitting Halloween costume? Not even officially licensed from the looks of it. A black lightning bolt rested on his chest in lieu of a bat symbol, however.

"I'm your number one fan, Batman!"

Batman kept his batarangs raised. This was a new one. After so many years, after so long fighting crime, Gotham still managed to surprise him. He did not like surprises.

The thing was not a child. The proportions were wrong. And it was floating. Hovering a few inches off the edge of the rooftop, neither affected by gravity or afraid of the eight story drop below it.

He'd heard of something like this from Superman. An imp like creature called Mr. Mxyzptlk that had powers that could even trouble the Man of Steel.

Clark had not mentioned anything about a bad imitation Batman costume. Either Clark's imp was doing a very bad job of encouraging trust, or this was someone new.

"Who are you?"

Batman growled.

"Right, where are my manners?"

The imp struck a heroic pose, imitating the one Batman was just doing a moment ago.

"I'm Bat-Mite!"

He gave it his best Christian Bale impression.

"How was that? Any good?"

Batman gave him a flat look, the kind of look that usually had criminals sweating. The imp not only didn't sweat, it seemed utterly exuberated by the expression.

"I don't know what you are or why you're here, but I want you out of Gotham," he grumbled.

"This is my city."

Batman squinted.

"Hah! You said the thing. You're so much cooler in person, Batman!"

He floated around the Dark Knight, plucking his cape.

"What's this made of anyway? Oooh! Can I wear your utility belt?"

In the blink of an eye, Bat-Mite was already wearing the belt around his shoulder since it didn't fit over his small waist.

Batman stared for a heartbeat at the imp. By his standards he might as well have been staring for an hour. Then his gauntlet clad hand shot out and grabbed the belt.

He was a bit worried now.

There was no way that had been anything except for magic. Magic was one thing that he could not account for. He had studied magic. And his studies had told him that even the experts knew terrifyingly little about what was truly possible. He needed to be careful.

"Awesome! Y'know, they say to never meet your heroes but you're just as badass as I thought you'd be! I have so much merch for you to sign!"

In another blink, he sat atop a pile of Batman themed products, ranging from comic books to posters to vintage action figures to batarang shaped letter openers.

Suddenly, Batman's gauntlet flickered.