His thoughts immediately went to Empire City.

The pain and shock, the fear and uncertainty...it was all too familiar.

He slowly started to open his eyes. He was sore all over. A thought then struck his mind.

"John!" He cried, as he sat straight up. He looked around, confused. He wasn't in New Marais. He was in some dingy alley. Hell, it looked like he was back in Empire.

"Should be dead..." he muttered to himself. He slowly, painfully made his way to his feet, feeling weak. Did he win? Was John...the Beast...was he dead? Cole turned on the RFI. He activated it, he knows he did. He could feel it tearing him inside out. So why was he alive?

"Ugh..." He groaned, his muscles screaming at him. He tried walking towards the end of the alley, but needed the support of the stone wall next to him to move. He tried to avoid the garbage on the ground and against the wall, but he accidentally knocked over a garbage can. He jumped when a cat ran away as a result.

He laughed a bit at himself. "Damn cat." He said, as he got to the sidewalk. He looked around, to see skyscrapers kissing the sky, dirt and grime around the streets, and a dark and Gothic tone around the area. Cole could feel the danger.

"Just like home," He mused. This wasn't Empire City, was it? Was there a chance that he went back in time? After Kessler...the bastard...that wasn't out of the question. Cole needed to find out where he was.

"Hey buddy," A voice behind him called. Cole turned to see a man, wearing a red stocking cap, a black jacket, and cargo pants. He had his hands in his pockets. Cole didn't get a good feeling from this guy.

"Hey," He rasped out. The man just smiled.

"You look lost," He drawled out.

Cole nodded. "I guess you can say that."

The man then pulled out a knife, and pointed it at Cole. "OK, just give me your money!" He yelled.

Cole raised an eyebrow. "Are you mugging me?" He asked, a bit surprised.

The man widened his eyes in anger. "Course I'm mugging you! What do you think this is?!" He exclaimed, moving the knife to emphasize his point.

Cole just stared. Does this guy have any idea who he was? His name floated around on national news stations as a "terrorist". He wasn't exactly unknown. "Look pal, I don't know what you're playing at, but walk away. No one gets hurt." Cole felt some of his energy returning.

The man looked baffled. "You ain't getting rid of me like that!" He cried, as he moved to stab Cole.

Cole dodged the tip of the weapon, before raising his hand and shooting a bolt of lightning at his attacker. The bolt sent the man back a bit, knocking him out. Cole sighed. Well, he's still got his powers, but he somehow feels...weaker. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He snapped when he figured it out. He tried to summon an ice shield, but nothing happened. He tried throwing an ice grenade, making an ice pillar, but nothing. He lost all the powers he got from Kuo. He threw some electricity between his hands. It seemed like he had all of his own powers though. Good old electricity.

Cole sensed something electric on the man. He walked up slowly to the man, making sure he was out cold. Just because Cole could take more damage than a normal person, doesn't mean getting stabbed doesn't hurt like a bitch.

He searched the crook's jacket to find a fully charged cell phone. He quickly drained it, feeling his strength slowly coming back.

"Ah...that's the stuff," He sighed. He dropped the cell phone on the guy, before he got a shiver. He just realized how cold it was.

He took off his messenger bag, only to be shocked when he realized that he didn't have his Amp. He looked around, only to see that it wasn't where he woke up. He groaned. He really liked that thing, and it's going to take Zeke forever to...

Zeke...was he even still alive? He saw Nix die, Laroche, and Kuo looked like she was about to go too. But what about Zeke? Cole hoped that his best friend was OK.

Cole opened his bag, and pulled out his old yellow and black courier jacket. He quickly put it on, before slinging the bag back over his shoulder.

He made his way out of the alley, and looked around, wondering where to go. He made a mental note of the building with the giant "W" on it.

He then found a newspaper stand. He quickly made his way towards it. Once he was in front of it, he read the headline of that day's paper.

It was called the Gotham Gazette. Some rich boy by the name of Bruce Wayne was opening a hospital. The date was October 9th, 2015.

Questions swirled in the conduit's head. Where the hell was Gotham? He never heard of a city called Gotham before! And 2015? It was 2011 when he fought the Beast. He...went to the future?

Cole wanted to scream, but he worried that the people walking around might think he's a freak. Then again, when was the last time someone looked at him like a normal person? He needed to find a genius. Someone who could explain what's happening. You know, assuming that Cole hasn't gone crazy. Fighting trash monsters, swamp freaks, fifty foot maggots, and a walking apocalypse would make anyone nuts.

Cole's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of police sirens. He turned around to see several cop cars pass by, all with "GCPD" on the side. They all drove like maniacs. Looks like something big was happening.

The Electric Man contemplated for a moment. Whatever the cops were after, it was serious. Cole doubted they could handle it themselves. But if he helped, he'd give himself away. He wasn't sure whether he wanted people to know about him.

Actually, if Cole revealed himself, he could get someone to help him. Hopefully someone trustworthy.

Without a second thought, Cole followed the sirens. Besides, it'll feel nice to fry some thugs.

After about five minutes grinding on power lines, Cole finally got to the scene of the crime. The police had an abandoned factory surrounded. Cole decided to hang back on a nearby rooftop, to see what was going on. He could faintly make out an officer with a megaphone.

"...release the hostages...make it out of this..."

So, whoever's in there has hostages. Cole's gonna have to hit them hard and fast. He looked to the building next to him, and noticed that it was slightly taller than the one he was on. He ran towards it, and started climbing up the side, grabbing any notches or ledges he could. Once he was at the top, Cole jumped off towards the factory, and used his static thrusters to safely make his way to the factory's rooftop.

He looked around, to see a skylight of some kind. Quietly, he made his way over to it, and silently got it open. He scampered down his entry way as quickly as possible, and dropped to a walkway hanging high from the inside.

The conduit noticed tons of dusty old boxes littered around. The walls had cracks and holes in it, and the windows were halfway broken. Any factory machinery left was rustic and broken.

Cole noticed some people tied up to chairs on the ground, and with gags in their mouths. Surrounding them were four armed guards, wearing purple tank tops, white pants, clown masks, and holding AK-47s.

"So who are these guys?" One of the crooks asked.

"I think they're business men or sumthin," A second one answered. "The boss said they have some metal. I forgot what it's called."

"Metallio I think." A third interrupted.

"So these guys have the stuff?" The first asked.

"Yeah, and we're suppose to waste these guys at the first sign of trouble. And no shooting them unless we have to, got it Terry?"

"Yeah, yeah." The third guy, Terry, replied.

"Sickos." Cole muttered to himself. The conduit focused as well as he could. He needed to use precision to get all these guys in one go.

As fast as possible, Cole zapped each and every clown in the room, making them crumble to the ground. Cole then jumped off the catwalk, and went over to the civilians. Their faces were covered in fear.

"Hey, relax," Cole tried to soothe them. "I'm here to help." Cole then untied each of the hostages, and ungagged them. "Now, why don't you tell me what this was all about?"

The civilians, still with terror in their eyes, ran out of the factory as fast as possible.

"Well, that was rude," Cole said to himself.

"Oh, I'm afraid they had a good reason to run."

Cole jumped at the voice, as he spun around to get a glimpse at his unknown guest, as he came out of the shadows. It was a lanky clown, with lime green hair, a purple suit, and a ghost white face with blood red lips, twisted in a smile.

"After all," the clown continued, "I'm not much of a people person." He then laughed maniacally, his eyes crazed. Cole was getting a little unnerved.

"This is why I always hated the circus." He muttered. "So who the hell are you suppose to be? Pennywise?"

The clown frowned. "A nobody like you doesn't know a somebody like me? That's unacceptable!" He yelled, before getting that damn smile on his face. "I'm the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime, and I must say, you definitely aren't a bat."

Cole was confused. "Uhh...thanks?" Cole wasn't feeling any better, especially since Joker was walking closer and closer to him.

"It's a pity. I was soooo excited to see him!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air, before pointing at Cole. "But you! Oh you're waaay more interesting. Coming in here, electrocuting my boys, and just being a pain in the tuckus! Oh, let me tell you my joybuzzing friend..." Joker leaned in close to Cole's face, a deep frown prominent on both men. "I will remember you..." He added sinisterly.

Just then, gas started to flood the factory, clouding Cole's vision and cutting off his air. He started coughing uncontrollably.

"Always have an escape route, my mother always said," He heard the criminal jester say, as flamboyantly as expected. "Kisses!"

Cole shot his blue lightning where the clown was, still coughing. Eventually, the smoke cleared, showing that the Joker was gone.

"Ugh, what a freak," Cole groaned. Of course the first two people he talks with are a mugger and a psycho clown. What else did he expect? Hopefully the next guy he talks to is at least kinda normal.

Cole noticed he was being covered by a weird looking shadow, with pointy tips near the top. He looked to the source of it, to see a strong looking man, wearing grey and black tights, and a black cowl. He had a giant bat on his chest, and was standing on some crates.

So much for normal...

The man stared daggers at Cole, but stayed silent. The two just looked at each other for a few long, agonizing moments. Cole honestly felt intimidated by this man.

"We need to talk." The Dark Knight commanded.