But, tonight, I have met someone who has taken my quest one step further . . .

The robbers had not yet struck at Gotham First Federal Savings and Loan, so I was on stakeout, watching the bank from the rooftop next door. Sure enough, around five-o'clock, two costumed perpetrators burst through the front door of the bank. Nobody ran for the police, though, because everyone minds their own business in Gotham. Those crooks were pretty bold, but I was going to get them by being sneaky.

It was easy to jump across the rooftop to the First Federal Building. The rooftop door was open. I figured the two supervillains were too busy with the money to check the building's security cameras, so in the door I went. I looked down the stairwell, which led to the lobby, as far as I could see. It was only twelve floors high, so I knew I had enough Bat-rope to rappel down. That way no one would be alerted by my footsteps on the stairs.

I rappeled down the levels of the building, through the openings in the staircase, down to the landing of the lobby stairs.

In the stairwell, I could hear the criminals shouting at the bank employees, demanding to know where the money is and threatening the tellers' lives.

I grabbed one of my flying Bat-Mites. With a tiny remote control, I made it fly up to the stairwell window while I hung back a few steps up the staircase. Once it was up against the window, I saw through my remote viewscreen that the perpetrators were my old foe Signalman and some jerk dressed up like a porcupine. I knew they wouldn't be hard to take down, even though they had already seriously injured some of the guards. I called the Bat-Mite back to me and stuck it back in my belt.

There was an office cubicle area near the stairs, so I crept forward until I could see the porcupine guy clearly. I wanted to take him down fast, without any further injuries to the bank's staff.

Even though the guy was covered with sharp quills, he had to breathe out of some part of his mask. The eyeholes in his mask were the perfect target.

I pulled the Bat-Blowgun from my utility belt and put a tear-gas pellet in it. I crept closer, close enough to the Porcupine to have a clear shot at his eyeholes, and I fired.

The pellet went into his mask, impacted against his face, and exploded. The porcupine guy tried to tear his mask off with his quilled hands, but he was too panicky to do it. The guards rushed away from him as some gas seeped out of his costume.

Signalman freaked out, and ran for the door. I raced out into the lobby and threw a Batarang at him, one of my 'rangs with a rope attached.

My aim was true and his legs got entangled in Batarang rope. I hogtied him, and told the bank guards to call the police.

Then I heard a haughty, mocking laugh, from one of the customers, who seemed bigger and more muscular than a businessman in Gotham should be.

"Excellent, Batman, excellent!" he laughed, showing a black, full beard. "It's wonderful to finally see your skills in action!"

The uninjured guards warily pointed their guns at the man, who doffed his trenchcoat and hat to reveal a bald head, and an outlandish hunting costume decorated with leopard spots and tiger stripes.

"I am Kraven the Hunter, Batman. I have chosen you as my new prey."

"Don't think I'm not ready for you. Let's go, right here, right now."

"This bank is hardly the place for us to show each other our considerable skills. Instead, meet me tomorrow night at midnight at the entrance to the Central Park Zoo."

I started toward him. "You just wait a minute . . . "

"I'm afraid I have to leave, Batman. You see, I have to prepare for tomorrow night's hunt. See you then!"

As I dashed toward him, he threw a burlap bag to the ground. It opened, and out slithered a boomslang, a very poisonous African snake. I knew I had to grab it before it hurt anyone in the bank, and Kraven took advantage of my distraction to get away. I would have to wait until tomorrow night to face him.

I had had some experience in snake handling before, so I was able to gather the snake up into the bag without him hurting anyone. Kraven had taken advantage of the distraction to escape.

Kraven the Hunter's identity was no mystery. He was Sergei Kravinoff, emigre at a young age from Russia around the time of the Revolution. There were records of him having lived in England, and reports of his hunts from all over the world. At all accounts, he was counted a great hunter, with superhuman speed, strength, and tracking skills.

Alfred appeared behind me.

"Ah, Master Bruce, here is your dinner. By the way, sir, you might want to note that Wayne Enterprises has just acquired IOpener, one of those Internet startups. It was a friendly takeover, as usual, and both Wayne Enterprises and IOpener's employees will profit considerably from the merger."

"Great, Alfred. That will be all."

"Without seeming too impertinent, Master Bruce, I would humbly remind you, sir, that Wayne Enterprises built this cave, and paid for this tray that I serve you from. You would do well, sir, to pay more attention to your company's affairs. After all, you are the president."

"Yes, yes." I brushed him off. "Thank you, Alfred. Goodbye." He had been pestering me about the company's dealings ever since I started fighting crime as Batman.

I heard him sniff to himself as he walked back up the stairs into Wayne Manor.

So, I would have to be at my best to face Kraven, and after that, I might not come out of the fight alive. There were battle meditation techniques I could use to focus my energy between now and then, to make sure I was ready for him.

"Armor," I said, and an invisible electric force-field flew up over the Batmobile. Even the Batmobile isn't safe in Central Park at midnight.

It was close to midnight as I reached the entrance of the Central Park Zoo on foot. Over the sounds of the night-birds and monkeys in the zoo, I heard a yowling, barking noise that I had heard before, but never in New York City or Gotham.

I smelled carrion, and suddenly I saw two large spotted hyenas were approaching me, their backs both lowered and their teeth glinting in the moonlight. They growled lowly as they padded forward. Kraven walked slowly behind them.

"You were brave enough to accept my challenge, Batman. Let's see if you have the will of the hunter about you, if you can handle my pets. Murder, Mayhem, attack!"

The hyenas Murder and Mayhem leapt forward. I quickly pulled out my Bat-torch and lit it aflame. The hyenas yowled and circled me, but didn't dare to come any closer. I held them off with the flame. Each hyena got closer, and I singed their fur with the flame. I could tell that they were hungry, but not hungry enough to leap through flame to attack. They thought the better of attacking me, and shuffled off.

I could see from Kraven's face that he wasn't expecting me to drive them off so easily, but he soon came up with another idea for attacking me. "Inventive solution, Batman, but altogether too reliant on your technology. Let's see how you fight without your weapons."

He dropped the machete that he was carrying to the ground. "Let's fight like sporting men, Batman," he said. "I won't use my toys if you don't use yours."

"Man to man, then?"

"Man to man it is," he replied. I put my utility belt on the ground next to me.

Kraven and I shuffled a moment, sizing each other up, each of us getting into a fighting stance.

He was the first to attack. I countered his jab to the stomach with a karate block, but he nearly took my arm off with the force of his blow. He kept coming with blow after blow, and I countered him, but it took all the strength I had. Then he started fighting dirty.

Kraven grabbed both my gloves and pulled me in close to him, then butted my head with his chin like an antelope. I reeled from the blow, but managed a sweep kick that knocked him to the ground.

He leapt at me again like the lion whose mane he wore on his costume. Tapping into the spirit of aikido, I used his momentum to throw him into a tree.

He dusted himself off and was clearly dazed.

"Ready to give up, Kraven?" I asked.

"Never, Batman. I tracked you . . . I found you . . . and now I'm going to stuff you and mount you on my wall." He pulled a snub pistol from his vest. "There's always a more expedient way of obtaining one's prey."

I got ready to shield myself with my cape..it can deflect bullets of small caliber. My utility belt and its weapons weren't too far out of reach.

But then there was a small pellet-gun-like noise, and Kraven suddenly looked dazed and surprised. Blood started to leak from his mouth, and as he fell to the ground, I saw that he had been shot in the side of the head.

"Another scumbag put out of business," a voice said from the shadows. "My work is done for the night."

Out from the shadows stepped a tall, thickly-built man with a deranged militant look on his face. He wore a black flak jacket over a black uniform with a white skull on it. He carried a smoking Heckler & Loch pistol in one hand.

"You killed him," I said.

"Yeah. He's not the last, either. All of these superpowered freaks are going down. They've terrorized and hurt people for too long already. It's time for the Punisher to go to work on them."

"But . . . "

"You were doing pretty good against Kraven," the Punisher said, holstering his pistol in a vest holster. "I could use your help, if you wanted to join me. There's a lot of scum out there to clean up."

"Guns are for cowards," I said.

"Well, you don't hear Kraven calling me a coward, now do you? He can't, because I blew his brains out. The right tool for the right job, I always say. We'll see who cleans up more crime in this town, you with your gadgets, or me with my guns. But be careful..the next time I see you in my sights, I might take you out too, for getting in the way."

He looked me dead in the eye with a crazed stare. "Don't try to stop me, either. You'll wish you hadn't."

I waited for the Punisher to turn away so I could jump him and bring him into custody, but all of a sudden we heard police sirens. Someone had heard the shots, or the hyenas yowling, and had called the police. I could see the Zoo night watchmen rushing toward the clearing where I was standing over Kraven's dead body.

The Punisher slipped into the bushes, and soon I heard a motorcycle engine start and him ride off into the night. The cops aren't fond of vigilantes in this town, at least those that don't work for the SuperUnit Police, so I made myself scarce. The coroner would have to figure out what happened to Kraven, and the town would sleep better for having one less maniac out on the streets.

But I would sleep worse knowing that the Punisher was out there, killing criminals . . . and that now he had his sights set on me, too.