When Bruce Wayne finds Kinsolving, he finds himself caught in the middle of a telekinetic tug-of-war between Asp and Kinsolving. Asp demonstrates this new form of mass murder on a small English village. Kinsolving's brother-by-adoption Benedict Asp kidnapped her to use her special powers to kill people at a distance. Knightquest: The Search follows Bruce Wayne and Alfred's search for Jack Drake and Shondra Kinsolving, with whom Bruce Wayne falls in love in the midst of his rehabilitation sessions. Of these villains, the most notable encounters are with Catwoman and the Joker, both of whom could tell Valley wasn't the original Batman (Catwoman because he didn't give out the pheromones that Bruce did and Joker mainly because of his psychotic bond with Batman but also by judging his movements and seeing that they weren't as graceful as Bruce's).

Other notable villains Jean-Paul faces include Mr. Jean-Paul purposely lets Abattoir die, thereby condemning the prisoner to death as well. His questionable actions culminate when he encounters the serial killer Abattoir, who is keeping an innocent prisoner in a secret torture chamber. Valley expresses desire, through narrative, to be a better Batman than Bruce Wayne, especially when he discovers his lack of interest in detective work caused him to make false assumptions about Catwoman (he thought she would sell a powerful nerve gas to terrorists when she merely wanted to dispose of it so it couldn't be used to hurt anyone). Eventually, he also adds a Bat-symbol, matching the one used for the series' logo. He repeatedly redesigns his Batman costume, adding more gadgets and lethal weapons, including laser, razor-sharp Batarangs and a flame-thrower. All of Jean-Paul's actions are compelled by 'The System' on numerous occasions, he sees the ghosts of his ancestors giving him advice on how to run Gotham and he is driven to near insanity by the time the saga ends. This surge of violence from Gotham's defender put pressure on Batman's relationship with Police Commissioner Gordon, who begins to distrust and even fear the new Batman and eventually comes to realize he is not the original.

Indeed, in several issues Robin is left horrified as Jean-Paul ferociously attacks common criminals, often with a weapon and sometimes nearly to death.

During this time, he drives Robin away because he believed Gotham post-Bane to be so tough that only violence could answer its criminals. Knightquest: The Crusade follows the story of Jean-Paul Valley as he became increasingly violent and mentally unbalanced as he replaced Bruce Wayne as Batman in Gotham.

Knight saga sword and fire