Disclaimer: I do not own the Batman franchise, it belongs to DC.

Bruce Wayne and Rachel Dawes had just finished their dinner and were now heading towards Bruce's black Lamborghini Diablo GT model car.

"This sure will be a night to remember now, won't it Bruce?" asked Rachel with a wide smile.

"Oh yes, a night I never want to forget...I can't say that about many nights now can I?" Bruce replied with a bit of laughter.

Just as the couple reached Bruce's car, they notice two police officers nearby answering a distress call from their radios.

"What's going on?" asked the younger looking officer to the older, more experienced looking one.

"There's been an explosion in some abandoned apartment. Could be gang violence, word is that Tony and his men were in the area tonight...," he paused for a second. "Well this could be dangerous, let's hope the Batman is around in case things go bad, let's go."

The two officers rushed off in their police cruiser towards the scene of the crime at the other end of Gotham.

Rachel could immediately see the worried expression on Bruce's face.

She put her arm on his shoulder and began to speak.

"Bruce...you should go, you heard them, they need Batman." she said calmly, but Bruce noticed a bit of dissapointment in her voice.

"No...they can't rely on me forever...and I promised you that I wouldn't do that kind of thing any more." Bruce replied calmly.

"But Bruce, innocent people could get hurt, we both know that you wouldn't let that happen," said Rachel, expecting Bruce to take off as soon as she said it.

"Rachel...Gotham can take care of itself now...for years I trained to in order to fight off crime here, and I have done that just fine...for two years I fought as Batman." Bruce took a minute to think.

"Maybe Gotham isn't ready to let go of Batman, but I am, I have done my part. The only person that matters to me now is you Rachel." Bruce looked into her eyes as he spoke.

Rachel could not believe what she was hearing, but she liked it. She felt selfish for that, but she finally had Bruce to herself and didn't have to worry about him getting hurt while fighting crime.

The two shared a romantic kiss and finally got into Bruce's car.

They drove off towards Wayne Manor where they would soon be spending the rest of their days together.

Meanwhile, the Joker had relocated with his men to an abadoned warehouse that used to be a meat factory near the outskirts of Gotham.

"Hmm...this hideout is too cliche. I LIKE IT!" exclaimed the Joker with a laugh.

"With all due repect sir," said Jack, one of the Joker's men, "what exactly is your plan to bring down Batman?"

"Jackie...Jackie...Jackie...the funny thing about that is, I DON'T HAVE ONE! shouted the Joker.

In a menacing tone he said, "You see...the thing about plans is...theg are too predictable." He grabbed Jack by the collar of his black dressy suit, "You want to do this by the book? Simply be...another mindless criminal, hmm?"

Jack began to tremble a little as the Joker's crazed eyes stared right into him.

"No, no!...the best of the best, they make things up as they go. If we know what we are doing, so does Batman." said the Joker calmly.

With a trembling voice, Jack asked,"So uh...what do we do then?"

The Joker quickly pulled out a knife a pocket in the inside of his suit and stabbed Jack directly in his right ear.

Jack dropped to the floor as the other men were surprised at the brutality of their new boss.

"Don't you hear a damn thing! We make this up as we go!" shouted the Joker as he began laughing.

The room became quiet as the men began to realize how serious the Joker actually was beneath his clown appearance.

"Now that everyone understands...who wants to play the waiting game?" asked the Joker as his laughter tore through the room.