Author's note: Still waiting on any takers for the offer I made n the last chapter. I think I'll put that part of hold for a little while until I can figure out where I'm going with it. Again, some help from you would be greatly appreciated; I'd like to know what you guys want to read. So... I think that covers it. There's going to be some symbolism here, so try to research the references a bit and see if you can find it. Now... Let's get going!

Bruce slowly meandered down to the Batcave, for once hoping for an uneventful evening. He knew that it wouldn't happen. He had a feeling that things were going to go wrong. He had no reason to feel this way, but he always did whenever things started to go his way. He knew all too well that happiness was only temporary, and in his case it never stayed long. As a result, he approached any happy occurrence with apprehension.

He pulled his cowl out from it's display case and looked at it with dismay. He realized that his relationship with Diana was interfering with Batman's work. He'd gone from patrolling six nights a week to only three, and then two. And yet... He'd noticed very little change in the city. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about this; on one hand, it meant that he could afford to take a break every now and then, but on the other it meant that he wasn't making nearly as much of a difference as he'd hoped. He sighed and pulled the cowl over his face, hopping into the Batmobile. As he drove, he realized once again that he missed having Diana on his raids. As much as he worried about putting her in harms way, he'd grown somewhat accustomed to having her companionship; it was almost like having Dick or Jason or Barbara around again. He'd discovered over the years that company helped pass the long hours in the night. But he couldn't bring Diana out in her condition; the risks were unimaginable. So he was once again left alone with only his thoughts to keep him company.

He thought ahead about four or five months. It was hard to believe that he was going to be a father. On some level, he refused to believe it. He wasn't ready for that again; he felt like he'd failed Dick and Jason.. There was no way that he could handle raising a young, even more impressionable child. Especially not with his current lifestyle. It would be irresponsible to put his life on the line so much with so many people depending on him.

He snapped out of his reverie when he saw the Bat-signal against the black sky- he turned the car to follow it.

The signal was shining over a house on the outskirts of Gotham City, in a small suburban neighborhood. He left the Batmobile a safe distance away, and began to investigate the neighborhood by jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He quickly found the house that was surrounded by police tape, with officers mulling around the lawn. He focused on a man standing in the center of the lawn; Police Commissioner Gordon. He pulled a batarang from his belt, throwing it to the ground at Gordon's feet.

Gordon bent over to pick up the strange object; when he realized what it was, he quickly signaled for the other officers to leave the scene. After a moment of grumbling, they slowly filed away. Once they were all gone, Batman jumped down from the rooftop to face Gordon.

Gordon watched him for a moment before speaking. "You didn't answer the signal last night. It's not like you to miss it. I was a bit worried."

"I was busy."

Gordon chuckled a little. "Was it your new lady-friend?"

Batman remained silent.

"Say... Where is she anyway? It's been a while since I've seen her."

"She's fine. You called for a reason? Or do you just want to gossip?"

Gordon sighed. "Fine, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to be the one to tell you this... But the Joker's out again."

Batman felt his heart sink. He knew it was only a matter of time, but he'd hoped that he'd be able to avoid another inevitable clash with his rival for at least another few months.

"How did he escape?"

Gordon reached into his pocket. "We're not really sure. We now that he had help. The security cameras in his cell caught this." He pulled out a grainy black and white picture of a man with an elongated head, hovering over the ocean.

Gordon continued. "He matches descriptions of 'the Green Goblin;' a mass murderer that hit New York pretty hard last year; but the problem is that the murderer in question disappeared without a trace last year after a showdown with one of you superhero-types. Guy calling himself Spiderman. But nobody's seen a trace of the Goblin since then. So it's possible that it's some kind of an impostor. We're still working out the details."

Batman took another hard look at the pictures. "Why doesn't the League know about this? I thought that they had security at Arkham."

"They did. They were there a couple minutes after the Joker got away. I talked to Superman personally. I got the impression that he wasn't planning on telling you, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I know that the Joker caused a lot of trouble for you and your girlfriend, but I think that you can handle it."

Batman remained silent for a moment before answering. "Thanks." He looked around. "But why here?"

"I was getting to that. I think that it might be best if you just took a look inside. But brace yourself... It's pretty bad."

Batman cautiously approached the house, and entered the door. Despite being calloused from years of fighting crime, the sight sickened him.

A mangled body was lying on the floor; it appeared to be female, although it was hard to tell at this point. Her head was completely smashed; blood completely surrounded the body. The walls had been splashed with blood as well. In places, it appeared that the blood had been used to draw crude pictures. On wall, the words 'BANG BANG' were scribbled in crimson; another read 'CLANG CLANG.' Directly next to the body was a large silver mallet.

Batman turned to face the Commissioner, who was standing directly behind him. "What happened here?"

"A mess, and that's about all I can tell you. I was hoping that you'd be able to help. It wasn't easy to ID the body, but we managed. Her name was Joan Roberts... Just graduated from college, had a brilliant mind from what the neighbors said... Her husband came home and found her like this. Poor guy. He isn't saying much. I don't think he knows anything more than we do. So... Any ideas?"

Batman looked around, putting things together. "It's a reference to an old song... The chorus goes 'Bang, Bang, Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon her head/ Clang Clang Maxwell's Silver Hammer made sure she was dead.' Whoever did it even got the name."

"I remember that one... Way back in the day... So you think that we should be looking for a Maxwell?" Gordon asked, confused.

"No. I think that it's more likely that somebody was trying to recreate the story told by the song. Some sick clown thinks he's funn-"

Batman stopped. "This has the Joker's name written all over it. He's leading us on."

"You think so?"

Batman nodded, and Gordon accepted his reasoning, pulling out his police radio. "I need every available officer here. Get me forensics and SWAT now." He turned to face Batman. "You'd better..." He began, before realizing that he was already gone. "Get out of here... Geez..."

Author's Note: Now we're getting somewhere. But this plot is much bigger as indicated by the last chapter. But I still need somebody to help me figure out what the hell that plot is.

Thanks to lsjgf (Creative name, by the way): Don't get me wrong, I really do love writing accents; a little bit of dialect really helps add to the story in my opinion. It's not that the accent bothers me (I really love Talia's accent, it's just that it throws my spell check out of wack. Unfortunately, I don't see either Ra's or Talia playing a huge part of the story at this point, but that could change pretty easily depending on what direction I decide to go with the plot. I'm not quite flying blind like I was in the last story, but I have a few different story arcs that I'm considering. And I'm going to have to disagree with you about the Joker; personally, I think that he has incredible potential as a villain, just because he stands to gain nothing from his plans (depending on the interpretation, of course). While Ra's has a goal, the Joker will just do whatever he wants to. Basically, the Joker can't be defeated simply by stopping his plans. I see him as a perfect balance between madness and insanity. I think that the Batman animated series really portrayed him as just another bumbling oaf, and I didn't really like the character. Whereas in the Dark Knight (I know, I rave about it), he's the perfect balance between madness and rationality; his view of the world is horribly twisted, but he can still calculate Batman's every move. Basically, he makes a great dramatic foil for Batman. But that's just my opinion.

So... I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. If I can get it done before work, then great, but I don't see that happening. I'm working until closing tomorrow, and I can't really stay up too late because I'm closing AGAIN on Friday. And I'm pretty much working all day Saturday and Sunday. I'll post as soon as possible though, so keep checking in. I've been trying to compensate with some longer chapters, although they do seem to come pretty naturally. I think that having a fresh plot to work with helps.