Author's Note: Hmm... I'm not sure sure where I'm going here... So this could get interesting. We'll see how it turns out... Your guess is as good as mine.

Onlynameleft: While I do like to have reviews to keep the story on track, I've decided to go with the 'No news is good news' POV (No reviews means no criticism, so I must be perfect... Right?). And it gives me a bit more room to personally address those who do respond, which I really enjoy. I'd hate to end up being the faceless 'wizard of oz' type authors. So as long as people are reading, I'm content. And it's not the Riddler, I'm going to keep him dead... At least for now. He could be pretty tough to bring back because I kind of had him destroyed. I mean really destroyed. Skeleton destroyed. But I can't make any promises yet.

As promised, Bruce and Diana slept for most of the plane ride. Bruce hadn't told Diana where they were going, insisting that it be kept a surprise. When Bruce's private jet landed, she was indeed surprised to find herself in Paris again. She turned to Bruce and hugged him in delight.

"You remembered!"

He smiled. "Yes... Let's just hope this trip ends better than last time..."

"Agreed." Diana remembered all too well that her last visit to the City of Light had ended with her being captured and placed in a Kaznian Prison.

Bruce had rented a small oceanside cottage off the coast of France. While it was a good distance away from Paris, the scene was very intimate and isolated. As soon as the limo was parked, Bruce got out to help Alfred with the bags. Diana stared in awe at the building. It was beautiful in every sense of the word. Honestly, Bruce's sensitivity still surprised her sometimes. Somehow, he managed to switch seamlessly between an apparently insane, violent and remarkably intimidating detective vigilante to a kind and caring businessman. She realized this was what she respected most about him. On one hand, he was a warrior who would do anything for what he believed in, but he somehow still managed to remain his kindness and humanity. She noticed that the more time she spent with him, the more she saw the two personalities reflected in each other.

She stepped inside the cottage and looked around. It was a bit small, but it could easily accommodate the two of them. She figured that the small setting would actually be nice. Bruce was usually surrounded by paparazzi; it would be nice to have him alone for once.

While Diana mused, Bruce began to unpack his bags in the bedroom. Before he could finish, he heard a voice over his comm link.

"Batman. Are you there?" Batman recognized the voice as that of J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter.

"I'm here."

"You're communicaor indicates that you have arrived in France."

"Just barely."

"Good... I hate to have to ask this of you... But there seems to e some sort of situation in France."

"What is it?"

"We aren't sure. We can't reach Paris. Our teleporter signals are being jammed. Superman can be there in an hour, but other than that everybody is too far away. I need you to find out what's going on and try to diffuse the situation."

"Roger that."

"Be careful. We're receiving reports of powerful tremors."

"Right."

Batman cut the connection. "ALFRED?"

"No need to shout, sir." Alfred said, appearing in the door.

"I'll be needing the glider, Alfred."

"Can't stay still at all, can we, Sir?" Said Alfred, watching Bruce open a trunk containing his Batman costume.

"I don't have a choice."

By the time Batman had finished suiting up, Alfred had returned with a large trunk. He opened it, revealing what appeared to be a large set of batwings, complete with a gas-powered jet that would allow him to fly for a short distance. He lifted the device, and did up the straps, securing it to his back.

"Tell Diana that I'm sorry to leave like this, but I have to go. I'll be back soon."

"I don't think that that will be necessary, Sir."

Bruce turned to see Diana standing in the doorway, looking at him expressionlessly. Slowly, she stepped out of the way of the doorframe, allowing him to pass. As he walked past her, she reached out to stop him.

"Come back safely."

He nodded, and continued on his way. Diana watched as he disappeared into the hallway, and reappeared on the lawn in front of the cottage. She wanted to follow him, but knew she couldn't. She argued with herself over the pros and cons of going into battle. She remembered her armor that she'd secretly packed in her suitcase, but looked down at her now slightly bulging midsection and realized that it would never fit. She still had her bracelets, lasso, and her natural Amazonian strength... But her lack of flight and her reduced strength would be a huge disadvantage; not to mention that she was pregnant and it had been several months since she last fought. She hated to sit by and do nothing, but she had learned from Bruce that an important part of being a warrior was strategy. She sighed to herself and turned to Alfred.

"When he gets back, I'm going to kill him for this..." She said, looking out the window to see Bruce take a running start, launching himself into the night sky.

Bruce flew over the French country side; his glider was considerably faster than the limo, and he managed to make it back to Paris in less than half an hour. The sight that awaited him was a very strange one. From a distance, he could see a large cloud of dust rising, accompanied by the sound of screaming. Batman pulled off the glider, and left it safely on a far away rooftop. He traversed the rest of the way by using his grapple gun to swing from building to building.

He was shocked by the sight that met him when he reached the center of the commotion; it appeared that some powerful creature was lifting abandoned cars and throwing them at buildings. It seems that all of the civilians had managed to flee to safety, but at the rate it was going, the beast would level the city in no time. Upon getting closer, Batman could see that the creature appeared to be reptilian, although it was capable of standing on two legs. It was about ten feet tall, and had glowing yellow eyes. It had two huge curled horns on it's head, which ended in a long pointed snout. As Batman stepped closer, the creature appeared to sense him, and put down the car it was about to throw. It looked at him, and began to hiss wildly.

The creature suddenly went silent, and began to stare skywards. Batman followed it's gaze, and saw four bright white lights standing out against the night sky. He saw flashes of red and gold as the moonlight glinted off of the rapidly incoming object. Batman groaned.

'Why can't I ever catch a breaK?'

Author's Note: So I didn't really introduce him like I'd planned to... But I'm sure that most of you have a good idea of who this newcomer is. If not, never fear; I'll be getting right to work on the next chapter, and I hope to have it up later tonight. If not, I'll get it done early tomorrow. So stay tuned. By the way... I really need somebody to bounce some ideas off of. I have way to many different ways that I could branch out the story here, and I'd appreciate anybody helping me to focus my ideas. It would help move the story along too- stories tend to go more smoothly when you know what you're doing. Until then, plot be damned.