With Dana not talking to him, the rest of the school day dragged onward for Terry. Max attempted to comfort him, but nothing she said was any help, given that it was ultimately Terry's role as Batman that was keeping the couple apart. Nelson "accidentally" smashing his shoulder into Terry's ribs as he passed by in the hallways after lunch did very little to improve Terry's mood.

Leaning against a locker and struggling to breathe, Terry silently decided that he couldn't take any more, scooped up his backpack, and left the school, skipping his last two classes. He went out to the parking lot of the school and hopped on his motorcycle, starting it up and peeling out onto the street. Angry, dejected, and frustrated, he rode into the same area he had seen Dee Dee in the night before in the hopes that he could work out some aggression on some other clown-faced goon. He sped around the seediest parts of Neo-Gotham for hours. Even after the sun set, there wasn't the slightest hint of crime anywhere. "Figures. The one day I'm actually hoping for a lunatic in facepaint, and I'm finally making Gotham a better place."

As he stopped at a gas station to fuel up, he realized that it was nearly midnight. He went inside to pay and get an energy drink so he'd have enough caffeine in his system to keep driving all night. He was halfway through pounding the can as he stepped back outside. As he lowered the drink from his face, he saw a blonde girl in a short dress standing by his motorcycle, running her hand up and down the seat and watching him. He scowled. "Something I can help you with?"

"You sure are cute when you're angry!" She smiled. "And masterfully unsubtle. I mean, a motorcycle? Really? I heard you coming from miles away."

Terry suddenly understood what she was talking about. "Dee Dee!?" He dropped the can and positioned himself into a defensive stance.

"Call me Deidre, please. Neither of us is on the job right now, Batman. I'm sorry. Terry." She winked at him. "And you can put your fists down. I'm not here to fight; you're in no condition to take me on right now anyway.

Terry relaxed his pose slightly, but still didn't get any closer. "Then what are you here for?"

"Well, you, of course. And it seems like you're here for me, so that's just one more thing we've got in common." She smiled at him again and climbed onto his motorcycle. "Why don't you take me for a ride, and we'll see what else we have in common."

Terry gaped at her brazen behavior. "I know you Jokerz are crazy, but are you crazy!? Why would I do that? You almost killed me last night!"

"Almost." She replied with the biggest grin yet and a pat on the motorcycle's seat. "And I know that finding out why is the only reason you're out here right now. Take me for a ride, and I promise to tell you all about it."

Terry never found The Jokerz' jokes funny, but this one downright confounded him. Still, it was pretty clear that if Deidre was going to do anything to him, she'd have done it the night before. Terry hesitantly straddled the motorcycle and started it up. "All right. But you'd better not have any tricks up your sleeves." He looked back at her to make eye contact.

"No tricks." She held up her bare arms. "No sleeves!" As he turned himself back ahead and pulled out of the gas station, she wrapped her arms around his midsection and held on tight.

The two sped around Neo-Gotham, which, even in the dead of night, was vibrantly lit up with neon signs. As many cars were now hovercars, and it was past midnight, they encountered very little traffic. Fifteen minutes of silent riding passed before Terry finally piped up. "So what's the story? You promised an explanation and I'm still waiting." he asked through his helmet as they were stopped at a red light.

"Oh, are you still on that?" she teased. "We didn't kill you because I have no interest in seeing you dead!" She squeezed his midsection tighter.

"Then why did you attack me in the first place? And why the lipstick graffiti?"

"Well, you know how it is when you like someone and sometimes you tease them a little. Y'know, pull a girl's pigtails on the playground? That sort of thing."

"You kicked me until I passed out in a filthy alley." Terry responded with astonishment in his voice.

"Yeah!" she giggled. "I really like you."

The light turned green and Terry pulled past the intersection, stopping the bike at the closest place to park by the sidewalk curb. He dismounted and faced Deidre, removing his helmet. "So what are you trying to tell me, that this is your way of asking me on a date?"

She pouted at him from atop his motorcycle. "How else was I supposed to get your attention? There's no symbol to shine in the sky when I want you to show up, you know. I had to get creative, get my sister to help me stage a little robbery." She climbed off the motorcycle's seat and took a step toward him. "I knew you'd come swooping in like a knight in dark black armor."

Terry was bewildered. "You went to that much effort just to ask me out? Why?"

"Sometimes good girls like bad boys." She touched his arm. "Sometimes bad girls like good boys. Especially when they're as cute as you."

Terry got back on the motorcycle and started it up again, sliding the helmet back onto his head.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" Deidre called after him.

Terry lifted the visor. "I know a joke when I hear one, clown. And I'm not laughing."

Deidre's face dropped. For the first time thus far, she seemed to be taking the situation seriously. "I'm not joking. Look at me. No makeup, no red wig, not even a whoopee cushion. I mean it."

Her sudden sober response gave Terry pause. He still doubted she was being honest with him, but he also couldn't figure what the point of this scam would be. He decided this wasn't something he could puzzle out right now, caffeine and adrenaline coursing through his veins, the respective pains in his heart and chest from the breakup with Dana and the beating Deidre and her sister had given him still fresh. Terry sighed under his breath. "Give me your phone number. I'll call you tomorrow, and we'll meet somewhere. If I think it's a setup or I see your sister lurking around, I'm not going to hesitate to take you down and bring you in. Got it?"

The smile crept back across her face. "I love it when you use that tough guy voice. It's a date."