Wait for it... wait for it...

Chapter 4.

Ra's al Ghul must have been an extremely lucky man; that, or Bruce Wayne was just extremely gullible. Through means of his own, Ra's watched the Batman and saw that he had no suspicions of Talia being Ra's al Ghul's daughter. What is more, he heard (also through his own means) that Bruce had continuing dreams about the decoy Ra's hinting at Bane being his son. It seemed that the inception had been successful.

Ra's, thinking over his plan back in the Villain Club, rubbed his hands together gleefully.

'Now, at last, everything is working out,' he said to the Joker. 'I have enlisted Bane in my employ, and he is wreaking havoc in Gotham, just like he promised. Miranda Ta-'

'Lalalala, I'm not listening,' said the Joker, plugging his ears.

'OK FINE, MY DAUGHTER THEN,' said Ra's above the Joker's yelling. 'My daughter is working for me too, although I hate her in every way; and she is making good progress in making Batman think she's innocent.'

'So what happens now?' asked Dent. 'Why can't you just set off the bomb and watch everything burn?'

'Doofus,' said Ra's, banging him on the head. 'I wouldn't be able to watch it burn because I'm IN Gotham! My plan is to trick the Batman into blowing himself up. That would be totally awesome.'

'Ahahaha,' the Joker agreed. 'Although I still want him to hit me.'

'And what's more,' Ra's gloated, 'Bane is videotaping everything that happens to Bru- Batman in that hole, so I can watch him suffer!'

'What if he doesn't get out in time?' asked Crane. 'Will you blow up Gotham anyway?'

'He'll get out in time,' said Ra's, leaning back in his chair. 'I have faith in the Batman. But it's so much fun to see him in pain! You know, I wrote this letter and pretended it was from Rachel telling him that she didn't love him and loved Dent instead, then arranged for him to find out about it… the look on his face! Ehehehe! Priceless!'

'I like that,' said the Joker.

'So, if you got the help of Tal- I mean, your daughter and Bane, then where did Blake go?' asked Crane.

'Ran off to help distract the Batman from my true purpose,' said Ra's, snickering. 'I have so many friends. Couldn't do it without them.'

Stayin alive

Stayin alive

'Oh, that's ma phone,' said Ra's, pulling it out and flipping it open. 'Hello?'

'I heard news that the Batman just exited the hole,' said Bane's voice on the other end. 'Everything is going according to plan.'

'Perfect,' said Ra's and hung up. 'My friends,' he announced, 'in a few days you may hear the distant explosion of a bomb over the bay. When you do, it's the Batman.'

Epilogue

Ra's al Ghul waltzed down the street. Never had he been happier. At last the Batman, that Bruce Wayne was dead, and he was free of him forever.

He took a seat at an empty table at the cafe and smiled pleasantly at the waitress. 'I'll have my usual,' he said.

Ah, the familiar fragrance of the flowers and food. He always looked forward to this. Florence was a lovely place. And now he could come as often as he wanted, with all the money left from the Wayne estate. He sighed contentedly. No more Bruce Wayne to haunt him any longer.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. What was this? It wasn't possible! Ra's gasped in astonishment. It couldn't be real.

There sat Bruce Wayne at a nearby table, sipping champagne and nodding to him as if he hadn't even ever been the Batman.

Ra's eyes widened in shock. It couldn't be true! He had tried so hard! He could not believe that his whole life's work had actually not worked at all!

Ra's hurriedly pushed his chair back and left the cafe. He couldn't handle this. He was about ready to cry. All that work for nothing.

'Methinks I will commit suicide,' he said, and jumped into a nearby river.

The End

PLOT TWIST! AHAHA! I bet you didn't see that coming. Who would have thought that Ra's was actually Alfred all along?
I'm really sorry this took me so long to update. I really, seriously thought I had already published the last chapter. Really I did. D:

I hope you all enjoyed it and will stick around to read some of my other stories!