At exactly three in the afternoon, New Jersey time, the next day, Batman and Robin took the Zeta Tube up to the Watchtower to gather the waiting heroes for their promised tour of the Batcave.
Jason and Barbra were set up in the clocktower, watching the cameras Tim had set up the night before to record everything. Dick was at the Batcomputer, watching for alerts in case anyone decided to cut their fun short. Stephanie and Cass were on standby in the Manor with Alfred, setting up a movie night to watch the recordings before they were to head down to the Cave to interchangeably play Spoiler. Duke and Tim were both in the Cave, hidden in the rafters in their stealth suits. Kate and Selina had both agreed to help mess with the Justice League, neither actually knowing their identities, and were patrolling Gotham in place of Duke while they waited for part two of the plan.
The plan was set as follows, with room for improv and any missteps:
-Batman and Robin gather the heroes from the Watchtower and bring them down to the Batcave
-Nightwing meets them and joins in on the tour
-Oracle calls Nightwing away for an emergency in Bludhaven
-Batwoman would then call Batman away to help out against Red Hood in Crime Alley (that was so that they'd all keep thinking that Red Hood and Batman were still on bad terms. all the better to surprise Wonder Woman when she came to the Manor for the gala)
-Steph, as Spoiler, would enter the Cave via the Lane and join Robin and the JL for a tour. She and Cass would then switch out at random intervals, basically gaslighting everyone - especially Superman - into thinking they're the same person
-Nightwing and Batman would met up at the Clocktower to switch costumes. Dick becomes Batman while Jason and Bruce go to the Manor in civvies to show that they're under a residence
-Duke and Tim, meanwhile, move things around the Cave as they please. At some point, Tim and Damian switch out, but don't acknowledge the switch
-NightBat (Nightwing as Batman) comes back to the Cave, sending Steph and Cass back out and to the Manor in civvies, and Duke goes to take over for Batwoman and Catwoman
-NightBat and Bruce meet in the locker rooms, while Red Robin distracts the JL, to change back into Batman and Nightwing
-Batman rejoins the JL and RR while Nightwing goes back to get his bike and reenter the Cave via the Lane
-Robin switches out with Red Robin who resets the Cave, putting everything back in its place as quickly as he can without being noticed
-Nightwing comes back
-Oracle calls out an emergency at the GCPD
-The JL leave
Obviously, they all had comms in and were listening in on everything.
"Exactly on time." Green Arrow nods as Batman and Robin step out of the Zeta Tubes.
Wonder Woman smiles, "How are you doing today, Robin?"
Robin nods to her. "I am well, thank you. And yourself?"
"I am as well as I can be."
"That's good."
The group stands in place for a moment, Batman and Robin doing nothing to alleviate the nervous energy of the heroes in front of them. Eventually, it's Flash who breaks.
"Well, look at the time!" the speedster claps his hand together, "We don't want to be late, right?"
Superman nods in agreement. "Yeah." He turns to the two Gotham vigilantes, "Lead the way."
Batman nods and turns to put the coordinates for the Cave into the computer, authorizing the heroes to access the Batcave just this once. He motions to the Zeta Tubes and Robin steps in. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman all take turns to follow him. Batman goes last.
Once in the Cave, the Gotham vigilantes allowed the Justice League heroes a few minutes to gawk. The cavern they were in was nothing special. It was a branch off from near the outskirts of the Cave, far enough away to stop any intruders that somehow got passed the Zeta security, but close enough that it only took a few minutes to reach the main cave. There were three Zeta Tubes set up in the small area with a security desk and computer to arm or disable any traps. A matching desk sat at the other end of the trapped hallway.
Entering the main area of the Cave, the JL took another few minutes to drink in the sight. Batman and Robin allowed them to. Nightwing didn't turn his chair yet, waiting for th perfect moment to announce himself.
"Is that- Why do you have a dinosaur in here?" Flash asked, having done a double take at the sight. The others join him.
Nightwing took the cue and spun the Batchair around dramatically. "To eat intruders."
The heroes turned to him as one unit, Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg openly gawking at the Batcomputer.
"Nightwing," Wonder Woman greeted, "It's good to see you."
"What the hell!" Cyborg cut in, holding himself back from running to the computer, though he speed-walked up to it. "It's beautiful."
"Isn't she?" Nightwing smirked, "B built her all by himself. The monitors are all TVs, custom wired to fit the frameless design."
"All seven?" Aquaman asked.
Nightwing nodded. "Yep! And the computer itself was custom, too! I helped with that, actually. It used to be a combination of three computers connected to the monitors, but I helped him condens it down to one shell connected to all seven monitors. RR keeps up the maintenance, though."
Green Arrow and Green Lantern also walked up to the desk. "It's an impressive display," Arrow said, "How long did it take?" He directed the question to Batman who joined the group, the rest coming up behind him.
"Three years and two months," the vigilante answered, "Two years to get everything together and wired properly. Another two months after Nightwing joined me as Robin to condense the three computers into one shell. A year to get everything coded and the firewalls up. As technology changes and programing gets better, so does the Batcomputer. She's intelligent all on her own, but RR and O are working on an AI for her."
"Who's-" Green Lantern was cut off by an alarm on the upper-most left monitor.
"Batcave, this is Oracle." she said, her voice coming through all the speakers in the Cave.
"Go ahead, O," Nightwing turned his chair back to face the computer, his hands flying between the three keyboards as he pulled up what the alarm was for .
"There's a problem in Bludhaven, 'wing, how fast can you be there?"
He pulled up a map of his home turf, seeing the false alarm at the BHPD. Though, what the Justice League didn't know wouldn't hurt them. "The bank on main, right?"
"That's the one."
"I'll be there in twenty tops."
"Alright."
Nightwing pushed the chair back, turning it and standing in one swift motion. Quickly, he made his way to where his bike was parked in the garage on the lower level of the Cave.
"Comms with Oracle," Batman ordered.
"As always!" he called back, pulling his helmet on before quickly peeling out of the Cave.
It was quiet as the sounds of the motorcycle faded out into the renovated cave system beneath the Crime Capital of the Country.
"Should we..." Martian Manhunter started, "Does he need help?"
Robin scoff lightly. "He will be fine. If he could not handle a minor bank robbery by himself, he would have died before transferring his mantle of Robin onto the next."
"Oh?" Aquaman turned his full attention to the child, "Who took the name after Nightwing?"
Robin didn't answer. Instead, he pointed to the dinosaur. "Our old costumes are kept on display downstairs by the penny. Would you like to see them?"
Wonder Woman, only falling second to Batman when children are involved, nodded. "Would you show the way?"
"Naturally." Taking the lead, Robin lead the group of heroes down the stairs and to the lower part of the Cave.
The upper, main, part of the Cave held the Batcomputer, the main entrances to the Manor, the Zeta Tubes, the lab, the meeting table, and the small med bay. The lower bar of the Cave was home to the training room, the displays, the large med bay, the Vault, the Batplane, and the garage.
"You really leaned into the whole gimmick, huh?" Superman nudged Batman with his elbow.
Cyborg watched him from the corner of his eye. "What do ya mean?"
The kryptonian pointed up. "There's about two hundred bats hanging up on the ceiling.
Flash flinched in on himself. "What?"
"This was their home before I took my name," Batman explained shortly.
Another alarm went off before anyone else could speak, though it was from Batman's gauntlet. He stepped away from the group knowing fully that they all could still hear.
"Hey, B!" Batwoman greeted, a smile evident in her voice.
"Batwoman," he responded. He hid his amusement as his coworkers stared at him in shock. "What's wrong."
"You remember Red Hood, right?"
"Obviously."
"Well, I've gotten into a bit of a pickle."
Batman cut her off with a sigh. "Send your coordinates, I'm on my way."
"Fantastic! Bring your grapple!" Then, she hund up.
"Is this a bad day?" Green Lantern asked, "We can leave and come back another day."
"Don't be ridiculous." Robin scolded, "I am more than capable of showing you around the Cave alone." He turned to his father, "Give Batwoman my greetings."
Batman grunted as he got into the Batmobile. Swiftly, he closed the door, turned the engine, and left the Cave.
Part 4 Part 6
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