A Basket Full of Bats

Vigilante-ing

The family was getting completely suited up to do some vigilante-ing err,.. family bonding?...whatever. They were going out!

Stephanie was on at the Bat computer with a head set on ready to go.

Terry and Cassie were partnered.

Bruce had Jason and Tim.

Damian was partnered with Carrie.

They were going to bust an illegal weapons manufacturing operation that had partnered with Oswald Cobblepot aka the Penguin and a crime consortium from Metropolis suspected to be overseen by Lex Luthor.

Terry had done most of the leg work for the bust ages ago in his civilian guise researching new technology.

"Red Hoodlum your small enough to get in through the lab ventilation system. I want the re-breather to stay in as long as you are in the vents or planning to go back into the vents which means radio silence. Tape down your hood and use the barrier cream on any exposed skin and under all the seems of your clothing. When you think you have every inch of exposed skin covered have Red Bat inspect you."

"Red Bat when Hoodlum gets the cameras, radios and USB links in place start downloading and link Spoiler in so she can monitor the camera and radios. Do what you can to cause mayhem and chaos on the tech front."

"Tonight I am SLIMEBOY!" declared Jason excitedly as he went about liberally applying barrier cream.

"Slimeboy," warned Batman. "Remember, don't engage. In and out, then back to the Batmobile, get in the tarped seat and keep everything on until you go through the chemical wash down in the Batcave. No scratching your nose or anything like that."

"Yes Sir!"

"I'll come in from above here. Dark Knight and Batgirl will come in on the ground floor. Nightwing and Catgirl you've got the parking garage. Penguin usually has big guns and back up goons in reserve. Take them out. We want these key scientist and if you can get confessions or intelligence linking Luthor to this do. This guy here we want to tag and let escape. He works in the north east lab 102B. Dark Knight and Batgirl will be going for the tech. I'll go for the scientists."

Terry interrupted. "We need samples of two weapons in particular. This one looks like some kind of a laser but it's actually a chemical weapon with a revolutionary dispersal system. Batgirl I want you to secret away a sample of the chemical get it back to the cave right away and have Alfred set the computer breaking down it's composition in case we have an accidental release or victims to treat. So your taking one of the bikes. I'll grab the full package. Stay out of sight. You're insurance."

"They are also reported to have a new energy weapon of some kind. We don't know what it looks like or what it does but the reports are bidding on the item has gotten pretty high so we want to know what it does. It's on the files as project ARC-X. Red Bat, I want a priority on put on finding intel on ARC-X."

Things started out pretty well. Everyone was excited as this was the first big bust in a long while. Red Hoodlum got in and out although Batman had to delay operations for some minor first aide due to chemical burns where some nasty stuff had soaked through the knees in Jason's pants. Red Hoodlum was waiting in the Batmobile in a rescue blanket, his underwear and a domino mask. He was not a happy camper. His grumbling involved a lot of words a seven year old aught not know.

Batman gave the signal and Red Bat started the camera loops in key locations.

"I've got the ARC-X files but they're pretty heavily encrypted. Spoiler I'm sending them to you to let the Batcomputer start working on them," reported Red Bat.

Catgirl was discretely disabling any vehicle her heatvision goggles showed carrying personnel in the parking garage. Penguin had brought quite a few goons who she'd silently trapped in the now defunct cargo vans they'd been hiding out in. When she finished Nightwing started taking out drivers while Cat girl utilized a portable drill and some sleep gas pellets to make sure the cargo van occupants stayed out of their hair.

Dark Knight came in hot, engaging and causing a distraction on the main floor while Batgirl ghosted around to the armory sneaking out with the chemicals and heading back as ordered.

Red Bat flicked off the wrist computer away and ducked in to get a tag on the guy they wanted to escape.

Batman already had the scientists hogtied and was going through the lab files for evidence.

Then Dark Knight got hit with one of the new chemical weapons and went completely berserk.

Nightwing and Batman both had to intervene to stop him. Red Bat was ordered to get the samples of the weapon back to the Batmobile then take one of the bikes back to the cave.

Red Bat was half way back when the link to Spoiler when offline and bat communications relay went down.

When the Batmobile finally got back to the cave. Terry was heavily tranquilized. The entire cave was dark and the entrance had to be manually opened. It took a while.

"Get in the chemical wash down Jason. Nightwing help me with Dark Knight. Spoiler what happened? Alfred?" Bruce wondered where Alfred was. He was always here after a mission to help with injuries and organization.

"ARC-X happened. Red Bat uploaded it to the Batcomputer and as soon as the Batcomputer decrypted it everything went dark. I think the computer is fried too," explained Spoiler who was passing out flashlights.

"So we got everyone important but Luthor and the cave's down, the Batcomputer's down and Dark Knight is down. The Zeta is on an independent power supply can we get him up to the Watchtower? Alfred?!"

"He's upstairs! The power to the whole house is down too," explained Spoiler.

Batman didn't have time to mess around. Whatever Dark Knight had been given it had made him go completely berserk and his vitals were unstable. He hefted up his son. "Red Bat key in the code for the Watchtower for me. I'm taking him up."

It was hours later, after using the lab in the Watchtower to concoct something to counteract the nastiness that was running through Dark Knight's veins that Batman clued in. Unfortunately he had the only Justice League communicator.

"Send me back Jon," ordered Batman.

"You can't come and dump your problems on us then leave. Dark Knight isn't in the League," protested Green Lantern. "He can't stay unless you stay with him."

"Hal stay out of this! I'm urgently needed back in Gotham!" insisted Batman.

"I have to agree with the Green Lantern," Wonder Woman sided. "You've been absent for a month and a half and then you just show up with an unauthorized vigilantee in terrible shape. You take over the lab then as soon as he's sort of stabilized you want to rush off and disappear. Batman you can't do this."

The Zeta announced the arrival of Superman. "I heard Batman was back. What's going on?"

Batman growled and leveled a positively furious glare at the assembled heroes. His voice dropped low and terrifying. "That unauthorized non-leaguer is my foster son. The cave power is down. It was completely fried. They can't even contact us here in the Tower. The house power is down and I have a critically ill one and a half month old at home and it just occurred to me that the power is probably down on his life support. Let. Me. Go."

The assembled heroes all took two steps back and the path cleared.