Dick noted that the Batcave seemed to have been given a makeover. It was updated with all of the latest electronic devices and equipment, but it felt much more cold and impersonal. He heard a familiar voice from the chair of the Batcomputer and spun around to greet it.

"Dick!" smiled Barbara. "Glad you could join us!"

"I'm here to help save lives, nothing more."

Dick gave a cold stare and Barbara's smile quickly faded. They both averted their gaze from each other and remained quiet. Luckily, Tim burst in at just the right moment to break the awkward silence closely followed by Alfred Pennyworth, the man that played a large role in raising Dick and the person whom he considered to be a father or grandfather figure. Tim ran up to Dick and gave him a hi-five, which Dick responded to by shaking up Tim's scraggly hair.

"What's goin' on kid?"

"Not much; Bruce had to take care of some business but he's going to be heading down in a few minutes," Tim responded.

"Master Dick, I do wish that you would cut that awful-looking hair," chided Alfred.

"Yeah man, mullets really aren't very cool at all," chipped in Tim.

"I dunno... I sort of like it," said Barbara.

"Dick's hair can be discussed at a later time. Right now, we have more important things to do." Batman had dramatically entered the room and the jovial atmosphere immediately dissapated. "We know that the Society of Shadows is in town, but we're not really clear as to what their motives are. Our primary goals are to figure out what the Society of Shadows wants from Gotham, and to stop them from getting it."

"Assuming that they're after anything malicious," chimed in Barbara.

"They didn't hold back from killing innocent police officers for a comparatively small quantity of money; we can be fairly certain that they're up to no good."

"Question: Speaking of money, what does the Ra's Al Ghul need with ten million dollars? Why go through all that trouble for such a small profit? That's nothing compared to the typical budget that they operate on," asked Dick.

"Don't ask me to question the motives of a lunatic," chided Bruce.

"But he's not completely a lunatic. While his main motive is pure lunacy, he thinks its perfectly rational and tries to achieve them by rational means. Either Ra's Al Ghul is strapped for cash and needs some more money, the person behind the Society of Shadows attacks really isn't Ra's Al Ghul, or Ra's has some ulterior motives going on. Tell me, given your previous experience with the Society of Shadows and Ra's Al Ghul, what seems the most likely."

"He's got a point Bruce, Ra's was probably using Vance Laboratories for some other purpose," reasoned Barbara.

Batman looked irritated. "Okay, then you thoroughly research Vance Laboratories and their products while Nightwing and I make a quick stop to Vance Labs."

"Sounds good to me," said Nightwing.

"What about me?" asked Robin.

"You're doing homework," Batman sternly replied.

"Hey man, fighting crime starts with fighting the ignorance in your own mind!" laughed Dick.

Tim gave Dick a wierd stare.

"I dunno, that's just what Alfred told me when I was a kid."

Alfred beamed at Dick as Batman and Nightwing jumped into the Batmobile. Barbara was already oblivious to her surroundings, tapping away at the Batcomputer's oversized keyboard. As Tim gloomily walked up the steps of the Batcave into Wayne Manor, the Batmobile was already blazing down the highway headed for downtown Gotham.