A/N: 2022.06.19

Wow, nearly two weeks and no update! So sorry, all! Just been super involved with life. It's been crazy, let me tell you. But, for those who celebrate it, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Chapter 13

That morning, a few hours later, the team was back in the Cave after getting a report from Barbara and Valerie about the prison break. While a good number of inmates were recaptured thanks for the team's efforts alongside the police, more escaped than they would've liked, leaving the GCPD running on all cylinders to track down the remaining criminals.

Sitting at the computer, Terry let out a low growl then rubbed his face, "This is soooo annoying!"

"I fully understand your frustration, Terry," Hayate admitted. "In fact, I wholeheartedly agree with it."

"We have to worry about the inmates that escaped," Basem reminded. "That's our main focus right now. We'll be busy for a few nights now."

"Busier," Terry corrected. He folded his arms.

"This confirming your 'Bane's keeping us running' theory?"

Terry nodded, "More than ever."

"But why?" Michelle asked. "For what? I mean… what's he really up to?"

"If we're distracted, Bane will have plenty of time to do… anything."

"And we don't have much choice except to play the game as he has designed it," Hayate said, regrettably.

"Exactly."

"But we have to find out what he doesn't want us to know," Basem surmised. "…somehow…"

"Yeah," Terry stood up and paced. "But… we can't just assume Bane won't use the info he has on us against us. We need to play a bit of defense this time. So, with that in mind… I… think we need to do something."

"Meaning…?" Michelle asked.

"I think…" Terry exhaled. "…for now… it's best if we get out of here."

"Here where?"

Terry just stared at his team, nervously.

Basem blinked as a sudden realization came over him. "The Cave? Leave the Manor?"

"I think we should," Terry confirmed. "Just… in case."

Basem, Hayate, and Michelle looked at each other, concernedly.

"I know! It's probably a bad idea. Maybe I'm paranoid and overthinking…"

"No, no," Basem interrupted. "I… I agree with you. It's just… nerve-wracking."

"I know. I just… since Bane knows me and Bruce…"

"He knows all of us."

"Right," Terry confirmed. "Even if he doesn't… we need to assume he does."

Michelle set her jaw. "He can come and get me, if he wants me. But I'll cut my own head off before he gets near Sally or Max or the kids. I promise both of you that!"

Terry chuckled, "It'll never come to that. We've just got take a few extra steps to keep everyone safe." He looked at Hayate and Michelle, "May need your help a bit on that."

"Understood," Hayate nodded.

"Whatever you need," Michelle agreed.

Terry looked up the stairs, "I'll go to talk to Bruce and Diana. Helena, too." He looked back at the team. "Get what you need, guys. We're not coming back here until this is over."

Terry found Bruce, Diana, and Helena in the kitchen, eating breakfast. He explained the events of last night then about the plan to leave the Manor. Terry's plan was met with the troubled silence he was expecting.

"Dammit…" Helena whispered. "I hate that this is a good and necessary idea."

"To be honest, I hate it, too," Terry admitted.

Bruce looked down, sadly.

Terry nervously tapped his fingers on the table for a few seconds. "We can get the photos outta here, Bruce. The portrait of your parents and…"

"No," Bruce interrupted.

Terry, Helena, and Diana looked at him in shock. "No?" Helena asked.

"Bane will already know we'll make preparations," Bruce explained. "It would be better if we don't make it too obvious we've abandoned the Manor."

"Dad…"

"I know, Helena. But… it's a place with things. That's it. The safety of everyone is infinitely more important. This place, it's… it's just four walls and a roof."

"It's always been more than that," Terry countered.

"Perhaps," Bruce replied. "But not at the cost of everyone's wellbeing."

Terry studied Bruce for a moment. "We'll get some things. But fair enough. We won't take enough for things to be noticeable. And we'll only get what we need from the Cave. Then shut it down for now."

"Do you think Bane knows about the Cave, Terry?" Diana asked.

"I'd bet the Batmobile on it," Terry answered.

"What's the plan for us?" Helena asked.

"We'll get you guys to the penthouse at the Regal for now."

"They're going," Helena corrected. "Max or Sal might need me. I'm sticking around."

"Never occurred to me that you wouldn't," Terry smiled. He looked at Bruce and Diana, "As for the two of you, we're getting a safehouse outside of Gotham ready."

"Outside of Gotham?" Bruce asked, irritably.

"Hey, Bruce!" Terry chided, immediately. "You're not doing that and we're not doing this! You're not calling the shots on this one! I don't need your 'stay and fight' attitude. That's my job! You are sick and… well, you're old!"

Diana bit back a laugh while Helena just smiled.

"Once we can, you're leaving Gotham! At least until this is over. No, you don't get a say! This is my call and you're gonna follow my lead on this! Got it?"

Bruce blinked in surprise. "You could be a little nicer to me. I am dying."

"Oh, really?" Terry asked, sarcasm surging through his voice. "Gee, I had no idea! What didn't you tell me? Let me try it this way!" He faked clearing his throat and, in his nicest tone, said, "Please, understand you're being a total jackass and you're gonna have to accept you're not gonna get your way this time? 'Kay? You're the best! Love ya, Dad!"

Bruce glared at Terry. Then looked at Diana and Helena, "And I bet you two just loved that!"

"Oh, my love, of course not!" Diana smiled, joyfully.

"Sorry, Diana," Helena grinned, victoriously. "I loved every second of that!"

Bruce let out a low, irritated growl.

Over the next three nights, the Dark Knights scoured the city, looking for any traces of Bane but nothing came of it. They did begin receiving news of sightings around the city of some of the escaped convicts, the supervillains, and Bane's elite team. When the villains were detected, the team went to work.

Nightrunner arrived at a municipal building near the center of town, seeing Mad Stan armed with rocket launchers aimed at the building.

"This guy never stops!" Runner growled.

Runner jumped from his Nightbike, latched a cable on to a nearby building, swung in, and kicked Stan in the back with both boots, knocking Stan to the ground. Runner landed on the street then, swiftly, threw his darts to disable the rocket launchers.

Stan pushed himself up and glared at the hero, "Nightrunner!"

"Can you ever just not blow something up?" Runner asked.

"Bane freed us, man!" Stan rushed to his feet. "To do what's necessary! To free Gotham from the bureaucratic machine that keeps everyone under the thumb of the overly-powered. There's only one sane solution, man: BLOW IT UP!"

"Mon Dieu, your script never changes."

Stan drew two large, plasma guns and fired at Runner, who dodged immediately. Runner kept running and dodging as Stan kept firing. Runner was making sure that he kept this battle to solely property damage, but he knew he had to bring Stan down as soon as possible; this whole situation could, easily and swiftly, escalate to more. Runner dodged and moved closer to Stan; he drew several darts, hurling them all at Stan. Stan instinctively covered his face from the darts, with some of them hitting Stan's guns.

Stan lowered his arms and examined his weapons. "My guns!"

Runner charged forward and tackled Mad Stan, sending them both crashing into a nearby car. Runner threw his strongest punch, knocking Stan for a loop. Runner drew another dart, filled with knockout gas, and unleashed the contents in Stan's face, rendering Stan unconscious.

Runner stood up, catching his breath. "Sorry we couldn't duke it out more, Stan. But we're working against the clock. And we've got bigger concerns than you!"

Ember received word from Oracle about a bank robbery in progress, being committed by the Repeller. After news about the Repeller breaking into the Wayne Enterprises Medical Research Facility to retrieve another ISO field generator ring, the team knew he would either cause trouble or leave town. With the Repeller breaking into a bank, it had a very high chance of being both.

Ember arrived at the bank and ran inside; she found the Repeller pulling the vault door open.

"Okay, Repellant, let's get those hands up!" Ember ordered.

The Repeller stopped. He growled and turned around, "It's Repeller!"

"Whatever, Repo Man! I'm bringing you in. You can come along quietly or this can be loud. Oh, my God, please, say you wanna do this loud!"

The Repeller launched an energy blast, and Ember dodged the attack. She rushed at the Repeller and they attacked each other with everything they had. They fought for a few minutes, with Ember pushing the Repeller back out into the street. Ember and the Repeller continued their fight until Ember moved back from the Repeller, gaining some distance.

The Repeller scoffed. "Giving up?"

Ember sneered. "You wish!"

Ember surged her flames down to her fist and flew at the Repeller, using her fire to rocket herself forward. With a war cry, she threw her fist forward, hitting the Repeller in the chest. The contact set off a deafening explosion. The explosion managed to damage the ISO ring and the Repeller's suit, disabling them, and sent the Repeller sailing down the street.

Ember caught her breath and exhaled. She laughed, "Hell, yeah!" She hurried over to the Repeller and ripped his mask off, showing the face of Suzuki. She scoffed and smirked. "Dr. Suzuki, I presume? I've always wanted to say some shit like that."

Suzuki groaned, "H-How… did… did you…?"

"Batman gave me the lowdown on your suit. I'd been working on my…" Ember shrugged, "oh, hell, let's be honest: my anime supermove. I figured now was a good time to test it. Thank Static for some of the training. I call it my Big Damn Explosion. Nice, right?"

With a groan, Suzuki passed out.

Ember grumbled in disgust, "Everybody's a critic!" She grabbed Suzuki by the wrist and began dragging him away, "Fine! I'll change the name!"

Spellbinder was sighted in one of Gotham's affluent neighborhoods. Koutetsu was near the area and rushed over to capture the villain. Arriving at the Gotham Springs gated community, Koutetsu found a trail of hypnotized security guards, police, and citizens, trailing toward a large house in the neighborhood. Koutetsu entered the home, quietly, and looked around. He came to a study where Spellbinder had just cracked a safe.

"That's enough for the evening, Spellbinder," Koutetsu declared.

Spellbinder stopped.

Koutetsu lifted his bokuto in a defensive stance, "Place your hands behind your head and turn around slowly."

Spellbinder just slowly lowered his arms.

"Spellbinder…"

Spellbinder swiftly turned around and opened his gloved hand, shining a bright light from his hypno-eye directly at Koutetsu.

Koutetsu shielded his eyes from the flash. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a wide-open, grassy field on a sunny day.

"Ah," Koutetsu whispered. "Impressive. I can actually… smell the grass. Your technology is impressive, Spellbinder." He looked around then closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Extremely impressive." He took another deep breath. "However."

Koutetsu swung his bokuto to his right, destroying Spellbinder's orb, followed by kicking Spellbinder across the face.

Koutetsu opened his eyes and found the illusion dispelled and his sense returned to normal. Koutetsu looked down at Spellbinder, "Fighting through illusions, no matter how intricate, was the third lesson I ever learned."

Spellbinder groaned as he laid on the floor.

Koutetsu walked over and removed Spellbinder's mask, revealing Ira Billings' face. Koutetsu also ripped both of Spellbinder's gloves off, crushing the hypno-eyes within them.

Koutetsu grabbed a fistful of Spellbinder's suit and yanked Spellbinder close to his face. "I'm going to ask you a question, Doctor," Koutetsu declared in a low, threatening tone. "And I will ask it once. What… is Bane's plan?"

Spellbinder scoffed. "What makes you think I know?"

"It's extremely likely Bane would convey parts, if just parts, of his plan to you, as opposed to a single-minded marauder such as Mad Stan."

Spellbinder chuckled. "Sorry. Wish I could help."

Koutetsu narrowed his eyes. "You are lying. Which is fine. I did anticipate such a course of action, and prepared a contingency."

Spellbinder blinked. "…contingency?"

Koutetsu set his bokuto down and pressed his thumb against Spellbinder's shoulder. Spellbinder screamed out in pain.

"That is a hidden pressure point," Koutetsu explained. "Non-fatal, I assure you. But supremely painful. The human body has 20 nerve endings and approximately 350 pressure points. I have approximately 370 ways to put you in unimaginable pain. And more you are absolutely unaware of. In the words of my friends… try me."

Spellbinder's face gave away to terror.

"Now. I will be generous and ask only once more. What does Bane want?"

Spellbinder, fearfully, answered, "He-he's after… some of the wealthiest in Gotham!"

"Meaning what?" Koutetsu asked.

"He… he said he would pay us more if we-we went after some of the richest and most prominent Gotham citizens. Steal from them, hurt them, terrorize them, it doesn't matter. At least… that's what he told me when his men found me."

Koutetsu considered that for a few moments. "Hm." He looked back at Spellbinder. "Thank you, Doctor. Your information will be quite helpful. Now, then… you must be tired. Good night." He swiftly punched Spellbinder in the face, knocking him out. He stood up. "Hm. Bane may have told you that, Doctor… but I doubt everyone else received the same instruction." He activated his comms, "Everyone! I have new information."

A/N: I thought it was fun to let the rest of the Bat Clan shine. It's so much fun writing for them!