Bruce stood over to Cherry and Lionel as he seemed to have to tell them something.
"Hey, you're alright!" Lionel beamed. "I knew you'd pull through!"
"Yes... Also... I have to ask you two something." Bruce replied.
"Yeah?" Cherry asked.
Bruce soon took out LJ and Zofia by their collars. "Do these two belong to you?" he then asked.
"He-Hey, parentals!" LJ grinned.
Cherry face-palmed slightly.
"Cripes... How'd you two even get here?" Lionel asked.
"We kinda snuck out and took a plane ride over after Great-Aunt Selina gave us our dinner." Zofia replied.
Lionel sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"We'll take them from here, Bruce," Cherry said. "Terry has something to show you anyway... I think."
"Very well." Bruce replied as he let go of the kids.
"Alright." Lionel replied.
Eventually, the kids bowed their heads as they were taken into Cherry's old bedroom in the mansion.
"All right, I don't know what you kids were thinking, but it was dangerous to come to Gotham City all by yourselves." Cherry told them.
"We know..." LJ replied.
"We need to get you back home. Now." Cherry said firmly.
"Ah, phooey." LJ grumbled.
"I'm calling Selina." Cherry said.
Zofia sighed. Cherry soon walked off.
"I told you this wouldn't work." Zofia said to her brother.
"Whaddyou mean? It was your idea!" LJ replied.
"No, it was your idea!" Zofia retorted.
"Whatever!" LJ replied, rolling his eyes.
"You two just wait here..." Lionel sighed. "We're not mad... Just disappointed."
"Aw, maaaan!" LJ sighed.
"Remember, not mad." Lionel replied.
"We know, that's what you grown-ups always say..." LJ sighed.
Cherry soon placed a call to her aunt once Lionel was talking to the kids.
Eventually, Selina came to retrieve LJ and Zofia.
"I'm so sorry, Kitten, I didn't know this was going to happen." Selina told Cherry.
"It's alright; sometimes nobody can expect these sort of things to happen." Lionel replied.
"Selina..." Bruce greeted.
"Hello, Bruce." Selina smiled as it had been a while.
Bruce coughed awkwardly behind his fist. "Well...I almost died...AGAIN..." he commented.
"Oh, my..." Selina frowned to him.
"In this line of work, it's something you get used to..." Bruce replied.
"My poor Bruce... I've missed you so much~" Selina smirked as she leaned against him.
Bruce sighed. "I suppose I missed you too." he replied with a small smile.
"I just can't believe the kids snuck over here..." Cherry sighed. "It's dangerous for them to be way out here."
"I guess they're pretty clever when it comes down to it," Lionel remarked. "I'm upset, and yet... A little proud."
"I think they should stay here for the time being." Selina said.
"Why?" Cherry asked her aunt.
"Well, I'm going to stay here and catch up with Bruce, and wherever I go, the kids go," Selina reminded. "I am their nanny."
"Alright!" LJ cheered.
"Selina...?!" Cherry replied.
"Kitten..." Selina said to her. "Please?"
Cherry sighed.
"Okay..." Lionel replied. "But they stay in here."
"That's fair enough," Selina smiled. "Have I ever let you guys down before?"
"That time with Gorilla Grodd and we got stuck in that wacko time warp?" Cherry replied.
"Oh, Kitten, you know I had good intentions." Selina reminded.
"There was also that time you hung out with Harley and Ivy on December 23rd and used Bruce's card on a big honkin' shopping spree." Lionel added.
"Hey, come on now, we're family." Selina smiled innocently.
"Alright..." Lionel smirked.
Cherry hid a slight eye roll. "Fine... I guess I could never stay mad at you... Aunt Selina."
"Likewise." Lionel nodded.
Selina soon hugged Cherry and Lionel with a smile. "What's family for?"
"Blackmail?" Cherry teased.
Lionel rolled his eyes with a smirk. "No, that's what incriminating evidence is for!" he replied.
"Very funny, both of you." Selina chuckled to them.
"Yeah, we know." Lionel replied.
Cherry hummed, still unsure.
"It'll be okay, Kitten," Selina promised. "You trust me to look after your little ones, so I will as long as I can stay here with your Uncle Brucey~"
"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" Zofia grinned.
"You're funny." Selina smiled to her young great-niece.
"Thanks, I try." Zofia smirked.
Selina giggled to that while Bruce shook his head playfully. Zofia had her mother's sense of humor. LJ just smirked.
"Now that that's taken care of, it's time to get back to work." Bruce told Cherry and Lionel.
"Right then!" Lionel agreed.
They soon walked off together. LJ and Zofia went to join in.
"I think you should come with me." Selina told her grandniece and nephew.
"Alright..." LJ and Zofia replied.
"I'll take care of them for now." Selina said.
"Thanks, Sel-Aunt Selina." Cherry replied.
"Yeah, thanks, Selina!" Lionel added.
Selina smiled as she soon went to take LJ and Zofia away.
"So, she's your nanny then?" Bruce asked.
"Nanny, grandmother figure, au pair, she just insists on helping with the kids." Cherry replied.
"Yup! And she's great at it!" Lionel added.
"I'm glad you're making amends," Bruce smiled to Cherry. "Selina really loves you, Cherry."
"Yeah... I've been told." Cherry replied about her ex-villain of an aunt.
"She's a good egg, she is." Lionel added.
"Come along, we should talk about this case with the Joker." Bruce suggested.
"Yeah, let's go." Cherry agreed with him.
Lionel followed behind.
They came in the main room of the Bat Cave and came to the computer.
"Hey, Ace~" Cherry cooed to Bruce's dog.
The dog whined and nuzzled up to her.
"Must be the original Ace's pup..." Lionel noted.
"Probably, yeah," Cherry replied. "The only dogs I'll really love... Next to maybe Atticus's dog, Spot with his 101 brothers and sisters, or whatever it was."
"You mean Patch?" asked Lionel.
"Patch, Spot, whatever." Cherry playfully rolled her eyes.
"If you say so." Lionel shrugged.
"Ooh, Terry, you don't look so good." Cherry said to the new Batman.
"I'm spent here," Terry groaned. "Every lead I have has gone face-down, and the Joker's still out there."
"Hey, it'll be okay, kid." Cherry reassured him.
"Yeah, we've been in tighter spots than this!" Lionel added.
"What have you got?" Terry sighed.
"...Okay, so this looks bad, but I've been through worse," Cherry replied. "It's gonna be harder though since my kids are now here in Gotham, after I specifically told them to stay home with Selina."
"This big man the Jokerz mentioned... No doubt he's the brain behind these happenings." Lionel replied.
"That must be it," Cherry agreed. "You think he's calling the shots?"
"Obviously!" Lionel nodded. "So we find the head honcho, and take him down!"
"Man, I wish I could be like you guys." Terry sighed.
"It's all right, kid," Cherry said. "We've just been doing this longer than you have."
"Yeah. You're basically just getting started." Lionel added
"I guess..." Terry sighed softly.
"These things take time!" Lionel replied.
"Yeah... I guess you're right," Terry said. "Thanks for the advice. You two must've seen a lot."
"Trust me, I know I have." Cherry replied as she brought out her adventure scrapbook.
"I've seen part of it, just not as much," Lionel added.
"I guess so." Terry replied, not feeling so bad anymore.
"I'll tell you about it later," Cherry told him. "I liked meeting Bugs Bunny's nephew Reader Rabbit though. It felt like a good, innocent time."
"They're right though, it's really not that simple." Bruce said as he soon came to catch up with them.
"No kidding. I've still only heard about 1/3rd of the adventures..." Lionel replied.
Everyone soon looked over to see Bruce as he came down.
"You doing okay, Bruce?" Cherry asked. "How are you feeling?"
"Lousy..." Bruce muttered to her.
"I'm sorry." Cherry said.
"Hey, don't worry. We'll take down the creep doing this, and bring an end to it all." Lionel promised.
"I'm sure you guys can do it... Even if I didn't want you even near The Joker again after what happened." Bruce said as he pet Ace.
"I know." Lionel sighed quietly.
"We... Told Terry about Tim..." Cherry said. "So did Barbara."
"I should've known." Bruce replied.
"We also visited him today... It was kinda awkward." Lionel added.
"So I see..." Bruce replied softly.
"Surprisingly, he seemed like he'd moved on quite nicely."
"You're not hurt, are you?" Bruce asked, mostly looking to Cherry.
"I. Am. Not. A BABY!" Cherry complained.
"She's fine," Lionel replied. "Same for me. Guess those protective instincts never go away..."
"I'm sorry, Cherry, but you'll always be my little baby bat, even when you get to be my age." Bruce said to the young woman.
"You sound like such a dad." Cherry teased with a smirk.
Bruce rolled his eyes. "Well, somebody has to."
"You always did wanna adopt me..." Cherry smirked to him.
"Someone has to keep you safe in Gotham when you're not home with your parents," Bruce smirked back. "Not to mention that time you stood up for me when Captain Hero crashed that Superhero Cocktail Party, and he did an impression of my parents..." he then muttered lowly.
"Even I found that sick, but I think Captain Hero is more of a superhero than Captain Man and Kid Danger," Cherry replied. "Poor Atticus had to put up with them at one point in our adventures. Lionel, be lucky you didn't see that one."
"As lucky as I was to meet you." Lionel nodded.
"Nothing against you guys or the other old partners, but I'm a completely different Batman," Terry replied. "I was never a Robin. I was never-" he then looked over to the old costumes on display. "Wait... Joker smashed up the cases, but why was this the only costume he went out of his way to destroy?"
"Perhaps a twisted mockery of his final victim?" Lionel asked.
"He was indeed shot." Bruce replied.
"A ghost out for revenge?" Terry asked.
"After my adventures with Selene and the Russo family from Waverly Place, I'd believe just about anything," Cherry said. "Especially with ghosts after those times I've spent in Amity Park with Danny Phantom."
"No... That's too ridiculous," Lionel replied. "Especially for THIS universe."
"...Yeah, it kinda is," Cherry said. "Nice thinking, Terry."
Terry rolled his eyes from that. "Anyway, Drake's got less love for that costume than the Joker," he then said. "I think somehow he's behind this."
"Maybe he's got more involvement in this than even he knows..." Lionel added.
"That's crazy..." Bruce told them in denial.
"Sure, but not unheard of," Lionel replied. "Can't hurt to check again."
"Bruce, I know this is tough, but it's possible," Cherry told her godfather. "We also have information on what the Jokerz stole."
"She's right, I have the readout." Terry then added.
They soon looked on the screen to show Bruce their progress.
"Now let's combine those into something that would be used by a communications expert," Terry then suggested as they did that. "Someone of Tim Drake's caliber."
"A satellite jamming system..." Bruce realized. "Whoever uses this can access satellite defense systems, and fire them at will."
"So let's jet." Lionel replied.
Bruce turned away as he seemed to be in strong denial.
Lionel proceeded to suit up. "We going or what?"
"I'm going with Lionel," Cherry told Bruce. "If you wanna stay here, that's fine. Maybe you can tell the kids stories since they're your honorary grandchildren."
"Sounds like a plan!" Lionel agreed as Terry joined them.
Bruce soon took Cherry's arm, stopping her. "Take the car and check it out," he then told her. "I'll monitor you from there."
"What happened to leaving it to the cops?" Cherry smirked.
"Not their game." Bruce smirked back before letting her go.
"WAHOOO!" Lionel whooped.
"There's something else I want to take with me." Terry told Bruce.
Bruce looked down and smiled as he knew that Terry meant Ace.
LJ and Zofia looked out the window of their guest room as Terry went off with their parents.
"There they go!" LJ commented.
"Be safe, Mater and Pater." Zofia hoped for her parents.
"And kick some butt, too!" LJ added.
Zofia nodded before yawning as it was quite late for them to be up at this hour. They both then went to get some sleep.