"I think it's about time I paid Maxwell a little visit…" Terry said, swooping his plane low, circling the building.

"Batman, don't you think you're being a little conspicuous?"

"Right," Terry pulled back.

"And easy on that engine, you've been revving all night."

"Sorry," he didn't sound very sorry. Bruce debated calling Terry back, it was clear the boy was still anxious after that encounter at the jewelry store, but still, he knew Terry would be unhappy, and he seemed to finally be feeling better, maybe a little too good, but everyone had to cope their own way. Bruce knew that as well as anyone.

"The chemicals are stored in the East Wing Lot 12, got it?"

"Right,"

"There's a vent, should be big enough for you to get through. Shouldn't be too many guards," Bruce told him as Terry leveled the plane then leapt onto the side, staying behind the building's structural steel supports, so no one would see him. He glanced over and looked down.

"Look's awfully busy, for 11pm,"

"He's heard the city's cracking down on the substance's use, must be trying to move it out."

"Awful lot of security if that stuff's legal." Batman noted.

"Just be careful, it is toxic and flammable, and you do seem to have a penchant for fires."

"Hey! I've only burned down a few buildings!"

"Did you know they've started including Batman-related damages on the city budget? You get almost a billion creds a year,"

"Can I get whatever they don't spend as part of my allowance?"
"I'll talk to the Commissioner about it, maybe, if it keeps you from destroying as much city property."

"I'm going in," A guard who had been standing near the vent's exit on the inside moved and Batman swooped in.

Inside he managed to render the first guard unconscious before he could set off an alarm. Below them, everyone remained productive, unaware that Batman was slinking closer. He caught site of Maxwell and moved in, invisible.

"Keep it moving, this needs to be out of here by morning. City inspectors are coming through," Maxwell was saying.

"You're paying overtime, right boss?" The head foreman asked.

"You got it, as long as this stuff is out of here."

"You know my men don't like moving this stuff, toxic chemicals and all, isn't this stuff illegal?"

"Aren't I paying you and your men twice your usual wages?"

"You're the boss,"

"Actually, I am." Batman became visible and swooped down over Maxwell, lifting him high into the air. "And I think its closing time." The guards opened fire on Batman.

"You idiots!" Maxwell's voice was a high pitched squeal.

"Hold your fire!" Batman yelled down to them, "you're more likely to hit him than me."

"Batman! What are you doing? Don't torture him!" Bruce told him as Batman wove dizzying circles over the entire scene.

"Oh, right." He opened his hand and Maxwell started to plummet towards the ground.

"BATMAN!" Bruce yelled in horror, just in time to see Batman grab the man out of the air and then set him down on the ground, handcuffing him. Maxwell leaned over and emptied the contents of his stomach, which Terry ignored. The guards stood around, still holding their guns and looking confused.

"So uh… does this mean we don't get paid?" The head foreman asked, as police swarmed up to the building.

"Uh yeah, I'm thinking it does," Batman said, picking up Maxwell and swooping out of the building holding him.

XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX

"MCGUINESS!" Bruce thundered at him as soon as he was back in the plane.

"What? I thought you'd be proud, no major damage, no one got hurt."

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"Oh, that Maxwell thing? Thought I'd teach him a lesson."

"That's for the courts to do, not you!" Bruce said darkly. "Come in, you've been out enough tonight."

"Fine," Terry didn't bother protesting, besides the sooner he got back home the sooner him and Claire could hit the streets- where the real action was.

XxX XxX XxX XxX XxX

"The boy's on edge Bruce," Barbara said, putting down her cup of tea. She had spent several hours trying to interrogate a blubbering Maxwell, and wasn't able to get much out of him, as if the Jokerz the night before hadn't been bad enough.

"I know…" Bruce stared at empty space on the couch.

"I don't think its just what he saw, something else is going on."

"I know, I just don't know what."

"Do you think it's the other vigilantes?"

"Could be, but I doubt it. Why would a few men… or women rather," Bruce corrected himself, "get to him like this? They go after Jokerz, and Terry's always saying he'd rather not have to deal with the petty crime in this city."

"It's two, a male and a female, next time you send Terry out on patrol let him know."

"One of the Jokerz talked?"

"Yeah, but all he knew was that it was a man and a woman, they moved fast, no weapons."

"Going to send out a police bulletin?"

"Did I when Batman appeared?"

"No, but you thought about it, and this is different."

"It's all the same Bruce, there are no rules, you and both know this. If I go after these two…"

"You have to go after Terry too…"

"There's no proof the Jokerz didn't attack these two individuals first, forty Jokerz against two unarmed people…"

"They didn't attack all at once though, they could have taken them in small groups."

"Even so… Thanks for the tea Bruce, I'd better get back to the precinct, see if your friend Maxwell has calmed down at all."

"Right," Bruce sat on the couch for a long time, thinking.