A family of bats was busy preparing for their secret mission to another city. They had just finished with a complicated case when suddenly something really important appeared on the horizon. And usually, things like this were worth bringing to Bruce. But not this time. Tim felt that telling Batman would be too risky. He would launch a rigid investigation that would probably lead to the familiar outcome of events. Watching the dangerous footage again, Timothy thought only of the fact that he himself had once been the same. He wanted to be in Robin's suit to support Batman. He needed Robin. But this is a different situation. The teenager probably had to wear the costume to fight the villains alone. There were no mentors, no adults in sight. The kids created all of this. Could more kids be in danger? There's no telling what they'll have to face. He and Bruce are alike in that, neither he nor Red Robin likes the unknown. Tim is ready to forget a hundred and one questions before he finally calms his curiosity. But not this time. It was annoying. And intriguing. So the young man prepares to take a lot of equipment with him. From the possible things he could find in the public domain, he knows the approximate size of the city, the location, the population, that the city is a tourist destination, and that Axion's laboratories are located there. RR knows for a fact that he's seen the name before. It's a fairly small company, definitely not Wayne Enterprises level. But what area they specialize in is a mystery. It used to be some sort of military protected facility, but then their specialty changed. I think Tim saw the word ghosts again. This is another mystery that has been bothering him. Ghosts had been mentioned more than once and frankly, it didn't seem like joking news. Could it be possible that they would be facing magic? That couldn't be a good thing. If one thought of it that way, ghosts and otherworldly beings are something dark. Is there a chance of encountering crazy cultists? Ghostbusters?

Tim grinned:

"Just like in the movies, with a stupid apparatus in the back that looks like a vacuum cleaner... "

After another look at his bag of things and making sure everything was in place, Tim finally finished and decided to go downstairs for coffee. The only thing left to do was to come up with an excuse to leave. Drake had his own house, of course. One might well say that he would stay away from the estate on business for a while. But what to do about the company? Take a vacation? Or would the work have to come with him? That was something worth discussing with Dick. He suspected that his older brother had already finished and came down for dinner. And he was right. Everyone met downstairs, including Alfred:

"Good evening everyone…"- Tim sat down in his seat out of habit, taking a cup of coffee in his hands. Unfortunately, decaf... At least it wasn't tea anymore.

Grayson sat contentedly across the table and munched on a sweet double cream dessert and hot chocolate:

"Timmy-bird! How are your preparations going?" -

Tim shifted a slightly tired look to the older man before coughing slightly and answering:

"All packed. We just need to convince Alfred not to tell Bruce about our outing for as long as possible, until we're sure there's nothing to worry about. So. Have you come up with any excuses why we can't stay in Gotham and the mansion in particular?" - The detective crossed his arms and rested his chin on them, resting it against the desk. Blue eyes glanced around the room and lingered on Jason for a moment before returning to the older man, who began to speak with his mouth full:

"Oh yeah, I've got it easy with this one. I'm going to Bloodhaven. After all, Nightwing needs to be in his place!" - The older man manages to get the table and himself all messy while talking and eating at the same time. Jason just takes a napkin and throws it right in Grayson's face, causing the white cloth to completely cover his face and stick to it:

"Dickface, you're behaving worse than a little demon at the table, and he's the kid." - To this

Damian reacted to this remark by clutching a knife in his hand. The evening was gradually taking on its usual colors, and the knife-throwing seemed about to begin:

" I'm not a child, Todd. However, you really do lack lessons in table manners, Grayson." - Jay chuckles before continuing with dinner, and the offended older man removes his napkin from his face and calmly wipes himself:

"You guys are hurting me, those words hurt worse than a sharp kitchen knife!" - Wing is theatrically indignant before picking up a table knife from the table. Damian looks it over emphatically, and Jason adds:

" It's a dull table knife, Dick. That's why you need table behavior lessons. And a new diet. You're eating more sweets than the average kid." - and that's when Dick started to get really pissed off:

" Hey! My love of sweets is my business! And actually, you can love sweets regardless of your age." - The older man puffed up his cheeks and stuck a knife into his dessert to break it into smaller pieces. Timothy finally decided

to join the conversation:

" Actually, sweets are the perfect source of energy, they are essential for feeding normal brain function, muscle function, for better blood flow and supply to the spinal cord." - Dick looked with enthusiastic, slightly tearful eyes at his brother:

" Here, at least Tim is on my side!"- But then Tim continues, which throws off Dick's enthusiasm:

" There are standards, though. And judging by how much energy you have, you should stop consuming so much sugar." - Jason picks up on this immediately:

" So Dick has a lump in his ass because he's eating so much sugar? What is he, the pink bunny from the battery-powered energizer commercial? HAHA! Take this, Dickface, it's time to change your diet." - the older one got all sad and sadly put the dessert spoon in his mouth:

" You're all mean. You don't like me! You don't love me at all! " - instead of being supportive, poor ving is getting hurt by jay's words:

" Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Accept your fate, asshole." - Dick was down and lying on the table, picking at his dessert, a sincere sadness in his puppy-dog eyes that was less theatrical than usual:

" Here comes Amity Park, we'll pick up our youngest and I'll take him for myself. He'll be on my side and won't betray me!" - Tim sighed again, distracted from his dinner:

" Dick, you can't just come to another town and snatch a teenager from his home. We don't even know who he is, let alone what his marital status is." - Grayson sat back down and took on an already serious look before finally stopping the joke:

" I know, Tim. It just bothers me that a kid could do something like that. We don't know about this town, we can't understand who taught him, why he was allowed to run around town and play the role of hero. If it was his own parents and they themselves support and help him, then... That's not a bad thing. But if it wasn't? Something tells me that this story is going to be very complicated. There's no such thing as a parent letting a child volunteer on their own." - Jay just tsked, adding unceremoniously:

" Yeah, yeah, and our old man certainly never did that. No, uh-uh. Never." -

Nightwing frowned and just added sullenly:

" You know what I'm talking about, Jay. We have training, we've been trained and we still do. We have bonding, we're pros, with prepared suits. It's.. It's different." - there was a stifling silence around the table. Jason only sighed heavily, clearly displeased, and decided to change the subject to a slightly calmer one. He didn't need to lose his temper. Definitely not. He didn't want to ruin dinner with another home shooting as a result:

" It's a simple thing for me. I don't show up on the estate much as it is. The old man won't touch me on my property in Crime Alley and he won't check up on me. That leaves you, Substitute, the hardest one." - it was true. Tim couldn't just disappear or ask for a vacation. That's not his style:

" Maybe I could say I'm going with Dick to Bloodhaven. Bruce won't be too worried if we're together "working the case." And he won't get involved in this story unnecessarily, either." - Tim added the word "I hope so," silently to himself. He had no doubt that Bruce would quickly realize that something was wrong. The question was how quickly. There would be a lecture waiting for them anyway, everyone realized that.

Damian decided to end this conversation:

" We'll continue to behave as usual. Do your business. Pennyworth, we urge you to keep quiet about the secret mission. Father must not find out about it." - The butler smiled lightly and bowed, then assured everyone present:

" I will not tell Master Bruce of your plans, young masters. Be careful. However, if anything unforeseen happens, report it immediately." - Everyone nodded silently and slowly returned to dinner. Perhaps this time, it was a happy ending.

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Early in the morning, the three Waynes finally gathered. All preparations had been made. The boys decided to take the most unremarkable car they had for the missions: a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee, with a slightly scratched body and a lighter body.

gray Jeep Grand Cherokee with a slightly scratched body and some dents. It was just an ordinary shabby car in the cheap price segment (in Wayne's opinion, that's for sure) that hardly attracted any attention. Besides, the car is very common in Illinois used car sales. So the older brood once again got into an argument with each other:

" I'll drive the car, that's out of the question." - Jason shouted harshly, throwing his bags into the trunk. He was about to reach for the door to the driver's seat, but the older man stopped him:

" Little Wing! Why are you driving? I want that right as the oldest!" - Dick made a rather sullen, frowning childish face. The younger ones had been bullying him too much lately. Jason pushed the older man away from him and blocked Grayson's approach to the car so he couldn't get to the driver's seat. Then Jay objected:

" Because you want to get to the radio! I'm not going to let you turn on your shitty music for hours of driving." - Grayson crossed

his arms across his chest and pompously strode toward the seat next to the driver's seat. But Tim was already sitting there, and he immediately plugged his laptop into the car's internal charger and started working:

" Nah, don't even think about it, Dick. This is the first time I've ever agreed with Jason. I can't even believe I'm saying this." - The car door slammed and Jason was in the driver's seat, already fastening his seatbelt:

" I don't believe Substitute knows how to do anything right. Even his caffeine-addled brain managed to get it into his head to block your access to the car's control panel. - Jason, who had managed to hurt two of his brothers at once, said rather rudely. But unlike Dick, who was only pretending to be hurt by it, Tim was starting to get annoyed:

" I don't believe Jason will ever be smart enough not to be rude to people early in the morning." - Dick sat down carefully in the back seat and listened tensely and silently to see where this was going, and, if anything, to intervene immediately. Jay squeezed the steering wheel slightly in his hands with one hand while he started the car with the other:

" I don't believe that pathetic copy of Robin will ever realize how useless his words are. Type the address into that shit." - In addition to having time to cuss, the guys have time to work. Jason turns the rearview mirror and lowers his visor slightly to shield himself from the sun. Tim quickly and deftly enters the correct address into the navigator and plots the shortest route, also rudely replying:

" I don't believe Hood will ever realize how much he pisses everyone off with his existence." - The car finally started to move, and the boys pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the route they'd been given. Jason kept his eyes on the road, still gripping the steering wheel, which creaked under the strain of his hands:

" I don't believe the Substitute will ever realize that his existence is basically meaningless," - his voice became rougher and deeper, and he seemed to be holding himself back from screaming. Tim slowly closed the lid of the laptop and removed his headphones without looking at Jason. The guy was clutching the charger wire in his hands and twisting it nervously in his hands:

" Oh, yeah? Is my existence meaningless? My life? Maybe your death was meaningless, huh?" - Jay's eyes began to glow green, his teeth seemed to grind together, and a low growl escaped his lips:

" Of course! My death was senseless, and you assholes didn't even think about me. You're all B! Proud, Substitute, to be his meadow dog!? Proud of yourself for putting on that suicide suit? You were never better than me, just a pathetic copy. You and the Old Man are just egomaniacs!" - Grayson tensed and realized it was time to intervene, but when he opened his mouth to say, "Guys... " He was ignored, and Tim continued, looking at Jason angrily:

" You know! I did it to pull Bruce out of his depression and save this town from impending tragedy! And what did you do?! Try to kill your own brother?! YOU'RE A GODDAMN ASSHOLE, JASON!" - Jay drove much faster, speeding dramatically. There was no one on the road, but there was a sharp turn ahead that was coming up fast:

" I'm an asshole? WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU? YOU'VE TAKEN MY PLACE, YOU'VE UNCEREMONIOUSLY STEPPED IN WHERE YOU'RE NOT WANTED. YOU'RE NOT EVEN PART OF THIS FAMILY, AND YOU WOULDN'T BE. YOU THINK ANYONE REALLY NEEDED YOU? FUCK YOU, TIM! Say one more word and I'll throw you off this goddamn car." - Dick couldn't take it anymore and finally screamed:

" STOOOOOP! " - and Jason slammed on the brakes, literally stopping just before the curve that led to the highway. The sudden jolt made the company jerk, causing Tim to cough a little as the belt squeezed his chest and his laptop almost fell out of his hands. The guy himself nearly fit into the control panel in front of him. Todd sat behind the wheel, staring at nothing but the road. His eyes burned with green rage, seeming to be getting a headache. Dick, who had been most frightened for the safety of his brothers' lives and for their quarrel, was content to take control of the situation.

quickly took control of things and began the conversation sternly:

" Calm down, you two! That's enough. Jason, you shouldn't have been so rude to Tim. Tim, you know Jay so well, you really should have let it go. We almost drove off the highway and into a building! You're family! Do you hear me?! FAMILY. I know things haven't been going well between you two. Okay, not even that, not even that, very not! But that doesn't absolve you of your responsibility to each other. Right now, we're driving this damn car on a damn mission. If you fight like this now, what's next? Kill each other?" - The older man calmed down a little, then sighed heavily and continued:

" Jay, you need to calm down. I can see that you're not okay. Get in the back. I'll drive. Tim, mind your own business. You two need to cool down a little." - Jason stared blankly for a moment before abruptly unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car, "Brilliant!"

Tim only nodded quietly and pulled on his headphones, turning away to the window.

Dick got behind the driver's seat and slowly pulled out on the road. For the first half of the trip the boys drove in silence and stillness. Grayson didn't turn on any music to dilute the silence. Not now. Everyone needed to calm down and distract themselves a bit. Outside the window, the rain began to fall, dripping down the windows and gathering in mirrored lines. The sound of the rain pounding on the roof was soothing, eventually Jay fell asleep soon enough. Tim began to fall asleep right through his headphones as well. During a brief stop at a stoplight, Dick gently took the laptop from the younger man's hands and moved it back. The older man didn't know how to feel right now... Their conflict was personal. And they couldn't resolve it. Their conversations always ended in arguments:

"I hope that one day they'll be able to solve it. If they don't solve it themselves, it's unlikely that anything or anyone can help them. I wish our family could be the same again. Everything is good, but it's never enough. There's always something going wrong or something missing. Maybe I'm not the best big brother. I should try harder for them. "

It was evening by the time the boys reached their first stop. There, a rested Jay and Dick switched seats to continue driving. Tim grabbed some crappy gas station coffee for himself, a bottle of energy drink for Jay and a sweet Diet Coke for Dick. Also a small cheap snack. Good thing Tim had his card with him, since the cash was in bills of at least fifty bucks each. Damn inconvenient when you have to pay for something in small change... Of course, they also had to get gas before continuing the 900-mile journey. The trip took about 14 hours and was quite grueling. They could have taken an airplane, but that would have attracted too much attention.

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So, turning on the radio on some local wave, the boys traveled onward until they finally reached the borders of Illinois. It wasn't long before they began to approach the borders of Amity Park. That's when the first weird thing happened, when the radio started going crazy and it couldn't get tuned to any wave. After a few swear words from Jason and a couple knocks on the panel, the hissing finally settled down and intermittent words began to come through:

"Attack... Park Amity... I'm Lance Thunder... The mall... Haunted! "

Tim warily opened his laptop and tried to catch some local network while sitting in his car. The device didn't want to connect, as if no network existed at all in this neck of the woods:

" It's happening again. As soon as I try to connect to the network, the tech starts going crazy. It's like the air is discharged with some kind of radiation or something. I'd say the signal is being jammed on purpose, like they usually do during military operations, but why would they do something like that in a small town and a nearby area?" - Jason taps the radio again, and then the signal becomes even clearer. Tim is sure this isn't how it's supposed to work, but if it does, it's best to leave it as it is. Jay listens to the anchor's words:

" They're talking about some kind of ghost attacks. The town's about an hour away. We're not gonna make it in time, even if we wanted to. If this shit was really a publicity stunt, I don't think they'd go that far." - The boys did their best to listen to the report, but soon there was a small explosion and the phrase, "We'll meet you after the commercial!" was heard.

Dick rubbed his chin a little and frowned, thinking over what was happening:

" If those were jammers, I don't think we'd be able to use the radio. Also, our hunch that this isn't just a video montage is confirmed by a new fact. We need to get to Amity soon and figure out what this is all about. They're calling them "ghosts." Either that's code for meth, or we've encountered something new." -

After thinking about it for a while, the guys drove toward town. Judging by the news they heard as they drove, the attack ended with some ghost hunters arriving. After that, the radio waves started playing commercials and music. The boys opted to spend the remaining hour in silence.

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Upon arriving at the local hotel where they could stay, the group was greeted by a beautiful young girl who introduced herself to them as Tracey:

" Hello, welcome to our local Amity Park hotel. Before you stay with us, please read our list of rules of conduct during ghost attacks. If you wish to stay with us, please sign a contract releasing our responsibility for your safety in the event of a ghost attack contingency! " - The information poured out, right out of the blue. And if earlier all three Wayne's would have laughed at such a publicity stunt, now all three were silent and glanced at each other. Dick, as the most collected of them all, graciously continued the conversation by slickly combing his hair with his hand:

" 'My dear lady, we shall be glad to stay with you! Let me sign all the papers, we need a room with three beds until about the end of next weekend. Can we extend the vacation

in case of what?)" - Dick smiled brilliantly, Tracy only giggled and shook her head:

" Don't stutter before the time. Everyone moves out early, and I wouldn't be surprised if you decided to leave tomorrow. Follow me and I'll show you the contract. The rest of you can give your bags to the porters, they'll bring them to your room and show you out." -

Grayson set off after the girl, while the others studied the area with their eyes and tried to catch at least some details. There were a couple things Tim had noticed, he was going to call them out when they were alone, " Handset call phones. I think I even saw a pay phone. I don't think they'd use junk like that for no reason. And judging by the style, they're clearly not trying to create a retro feel."

Finally everything was done and the boys were alone in the room. All three of them were unpacking and chatting, except for Jason, who was quiet. Jay hadn't spoken for quite a while since they'd reached the city limits. The closer they got, the weirder he felt. His head didn't hurt, no, it was buzzing on its own, and there was a strange heavy feeling in his chest. It wasn't like the rage of the pit, but it was like someone or something picking under your skin, itching and tingling a little:

" I don't want to say anything ahead of time, but I think there's a goddamn Pit around here somewhere." - Dick nearly dropped his belongings from his hands when he heard such a statement:

" Are you all right, little wing...? How are you feeling?" - The elder cautiously moved closer to his brother and examined his expression. The one was anxious about something and considerably tense:

" I don't know. I don't feel good, I don't feel bad. It's just.. It's like this thing inside of me is taunting me. At first it was mild, I thought it was just the effects of my recent anger. But now it's intensified since we got into town. It's as if Yama senses something familiar nearby. It makes me angry and worried." - Todd crossed his arms over his chest and frowned, covering his eyes. His expression showed displeasure, but it wasn't full of his usual green rage.

Tim sighed heavily and wiped his face with his hands:

" Are you saying we're not just dealing with a troubled teenager in a hero costume, strange ghosts, and the terror of the city, but with the Lazarus Pits? B will kill us when he finds out." - Dick tried to put a little positive spin on things:

" Or maybe it won't be so complicated and we'll get through this quickly on our own? Oh. Guys, I know this all sounds hard. Let's do this. We have a lot to do, and we'll get through this faster if we each do our own thing." - Grayson looked at Tim, who was already doing something on his laptop:

" Tim, your job is to figure out why we're having signal problems. Try to get information on the town, local notables, organizations, and, if you can, try to run the local teenagers through the database." - Red only yawned and stretched a little, saying to himself something like, "Already on it... "

Then Dick looked at Jay:

" JJ, your job is to look up information in the local libraries and try to look around the neighborhood. As much as I hate to send you out to find the pit, you're the only one of us who feels this strongly about it." - Todd grinned and added:

" Jerk, I don't need your directions to know what to do. " - Dick let that pass his ears and finished:

" And I'm going to walk around all the popular places and around the schools. I'll try to find Cool Fire in civilian uniform. Maybe overhear some of the locals talking. " -

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The detectives take up the case and begin their work with little or no rest. No one is going out in capes that night, all preparations are made in civilian uniforms only, without arousing any suspicion or attention.

Downstairs, near the front desk, one girl is typing a message on her personal cell phone:

Tracy: New arrivals in town.

Tracy: png.540

Her response was a message telling her to pay $50.

Sam immediately relayed the information to the general chat:

Chaos: The Waynes have come to town. The Waynes as the Waytes of Gotham.

TecnoGeek: The Waynes as Wayne Enterprises? Which one of them are they?

Chaos: Judging from the picture, Richard Grayson, Timothy Drake, and Jason Todd. At least they look like them. My family went to a gala concert once. I don't recommend it.

TecnoGeek: Oh, my God. Wait, didn't Jason Todd die?

Chaos: Honestly, I'm not sure about that. His parents said something about it. Most likely a planned action. I'm more interested in what Gotham's local elite are doing here. I don't believe they came to see the town for nothing.

TecnoGeek: Are you saying they're collaborating with Batman or the furry brigade? I'd say that's nonsense, but coincidences like that are too worrying. We need to be on the lookout for them. Speaking of which, where's Danny?

Chaos: He's probably still on patrol. Hopefully he'll see the messages by tomorrow.

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Bruce returned to the manor late in the afternoon. Work at the office had been hard enough lately, since they had been previously distracted by the night's business. Now all the debts had to be dealt with.

"I hope Tim doesn't take on too much work"

The man is well aware of how responsible his son is for his work. Sometimes too much. And he'd never take a vacation for nothing.

Dick should probably be at the estate for a couple of days. He always stayed late after a tough mission to be with his youngest.

Jay could never be kept on the estate for long. It was hard to think about it.

Damian was probably right now doing homework for school or drawing in his room. Or the older one was taking everyone out for movie or game night.

"I hope they're not playing Monopoly. Last time, there were several bullet holes in the walls and knife marks in the tables."

So, upon entering the house, he is greeted by Alfred and...

" Quiet. Too quiet." - Bruce notes and begins to frown. This can't be good. Not in this house and not with this family.