I'm Not Making Up The Names Of The Vehicles - Tumblr Posts
Spoiler took her cue about five minutes after Batman left for the Watchtower to ride into the Cave. The heroes were with Robin by the display of their costumes, paying special respect to Jason's memorial. She made sure to rev the engine of her bike further down the tunnel to announce her arrival.
"Spoiler," Robin greeted her after she'd parked and pulled off her helmet. "These are some of the heroes in the Justice League. They were invited by Batman and Nightwing to come see the Cave."
Spoiler grinned widely at the group, "Hey! Nice to meet you all, I'm Spoiler." She'd never met the group during her few months as Robin, but her suit sta proudly between Tim's and Damian's.
"We weren't aware that there was another hero working in Gotham," Martian Manhunter nodded to her in greeting.
She gasped, her right hand moving do sit directly on the purple bat on her chest. "There are heroes operating in Gotham?" At the confused looks from the group, she cackled and dropped her hand to sit on her hip, leaning her weight more onto her left foot. "We're vigilantes in Gotham. We work outside the law, not alongside it."
"But, Batman-"
"-works with the law when working with the Justice League," Robin cut Cyborg off, successfully pulling everyone's attention to him.
As soon as their eyes were off of her, Cass switched out with her. It was seamless. SpoilerBat (Cass as Spoiler) emerged from her place in the darkest shadows of the Batplane, tapping Spoiler on the shoulder and pointing to the training room. She caught Robin's eye as Spoiler left, nodding and using the LoA signs to tell him the switch was done.
Robin nodded and continued his explanation of the displays, not naming anyone. "Batman's suits are all lined up on the upper tier. He improves them based on his needs and the changes of technology he has at his disposal, resulting in the nine suits you see, as well as the tenth that he's currently wearing. Robin's and Batgirl's suits are lined upon the middle tier. From left to right we have Robin 1, Batgirl 1, Robin 2," He didn't mention that this one was obviously a memorial. "Batgirl 2, Robin 3, Robin 4, Batgirl 3, Batgirl 4, Robin 5.1, Robin 5.2, Robin 5.3, Robin 5.4, and Robin 5.5." He adjusted his stance as SpoilerBat came to stand next to him.
"The lower tier are suits for others in Gotham," she explained, expertly ignoring the whispers about her being a different person a few minutes ago, "Same order: Discowing, Nightwing 1, Nightwing 2, Nightwing 3, Nightwing 4, Redwing, and Nightwing 5." she pointed as she named them, skipping over all five of Jason's suits, as well as the sixth empty one for his current costume, "Red Robin 0, Red Robin 1, Red Robin 2, Red Robin 3, Red Robin, 4, Drake, Red Robin 5, Spoiler, Black Bat, Orphan, Signal." Of the named suits, four suits were missing; Nightwing 5, Red Robin 5, Robin 5.5, and Spoiler.
Because the stealth suits were made specifically to be stealthy, they were never displayed in the open. Instead, they were kept in the locker rooms. No one who didn't know they had them knew any of them were even missing.
"Why are there so many?" Superman wondered.
"We all operate out of the Batcave." Robin stated as though it were obvious, "Our costumes change as we need them to."
"So," Flash began, getting close to the displays but no touching them, "Who all shares costumes? Or do they all belong to different people?"
Robin and SpoilerBat shared a quick look, neither wanting to explain. Let them think what they want. Skewing the numbers via omission will only help their plans along, as well as work to keep their identities.
Moving on, Robin told of how the penny and the dinosaur had come to be in the Cave. He warned to keep away from the edges because of the chasm.
"Chasm?" Aquaman had a smirk on his face, "Why do you need a chasm?"
"To keep the dragons." Robin said. he and SpoilerBat led the way to the garage. "The platform the Batplane rises and lowers as needed. The area above it is a door that can only be opened via remote in the plane itself or via command on the Batcomputer. Over there is the garage. The Batmobile, the Batcycle, the Wingcycle, Ricochet, the Redbird, the Batpod, the Spoilermobile, and Spoiler's motorcycle. Honestly, he turned to SpoilerBat, speaking to Spoiler, "You still haven't named your motorcycle?"
SpoilerBat shrugged.
Green Arrow took his time to look over every present vehicle. "Impressive. None of these are mainstream."
"That's because they're all custom made." Robin preened.
"Really?" Flash asked, bouncing like an excited puppy, "Which one's yours, little man?"
Robin scowled, but didn't address the name. "The Batcycle is the one I am permitted to use. Although, Batman has given his consent for me to drive the Batmobile in case of emergencies."
Cyborg was looking over Ricochet, Red Hood's bike, closely. "This doesn't look like any of the others."
"How do you mean?" SpoilerBat tilted her head slightly to the right.
"It's got the obvious base of a Harley Davidson," he pointed out, "It's also a lot less tech focused than the others."
"The second Robin build that bike from scratch," Robin said shortly, "Do not touch it."
"Right, sorry."
SpoilerBat decided to lead the way to the training area. Robin followed behind the group.
The training area was a clump of four offshoots from the main area of the lower level of the Batcave. The widest area was full of standard gym equipment. In the offshoot to the left was a taller cavern full of gymnastics equipment. The offshoot to the right was weapons training. The offshoot directly across from the main area was for sparring matches on mats or in the ring.
Wonder Woman regarded the gymnastics set up with a keen eye. "You all are trained, yes?" SpoilerBat nodded. "Can we see a routine?"
"Sure," SpoilerBat said. She stepped up to the starting point of the obstical course they had yet to take down from last week. Taking a deep breath, she began. About halfway through, she was out of the heroes' sight long enough to land in the rafters that Duke, Tim, and Steph and occupied temporarily. When she landed, Steph jumped down to continue the routine as Spoiler.
Having finished the routine, Spoiler landed, breathed again, and then jogged to rejoin Robin and the Justice League. A minute nod from the littlest bat let her know that the visiting heroes didn't see the switch. "So, what'dya think?"
Green Lantern did a double take. After a few false starts, he finally managed, "Are-are you a different person?"
Spoiler tilted her head to the right in a perfect imitation of Cass. "What're ya talking about? I'm the same me you met!"
Green Lantern didn't say anything more, choosing instead to follow the others as they explored the sparring mats and the weapons room.
Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter were the ones to take the most interest in this room. The wall on either side of the opening was dedicated to storing all kinds of weapons. The left side of the wall directly opposite the opening was a shooting range for all kinds of ranged weapons. The rest of the room housed training dummies.
"Let me guess," Aquaman admired the shorter ranged weapons, "You all forged these on your own, as well?"
Robin scoffed and crossed his arms. "Of course not. The swords were gifted to me by the finest of swordsmiths. The daggers as well."
"Yeah," Spoiler nodded along, "The only ones we actually produced are the Bird and Batarangs."
"Where do you get the materials?" Martian Manhunter inquired, holding one of the Batarangs to the light.
"There wasn't always a chasm." Red Robin said from where Robin had been standing. The Justice League heroes all whipped to look at him, dropping into ready stances. Red Robin held his hands up but didn't flinch or move back otherwise. "Whoa there, calm down. What spooked ya."
"Where's Robin?" Superman demanded.
Red Robin and Spoiler looked at each other. "What'd ya mean?" she asked, "He's right here."
"No," Flash looked between the two, around the room, and then back to Red Robin, "Robin is a child. You, decidedly, are not."
Red Robin huffed. "Are you okay? 'Cause I've been here the whole time?"
"Really?" Superman asked.
"Yeah," Red Robin crossed his arms. "Spoiler can vouch for me."
"Ah, but she can't!" Green Lantern pointed as though he'd caught them in a trap. "She's been switched out with someone else!"
Again, the two Gothamites shared a look behind their masks. "Alright," Red Robin shrugged, "This is an enclosed space with exactly one accessible exit-" if you don't know your way around, that is, "-if we were being switched out, where would they hide and why wouldn't Superman have been able to hear them?"
The answer is the sheer number of bats. The rafters are high and hidden enough in the ceilings that they blend in with the natural formations. The bats hang from the rafters. Because there are so many of the animals, and because of their training and spite, the Batfam have been able to hide their heartbeats within the throws of bats'. Superman's hearing would be able to pick up any sound that doesn't match with the nocturnal animals. The flutter of a cape could easily be the flutter of a bat's wings. The heartbeats that are slightly too slow are easily taken to be an older, sleeping bat. Movement is just a bat that's been disturbed.
The heroes were all quiet as Superman listened intently. Then, after a few minutes, he sighed and shook his head. "I can't hear anything out of the ordinary."
"But-!" Flash tried.
Red Robin shook his head. "If you guys are too paranoid about being here, we can take you back to the Zeta Tubes. I don't think we'd be able to convince B to let you come back here, though."
"No," Wonder Woman composed herself, "We apologise. Please, continue."
Hesitant, RR turned to take them to the large med bay. "Alright, if you're sure."
Part 5 Part 7