Chapter Text
theOG joined the game
theGCPD joined the game
It had all started with The Commissioner. The man who claimed he never had a hand in the chaos of Gotham beyond fixing problems when they arose.
Batman would beg to differ.
Batman flew down onto the roof of the police precinct as the subtle whoosh of his cape cut the silence of the night. A similar but somehow lighter sound followed after and Jim Gordon finally decided he could turn around and face the vigilantes.
"It's a holiday weekend for schools and the like, isn't it?" Jim asked, glancing at Robin, "You two taking a vacation?"
Barbara, his daughter, was off of school on Monday. On Sunday they were going to drive out of the city and he'd even taken off of work that Monday so he could watch his kid and spend some time with her.
Batman ignored his inquiry as Robin shrugged. The older vigilante steam rolled on toward business but Jim couldn't help it but to wonder what the two costumed do-gooders did for fun. He'd made peace somewhat reluctantly with Robin being a crime fighter. The kid was good at it, could rival any man on the force that Jim knew but he was still a kid . He needed to have hobbies and pastimes. Besides that, if he was reading the dynamic right, the kid needed more things to do with his father (or at least father-figure) than to run around like a demented traffic light.
"I'm serious, Batman." Jim said as they finished their conversation, "You should take a breath while there's a break in the tide. Barbara has been teaching me to play Minecraft, if you can believe it, and I think you and Robin might benefit from a little down time. Gotham will still be here when you get back."
Batman narrowed his eyes (his cowl? Somehow?) And gave a noncommittal "hrrm" but Robin brightened.
"What's Minecraft?" The boy asked, hopping around on his feet like if he stopped moving he'd keel over.
"It's, well…" If Jim was being honest, he didn't quite know. He knew what his daughter had shown him which was that you could mine for resources and build houses. His little girl had warned him that was just the basics with an unspoken promise he'd probably get talked into playing it again. Despite that, he'd enjoyed it. Enjoyed spending the time with her and seeing her light up when he asked her questions.
"It's a video game you can play with other people." Jim finally explained, somewhat stunted.
Robin smiled wide and Jim saw that glimmer of sinister intent he'd seen in Barbara when he'd asked her what she was playing the first time. If the adults of Gotham didn't watch it, Jim thought these two kids might take over the city some day. Maybe the world.
Batman seemed to agree with Jim's unspoken fear because he turned to Robin and a silent conversation took place. It was one of the rare ones a citizen of Gotham was able to witness and it was just as puzzling as everything else about the vigilantes.
Jim, having known Batman for quite a while and having known Robin since his debut, thought it went a little something like this:
"No."
"Come on! It would be fun!
"I don't play video games. I am the night. The mission comes first."
"Fine, I'll ask Agent A to play it with me. He actually enjoys spending time with me."
"I enjoy spending time with you too, chum, I'm spending time with you right now."
"But Batmaaaaan. This is different. We could play video games together."
"No."
"I'll cry."
“…”
"Okay, I'll try it once."
This of course happened in the span of about a minute but it was the longest conversation Jim had ever seen them have up close. Batman straightened up from his standoff with the eleven year old and gave another hum.
"Is that all you had for me, Commissioner?"
Jim didn't even try to hide his smile as he nodded.
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Bruce joined the game
super_fan2 joined the game
SirA joined the game
To Bruce's utter confusion, Jim Gordon had suggested The Batman play a video game with Robin . A video game with vibrant blocks and angular animals that did not at all obey the laws of physics. A game where at the end, they were supposed to slay a giant dragon who, to Bruce's knowledge, had no effect on the world that most of the game took place in and would only need slaying as a form of conquering the dimension the dragon called its home. It was a game about mining, trading, farming, and ultimately, conquering.
Dick loved it.
His son had taken to the game like a spark to gasoline and it had only taken a few minutes . Bruce had googled Minecraft (he'd spelt it Mine Craft but who could blame him?), created two accounts, and downloaded the software as Dick bounced in the seat beside him restlessly.
Bruce had made his username "Bruce" because if someone from Wayne Enterprises accidentally happened upon the game on his computer, he'd at least need it to look professional. Dick had insisted upon "super_fan2" and Bruce tried not to put "Punch Superman with kryptonite knuckles in a fit of jealousy" on his bat-calendar. It was more interesting to Bruce that they'd had to add the two at the end since it probably meant that someone else had taken "super_fan1" before them. It was the only thing that kept Bruce's irritation at his best friend at bay.
After their first playthrough, Bruce had to physically pick Dick up out of the computer chair to get him to the dinner table. Had had to do the same so the boy would go to sleep after dinner.
They spent the three day weekend learning the basics together and Bruce had to admit, it had been fun. He enjoyed the calming effect it had on Dick's restlessness. Liked the way that, when the impromptu thunderstorm hit Gotham and rain pounded against the window, his kid was no longer running restlessly around the Manor or cowering in fear in Bruce's bed. Instead, they were stationed at the computers in the batcave, listening to the calming ambient music that echoed in the cavern from their computers.
But Bruce had to go back to work and Dick had to go to school the following Tuesday. It was a harder week for Bruce, more papers, more meetings, which meant he had to work later. He would come home and eat dinner, catch up with Alfred, do recon while Dick took a quick nap in preparation for their late nights, then head out for the night.
They didn't get to play together again until Saturday morning when Dick burst into Bruce's bedroom at a jarringly early 8am.
"Alfred said you'd play Minecraft with us today!" Dick pronounced happily, jumping on the bed as Bruce rolled over to cast bleary eyes at his son.
"With us?" Bruce asked, quirking a brow as a yawn worked its way through his body.
"Alfred got an account too so he can play with me when you can't."
That brought a fond smile to Bruce's face and Dick beamed back at him, grabbing at the warm covers that lay over Bruce to wrench them away from him.
"Yeah, yeah, alright. We can play Minecraft after breakfast." Bruce relented. He gave no warning before he was grabbing Dick's hand to swing him over his back. Dick squealed and giggled the whole way to the kitchen.
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Bruce was the world's greatest detective. Criminals cowered in his shadow. He could drive or fly any vehicle he sat in and could hack into security systems belonging to most major governments.
So why was finding the inventory key so difficult?
Dick was happily chattering away with Alfred, discussing best places to build or which animals they could farm with but Bruce was glued to his screen, trying to seem busy so the others didn't notice his utter confusion.
"Doing okay, B?" Dick called from beside him when Bruce had found himself in a dark cave with no hope of reaching the surface the way he'd come and dread pooling in his stomach.
"Yeah, chum?" Bruce called, half paying attention to the screen where lava bubbled away on his screen.
"Oh, are you mining? Did you find any diamonds?" Dick asked excitedly.
Bruce could not let Dick know that he'd gotten lost while Alfred built a house on the surface and Dick went to find a village. It was a matter of pride.
"Not yet! Still looking." He explained, panning across the blocky cave.
"I'm surprised your inventory's not full." Dick muttered, back to watching his screen, "You've been digging for a while."
"I'm really just exploring." The man sputtered out, "It's very interesting the way the blocks are generated and I read something online about abandoned mine shafts."
His eyes found Alfred on the other side of his son. The older man had a subtle smile on his lips as he quirked an eyebrow in disbelief.
It was true, Bruce had read about abandoned mineshafts online while reading about the game. He had researched the game pretty extensively to make sure Dick would not be exposed to anything too scary or inappropriate. Alfred probably just didn't believe Bruce was taking a moment to enjoy the game mechanics. Which, fair. Bruce had never stopped to enjoy his surroundings before.
Bruce's internal argument with Alfred's all-knowing-ness was cut off when Dick made a "hmm?" sound in confusion. It was closely followed by words that chilled Bruce to the bone:
"Oh I wonder what this button does."
Because of course Bruce had accidentally made Dick a moderator. And of course Dick had accidently just changed the mode of their game to hard instead of peaceful as it had been.
This didn't affect Alfred or Dick since they were on the surface but for Bruce…
Suffice to say Bruce found a way out of the caves.
He found a way out of the caves in the form of being shot by a skeleton while simultaneously being blown up by a creeper. He thought he heard the deeper voice of Alfred's amused chuckle under Dick's shrill laughter.