Hey, guys! Here it is: the 20k special!

So, what I decided to do was make several short stories/ oneshot-ish scenes! The thing about it is, though, that they don't follow the "canon" of this story. For example, Dick decided to stay as Robin. There are also no exact chronological order to these in the story.

Also, this one was really long, so that's why I made two parts for the other short stories. So for now, please enjoy the Halloween one!

🎃 Halloween 🎃

Dieter, Shelly, and Rebecca stared at Dick with their jaws down to the floor.

"You've never celebrated Halloween before?!" They all incredulously questioned in sync.

Dick shook his head. Dieter opened his mouth to speak but Dick held a hand up. "Even though I've never celebrated Halloween before, I know what it is. You dress up as something you like and ask strangers for candy until your feet hurt."

Rebecca scratched her head. "Well, when you say it like that..."

"He's kinda right, though," Dieter admitted.

"So, will you be celebrating Halloween this year?" Shelly asked.

Dick grinned. "Yep! I'm super excited! I'm gonna be Superman!"

"Awesome, dude!" Dieter exclaimed. "I'm gonna be a pirate. Argh!"

Shelly giggled. "And I'm gonna be a vampire! I can't wait to say, 'I want to suck your blood'."

Rebecca inched forward and give them all a mischievous smile. "I'm gonna be a skeleton."

Suddenly, all of the children in unison began to sing, "spooky scary skeletons! Send shivers down your spine!" The mumbled the rest because they didn't exactly know all the words.

Dick jumped in his seat. "I'm so excited, guys! I can't wait!"

"This is gonna be the best Halloween ever!" Rebecca declared.

They all happily cheered.

- - - - - - - - -

"Hey, Babs!" Dick called out as he caught Barbara in the hallways.

Barbara turned around. "Hey, Dick."

"Ready for Halloween?" Dick wondered.

The redhead nodded. "You know it. Guess what I'm gonna be."

"I don't know. What?"

"I'm gonna be dressed as Two Face!" Barbara revealed.

Dick blinked. "Woah."

Barbara proudly smiled. "I'm gonna be the scariest trick or treater this year for sure."

"But why would you want to be scary?" Dick questioned.

"Because Halloween is the season of spookiness and fear!" Barbara responded. "Who are you gonna be?"

"Superman."

Barbara covered her mouth with her hand as she held in a laugh. "Seriously?"

Dick nodded.

"Typical," Barbara criticized. "You should go for something bold."

"Superman is bold," Dick argued.

"No, I mean bold as in scary. Why not dress up as something scary with me?" Barbara asked.

Dick scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Uh, no thanks. I think being Superman will be a lot more fun. Maybe I'll dress as something scary next year, though."

Barbara shrugged in a 'I give up' manner. "Alrighty, then. You do you, but if you change your mind, call me."

"Okay. See ya later," Dick said as the redhead began to walk away.

- - - - - - - - -

Dick observed his Superman costume in the mirror. He loved it.

Bruce had said that it looked good, too. Though, he seemed annoyed about it for some reason. Alfred had said that he resembled the real Superman perfectly. That's exactly what Dick wanted to hear!

He wanted to show off his costume to his friends right now, but he had to go to a Halloween themed gala first.

Ughh, Dick groaned internally as he walked downstairs. His candy bag was waiting to be used on the living room table. It was calling out for him. But he couldn't use it yet.

Bruce walked up to him. "Ready to go?"

Dick scanned his outfit from head to toe. "Bruce, what are you wearing?!"

"What? It's just a normal suit," he defended.

"Exactly!" The boy exclaimed. "You can't go to a Halloween gala dressed normally! You have to dress up as something!"

"Well, it's too late now to get a costume," Bruce informed.

Dick smirked mischievously. "Well, you already have the costume. You just need to style your hair, get an umbrella, and monocle."

"Dick, no-"

"Alfred, could you find a monocle for us, please?!" Dick called out. He giggled. "I think you'll make a great Penguin, Bruce."

- - - - - - -

"This is ridiculous," Bruce complained as they walked towards the entrance of a fancy and expensive-looking building.

"No, it's not," Dick drawled. "It's super clever if I do say so myself. You don't to go all out for Halloween but you also fit in at the same time. I mean, who can't recognize Oswald?"

Bruce sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, buddy."

The nine-year-old grinned. "No prob, bob."

"I still don't know where that inside joke is from," Bruce said while walking past a couple of security guards as he held up his ID.

Dick was about to tell Bruce that that was a Steven Universe reference but the words fell off his tongue. "Oh my gosh," he breathed as they walked into the building.

Everyone was dressed in Halloween themed clothing one way or another. That wasn't what made Dick gape, though. It was the fact that there was tons of people dressed as heroes and villains, including Batman and Robin!

"Looks like you're popular," Bruce commented quietly to Dick.

"You, too," Dick replied.

"This happens every year," the billionaire explained, "it's nice seeing people dress as someone else for once."

Dick laughed. He was amazed by how real some people's costumes looked. "I bet you're glad you decided to dress up as someone."

The next 30 minutes were spent talking to other rich people... as always. It was a lot less boring than usual due to all the creative costumes. He received a lot of compliments about his costume while he gave a lot to others. It was fun, actually. That was rare for a gala.

"Pardon me, I need to use the restroom," Dick spoke up politely as he excused himself from the conversation that he wasn't much of a part of anyways. A woman fawned at his manners.

As he made his way to the bathroom, he bumped into someone dressed as Robin.

"Oh, sorry," Dick quickly apologized.

The other boy shook his head. "Don't apologize, it was my fault."

They stood there awkwardly until Dick said, "I like your costume." He had black hair and was around Dick's age and height. He really did look like Robin.

The kid smiled. "Heh, thanks. You like Robin?"

Dick shrugged. "He's pretty cool, I guess." He tried not to laugh at the irony of that statement.

"Yeah, my dad-"

The booming voice of a man cut them off. "Everyone put your valuables on the floor and put your hands in the air!"

A couple of warning shots aimed at the high ceiling were made and fearful screaming followed afterwards.

Dick couldn't see who was making the threats from the crowds of people. He turned to the boy next to him who was now looking around wildly, probably for his dad. "Hey, it's okay. Let's hide. C'mon!" He whispered. They ran to the bathroom that was right next to them.

The boy dressed as Robin leaned against the wall, his arms and legs trembling in fear. "I can't believe this is happening! I- what about our parents?!"

Dick didn't know what to do. He and Bruce were split. He could help but he wasn't Robin. He didn't have his suit. He- Wait.

He may not have his real suit, but the boy behind him had one. It was a fake, of course, but the criminal didn't need to know that.

In fact, there were tons of people dressed as Robin. If they could all confuse the man...

"Okay, I have an idea," Dick muttered. "I'm gonna try to call Batman and Robin. In the meantime, all the kids dressed as Robin have to confuse this guy. If they all say that they're the real Robin, the guy with the gun won't know who to shoot. And I know he won't shoot unless he's sure, 'cause he's here for money, and he won't get any if he causes craziness and panic."

The boy cocked his head to the side. "Are you saying that we go to him?"

Dick bit his lip. "You know what- uh, yes, that's what I'm saying- but you don't have to. look, give me your phone." The boy complied. "I heard a rumor that if you a call a certain number when the bat signal is out, then it'll go to Batman. It's just a rumor but it might work." It was lie. Dick was just dialing his own number. "Call it. If we're lucky, Robin will answer and come here ASAP. We need to stall in the meantime, though, so give me your costume."

The boy stood there, most likely wide-eyed behind the mask. "You're crazy!"

Dick laughed shakily. "Yeah, I am, aren't I?"

"Crazy brave," the boy said as he began to take off his costume (he had clothes underneath it). "I hope this works."

Dick took off his Superman costume as well and then started putting on the Robin one. "Me too. When you're done calling Robin, spread the word, okay?"

"Got it, good luck."

Dick sprinted out of the bathroom but froze immediately. It was more silent than before. Through the clustered crowds, people had there hands up. Purses, jewelry, phones- anything worth money- was on the ground. They were looking around for the man with the gun. A few people wordlessly stared at him, their eyes screaming at him to hide.

Men, Dick corrected. Of course, the first guy wasn't working alone. He caught a man with a gun to his car right, and another to his far left. They were distracted with taking the most expensive-looking items.

Then Dick's phone vibrated in his pocket. The boy quickly slithered into another room while the gunned men were occupied.

The room was a janitor's closet. That way fine by him because it was empty. He took a broom and put it through the handle of the door, making it nearly impossible to open the door from the outside.

He inhaled, ready to deepen his voice a little, and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello? OMG, is this Batman and Robin?!" The boy from earlier questioned desperately.

Dick cleared his throat. "It is. What's wrong?"

"There's this guy threatening to shoot everyone and taking our stuff! I'm hiding in a bathroom, but there's a lot of people out in the halls and stuff! Please come!" The boy pleaded in a whispered voice. He told Robin the address of the place.

"I'm already on my way," Dick responded. He quickly hanged up and exhaled afterwords. Man, faking a deep voice was hard. He didn't know how Batman did it. Well, he wasn't exactly "faking" it, but still.

His heart was racing. Where was Bruce? Was he okay? Did he have his own plan, too?

Then he heard screaming.

The boy quickly took the broom away from the door and opened it. He found a girl dressed as Robin on one of the glass tables.

"Back off! I'm Robin! I have the power of god and anime on my side!" She screamed as she twirled an obviously fake wand. Robin didn't even use any wands!

One of the gun men laughed. "Is this some joke? Get down, kid."

Before the girl could reply, another child got on a table and spoke up. "She's not Robin; I am!"

Then another kid. "No, me!"

Before he knew it, most of the people dressed as Robin had taken a stand and declared themselves as Robin. Some of them weren't kids, and there were even people who weren't even in costume doing the same thing. Then the people dressed as Batman began joining in.

Dick grinned. He stealthily moved through the crowd and approached one of the criminals.

"Stop it! I have a gun, you know! I'm not afraid it use it- ACK!" The man shouted. Dick, who was dressed as Robin, had kicked him at the back of his head. The man fell to the ground, his gun skidding away from his hand.

Robin took the gun, unloaded it, and clipped it to his utility belt. Only a portion of the crowd had noticed and reacted to what had just happened because everyone else's focus was on the people claiming they were the original heroes.

Suddenly, one of the men in a Batman costume punched another one of the criminals in the gut. While the man stumbled backwards, Batman snatched the gun and aimed it at the remaining gunned man.

"You're outnumbered. Put down the gun," Batman ordered.

The man lowered his weapon shamefully.

Robin took the gun away from him and handed it to Batman. The silence that had engulfed the gala began to slowly dissipate. People regrouped with their families and retold their stories during the occurrence.

"I'm proud of you," Batman said quietly as they watched the police collect the criminals from outside the gala. "You acted quickly and professionally."

Robin smiled softly. "Really?"

Batman nodded. "I had the same idea as you, and was surprised to see that you had already done most of the work."

Robin chuckled. "Well, I guess it's a good thing people like to dress up as heroes or else that wouldn't have been possible."

"True," Batman agreed. Then the ghost of a smirk made itself visible on his face. "Too bad you couldn't use your Superman costume to save the day."

Robin raised a brow under the mask. "I can't tell whether you like or hate Superman."

Batman shook his head a bit. "It's nothing. Come on, let's get back in through the back door. We need to return these costumes. Plus, people will be wondering where we were. We can say that we were hiding in the bathrooms."

After that experience, Dick wasn't sure he felt like trick-or-treating anymore. He changed his mind, when Oswald texted him, asking if he was okay. Dick replied with yes, and Oswald then said that there was a haunted house event going on near The Iceberg Lounge.

Aw Ozzie, ur inviting me to go with you? Thanksss

I'm not inviting you to go with me, Dick. I'm informing you
about the place in case you wanted to go yourself. I have
no interest in attending some haunted house.
I'm a busy man. Controlling the criminal underworld is no easy feat.

Oh.
Ok sorry
And thanks

...
I suppose I could chaperone you if you need me to.
But only because I don't want the blame if you get lost or start crying

I won't cry!
I'm not a scaredy cat -_-
But yay! I want u to come with me pls
In secret obvs

I don't know what that last word meant, but yes.
It needs to be in secret.
Come up with an excuse and I'll pick you up somewhere.

Okie dokie! See u later ^_^

Again with the emojis, Dick...

Dick laughed. Oswald was so funny sometimes. He got off the couch. "Alfred, Dieter's mom is gonna pick me up at the park. We're gonna go to a haunted house, and then trick-or- treating. I can walk there."

Alfred, who was making tea in the kitchen, turned around. "Are you sure you don't want me drive you there? It's no trouble at all, Master Dick."

"No, it's fine. I wanted to talk on the phone with Babs on the way there. Anyways, the park is nearby so it's not like I'll be hot and tired or anything," Dick explained as he headed towards the door.

Alfred clearly didn't want Dick walking by himself alone, but then again, they let him fight dangerous criminals at night, so telling him that he's too young to be alone would be a little contradictory. "Alright. Stay safe and call if anything. And do have fun."

Dick gave him a thumbs up. "I will!"

- - - - - - - - -

"So, have you ever been to a haunted house before, Ozzie?" Dick asked once he was in Oswald's car.

"I have. None of them managed to scare me, though," Oswald responded. He observed Dick through the mirror. "And what are you wearing, Dick?"

Dick blinked and looked down at his costume. "I'm Superman! You know who Superman is, right?"

Oswald furrowed his brows. "Of course I know who Superman is. I swear, we've had this discussion before. I'm asking because it looks ridiculous."

The nine-year-old frowned. "No, it doesn't! It looks great. Alfred told me so himself. And he knows a lot about Superman."

"I wish you'd dress a little more sophisticatedly," Oswald sighed. "It's hard to take you seriously if you dress up like that."

"Well, it's Halloween. Who cares if someone take me seriously or not? I'm just trying to have fun. You should do the same. It'd be a change from your tuxedos," Dick argued. "Not that you look bad in them or anything. The opposite if anything, actually. It's super iconic."

The criminal smiled. "I am iconic, aren't I?" He shook his head. "That's besides the point, however. If you truly wanted to dress up for Halloween, you should've done someone less... overused- overdone- overrated."

"Hey! Superman is none of those things! Why are so many people hating on him today?" Dick questioned, mainly to himself. "He's strong and cool, and I like him so I wanted to be him, okay?" He pouted.

Oswald rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, I'll quit questioning your choice. So, how about you? Have you ever gone to a haunted house before?"

Dick perked up. "Nope!"

"Really?" Oswald asked, genuinely surprised "And you agreed to come with me, anyways?"

The boy nodded.

"You are aware that this'll be scary, correct?" Oswald repeated.

"Yeah, duh," Dick answered. "It'll be fine. If I get scared... well, you'll be there, so it's fine."

Oswald didn't reply. He looked out the window, the feeling in his chest odd.

- - - - - - - - -

"Oooh," Dick sang as he looked up at the haunted house, "this place looks spooky~"

Oswald scoffed. "It looks pretentious. Whatever. Let's go."

They opened the car and got out, leaving the driver in the vehicle as usual. Oswald handed a couple of bucks to the employees at the front gate, and they made their way inside.

Dick looked at their feet. "Holy smokes, Ozzie! How did they get this place so foggy?"

"How would I know? I'm not a scientist. There's probably a machine that makes mist for this purpose," Oswald answered.

"Oh.." Dick said. "Ah! Look!"

Oswald flinched and looked towards the direction that Dick was pointing at. He slackened immediately and exhaled. "Dick, that blood on the wall is fake."

Dick scratched his cheek. "Are you sure? It looks super real."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"It says 'die'," the boy added.

"I can read, Dick. Let's move on." Gosh, Oswald felt like he was dealing with a five-year-old.

The two continued to walk through the haunted house. Dick was amazed at the decorations and effects while Oswald remained relatively annoyed.

Suddenly, a man disguised as a zombie came in sight. He slowly inched towards them in a classic zombie slouch while moaning, "uurrrgghhh.."

Dick took a step back. "Um, he's coming towards us."

"He'll just groan for a little before turning away," Oswald predicted.

But he didn't. Instead the zombie got closer and closer.

"He's not stopping. I think he's coming towards you," Dick warned.

Oswald raised his eyebrows before waddling away from the zombie, yet the man kept following him. Dick let out a small laugh, but Oswald did not look happy. The two men circle the same room twice until Oswald abruptly stopped walking and yanked his umbrella in the Zombie's direction.

"You'd better quit before I send you flying across the room," he growled.

The zombie blinked. He then put his hands in the air defensively and said, "sorry, man." Now out of character, he began walking away while muttering, "jeez, I don't get paid enough for this."

"Sorry about him! He likes to have personal space," Dick called out to the actor. He walked up to Oswald and gave him a smile that read: really, Ozzie?

The man shook it off. "I don't you to give me that look. You wouldn't like it if s-"

"BOO!"

"AAAAAH!" Oswald and Dick screamed simultaneously as they jumped into the air and embraced each other in a fearful hug.

One of the fake people in the room apparently hadn't been fake. She looked like one of those demon girls with marble white skin and long, inky black hair. It didn't help that she was covered in blood and had just jump scared them. Oswald gripped into Dick's arm and shoved him out of the room. They both took a moment to catch their breathes and let their heart rate lower before speaking.

"I- I didn't expect that," Dick uttered at last.

"We will never speak about what just happened," Oswald ordered, still slightly out of breath.

Dick nodded. "Yeah. That was... interesting. Heh..."

Oswald swallowed thickly. "Let's just get this over with."

Now on edge, they hesitantly continued following the path. They remained close to one another. Not because they were scared, of course. That'd be preposterous.

After passing several rooms with screaming people, crazy optical illusions, and just about anything you can name, they thought that they made it.

That was until they walked outside, where there was a barbed wire fence on both of their sides. Dick was in front of Oswald when they heard a chainsaw turn on.

There turned their heads to the direction of the noise, both of their eyes the sizes of saucers.

A clown stood several behind them with a large, red chainsaw in his hands. He cackled before running after them with the chainsaw reaching out for them.

"AAHH!" Dick shouted as he began sprinted away, Oswald right behind him. On the ground beneath him, the path was uneven, so Dick stumbled and got his foot stuck in one of the holes of the fence. He pulled but it foot wouldn't budge. "Ozzie! Ozzie! Help me! For real!"

Oswald looked at Dick and then at the clown. He cursed under his breathe before dashing for Dick and helping him out. The clown was getting closer...

Oswald grunted as he gave Dick a particular harsh pull, and freed his foot. "Run!"

They ran like they've never ran before.

"Thank you for your visit! Please come again," a friendly worker said as the two excited the haunted house completely. They hurried out of the property with their hearts running a marathon.

"Why was the clown scary!?" Dick cried when they got to the car. "Clowns aren't supposed to be scary!!"

Oswald tried recomposing himself. "While I appreciate their efforts to make the experience... memorable... they didn't need to go that far. One jump scare is more than enough."

Dick mentally compared the clowns back at the circus with the one he just saw. "I don't think I'll ever see a clown the same way again," he whispered.

The car driver tried not to comment on anything. They just went to a haunted house; why did they look like they just came out of a battle field?

Oswald breathed in and out. "Alright, well, we did want to get frightened, and that's what we got. Other than the fear, did you... enjoy it?"

Dick looked at him and broke into a smile. "Yeah! I loved it! It was super cool, and it was fun not knowing what to expect! It was... what's the word?"

"Thrilling?"

"Yeah! That!" Dick exclaimed. "Thanks so much for taking me, Ozzie!"

Oswald smiled slightly. "You're welcome. I guess I had a little bit of fun, too." He suddenly glowered at Dick through the rear mirror. "Remember, you are to never speak of what happened in there."

Dick laughed and jokingly roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Now, can you take me to my friends house to go trick-or-treating? And no- no one else is going to be dressed as Superman."

- - - - - - -

"Mr. Cobblepot," a random wealthy woman that Oswald had negotiated with earlier said, her voice filled with amusement. "Have you heard the news? You're the talk of the people tonight."

Oswald raised a brow. "That's not unusual for me, but I haven't done anything to receive much publicity recently. What's happened?"

The lady laughed. "Oh, it's nothing to fret about, dear. It's about Bruce Wayne. Apparently he's chosen to dress up as you for Halloween. Isn't that funny?"

Oswald gave her a questioning look, wondering why Bruce would do such a thing. But then he realized-

Dick. Of course. Silly boy.

The man smirked. "Well, it's always nice to see that I'm on people's minds."

The two of them clicked whine glasses and chuckled. Meanwhile, Dick was having a great time trick-or-treating and receiving compliments from old ladies who found him adorable. Barbara had won first place for her Two Face costume and couldn't wait to brag about it the next day at school. Bruce was groaning at all the new articles that were being posted about theories of a secret love affair with him and Oswald Cobblepot.

Next chapter (this Sunday) will be the 20k special Pt.2 💜 I hope you liked this one!