"I suppose you'll have to brave it alone, then.”
— Alfred
Bruce must attend a gala, and Alfred suggests that he bring one of the children with him. Bruce declines, pointing to the chaos most of them have caused at past galas.
Tropes
- Affection-Hating Kid: A woman pinches Damian's cheek. He retaliates by pulling a knife on her.
- Berserk Button: Do not call Damian cute.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Damian's default reaction to being called cute is to pull out a knife.
- Dragged by the Collar: The single panel explaining why Bruce doesn't ask Jason to the gala contains an image of an embarrassed Bruce pulling Jason out by his collar when the latter tries to start a debate on whether Bruce should have killed the Joker after the events of A Death in the Family.
- The Dreaded: Batman and all of this kids hate going to galas. Dick doesn't seem to mind them, but last time he went he wouldn't stop showing off his acrobatic skills.
- Facepalm: Bruce slaps a hand over his face when Dick swings from the chandelier to show off at a gala.
- Faceplanting into Food: Alfred points out that Bruce could take Tim along. Bruce refuses, citing a previous incident when Tim passed out into dinner after apparently staying awake for over thirty-six hours.
- HA HA HA—No: Stephanie laughed Bruce out of the room when he asked her to join the gala.
- I Have This Friend: Jason is in the middle of asking an attendee a supposedly hypothetical question that clearly refers to his being murdered by the Joker when Bruce drags him away.Jason: Now, hypothetically, if a very bad man killed your son, wouldn't you —
- I'll Kill You!: Damian whispers that he'll kill a middle-aged socialite after she pinches his cheek and calls him cute. He means it, too — Bruce just barely manages to snag him before he can stab her.
- No Social Skills: None of Batman's children know how to behave at a gala:
- Damian pulled a knife on a lady who pinched his cheek and called him cute.
- Tim passed out into his food after staying awake for a day and a half.
- Cassandra hid on the roof (Batman still doesn't know how she got up there in heels!) for the duration of the entire event rather than talk to anyone.
- Jason didn't even change out of his normal leather for the occasion and asked inappropriate questions as the warm-up to an argument against the way his death was handled.
- Dick showed off his acrobatic skills by swinging from the chandelier. This didn't go as poorly as some of the others, given how impressed the attendees were, but Bruce still doesn't want a repeat.
- Only Sane Man: Bruce is the only one who can attend a gala without doing something crazy.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Bruce has to growl "No. knives." when Damian is seconds away from shanking a lady just for being called cute.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: The last time Bruce took Cassandra to a gala, she apparently decided that it would be easier to climb onto the roof of the building and hide the entire night rather than interact with anyone (and she managed this despite being in heels).
- Servile Snarker: Alfred has a witty response when Bruce asks him to attend the gala.Alfred: You don't pay me nearly enough for that, sir.
