Armory

"Armory" is the 30th episode of Batman Beyond. It originally aired on March 11, 2000. The episode depicts the turn to crime of Jim Tate, stepfather to Terry McGinnis's school friend Jared, after he loses his job.

Plot
Terry, Dana, and Max attend a birthday party for their friend Jared. The crowning touch is his stepfather's present, a new car. Jared's mother, Lorraine, remarks on the extravagance, but Jim says that nothing is too good for his family.

A short time later, Jim is stunned to be told that he's being laid off; apparently, Paxton Powers is eliminating his division (light weapons manufacture) and merging it with another.

Jim tells his family not to worry: he's the best there is in the business. After several days of looking, however, he is still no closer to finding a new job. He is becoming desperate when he has coffee with an old acquaintance, Istivan Hegedesh, who mentions that his company has secret (i.e., illegal) dealings with a certain foreign country which would be very interested in a prototype weapon Jim was working on, a sonic beam emitter capable of blasting through steel. Jim says he'd have to break into Wayne-Powers and steal the design specs. Istivan mentions a large payment for his work.

Drawing on his experience with Special Forces, Jim dons a combat suit and a mask and infiltrates Wayne-Powers to steal the specs. He is caught on the way out by both the police and Batman, but manages to evade both with an arsenal of sophisticated (but non-lethal) weapons. The media dub the thief "The Human Armory."

Jim receives a down payment from Istivan, and mentions that he needs to break into one more facility to get the parts for the completed weapon. He mentions running into Batman, and Istivan says that all wars must have casualties, if the other side wants to win.

Jared mentions to Terry and Max that Jim has been withdrawn and preoccupied, spending hours on end in his workshop next to the house. Privately, Terry confides to Max his suspicions that Jim is Armory.

Jim commits his second robbery, and again confronts Batman and the police, managing to evade both with difficulty. Before he arrives home, Jared sneaks into his workshop, wanting to know what's going on. Hearing his stepfather coming, Jared hides as Jim returns and meets Istivan. Jim assembles the completed weapon and demands his final payment. But a spider accidentally gives Jared away, and confronts his stepfather. Hearing their raised voices, Lorraine also comes in, and learns her husband's secret. Jim pleads that he has only done it for them, and as a temporary measure, but they are having none of it.

Batman arrives outside. Istivan grabs the weapon and opens fire with it, tearing a hole in the workshop. He then runs outside to finish Batman off. Using the weapon to topple a large tower onto Batman, Istivan renders him helpless, and points the weapon - but is disabled by a shot from Jim's adhesive rifle. Jim says the war is over, and they have both lost. In rage, Istivan charges and knocks Jim to the ground, but Batman takes hold of Istivan, while Jim gratefully hugs his family.

At school, Jared tells Terry and Max that Jim cooperated fully with the authorities, and so received a reduced sentence for his crimes. He will be incarcerated for some time, and the family had to pay a stiff fine, but he's bearing up. Max, who had been feeling jealous of Jared's affluence, perks him up by flirting a little.