Batman vs. Robin Page #3

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Together, we can raise Gotham City up

and return her to glory.

That deluded vigilante?

He's somewhat territorial about this city.

And not very fond of people like us.

How do you plan on dealing with him?

He's being dealt with even as we speak.

I can't say I'm not intrigued by the offer.

But I'd like some time to think it over.

Of course, Mr. Wayne.

But not too much time.

Sleep well.

Hey. Unh. Unh.

I sense a resistance in Wayne, Grandmaster.

He could present a problem,

as his forebears did.

No. He plays to the crowds

with his bleeding heart and grand gestures.

But it's all spectacle and ego.

At his core, Bruce Wayne is one of us.

I hope you're right.

In my experience,

the Grandmaster is rarely wrong.

Your confidence touches me, Talon.

How is it going with the boy?

He's taken the bait.

And your work here?

Progressing.

Bring that setting up.

Too cold and they'll shatter like glass.

Yes, Grandmaster.

Just imagine.

Some of these warriors

are over a hundred years old.

I envy them their immortality.

Envy? You saw what happened

to the talons at the museum.

They survived outside

the caskets for more than eight hours.

The group before that lasted only three.

And by studying our failures,

we've refined the resurrection process.

These men will be able to live for a full

day before returning for regeneration.

Immortality.

But only 24 hours at a time.

It certainly beats the alternative.

And when these indestructible warriors

rise, you'll be their general...

...and lead them in a war on Gotham

that will reclaim this city for the Court.

After I undergo the ritual

that will make me like them?

You'll die, yes...

...but you'll be reborn as

something miraculous.

One man's miracle

is another man's damnation.

We've trained you since you were a child...

...lifted you out of the gutter,

and you dare to...

Not a soulless thing, Talon.

A god.

A great destiny awaits you.

And I know you will willingly embrace it.

If that's what the Grandmaster wants.

So I put four bullets

in Big Frankie's head.

He never saw it coming.

I was 23 years old,

and with those four shots...

...I took control of all the crime families

in the east end.

By the time I was 30, I'd

taken half the city.

Heh. You got stones, Mr. Draco,

that's for sure.

Stones alone ain't enough, Gene.

You gotta have brains too.

And let me tell you...

...Big Frankie? He had brains.

All over the room.

Holy Jesus.

I might've croaked on

the spot if not for...

Who the hell are you?

I'm the evening's entertainment.

Can I get a volunteer from the audience?

I can pay you.

More money than you've ever seen.

I don't give a damn about money.

What I care about is payback.

- For the lives your drugs have ruined.

- Aah! Unh.

For the widows and orphans

left in your bloody wake.

You wanna help widows and orphans, punk,

go join the Salvation Army.

Finish him.

We found enough evidence

to put him away for the rest of his life.

Finish him.

He's already finished.

Hey.

Ain't you the Batman's brat?

Aah!

Not anymore.

I know you're there.

If you've got something to say, say it.

I just wanted to tell you

that I gathered up the evidence.

Draco's got an army of lawyers

that have kept him out of prison for years.

But we could have erased him

from the equation.

Three nights we've been out here together.

Three nights I've allowed the Batman

to come between us.

But no more.

Now is the time to step across that line,

become what you were born to be...

...or I promise you, I

will find someone else.

It's just... I have to be sure.

His voice is still in your head.

"Justice, not vengeance."

His voice is wrong.

He's like a father to you, isn't he?

You look up to him.

Far from it.

But, yes, I guess I do look up to him.

I had a Batman in my life.

He was a thief. A damn good one.

And from a very young age,

he made certain I was too.

I was his shadow. His echo.

I worshiped him.

And more than anything,

I wanted to please him.

And did you?

No.

No matter what I did, how hard I tried,

I was never good enough.

But what could I do?

Not long after that, I was recruited

by a secret society, the Court of Owls.

They took me in, raised me, trained me.

Gave me strength and purpose.

What they did for me, I want to do for you.

- You've done quite enough.

- How did you...?

Not too hard to track, considering

the bloody trail you two have left.

This is where you choose sides

once and for all.

- No.

- We've got to stop him.

You don't understand.

He's part of something bigger.

He's using you, Robin, to get to me.

Right. It's all about the great Batman.

Well, for your information,

he sees something in me that you don't.

I don't have time for this.

Now, get out of my way before...

Before what?

Talon's right about one thing.

The choice you make tonight

will define you for the rest of your life.

If this is what you want, then do it.

Do it.

Now, let's go home.

My home isn't with you.

It never was.

I thought this would relax you.

What can I say? I'm a born worrier.

Then I guess I'll have to relax you...

...mm...

...all over again.

Now, now.

You know better

than to disobey the Grandmaster.

We're not wearing masks now, Samantha.

People like us are always wearing masks.

What if the Court

doesn't go along with our plan?

It's a brilliant idea.

We have the perfect weapon

to destroy the Batman.

And me?

You'll have your wish.

You'll sit beside me on the Court.

My partner.

My love.

But I'm not one of you.

I'm just a nobody from the streets.

My father recruited you, trained you.

I've known you since we were children,

and I know there's greatness in you.

Maybe you do, but the rest of them...

Vanavers have

controlled the Court for generations.

Our word is law.

Since when do you believe in the law?

Only one law, my love.

My law.

The sewers again, sir?

Seems I'm always up to my neck in sewage

one way or another.

But this particular section

has been shut down since the 1800s.

Took some work to get in here, believe me.

But what about Master Damian?

He's a pawn in the Court's game.

This is only gonna end

when I take them down.

Hang on.

I've got something.

Signal is strongest right behind here.

Sir?

I've located a long corridor

that leads closer to the signal's source.

Your transmission is breaking up.

There's a faint aroma in the air.

Moldy, sweet.

Wait. I found...

Best of luck, sir.

Welcome, Batman, to the Court of Owls.

We've been expecting you.

You were watching me in the tunnels.

In the tunnels, on the streets.

We have eyes across Gotham,

observing and recording your every move.

As I suspected.

And did you also suspect...

...that those ancient sewers have been

flooded with an odorless psychotropic gas...

...that enters through

the pores of the skin...

...gnaws at the roots of the mind...

...turning the psyche back in on itself,

twisting and winding...

...until it resembles nothing

so much as a labyrinth?

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