"Hey, yo, where you guys been?" "I been here for, like, hours, man." "Ahh, you won't believe where I been." "Pfft!" "Hell with that." "You won't believe where I've been." "Uh-uh, mine beats all y'all." "Yeah?" "So?" "Who goes first?" "Dude, like I said, I'm gonna top them all." "That's what you think." "So tell." "So I'm down at the docks a little while ago, yeah?" "You're dead!" "Dudes, I'm, like, waiting for this guy to totally waste me, right?" "Then all of a sudden:" "I never seen him before but I'm like, "I so know who this is."" "Batman." "Dudes, he's like this living shadow." "Every time the guy gets a hand on him he disappears back into the other shadows." "Then pops out somewhere else." "No, man, he's more like" "Hold up, I'm not done." "Whoa, sick." "Whoa, that's amazing, man." "Aw, he's tripping." "Batman ain't no living shadow." "I got that story totally capped." " Slow down." " Hey." "Stop." "Police." "Drop your gun." "Yo, man." "Sounds like the dude I saw, except he couldn't fly." "Yeah, well, that's when he showed up." "Who?" "Batman." "Whoa, sick." "Yo, wait a minute." "Batman never cut nobody's head off." "Everybody knows he don't ever kill nobody." "I'm making it more colorful, yo." "Yeah, whatever." "Man, they pounded the tar out of each other:" "Pow, splat, kerplop, flurb!" ""Flurb"?" "Whatever." "Anyway, they fought all the way to the end of Rogers, man all the way to the river." "Yeah, well, the dude ain't no giant flying bat." " But it sounds like" " Sounds like they picked up over at the docks, by you." "I seen him and both of you are floating if you think you know what Batman really is." "He ain't no bat and he ain't no spooky living shadow." " How would you know?" " Because I saw him first." "What's going on?" "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a robbery." "If you cooperate, everything will be fine and you'll be home in time for dinner." "Now line up in front of me, take all your valuables and place them in this case." "Let's get out of here." "Who is that?" "Put down the guns." "Bite me." "Look out!" "Aah!" "Run away!" "Let's get out of here!" "I ain't scared of you, man." "You didn't say that." " Did too." " Did not." "Yeah, well, anyway, you go ahead and fire, man." "I ain't afraid." "Whoa, sick." "Yo, man, are you guys messing with me?" "Man, I miss all the action." "Nice work, kid." "Looks like I owe you one." " What happened?" " Come on, man, spill it." " He just vanished." " That was Batman?" " What does he look like?" " Crazy." "I can't believe this." "Come on, man." "Man, have I got a story for you guys." "And finally this morning, CEO Bruce Wayne announced the launch date of his company's next satellite:" "the Waynecom Seven." "Speaking from the steps of Wayne Enterprises Wayne said the new satellite represents the..." "Cris." "Detective Allen." "Partner." "He's in there." "Right now, he's in there." "Again." " Allen, Ramirez." "Inside." " Yes, sir." "And this would be?" "Jacob Feely." "Our man in black." "The high-tech psycho?" "Just dropped in, did he, loo?" "He's back in custody, Detective Allen." "That's good enough for me." "You and Detective Ramirez are going to put Mr. Feely in some bar and leg cuffs and take him back across the Narrows." "Yes, sir." "This way, Mr. Feely." "Sergeant Del Arrazio says Maroni's guys are gunning for The Russian, lieutenant." "He says it's going down in Tri-Corner, probably tonight." "If you have a point, detective, I'm still waiting to hear it." "Just wondering if now's the time to be acting courier for a vigilante, that's all, sir." "It's called trust, detective." "Something this city's had in short supply until very recently." "But I don't trust him, sir." "You will." "You're like a dog with a bone." "You know that, partner?" " He's a vigilante." " He's not." "He's a vigilante, Anna." "He's not." "So, what do you call him, then?" "Crime-fighter?" "Hell, I don't know." "I don't even know if he's human, Cris." "All I know is that this city's changing for the better thanks to him." "You didn't grow up here, you don't see it." "But I did and I do." "Major Crimes Unit, Detective Ramirez and Detective Allen." " Dropping off or picking up?" " Dropping off." "Jacob Feely." "You found him?" "Nice job." " We just looked and there he was." " You been across since breakout?" " Haven't had the pleasure." " Couple things to keep in mind, then:" "The whole island's now asylum grounds." "Keep your doors locked and the windows up until you're at the administration building." "Do not stop." "Anyone you see on the streets are inmates, not citizens." "Understood." "I'll let them know you're coming." "Welcome back, Jacob." "Dispatch, Victor 3-2 we are 10-24, en route to State for drop-off." "Victor 3-2, 10-4." "I gotta tell you, partner, this place gives me the creeps." "A whole island abandoned to madness." "This whole city's abandoned to madness." "You are in a mood tonight." "Yeah." "I'm thinking of transferring out of the MCU." "What?" "You can't." "We've been partnered six weeks, Anna, it's not like we're married." "It's the Major Crimes Unit, Cris." "Gordon picked you the same as he picked me." "He picked all the detectives in the squad." "You can't turn your back on that." "The Major Crimes Unit." "If we were stopping major crimes like the gang war that's been ripping this city into chunks for almost a month, maybe I'd reconsider." "But that's not what we do, is it?" "No, we run errands for a vigilante." "And that, partner, is just plain wrong." "You can't walk away from this not when things are finally beginning to change." "Not when the fact that you're an honest cop is an asset, not a liability." "I don't know if we can trust the Batman." "But I know this:" "Because of him, I'm not ashamed of being a cop anymore." "If you wanna give that up" "No, damn it, listen." "Anna, shut up." "Crap." "That's The Russian, we're gonna need backup." "We're gonna need a lot of backup." "I told you and your Ivans to stay the hell off my turf, Russian." "You have no turf, Maroni, and you have no power." "Then come and get me, you son of a bitch." "Ten-thirty-four!" "Ten-thirty-four!" "Southwest O'Neill and Morrison." "Officers in need of assistance, Southwest O'Neill and Morrison." "Be advised, backup ETA three minutes." "We're gonna be dead in three minutes!" "Rocket launcher." "Cris." "Out!" "Move your ass!" "One of us just got lucky." "I'm thinking it was me, baby." "Don't move!" "Any closer, I'll spray her brains all over the street." "Drop it!" "I'll kill her, I swear to God!" "I'll do it." "I'll do it." "No." "You won't." "You're MCU, aren't you?" "Gordon's squad." "Lieutenant Gordon is a good judge of character." "Come for those pictures you had me take?" "I wondered if I could fill in for you at that golf tournament Ronald Marshall is holding." "He's someone I'd like to meet." "Actually, I wasn't gonna go." "Mr. Marshall's reputation is getting a little too shady for me." "I like the shade." "Two boats, each approximately 40 feet in length, anchored in Gotham Harbor." "I'm assuming both are up for sale you're trying to see which one looks better from space?" "What else would you use a satellite for?" "Well, I can think of a number of things but this is something I never expected." "After the impromptu photo op of the harbor you had me conduct our satellite suffered severe structural damage." "My first thought was a meteor." "Once we recovered the detached section we discovered that it was crushed from the inside." " By what?" " An electromagnetic pulse." "One we're about to replicate." "You're gonna wanna step back." "Watch yourself." "My apologies." "The Waynecom satellite orients itself using gyroscopic electromagnetic navigation." "This circuit is what generates the field, correct?" "Some of the prototypes developed capacitance." "We thought we solved the problem." "Apparently, that is not the case." "So, what now?" "I got an idea." "This is a highly sensitive shock-wave sensor." "When the sensor detects a sound above a preset decibel it'll charge the gyro and trigger a pulse." "One strong enough to deflect a bullet." "It'll work against all small-arms ammunition, even at close range." "Somebody pulls a rifle, though, you better duck." "Now, why would someone wanna shoot me, Mr. Fox?" "Let's just say your boyish charm might not work with everybody, Mr. Wayne." "I admire a man who vows to rebuild a neighborhood and starts by putting in a golf course." "It's all about setting a tone, really." "Considering moving here?" "I could get you a deal." "I appreciate that, Mr. Marshall." "It's just the murder of that community activist lady the one who tried to stop you from building here." "Stories like that are bad for my feng shui." "Teresa Williams was a thorn in my side, no doubt." "But she was an admirable person." "The irony is that she died from gang fire by the punks she defended." "By the way, I'm naming the homeless shelter in her honor." "Maybe that'll help your feng shui." "You're up." "One thing I've learned in life, Bruce, you're only as good as your drive." "Aah!" "We'll get right on it, sir." "How the heck did that happen?" " Got any interest in some poker tonight?" " I have some business to attend to." "Is that right?" "Blond or brunette?" "Half-Russian, half-Italian." "Wow." "Now that's a handful." "Hey, you all right, boss?" "What's it look like to you?" "Someone wanna tell me why everyone's standing around when you should be out there putting The Russian in his grave?" "I can't kill what I can't find." "Then look harder." "All of you." "Every second that piece of garbage breathes air I gotta be out here puking off the side of this freaking boat." "I want him found and I want him dead." "You understand me?" "I want him dea" "Who's driving the boat?" "What the hell are you doing?" "Show yourself, idiot, so I can kill you dead." "You destroyed my boat!" "The Russian." "Sal Maroni, the vermin." "Get up." "It's The Russian." "It's The Russian." "Murder him!" "Shoot out their eyes." "Aah!" "No!" "You get the docks you stay in the slums." "That's the arrangement until I get something on you." "And then you can fight over who gets the top bunk in Blackgate." "Got it?" "The docks are yours." "You broke him, you bought him." "You killed me." "I have a gunshot victim." "Severe bleeding in the shoulder." "He needs assistance." "Now." "Get away." "Put it down." "Drop the gun." "No one shoot." "It's over." "Give me the gun." "We've got him, sir." "I caught you on the news missing that putt on the 12th." "Looked like a 5-footer." "But probably not as embarrassing as having your club mysteriously launched into a tree." "Wonder how that happened." "What can I say?" "It was a glitch." "There was another one too." "It works too well." "I'm willing to put my life on the line to do what I have to." "But it has to be mine." "No one else's." "Talk to me." "Reports are contradictory, but from what we can tell Cardinal O'Fallon was midway through a sermon when all hell broke loose." "Whole congregation went bug-eyed." "Started hallucinating, becoming violent." "They said a monster appeared." "A lizard man." "Eight feet tall, covered in scales." "He attacked O'Fallon." "Carried him into the crypts." "Sixth high-profile abduction this week." "Yeah." "Got ourselves a real growth industry here in Gotham." "You two mind giving me a moment alone?" "Well?" "You thinking what I'm thinking?" "Speak up." "I know you're in here." "Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. The Scarecrow." "It has to be." "He's been at large since that night in the Narrows." "CSI team found traces of that weaponized hallucinogen he was peddling." "I'll follow the trail." "See if I can catch up with O'Fallon's abductor." "The lizard man?" "You think he's real?" "There's an urban myth circulating." "A cannibal." "Even money says he's real." "Here." "I'll keep in contact with this." "It's a wireless relay system." "Slaved to the communicator in my mask." "In case you're tempted to try and track me with it, don't bother." "Signals are locked with quantum cryptology bounced through a dozen different... satellites." "You'll never be able to follow it." " Can you hear me, Gordon?" " Loud and clear." "I've found some footprints." "Based on the size and depth of the depressions I'd estimate our monster as weighing more than 300 pounds." "The trail's heading east." "Stand by." "I'm following the old 10th Street subway line." "Just coming upon one of Gotham's celebrated ghost stations." "The bat." "You're supposed to be up in the sky." "Why you underground?" "You break your wings?" "I'm looking for a monster." "Ha." "We all monsters here." "This one's different." "A predator." "Ah, Killer Croc." "They say his momma didn't want him." "Flushed him into the sewers." "All that toxic waste down here done turned him." "Made him strong." "Which way?" "He gone down the coffin road." "Hey, bat, when you flying what the city look like from up on high?" "It looks dirty." "I'm in some old railway." "There are coffins everywhere." "Used to be a pneumatic system linking Gotham's cemeteries." "They used it to transport the dead." "There's methane in here." "I'm switching to air-assist." "Got a lead on your Killer Croc." "His name's Waylon Jones." "He was an inmate at Arkham Asylum and a former test subject in Dr. Crane's fear-aversion therapy program." "He's twice as twisted now that Crane's had a go at him." "Jones was a former circus sideshow freak." "Suffers from a rare skin disorder known as "Epiderma- "" "Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis." "Right." "Apparently, he filed his teeth to razor points, went on a killing spree." "And get this, that fear of his Crane was working on averting?" "Bats." "Batman, what's going on?" "I found Croc." "Something's wrong, vision's all twisted inside out." "Croc bit me." "I think he's got the Scarecrow's fear toxin boiling inside his veins." "Infected me with it." " Are you in pain?" " I work through pain." "Batman, talk to me." "What's happening?" "Croc's down for the count." "What about the toxin?" "You still seeing things?" "Definitely." "Death!" "Death!" "Death!" "Death!" "Death!" "Death!" "Death!" "Death!" "Cardinal O'Fallon, I sentence you to death for your crimes against Gotham." "Just like all the other enemies that have come before you." "Please." "I've done nothing wrong." "Oh, but you have, cardinal." "You tried to help the city's homeless tried to save the wretched and forgotten." "But The Scarecrow doesn't want them saved." "The Scarecrow wants them driven downward into my kind and loving arms." "The Scarecrow's here, with an army of escaped Arkham inmates and homeless." "They've all been poisoned with toxin." "Where are you, Batman?" "Beneath the eastern reservoir, I guess." "In the old weir chambers." "I'm sending reinforcements now." "Just hold tight till we get there." "No time for that." "Can anyone here speak for the holy man?" "I can." "Take my hand." "I can hardly breathe." "Methane gas, our ticket out of here." " What are you doing?" " Lighting a match." "Now close your eyes." " Come on." " Maybe next time." "Stay away from me!" "Stay away!" "Bruce, strap his legs down." "I'm trying." "So was this what you expected when you volunteered for the relief effort?" "I knew it'd be bad." "This bad?" "I'm here to do whatever I can." "All right." "Here's the artery." "No perforation of the bowel." "Give me a clamp." "Okay, Bruce." "Sew him up." "They don't always win, you know." "More often than not they lose from what I understand." "So when do I get started with the fakirs?" "Um, you don't." "Ever." "But they've made me wait months for this opportunity." "They will not train you." "Why?" "Is it a question of money?" "Because if it is" "No, Mr. Wayne." "They're not concerned with your money." "Or anyone's, for that matter." "Then what is it?" "Honesty, Mr. Wayne." "The fakirs said you were not honest with them." "You are not looking for enlightenment or truth." "This is what they said." "Perhaps there is another who possesses the knowledge you seek." "Not a fakir, but she may be able to help you." "Why should I want to train you?" "Because after agreeing that they would, the fakirs would not, Cassandra." "What made them change their minds?" "I don't know." "And what is it you seek to do?" "I'm looking for a way to deal with my pain." "Alfred." " Alfred, can you hear me?" " Always, sir." "I'm making my way out." "I need you to follow my coordinates, meet me up top." "I'll be there." "Unh!" "I've lost a lot of blood." "I'll bring some along." "Pain exists in two forms:" "Exterior, that which is caused by forces we can't control and interior, which we can." "Both, though, can be managed through will." "I know, I've researched the techniques." "Breathing control, hypnosis." "What of the spiritual nature?" "Have you researched that as well?" "The interior is something you deny." "No." "It's something I manage." "Do you?" "Does that hurt, Cassandra?" "It feels like being caught in the rain." "An annoyance." " Does it scar?" " Bruce what pain doesn't?" "Pain cannot be overcome." "No, but it can be put in its place." "That place is where pain can work for you." "Pain doesn't work for you." "You work through pain." "Bruce, after all these months, haven't you learned?" "Cassandra." "Yes, Bruce?" "How did you-?" "Ah, the question that's hung in the air since you arrived." "My knowledge was gained through deceit." "I came to the fakirs seeking enlightenment, masquerading as a boy." "I have no doubt that they saw me for what I really was but they agreed to show me the path." "Why?" "So I would fail." "It became a game for them." "But I didn't fail." "And after many years, they tired of their little game cast me out and I was exposed." "They said I had tricked them." "I was branded a witch." "My family turned their back to me, as I caused them great shame." "Please, Papa." "I swear I haven't done anything wrong." "In the village, I am either feared or hated, take your pick." "Why don't you leave?" "Why?" "Because this is where I belong." "In your life isn't there such a place?" "We wanna talk to you." "Yes, come on out, traitor!" "Cassandra?" "It's nothing, Bruce." "Sounds like an angry nothing." "Just boys, playing at being men." "Remember?" "I'm hated." "And feared." " Wait here." " No." "Please." "It's nothing." "You shame yourself acting this way." "Shame?" "You're the betrayer." "Teaching an outsider what is not his to know." "The ways of Bhusara are open to everyone." "You would do well to bide by them." "Witch!" "Now leave before your mothers see you." "Cassandra, are you-?" "You need to leave." "What?" "I just saved you from" "Nothing, Bruce." "Like the fakirs, they would have grown tired of their game." "They would have left on their own." "You, though, must be sent away." "It's time." "You've learned what you wanted to, haven't you?" "Yes, I have." "Then go." "Thank you." "You shouldn't thank me, Bruce." "I failed you." "You came asking for help in dealing with your pain." "But your pain is beyond my abilities." "Perhaps yours as well." "For your pain is leading you down a path you desire." "Sir, give me your hand." "I..." "I can't." "Bruce, don't run." "Tom, someone's over there." "Give me those pearls, lady." "No!" "I'm sorry, sir." "But I was wondering what you wanted to do with your gun collection." "You keep moving it and I keep tripping over it." "Sorry, Alfred." "I suppose I should take it to the police." "It's a bagful of tragedy, that's what it is." "I don't know how you could even handle them." "You have to know your enemy, Alfred." "I'd never use one, but even I can appreciate the attraction of a gun." "The heft." "The sleekness." "The cool steel." "The precision." "And the power." "The power to change lives, history." "The power of God." "Mwah." "Another happy customer." "Everyone satisfied?" "Yeah." "But the champagne glass a bit much, don't you think?" "We don't need theatrics." "Just keeping it interesting." "Have you read your e-mail?" "They want you back in Gotham again." "Yeah, I saw." "The place is changing." "The police are developing a backbone, which is why we need this hit." "Our Russian associates have been having difficulties there." "His removal would alleviate most of their problems." "However, this one could get dicey." "Just another cop kill." "You think?" "You worry me sometimes." "You worry too much." "Word came from the Russians." "The hit's in the next couple of days." "They say he can target from 2000 meters or more." "We've put a 24-hour watch on Gordon but we can't cover every window and rooftop." "I'll do what I can." "Thanks." "We've never dealt with anyone like Deadshot before." "Maybe you have." "Ronald Marshall's PDA." "There's a POP mail account." "It links to an encrypted wire transmission exactly one week before Teresa Williams' assassination." " Where'd you get this?" " Just turn it on." "All right, let's go." "Alfred, how's the satellite picture?" "Splendid." "I can almost see your pointy ears, sir." "But there's no sign of any rooftop sniper, at least not in your area." "Stay with me, Alfred." "I'm on it, sir." "Sir, I'd feel better if you put your helmet back on." "This car isn't completely bulletproof." "I'm having a hard enough time reading this screen without the glare from that visor." "What I'd like to know is how many other e-mail clients Deadshot has cultivated." "I want this killer and I want him tonight." "That doesn't mean you should make yourself a sitting duck." " He likes moving targets, you know." " Keep driving." "Master Bruce, there's a troublesome spot up ahead." "Lieutenant Gordon will be passing... under the el bridge just as the train goes by." "Fortunately, the satellite picks up no one on the bridge." "Hard to believe he'd try to fire from a 60-mile-an-hour train." "Good Lord." "There's another train coming in the opposite direction." "All right." "It's showtime." "So predictable." "I knew I'd flush you out if I went after the lieutenant." "Let's make my clients very happy." "Sir, are you all right?" "Is your body armor holding up?" "It's fine." "At least from this far away." "Sir, there's a tunnel, straight ahead." "Too bad." "Now what will you do?" "Either he's the bravest man I ever faced or a complete fool." "I must say, Batman, that's the first time anyone's tried to stop my gunfire by running into it." "No suit is bulletproof at close range." "We'll make this quick now." "Well, well, don't tell me I finally got the bat-?" "Huh?" "Shoot your mouth off now, Deadshot." "Don't kill me." "It was the Russians, they want you dead." "I was just doing my job." "Unnamed police officials report that the mysterious Batman may have had a hand in last night's capture of Floyd Lawton better known as the hit man Deadshot." "Police also say businessman Ronald Marshall has been implicated in at least one of Deadshot's alleged assassinations." "If convicted, both men could be facing the death penalty." "Thanks again, Alfred." "I couldn't have done it without you." "You're welcome, sir." "Though next time someone shoots at you, try ducking." "It was just like that night in the alley, Alfred the closeness of the walls, the gunfire." "It seems I've been trying to stop those two bullets all my life." "It's a fool's dream, Alfred." "Sometimes I think I should just be done with it." "Perhaps you're right, sir." "But something tells me you have a deeper purpose." "Sir?" "HI removed and edited by rogard"