Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #184
War Games: Act Three Part 2
Writer: Dylan Horrocks
Pencils: Brad Walker
Inks: Troy Nixey
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.50

This review contains spoilers.

Batman?s trouble flare still hangs in the air as he takes on hundreds of gangsters single handed. Wave after wave of street punks, Mafioso, and metavillains alike come crashing down around him. He fights furiously through trying not to think about anything but the business at hand, yet when he sees a glimpse of Orpheus standing on the stage ?I remember why I?m here,? he thinks. ?And the night grows darker still.?

Summoned by Batman?s signal, the reinforcements begin arriving; first Batgirl and Nightwing, then Robin, then finally Onyx. Robin initially has trouble locating Batman in the crowd. ?Just look for the heart of the storm. He?ll be there,? Oracle tells him. As the rest of Team Batman joins into the melee, Orpheus continues to whip the crowd into frenzy, screaming ?Kill the bat-freaks! Kill them all!? into his microphone.

Robin reaches Batman and says ?Hey, I thought Orpheus was on our side??

?That?s not Orpheus,? Batman tells him.

?It?s not? Then who is he??

?That?s what I?m going to find out.?

Tarantula is trying to get her Ara?a gang away from the deadly confrontation occurring back at the arena, but things aren?t going to much better for her as she tries to escape through the park. She and her crew come across a Police barricade. One Ara?a asks Tarantula if they should go back, but Tarantula says the only way out is through the cops.

The Ara?as rush the Police line not to fight, but to flee. They have to throw a few punches to get past some of the officers, but make it through just before a new wave of Police in riot gear arrives. But the Police aren?t going to give up that easily ? they start pursuit and radio for backup. ?…their leader is wearing a costume and a mask.? The Police command radios back and tells them to do whatever it takes to stop them ? dead or alive. ?Those Bat guys are just another gang,? one of the Detectives says.

Commissioner Akins, standing nearby, says ?We could have had them?in one fell swoop we could have shut the gang war down and thrown every crook in Gotham in the can.? But now there are hundreds of gangsters on the loose ?All thanks to Batman.? Akins tells his men he doesn?t know what Batman is playing, but he?s not on their side.

Back at the stadium, Croc is back for another bite of the bat, but this time Robin?s there to intervene. He draws Croc?s attention while Batman finally gets to make a break for the stage.

Orpheus fires at Batman, but Batman doesn?t waver. He runs straight toward the Orpheus and makes contact with a mean right cross that sends helmet, makeup, and circuitry flying. Finally, Batman?s enemy is revealed before him. ?Black Mask!? A surprised Batman says.

?Don?t tell me ? you thought I was dead, such a surprise, blah, blah, blah,? Black Mask sneers. ?It takes more than a tall building to finish off a legend.? Batman starts to tell Mask that he?s finished, but suddenly he?s struck from behind ? by the Scarecrow. Mask asks Scarecrow why he would help him and scarecrow replies that Black Mask has made all of the deadliest killers in Gotham cower in fear, ?it was delicious.?

Black Mask takes advantage of the moment and hurls a smoke bomb, leaving Batman momentarily blinded. By the time the smoke clears, Black Mask is nowhere to be found. The floor of the arena is littered with the bodies of unconscious or injured gangsters, but there are a handful of stragglers with some fight in them. One shatters a bat (the baseball kind, naturally) over Batman?s head, but he?s too focused to be deterred (and cowl armor helps). ?Get lost,? he says, kicking his assailant to the ground.

Soon, only Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Onyx, and Batgirl remain standing. They converge just as Gotham?s skies open up and begin soaking them with rain. Batman tells his assembled allies that the war was a mistake. It was a strategy that was never meant to be put in play.

?I kept playing the game. I knew the pieces. I knew the board. All I had to do was make the right moves?or so I though.? But this isn?t a game any longer; he tells them it must end now. ?No more games. This is WAR!?

Spread the word!