Azrael #72

Issue Details

Synopsis

PROPHET PART 3 - HELL & BACK Jean-Paul Valley takes advantage of the imposter's hesitation by jumping out a window and tries to make a run for it. The imposter catches up with Jean-Paul and tells him to keep running while he sets off a landmine to make it sound like Jean-Paul was killed. Jeremiah Thompkins heard the explosion and congratulates the imposter. Jeremiah tells the imposter to get ready because they are leaving the Middle East in order to right so many wrongs that Jeremiah has documented during his travels. The imposter asks about the stolen medical supplies. Jeremiah replies that they were meant for a children's hospital but since the supplies are better served as bait, he decides the children will have to suffer for the greater good. The imposter looks at Jeremiah disgust and begins to rethink his alliance with Jeremiah.   Meanwhile, McGog becomes concerned about Werley since neither him or Jean-Paul have returned. McGog and a couple of his men head south to Jeremiah's base. McGog finds Werley's jeep turned over in the desert sand but he continues his course to Jeremiah's base. McGog and his soldiers find traces of blood all over Jeremiah's base but no bodies. McGog has faith that Jean-Paul is still alive since he is a relentless warrior but if they should meet again, McGog will not extend Jean-Paul anymore courtesies.   Jeremiah and the imposter arrive in Laghostan where a band of soldiers stop a truck that is transporting undocumented refugees across a border in the mountains. The soldiers begin to open fire on the refugees but the imposter jumps in to vanquish the soldiers. One by one, each soldier fell before the imposter's blade. Jeremiah congratulates the imposter for his triumph but then he is approached by a refugee. The refugee asks Jeremiah for any medical supplies that could aid his daughter who was injured during the gunfire. Jeremiah brushes the refugee off by saying he has more important issues and can't be bother with trivial matters. The imposter's disgust for Jeremiah's self righteous nature grows even more. The imposter confides in Jeremiah that he is Azrael, the avenging archangel. Jeremiah professes that Azrael was sent by God to assist Jeremiah in his crusade. Jeremiah goes over his hit list and decides where their next crusade should be whether its Bueno Aires or Gotham.   In Gotham City, Batman asks Oracle if she has heard anything from Jean-Paul in Saudi Arabia. Oracle hands Bruce some documents regarding Penguin's tax manipulations then relays some troubling news about people who have seen Azrael. The refugee that Jeremiah refused to help, told his story to a doctor at a nearby clinic while his daughter was being treated for a bullet wound. The refugee talks about Azrael's swift action as he killed each of the soldiers with his blades. Batman suspects that Jean-Paul's naivety on the world and the trauma of his nightmarish childhood with the Order must have finally taken its toll on him. Something must have happened in the Middle East that caused Jean-Paul to snap and now he has become the killing machine Azrael that the Order wanted him to be. Batman hopes he is wrong but he can't allow this Azrael to take anymore lives.