Batman and Robin #7

Issue Details

Synopsis

BORN TO KILL PART 6 - THE REAL ME Having broken into the Ragandian Embassy, NoBody and Robin corner Ambassador Chalot in his office, suspecting him of human trafficking. NoBody hands Robin a gun and presses him to assert his independence from Batman by shooting the ambassador dead. Fortunately, when Damian pulls the trigger, finally, it simply emits a hollow click. It wasn't loaded.  Angrily, Robin exclaims that he is not there to play games, and will not be manipulated. NoBody explains that it was merely a test to see how committed Damian is to stepping out from his father's shadow. Now that his doubts are put to rest, they will take the ambassador to a safe-house for questioning about the trafficking network. In order to subdue the man, NoBody teaches Damian the very move that he used to temporarily paralyze the boy earlier; the same move that Batman refused to teach him due to its risk of fatality. Damian executes it perfectly.   Batman tracks a brief transmission matching that of a ten-year-old boy at the embassy, and deduces that there would be no reason for any other ten-year-old to be there at two in the morning, so it must be Robin. Inside, he notices that someone went through the extra trouble to avoid killing the staff members - and it probably wasn't NoBody.   Bruce continues recording his message for Damian, explaining his past with the Ducard family. Morgan and his father Henri Ducard took Bruce Wayne on as a trainee in man-hunting, at a cost befitting one of the Gotham City Wayne family. Bruce and Morgan had helped each other to improve their skills while Henri taught them the nuances of tracking. Ducard had been contracted to find a terrorist named Hassan, and together they used the case as field-training until they managed to catch up with him.   They prepared to capture him, with Ducard heading across the way to collect his bounty, while Bruce and Morgan watched Hassan's room to make sure he didn't leave before Interpol arrived. Bruce watched through a telescope as Hassan went to his door, and suddenly, a bullet shot through the peep-hole, killing him instantly. When he saw Henri Ducard enter the room to ensure his kill, Bruce became enraged, realizing that he had been lied to. Interpol was not coming, and Ducard was simply a contract killer.   Angrily, Bruce left the Ducards, and began his return home. However, as a loose end, Ducard ordered Morgan to find and kill Bruce. Fortunately, a slight change in the sunlight allowed Bruce to catch the glint reflecting in Morgan's sniper scope, and he dodged it just in time. Enraged, Bruce chased down Morgan's car and put a cinder-block through the windshield into Morgan's lap. He dragged Morgan through the glass in such a rage that he might have killed him. However, he finally held back. Later, he returned Ducard's son to him by tossing his crippled form down through a skylight onto the manhunter's desk.   Eventually, the GCPD, arrives at the embassy. From the shadows, Batman informs Commissioner Gordon of the situation, and begs for two hours to deal with the personal matter. Jim gives him one.   At the safe house in Gotham Harbour, NoBody has unexpectedly used an effective truth serum on the ambassador to get him to give up as much information as he had about the human trafficking system. Unexpectedly in that Robin was expecting prolonged torture. NoBody explains that he gets better results using the serum and a false sense of security than by filling his victims with fear.   NoBody teases that there was a time when Batman came close to breaking his own rules by nearly killing someone - him. Morgan claims that Bruce had been looking for a father figure while training, and that he had been unable to live with Morgan being better than him; competing for Henri's praise. Morgan's rant is cut short when Damian realizes that he is planning to dunk the ambassador into a vat of acid. Morgan readily admits this, and adds that he plans to do the same to him.   Batman gets a lock on Damian's position just as NoBody reveals that he detected the GPS that Damian activated moments ago. He expresses disbelief, having thought that the boy was on his side at the embassy when he pulled the trigger. Damian explains that he sensed that the weight of the gun was off, and that it wouldn't fire. He had tricked both his father and his would-be mentor in order to get close to NoBody, and stop him himself. NoBody demands to know why Damian would throw away the opportunity to be free. Tearfully, Damian explains that it's because Bruce is his father - and because Morgan enjoys killing too much.   Ripping the GPS device from Robin's costume, NoBody transmits his voice to Batman, stating that the next sounds Bruce hears will be those of his son breaking. The sounds Batman hears fill him with increasing righteous rage.