Batman and Robin Annual #2

Issue Details

Synopsis

BATMAN AND ROBIN: WEEK ONE Some months ago, before Damian Wayne died, Nightwing was going to tell him about his the fight that convinced Batman that he needed a partner in the first place. Impatiently, Damian brushed him off, explaining that while Dick might have invented the idea of Robin, he perfected it.   Now, Bruce Wayne peers into one of the entrances to the attic of Wayne Manor, and is surprised to discover a box labelled "The Robin Cave: No Bats or Butlers Allowed!" Restraining himself, Bruce calls for Dick, knowing he'll want to see as well. Fortunately, Dick is in town, for once, and he hurries to the Manor. Bruce tosses him the box, with a second note attached, explaining that it contains payback for being forced to hear the boring story of Dick's first week as Robin. When he realizes that Dick understands the message, he asks to hear the same story, so that he can understand what so moved Damian to engage in such long-term planning.   Dick's story begins at the Worthington School, on what would be both his first day as Robin and the second longest day of his life. He'd waited through hours of boring classes, until at last the school bell rang, and he energetically leapt into the car to be taken home by Alfred Pennyworth, who was none too pleased about Dick's enthusiasm for what was to come.   Naturally, Bruce was quick to force him to curb that enthusiasm - particularly when he saw the costume that Dick intended to wear. It was too showy, he said, as their lives would now depend on staying in the shadows. Bruce tasked him with putting the other costume on immediately, or he'd be left behind.   In the car, Bruce quizzed Dick on the rules he'd given him, reminding that he must stay out of sight - and at least a hundred feet back - at all times, and do everything Batman said. For their first night working together, Dick would watch as Bruce followed a lead on a crew that had held up three currency exchanges over the last week. Naturally, that was not the amount of excitement Dick had hoped to experience on his first night.   He was therefore fortunate when he heard one of the thugs Batman was beating escape behind the shipping container he was spectating from. The man called back to his boss, Tusk to warn him of the Batman's attack. Batman received a surprise when he finished with the crooks and discovered that Robin had taken one down that he'd missed. Angrily, Batman yanked the unconscious thug from Dick's hands, grimly warning him to get back into the car, because they would be going home, and Dick would be staying there. Defiantly, Dick responded that if that was the case, Batman would never learn what the goon had told him. After 21 minutes of driving in silence, they were back in the Batcave, and Batman ordered him to get out of the car and go to bed. he had broken the rules, and consequently, he was fired.   The next morning, Dick was disappointed to learn from Alfred that Bruce had seemed just as angry when he'd returned that night. He suggested that he would speak to him before school, but Alfred warned him against it. He and Dick were both to forget that the previous night's events had ever happened. As Alfred escorted him to the car to go to school, Dick complained that Bruce was being totally unreasonable. Pointedly, Alfred looked up at Bruce, watching from upstairs, and commented with dry irony that unreasonable behavior coming from Bruce Wayne would be shocking.   That next day at Worthington proved to be the first longest day of Dick's life, and when the time came for Bruce to head out on patrol, he had thought up the speech he would say. He explained that he could now see how failing to keep his promise was wrong. He had learned that getting into trouble at the circus was how he and his friends had experience adventure before. He had failed to see that what Batman does is different. He reveals that the thug he'd beaten up told him that Tusk would be hitting the Lexbank Currency Exchange that night at 1:20am, and would be the last hit before leaving the city. With that knowledge, Dick hoped that Bruce would reconsider him as a partner. With concern in his eyes, Bruce still said no, thanking him for the info, and urging Dick to forget the previous night had happened.   After waiting up in his costume for a while, Dick became impatient, and went out on his own. As it turned out, the hit that he'd told Batman about was actually meant to distract Batman from the real hit on the Commodore Monetary Exchange. He hadn't told Bruce about that. Initially, Robin's attack on the thugs was going well, until Tusk himself became involved. Realizing that Robin was only a kid of sixteen, he demanded to know why he was interfering with his crimes the last few nights. From behind him, Batman responded that it was because he was with him. Fortunately, Dick's horrible poker-face betrayed the true nature of the crime. Unfortunately, Tusk was stronger, and he warned that if Batman was the strongest that Gotham had, he'd best never go to Brooklyn, where he's from.   Angered by Batman's perseverance, Tusk ordered his men to shoot Robin, prompting Batman to throw a Batarang into one of the gunmen's hands. Changing his mind, Tusk decided that instead of shooting Robin, they would throw both Batman and Robin into the river from his helicopter. While Batman was unconscious, Tusk prepared to throw Robin from the aircraft, only to have the boy wrestle free and cannonball into a freefall, exclaiming that nothing made him nervous. Before falling too far, he grabbed onto a landing skid, acrobatically swinging back up into the chopper, and kicking Tusk out the other side, into the river.   Knocking out another of the thugs, and taking his gun, Dick pointed the firearm at the pilot, demanding that he take them to safety. However, Batman's voice came from behind him, sternly warning him to put the gun down, as that would be a mistake he could not forgive - others, though, would be negotiable. As he took control of the chopper, Batman explained that he had manipulated Dick, well aware of his adolescent mind's limits, and outsmarted him by using the GPS tracker that Alfred had sewn surreptitiously into the uniform.   Over the years, Tusk would come back, and each time, his hatred for Robin seemed to grow. While most criminals held their vendettas against Batman, Tusk's was specifically for Robin. And his thirst for vengeance saw him return and return, until one day, he just stopped.   Now, the answer to why lies inside the box Damian left behind. It contains one of Tusk's gilded ivory tusks, along with a note suggesting that Dick could let him know if he needs any more help taking down his bad guys. Once again, Damian had won.