Detective Comics #602

Issue Details

Synopsis

TULPA PART 2 - NIGHT MOVES Batman is still scouting the area in which the signal from his tracer device was last seen, looking for the man who broke into Wayne Manor and assaulted Alfred. In short, he is still seeking retribution. At that moment, not far from there, Jason Blood and Randu Singh play a chess match, but Blood is unable to concentrate, thinking about the curse of coexisting with the demon Etrigan, even after he was freed from the curse, but ultimately things were reverted by Darkseid. In the middle of the match, Randu notices a disturbance in the spiritual world, but he ignores the warning.  Elsewhere, Tenzin Wyatt, the man who created an avatar duplicate of himself using magic known as "Tulpa" and then sent it to steal from Wayne Manor, is currently summoning another entity, only this time, it is a dark and powerful avatar known as Mahakala. The summoning process is hard and after facing other demons, the conjuring is finished.   It is then that Batman spots loan shark Rafe Kellogg and his thugs walking into "The Tibet Shop", where Tenzin is waiting for them. Kellogg threatens Tenzin to pay the money that was loaned to his father prior to his death, but Tenzin refuses, knowing that he is now under the protection of Mahakala. Batman takes a closer look at the situation and is stunned when the tulpa avatar attacks the criminals and brutally murders one of them. The criminals shoot at the demon avatar, but the bullets are totally ineffective. Batman then bursts into action with no better results and is easily defeated. However, the distraction created by Batman was enough to allow Rafe and his henchman to escape. The avatar of Mahakala then goes after them and when Batman recovers, he talks to Tenzin, who tells Batman about the demon and informs him that since it was born of wrath and vengeance, he will not be satisfied until he kills Kellogg. Batman tends the bullet wound of Tenzin and calls an ambulance that will arrive to help him. When the police finally arrive and Batman makes sure that Tenzin is safe, he goes looking for help against the avatar.   Meanwhile, Rafe and his henchman are glad to have escaped Mahakala, but the avatar soon finds them and they run away in desperation. At that moment, Batman interrupts the chess match between Jason Blood and Randu, but Jason reacts preemptively to avoid helping Batman under any circumstances. True to Jason's fear, Batman is in need of Etrigan, but Jason's stand on the matter is strong. Nonetheless, Randu offers Batman his help, which is nowhere as helpful as Etrigan would be in order to stop Mahakala. Moments later, Rafe and his henchman are completely exhausted from running, but the avatar is still on their trail. In a desperate attempt, Rafe attacks Lieutenant Kitch and has himself and his henchman taken inside the police vehicle. Despite this effort, Mahakala has reached them and Batman listens to Kitch's backup request over the police radio relay in the Batmobile, giving him the location of the demon avatar. As this happens, Jason Blood is alone in his apartment, realizing how hopeless is the situation for mere mortals and how destiny has tricked him once again into unleashing the demon that consumes his existence.