Detective Comics #813

Issue Details

Synopsis

CITY OF CRIME PART 11 - A PLACE OF FEAR Mayor Greeves has been informed by his assistant, Norman Steiner that Two-Face has threatened his life and as a result, Greeves has asked Commissioner Akins to turn on the Bat-Signal. However, Greeves doesn't know that Steiner misinformed him and that the whole Bat-Signal business is just a trap to lure Batman and allow The Body to eliminate him.  At that moment, the Bat-Copter is on its way to Gotham Mercy Hospital to extract Robin, James Gordon, Frank Ivers and The Ventriloquist. However, the Bat-Copter doesn't make it in time to save them from the infectious fear that has started to spread in the entire building. Robin and the others are on their way to the rooftop of the hospital when suddenly, Gordon's trusted men attack each other for no apparent reason. Frank Ivers starts begging Gordon to not leave him behind and Robin starts hallucinating that the Scarface Puppet is moving on its own and walking towards him.   Meanwhile, Batman walks in Raleigh Park and enters deep inside the place. The deeper he gets, the more hallucinations he starts having. He sees Haddie McNeil and Cassie Welles, but he knows that they're not real and he keeps moving. Suddenly, he finds an enormous construction site in the middle of the park. The gigantic building under construction is called Crown Tower and all indicates that it is been built by members of The Body.   Back in the hospital, Gordon pushes Frank Ivers away and points his gun at the man, but he is pushed aside by Robin, who is trying to get away from Scarface. Gordon then starts hallucinating with The Joker and follows Robin with the intention of eliminating him. Robin uses a smoke pellet and both of them disappear in a cloud of smoke, while Frank Ivers is left alone with two injured men, the Ventriloquist and Scarface. He tries to call them and get going to the rooftop, but nobody replies.   Batman has reached the bottom basement of the building, deep underground and has found a massive edification underneath the building site. It all seems to connect to the Gotham Waterfront Project. Batman also finds a space for training men and an abandoned Church. Inside, there is some sort of altar and at the bottom a pit of boiling soil. Batman deduces that this must be the place where the soil men are created.   Batman searches further into the place and finds what appears to be the main chamber of the person behind The Body. Batman notices a pile of self-help books, a wall pinned with pictures of himself, the crime lords that have been attacked and the people that has been replaced by dirt men. On top of the bed, there's a mask with the face of Mr. Friendly. Batman hears some noises at the altar and he goes to investigate. He watches as a bald man with a disfigured face commands an army of men made of soil and he tells them that the ultimate soil warrior is about to be born. He introduces Raffi Moosakanian to them and they all get ready to transform him into one of them. Taking off his clothes, Raffi prepares to descend into the pit of boiling soil, but he is knocked down by one of Batman's Batarangs. The bald man is surprised to see Batman and the caped crusader tosses the smiling mask at him. In just a few seconds, the bald man transforms into Mr. Friendly and tries to convince Batman to leave in exchange of information about Cassie Welles. However, Batman refuses and tells him that he already knows where Cassie is. On his desperation, Mister Friendly tells Batman that he is not the leader of the body and he takes his head off.   In the meantime, Frank Ivers has been left alone to roam the hospital, in which every person has fallen, victims of the infectious fear caused by the madman that was saved only a few hours ago. However, and for some strange reason, Frank Ivers was immune to that fear, but he knows that there is little he can do to stop it from spreading across the entire city.   Batman prepares to leave Raleigh Park and rides the Batmobile with the single purpose of eliminating The Body once and for all. However, a massive number of creatures from The Body is already gathered around the GCPD Headquarters, all of them waiting for Batman to come and answer the beckon of the Bat-Signal.