Azrael #54

Issue Details

Synopsis

NO MAN'S LAND PART 24: STEP INTO THE LIGHT There is a new assassin in Gotham City that kills his victims by slitting their throats with sharp blades attached to tap-dance shoes.   Azrael kept looking for Scratch, the Joker and Calibax but there was no sign of them. He found an old man lying on the street and took him over the remainings of a building where a man and his daughter were sheltering. The old man was the man's father and the girl's grandfather but he was taken out because the food supplies were not enough to feed the three of them. Azrael gave them his last rations and promised them that he would return with fresh food and he set out to Oracle's place but on his way there, he found a young boy drowning in the Gotham river and saved his live. Azrael was leading the boy to the man and his daughter's place when they were attacked by a street gang. Azrael took all of them out and then he was betrayed by the young boy. Azrael was leaving him but the boy apologized and offered him some food supplies. They were carrying the food to the man's place when they found the old man again on the street but this time he was dead because the Death Dancer killed him in the same macabre way. The boy told Azrael that it was the third victim that was killed in the same way. Azrael went to the man's place furious because he let his own father die, but upon reaching the place, he witnessed that the little girl was felling sick and his wrath calmed down. Saddened by the events, Azrael told the boy to share his food with the man and his daughter while he moved out of there again towards Oracle.   The Death Dancer struck again and killed a sick woman under her own son's request. The killer belived that he was doing people a favor by killing them instead of prolonging what he perceived as suffering and misery.   Azrael arrived at Oracle's place and entered using the information Batman provided him. Oracle was shocked to see that an intruder managed to break into her tower without triggering the alarms but soon she deduced that the man must be Azrael. After they introduced each other formally, Azrael asked Oracle for food and she provided him with the best meal he has had in three days: canned beans. Later, both of them decided to go outside to the streets and talk a little bit to know each other better. Azrael asked Oracle if she knew the Joker, Scratch or Calibax's whereabouts and she told him that there was no word from Scratch or Calibax and that the Joker didn't posed a threat at the time. Before Azrael could ask again about "business", Oracle asked him if he hadn't noticed that in most of their past conversations she had been flirting with him. Azrael was shocked to learn that truth and told Oracle that he had no idea and that he imagined that she was just being sisterly to him. Oracle was worried that he might think she wanted something serious with him but Azrael told her that he didn't mind if she was with someone else. They agreed that from that point on they would be like brother and sister to each other. Oracle was overwhelmed with a feeling of happiness unfelt since the beginning of No Man's Land and she dropped a couple of tears of joy. The Death Dancer was nearby and witnessed the scene and he decided that a young woman, crippled in a wheelchair and crying, must be put out of her misery.