Batman Incorporated #3

Issue Details

Synopsis

SCORPION TANGO In the darkest hour of the Falklands War, a team of British super heroes were informed that the world's greatest super-spy was a double agent, and that he had retreated to a lighthouse on Lafonia, the southeasternmost part of the islands. Five heroes marched in... but only one, the Knight, staggered out...  Today, the Argentine super-criminal El Papagayo has discovered a rat in his organization - Cimarron of the Super Malon hero team, who is looking for information on a group of missing children. The villain cripples the hero, but is suddenly ambushed by the team-up of El Gaucho and Batman. The two free heroes make short work of the villains, who makes mention of a mysterious employer and a "blue lady" that has crossed paths with Cimarron before. As the heroes close in, El Papagayo is killed by a robotic scorpion, leaving nothing but mystery... and a parrot squawking about "Oroboro"...   In Buenos Aires, in the spring, the place where you have to be is the private race track at the splendid villas of Don Santiago Vargas. Providing excitement for princes, sheiks and potentates, the most eligible bachelor Buenos Aires plays host to a who's who of super-rich beautiful people! Including one Bruce Wayne, newly arrived in the city, who catches the eye of Tristessa Delicias, one of the most beautiful women in the city. The two tango, apparently incurring the anger of Vargas, who has a romantic history with Tristessa. Wayne notes that Tristessa is using the legendary "Tango del Muerte", before Tristessa leaves him with a ring and Wayne follows his host.   Vargas and Wayne retire to Vargas basement, where they reveal they are actually the crimefighters Batman and El Gaucho (although Gaucho does not believe that Batman is really Bruce Wayne). They discuss Tristessa Delicias' secret identity as Scorpiana, and note that the ring she gave Batman is a snake eating its tail with the word "Oroboro" written on it. Gaucho explains that Cimarron was tracing El Papagayo's involvement with another matter, connected to a UN intelligence group from many years ago. Gaucho, meanwhile, is tracing the whereabouts of three blind street children, kidnapped by criminals. However, he takes the time to help Batman research "Oroboro" - in Argentina, it is the title of a book of short stories centered on a mystery manipulator named Doctor Dedalus. The story goes that the author, Espartaco Extrano, was murdered in the Casa D'Oro by three blind assassins... except there never was an Espartaco Extrano, and the book was revealed as an elaborate joke on the part of The Florida Group, a collection of poets.   Suddenly, Gaucho's police alarm goes off - the missing children case has received a message from the criminals, leading to... the Casa D'Oro. By the time the heroes arrive, the police have lost two men and are willing to back off. But as the heroes enter the building, the doors slam shut behind, and a message from a man they thought was dead, commands them to fight to the death - or the three children will be killed!