Batman and Robin #10

TERMINUS, PART ONE: SCAR OF THE BAT

A villain called Terminus gathers together a collection of thugs who have suffered at the hands of the Batman. Each one has been physically or emotionally scarred by their encounters with him. For weeks, these assembled have been unwittingly running errands for Terminus, and the time has now come to complete his task, and make the Batman pay.  At Wayne Manor Bruce Wayne has gathered three of his adoptive and biological sons together for a family portrait, including Alfred Pennyworth. Unfortunately for the artist, Mr. Benioff, Bruce keeps changing the pose, so that he has to start over again. Additional frustrations come from the fact that Tim Drake and Damian can't seem to stop bickering about who is the better Robin. When things become too heated, Bruce calls a halt to the portrait sitting, and explains that all of them have had strengths and weaknesses as Robin, and that should unite them, not act as a wedge. Even after hearing this, the boys storm off in opposite directions, leaving Bruce and Dick alone. Bruce explains that the portrait was meant as a way of spending time with his family; to memorialize the time he has with them.  Elsewhere, Terminus uses a machine to inject toxins into his body, but the results are the breakdown of his body. He uses a device to replace his protoplasm and bone-marrow, as a means of maintaining his body-integrity. It is quite painful.  Each of them called to the same place, Red Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood wonder why they've all been gathered there. They soon discover that they were called by Damian, who is serving notice that one day, he will defeat each of them at the thing they feel they are unbeatable at. After he defeats them, he will take a personal item of theirs as a memento. This will all be in the service of proving who is the best Robin. Regardless of Nightwing's attempt to talk sense into the boy, he simply announces that "forewarned is forearmed," and leaves the three former Robins alone.  In the Batcave, Bruce sharpens his Batarangs while Alfred wonders why he failed to tell Tim or Dick about what Damian did to Morgan Ducard. Bruce had decided to keep the killing between he and Damian, so they could deal with it as father and son. Alfred comments that Bruce is becoming quite the over-protective parent, as Bruce rushes off to answer the Bat-Signal.  Later, Tim returns to the cave, hoping to tell Bruce about the encounter with Damian. Instead of Bruce, he finds Damian, who claims that Tim's reaction was predictable. Tim is expecting a physical altercation as part of Damian's plan to best him, but it turns out the boy's plan is more of a game of wits. He shows Tim footage from his experience of The Culling, when he had watched Artemis bleed to death, and had exacted brutal vengeance against her killer. Damian pushes Tim psychologically to the point that he admits that he thought about killing Artemis' murderer; that he had nearly crossed the line. Damian admits that his point was to show that despite what Tim may think, he is not better than his successor. It is time for Tim to accept who and what Damian is: a Wayne, and a Robin.  Elsewhere, Terminus emerges from his machine reinvigorated - for now at least. Now, he needs to send the Batman a message: the man and his city are branded for death.