Detective Comics #950

LEAGUE OF SHADOWS PROLOGUE - SHADOW OF A TEAR

Cassandra secretly spies out Christine Montclair, first ballerina of Gotham's Metropolitan Ballet, while she trains, trying to emulate her movements, and doing it perfectly. Christina then sees her and she's afraid, but Cass leaves as soon as she realizes it, with the ballerina acting like she has seen a ghost. Cass tries to explain this to Harper, and sees that her friend is trying everything to give her help: Harper's body language speaks of Love. But Cass cannot manage to explain herself, and leaves again. She struggles, remembering what her father tried to mold her into, and then she sees the Bat-Symbol in the sky.  She is witness to an encounter between Batman, Commissioner Gordon and Mayor Hady, who confesses he would like to be remembered as someone better than the man who gave Oswald Cobblepot permission to run a casino. Batman understands she was there, and finds her while she was dismantling a weapon cartel. He tries to understands what troubles her, but Cass cannot tell him, she's not able to: every fight she takes, she sees a hundred ways to kill her opponent, while she just want to stop them. She would like to be like the ballerinas she saw in Prague: elegant and sweet in what she tells with her body. But everything she can produce is violence.  Cass observes Luke and Clayface talk about the new stabilizer that Fox created for Basil, and all the difficulties of keeping Basil stable. She would like to tell him she feels like him, someone who was molded into something they not want to be, and also she sees Lucas struggling to change the world with his genius mind, and Jean-Paul transforming from assassin to hero thanks to his faith. She also sees Batwoman as an inspiration: like her, Kate's body was trained to be a perfect weapon, but to express honor and duty, not murder. In the end, she feels pain, because no one understands her struggles, not even Batman. But without knowing him, someone is observing her, and wants to help her: Cassandra's mother, Lady Shiva.  

HIGHER POWERS

While they are training with a simulation program hard enough to give Batman a hard time as well, Jean-Paul manages to defeat the virtual enemies, a thing Batwing was not able to do. Lucas wants to know what is Azrael's secret, and Jean-Paul answers him it's his faith: he prayed before the fight, and he gave himself and his destiny to an higher power. Lucas struggles to comprehend the concept: he's a scientist, and he's always trying to break down things and give himself a logical explanation. As proof, Jean-Paul makes him study the AI inside his Suit of Sorrows: projected by the Order of St. Dumas and guiding the sword of Azrael, the technology is so advanced that to the eyes of Lucas it's impossible and should not exist.  Jean-Paul explains him that sometimes he is afraid that the AI inside him could lead him and trick him into a way which is not the will of God, but he still has faith in the higher power he believes in. As Luke and Jean-Paul approach the simulation program once again, Luke asks Jean-Paul a thing: if the Order saw his human weapon escape to find another way of justice, why they never tried to upload the AI inside a mechanical body instead? That way, there would be no kind of interference by anything else, and they will have a perfect controllable weapon. Jean-Paul tells him it would be possible, but he thinks also that St. Dumas won't change its ways and traditions after two thousand years.  He could not be more wrong: Ascalon is online.

THE BIG PICTURE

As Batman calls for Alfred to send him the Batmobile, Red Robin comes in with his Redbird. He intercepted the call and decided he would give Bruce a lift, as he wanted to meet with him. The thing is, he found out what Batman is doing: Nightwing is both member of one of the biggest espionage organizations on Earth, while investigating the Court of Owls internationally. Red Hood is undercover inside Gotham's criminal underworld. Damian just decided to recreate the Teen Titans. And then the Belfry and the whole approval of Tim's Gotham Knights project. Red Robin wants to know: why is Batman preparing for war?