| Synopsis
| - At the Gotham International Airport, Batman is under attack by apparitions of his dead parents, condemning the choice he made to become a vigilante. Dr. Achilles Milo, whom Batman had come to capture, is under attack by his own demons. Among them is a man who calls himself Martin Ware - Mister Bygone. He claims that Milo is responsible for his emaciation and infusion with dark magic. Angrily, Batman warns Ware to stop attacking Milo, and punches him into unconsciousness. He then rushes over to Milo and attempts to resuscitate him, given that he still needs answers from the man. Unfortunately, the GCPD catches up to him, and warns him to get away from the man before he can finish bringing the man back to life. Desperate, he drops a flash-bang grenade, and escapes with Milo's prone body before the police can get to him.
Batwing, meanwhile, is still fighting the ghosts that have been haunting his apartment ever since he got back from Arkham Asylum. With Nth Metal in his gloves, he punches ghosts, dispelling them. Jim Corrigan arrives at his door, and expresses how impressed he is that Batwing actually found a way to just punch ghosts away. After being invited in, Jim apologizes for how things went underneath Arkham. He had never meant to leave Luke there, but he lost control of himself when The Spectre got free. Luke admits that he was shaken by all of the deaths that the Spectre caused, wondering if they all deserved their fates. Jim explains that this is what he lives with every day, and offers himself as a friend to talk to.
Jim receives a call, then, from Batman, who explains that he's bringing Professor Milo to him. Apparently, a book he had found caused all the horror at Arkham. Batman needs to know what that book was, and where it came from. Jim agrees to meet him at the cemetery, where Batman delivers Milo, and then turns his attention to Batwing. Luke explains how negatively he's been affected by the experience he had, but reminds that he had insisted on being there even when he was given the chance to go. He doesn't blame Jim or Batman for what happened to him. Suddenly, Batman catches Jim punching Milo in the face, and demands an explanation. Jim explains that Milo had tried to summon a demon right there, and needed to be stopped.
Jim reveals that the book Milo had found was more like an amalgam of instructions he'd received in a dream. This was a tailor-made trap to open the way for Deacon Blackfire to open a hole into hell. All of his actions were fuel for someone's plan. Milo, though, was just a patsy. He'd seen a bird in the dream, who had given him his information. Milo should never have had access to this kind of magic. Someone had given it to him. But who?
Meanwhile, in the Narrows, Stephanie Brown explains to Harper Row that everybody who has been implicated in the attacks on Gotham is a pawn. She believes Bruce Wayne - and through him, Batman - must be behind it. Harper responds that whatever role Batman had in creating his own villains, the fact is that there are bad guys out there trying to kill good people. Batman and his allies are going to save the good people and stop the bad people. She hopes Stephanie will join them. Stephanie responds that she can't trust them. Resigned, Harper decides to leave Stephanie there, and talk to Batman about getting Stephanie out of town. Regardless of the chip on Stephanie's shoulder, she thinks they could be friends, and wants to see her live through all this.
Batman returns to the cave to join Julia Pennyworth in tracking the ways that his company, Wayne Enterprises was divvied up after he lost it. He senses that there is a pattern in it that suggests a signature - though it's not the Riddler's, as he might have suspected, nor is it the Court of Owls' work. Julia suggests that he take a break, and Bruce jokes that she sounds like her father. She responds with bitterness, given his absentee parenthood, and Bruce reminds that Alfred loves her very much, regardless. In any case, Bruce sees the pattern already - and each of the purchases on the list is by a company whose name references Arabic demon myths - pointing quite clearly at Ra's al Ghul.
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