After being crossed for the umpteenth time by Batman, Rupert Thorne decides to hire the chemically-powered assassin Bane to eliminate the Dark Knight once and for all. Upon arriving in Gotham, Bane strikes up a friendship with Thorne's "secretary" Candace, and meets with Thorne, who pays him a suitcase full of diamonds. Batman visits Croc in Arkham for details on the mysterious "helper", and Croc, with a bit of persuasion, describes his attacker as a huge man with a South American accent; he had tubes wired into his head which pumped him up twice as big.