PREVIOUSLY:
Batman finds himself at odds with a mysterious new foe by the name of Hush who apparently knows everything about him and uses that information to manipulate him. After battling with nearly every single one of him major foes, Batman begins an ill-fated love afair with his onetime nemesis Catwoman.
Eventually, Batman finds himself face to face with Hush and realizes that his nemesis is actually his childhood friend Tommy Elliott.
Elliott, who had staged the accident which took his father's life was mad
that Thomas Wayne had managed to save his mother's life and was jealous of the life Bruce would go on to have.
The two battle it out before Hush is taken down by a bullet from the reformed Harvey Dent. After being betrayed by his closest friend, Batman is cast into a sea of doubt - mistrustful of everyone including Catwoman which brings about an end to their relationship.
Meanwhile, Elliot is presumed dead but in reality is just biding his time working out a new
plan to take down the Batman. He re-emerges and starts a rivalry with Batman's other greatest combatant the Joker who had been using pacemakers in people's chests as tiny bombs killing them whenever he triggered them to go off.
Joker manages to plant one of his pacemaker bombs in Hush's chest and Batman simply walks away leaving his old friend in the evil hands of the Joker himself...
SUMMARY:
Recently returned from her exile on the prison planet (Salvation Run), Selina renews her crimefighting partnership with Bruce. She soon realizes that her working relationship may be blossoming into something much more serious and she considers professing her feelings to Bruce. Looking for advice on the matter, she turns to Bruce's long time friend Zatanna. The sorceress convinces Selina to follow her heart but before Catwoman can find Bruce, she's abducted by none other than Hush!
Hush has returned to Gotham City and the former Doctor sets up shop in the abandoned run-down hospital where he once committed his mother. Back amongst the memories, the bandaged madman reflects on his relationship with his overbearing mother. Tommy remembers how it was he and his lover Peyton Riley (mob-daughter and future Ventriloquist) who murdered his mother and covered it up. Having killed both his parents, Tommy inherits his family's fortune and is free to live the life he wanted to live but forever lost in the shadow of his one-time friend Bruce Wayne.
Thanks to the help of Hush's mentor and one-time childhood psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow), Batman is distracted while Selina is abducted. He learns too late that Hush has taken her back to his hospital fortress and, using technology from Mr. Freeze, taken out her still beating heart and placed it in a cryogenic freezer at the hospital. All the while he continues to staff his hospital with transients drugged into zombified states of subservitude.
Her body dumped in front of the hospital, Selina is attended to by Dr. Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific while Bruce makes a B-line towards Arkham. Once there, he manages to beat Hush's location out of Scarecrow before heading off to confront his former friend.
Anticipating Bruce's arrival, Hush dispersed one half of a scentless nerve gas formula into the air surrounding Selina's heart. The other half was secretly exposed to Bruce while he was arresting Scarecrow. During their confrontation, Bruce becomes paralyzed by the completed toxin and blacks out.
When he comes to he is strapped to a surgical table with Hush standing over him. Tommy explains that he had used his surgical skills to remove the pacemaker bomb placed in his chest by the Joker. But as he unravels his bandages, Hush reveals that wasn't the only surgery he performed on himself. Piece by piece he had been re-molding his facial structure to exactly resemble Bruce's. His ultimate plan is to leave Bruce scarred beyond recognition and drugged out of his mind, completely defeated.
Mustering up his remaining strength, Bruce catches Hush in an unguarded moment and headbuts him. Using the surrounding surgical equipment to free himself from the table he takes off after Hush. He finally catches up with Tommy at Wayne Manor where his imposter had managed his way into the house. Bruce and Tommy's fight quickly takes them down the hidden entrance to the Bat-Cave. Once there, their battle continues, crashing its way through several of Batman's famed trophies. In the end, Hush tries to escape using the Bat-Gyrocopter but his trademark bandages get snagged in the rotor blades. The copter explodes and crashes into one of the cave's underground tributaries. No body is found.
While in her comatose state, Selina continues to have a discussion about her love for Bruce with Zatanna whose telepathic ability allows her to keep Selina company. After Zatanna's goading, Selina decides to give a relationship a try. She awakens from her coma to find Bruce by her side and the two begin a whirlwind romance. Although the affair doesn't last, Selina is comforted in the fact that she at least gave it a try.
Selina is given a bottle of scar healing elixir from Zatanna and decides to take some much needed R&R. It's then that she concocts a plan to enact revenge on Hush. Returning to her roots, she uses her connections on both sides of the law to siphon Tommy Elliot's family fortune away. She uses the money to re-imburse his former zombie hospital assistants for their time and to (of course) treat herself. Knowing that Hush more than likely survived the explosion in the cave, she leaves a message telling him that it would be in his best interest to leave Gotham forever.
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