Gotham Underground #4

Did Zsasz really kill Batman? This question and more are answered as the mad scramble for control of the Gotham Underground kicks into high gear! Plus, the Scarecrow turns on the Ventriloquist, Nightwing continues to gain the Penguin's trust, and Robin gets surprise -attacked by someone wearing an extremely familiar costume!

The issue opens with a prostitute coming into Johnny Denetto's room. She comments on his accent, saying that it's not from Gotham. Johnny agrees, saying that he's been in New York, then Metropolis. She then asks him to walk towards her. Johnny warns her that his appearance is a little "off". She replies that nothing is off around here; it's Gotham. Johnny comes out of the shadow and the prostitute cringes at his face. He then asks her to show him her ear. He comments on her ear, and then pulls out a scalpel and sounds of slashing can be heard.

Meanwhile, in Blackgate Prison, some doctors and nurses are tending to Matches Malone's wound from the previous fight he had with Mr. Zsasz. The nurses comes in bursting through the door with the anesthesia and just as she's about to put the breathe mask over him, she notices something about Matches' moustache. Then, Matches grabs the nurse's wrist. The nurse, surprised, asks in a confused state how he had done that, since he was in a coma. Matches says that it was really a self-induced trance-like state. He knocks out the nurse with a nerve pinch and punches the other two out and runs to the place where he really wanted to go. The place where they were keeping whatever the Suicide Squad were up to.

At the Iceberg Lounge, Chill and his supergroup take over and battle with Scarface and his group. Scarecrow shows them the way to an escape route but it turns out to be a trap and sends him through to a dead end. They look up and see men in black outfits shoot down the team. Scarface puts up a fight but gets shot down as well with a hurl of bullets. Ventriloquist is devastated. Tobias Whale puts a hand on her shoulder and comforts her and helps her up from the ground when Scarecrow chirps in and compliments Whale, that he is the man in charge right now. Whale grabs him by the neck and tells him not to touch him. He orders his men to take him away, and Scarecrow mentions the deal they made. Whale replies that he obviously broke it. He turns his attention back to Ventriloquist and tells his men to escort her away. He turns to one of his goons and tells him that she is to be hurt. Captain Cold and his team celebrate in their victory in sending them away. Chill calls for a celebration, and asks if Freddie Dinardo is coming, Robin's undercover alias. Meanwhile, Vigilante aims his sniper rifle on Dinardo, saying, "But not yet."

In Metropolis, Oracle and Robin are recovering from the invasion from Wildcat and Spoiler. Spoiler is knocked out on the floor. Wildcat asks who that person is on the floor, and Robin replies that it's Spoiler. But he is shocked from it. He goes for her mask and grabs it when she disappears! Robin calls Wildcat to look out and a grenade is thrown at them. Explosions go off and there's smoke everywhere, where Robin can see the outline of Spoiler running off. Meanwhile, Wildcat comments on Oracle's computers; they're all blown up.

Back at the prison, Matches says that this doesn't go as he planned it to go. He grabs the gun off from the guard and throws a canister from the anesthetic and shoots it, blowing up the door from the room he wanted to go into. From the shadows comes a, "Oh, no..." Matches himself is pretty surprised with a "My God... the Great White Shark?" The Great White Shark, in fear, says, "They sent you to finish me off, didn't they?"

Meanwhile, Detective Gordon gets handed a note from a fellow detective. He asks when was this found, and the detective asks what he meant - did he mean the note or him? They look up and see Scarecrow on a pole, mutilated. The note reads, "This is what happens to masks in Gotham!"

Back at the hotel with Johnny Denetto, he chastises himself for cutting the ear off the prostitute. Someone interrupts, asking if he's still going to keep the ear. Mannheimwalks in, apologising for interrupting, saying that maybe he has a psycho fetish, and this is why he does it. Denetto asks Mannheim why he visited him, and Mannheim replies he was checking up on him. He is his secret weapon, after all. Mannheim tells him that since Whale has his hands full with Penguin, they'll see what happens, and then they'll strike. And they'll regret the day they were born.