Batman and his small team have captured Talia after witnessing the death of her father Ra's al Ghul in their secret hideout. However, as they approach the cable car that would take them down from the snowy mountains, they are utterly shocked to see Ra's al Ghul coming after them. Ra's had been revived by the powers of the Lazarus Pit and Talia explains that after the process, his strength is extremely increased while his mind is struck by a fit of madness. True to her words, Ra's seems to be unable to control his actions and Lo Ling tries to stop him, but fails miserably. Knowing that Ra's could harm the others, Batman confronts the crazed man, but despite his best efforts, he is easily defeated by Ra's. With Batman knocked unconscious, Talia talks to her father, bringing some reason to his mind and she takes him to a secret hovercraft they had concealed in case of emergencies. When Batman recovers, he is informed about Talia and Ra's escape before he starts following their trail with Molly Post by his side. Using Molly's skiis, they follow the hovercraft and Molly reaches the vehicle first. She throws one of her poles to the engine of the vehicle and manages to bring it down, but the pole ricochets towards her and injuries her shoulder. Batman watches as Talia and Ra's make their escape by foot, but he can't give chase to them as he has to take Molly to a medical center.

After Molly and Ling are taken to medical centers for their injuries, Batman finds himself alone since Harris Blaine has decided to stay with the injured and Batman has to continue his quest to bring down Ra's alone. Batman starts by investigating the wreckage of Ra's hovercraft, where he finds a camel's bridle and he knows where to locate his dreaded enemy.

Far away from Switzerland, Ra's al Ghul and his daughter have gathered enough people and supplies on their desert hideout in order to rebuild many of the damages caused by Batman. While his men work endlessly, Ra's explains to Talia that he might no longer be able to use the Lazarus Pit to renew is life, since he has used it many times over the years and soon it will no longer work on his body. For this reason, he finds himself in need of hasten his plan to cleanse the world. At that moment, Batman breaks into Ra's tent, where he attempts to capture Ra's and bring him to justice. Ra's al Ghul is not intimidated by Batman's sudden appearance and he tells Batman that he is not going anywhere without a fight. Ra's then shows his respect and admiration for Batman by informing the "Detective" that he won't have him shot by his men if he is able to defeat him on a duel to death.

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