Batman & The Outsiders/League of Their Own

*A League of Their Own* is the second story arc of *Batman & the Outsiders*, it is preceded by the *Lesser Gods* storyline and is followed by *The* *Demon's Fire*. Duke Thomas learns to cope with his new abilities as The Outsiders continue their conflict with Ra's al Ghul. It is written by Bryan Hill and illustrated by Dexter Soy, and covers *Batman & The Outsiders* #8-12.

## Plot

*Issue #8*

The burning plane carrying Black Lightning, Kaliber, Katana, and Babylon is descending towards a crash landing in Gotham. After revealing himself to be a double agent, Kaliber intends to kill everyone on-board in the crash so their bodies can be collected by Ra's' followers and resurrected as servants for The Demon. Breaking free of her Babylon brainwashing, Sofia tackles Kaliber and jettisons both of them out of the plane. To prevent the plane from crashing into Gotham, Black Lightning generates an electromagnetic bubble around him and Katana, blasting the plane to pieces and neutralizing the threat to the city. Black Lightning then uses the bubble to safely control his and Katana's descent while Batman retrieves Sofia from the water. Later, at Wayne Manor, Bruce talks with Jefferson about his crisis of faith after the recent death of Alfred Pennyworth, while Katana brings Sofia to the Bat-Cave to start her rehabilitation.

Elsewhere, Duke shows Cassandra that he can now absorb and redistribute shadow, a power opposite to the one he had before. they discuss Duke's new power and the potential consequences of Ishmael changing his metahuman abilities. Duke doesn't want to bring these new developments to Bruce until he understands this new power, fearing he'll try to protect him, while Cassandra questions Batman's motives for hiding Karma. Duke warns her that Ishmael and Ra's are trying to turn them against Bruce but she is also afraid of the implications of her mother's return. Duke reassures her that he won't let Shiva turn her into anything she doesn't wanna be, and that they will stop her together. Meanwhile, Ra's al Ghul discusses with Lady Shiva his plan to destroy the Outsiders by destroying their faith in Batman. Now, after changing the power of Duke and making Cassandra encounter her mother once again, the Demon enacts the next phase of his plan: detonating a bomb inside Jefferson's school in Metropolis and killing one of Jeff's co-workers.

*Issue #9*

Jefferson returns to Metropolis following Ra's' attack and views the body of Tina McClintock, his colleague and close friend that was killed in the attack. Batman arrives to comfort him, asking Jefferson to let him and the Outsiders handle things while he takes time to heal. Batman also warns him that this is another one of Ra's al Ghul's tactics, trying to push him to give-in to the darkest parts of himself. Jefferson is too angry to heed Batman's warning, wanting to kill Ra's himself, but Batman says that he can't let that happen. He tells Batman that it's not his choice to make, electing to quit the Outsiders and hand over leadership to Katana. Outside, he finds Tatsu and tells her his choice. The two talk it out and Tatsu is able to convince him to stay with the team, but Jefferson still feels he needs time alone before returning to Gotham. Tatsu escorts Jefferson to his hotel room before taking her leave and inside Jeff finds an unexpected guest: Lady Shiva. She tells Jefferson that Ra's brought her back to life but her will is her own, and she offers him the chance to stop Ra's al Ghul together.

Meanwhile in Gotham, Signal and Orphan strike out on their own to test out Duke's new powers on the streets of Gotham. Just as they take a criminal down, Batman arrives and finds them conducting their secret field test. Shortly after, out of costume, Cass and Duke come clean to Bruce about the resurrection of Lady Shiva and their encounter with Ishmael. Bruce scolds them, telling them they've told him about Shiva sooner, that they should stop and think before moving again, and that Ra's is trying to change them. He tells Duke not to trust these new powers he's received from Ishmael and that they should be more afraid of Shiva's return, as she wants to push Cass to become a killer like her. Cassandra's protests and tells him that she will never become like her mother. Just then, Superman appears and asks Duke and Cassandra if he could speak with Bruce alone, so the two leave. Duke reassures Cass that he would never doubt her, telling her maybe it's time they stop trying to live up to Batman's expectations and start doing things their own way.

*Issue #10*

At Katana's home in Gotham, Tatsu, Duke and Cass realize it's been 30 hours since they've seen or heard from Jefferson and they resolve to track down his whereabouts. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne contacts a journalist for information on the current state of the Markovian black market. She tells him that apparently, under the orders of someone else, Kaliber took over the empire of a high profile weapons dealer in Markovia named Martina Dementieva. Dementieva dealt in alien technology and allegedly had access to an extraterrestrial doomsday weapon she refused to sell to anybody. Once Kaliber rose to power on the black market, Dementieva's assets were liquidated and she went on the run, with the weapon falling in the hands of an unknown party. Bruce pays the journalist twice their arranged price for the information to forget the story and pretend he never told her to dig into anything.

Meanwhile Lady Shiva has taken Jefferson to Cambodia and promises to deliver him Ishmael, revealing he's who Ra's had carry out the killing of Tina McClintock. Jefferson is skeptical about Shiva wanting to help him but Shiva tells him her faith is not in Ra's and what she truly wants is for Jefferson to be the bridge for reconciling with her daughter. While Jefferson does not think he'll ever be able to help Shiva get back into Cassandra's life but still agrees to listens to her plans in Cambodia. Shiva has them shadowing Martina Dementieva, whom Ra's is seeking to have killed to hid details on the weapon he seeks to acquire. They must protect her long enough that they can extract that information for themselves. Shiva then kills one of Martina's bodyguards and moves to capture the weapons dealer. In the chase, Kaliber arrives, alongside Ishmael and Karma, and kills Dementieva. Shiva and Jefferson prepare to clash with the villains but, just then, the rest of the Outsiders arrive to even the odds.

*Issue #11*

Back n Gotham, in the Bat-cave, Sofia and Batman come to an agreement on her future. She wants to make everything that's happened to her something and wants to defeat Ra's for her peace of mind. Batman tells her the thing that makes Ra's more dangerous than most is, just like Batman himself, he wants the world to follow his vision and will never stop until he's achieved he sees. Batman brings Sofia to a room full of weapons and armors and tell her to stay there, alone, and choose what talks to her. What she chooses will determine her image, her symbol and name, so that when Ra's next sees her, he and world will see what she's truly about. Batman then regretfully warns her that her first steps will have to be facing down Armageddon.

Meanwhile, in Cambodia, the Outsiders clash with Ra's al Ghul's lieutenants: Jefferson teams up with Shiva against Ishmael, Signal and Orphan face Karma, now free and provided a new helmet by Ra's, and Katana targets Kaliber. one by one The Outsiders defeat their respective opponents. With Ishmael defeated and at his mercy, Shiva asks Jeff if he is willing to kill the villain like he claimed he wanted to. Jefferson chooses to spare Ishmael's life so he can lead the team to Ra's. Signal and Orphan put the finishing blows on Karma and notice Shiva and Jefferson working together. Signal questions if she can be trusted and Orphan answers that Shiva can only be trusted to be what she always is. Surrounded by the Outsiders, and at the mercy of Katana's blade, Kaliber triggers a series of explosions in a local Cambodian city and escapes as the team provides rescue aid. Lady Shiva tells her daughter that she disapproves of her working under Batman, but she loves her and wants to fight for her cause; joining the Outsiders.

*Issue #12*

After returning to Gotham, The Outsiders meet with Batman in the Bat-cave to discuss Ra's al Ghul's plans. He informs the rest of the team that Ra's looks to acquire a dangerous weapon of interstellar origins in order to bend the world to his will. Shiva knows where he is and they tell the team that it's time to take the fight to Ra's. Batman also introduces Sofia, in new battle armor, as the newest member of The Outsiders. After the meeting, Bruce and Black Lightning meet in front of Alfred's grave and Jefferson tells him that after this battle he will have to shape the team by himself, away from the Batman's shadow. Elsewhere on the Wayne estate, Shiva tries to convince to Cassandra that all she wants is to stop Ra's al Ghul and see Cassandra be more than one of Batman's soldiers.

The next day the team travels to the White Sand desert in Markovia and track down the crashed space ship that housed the doomsday tech Ra's been after. Inside they find Kaliber and Karma dead, as they were no longer useful to the Demon, with Ishmael left alive long enough to deliver a message from Ra's. Ra's appears on a hologram display and tells Batman and The Outsiders that he now has the power to control forces of the earth itself, demonstrating his powers by using his weapon to destroy the village where Shiva was born to punish her for treason. Ra's tells Batman he will keep destroying more villages, and more cities, and maybe even Gotham or Metropolis. He offers to stop, but only if Batman delivers Duke, Cassandra and Sofia to him and Jefferson kills Lady Shiva. Batman is furious, and Shiva is distraught and the death of the innocent in her village, but Jeff tells them they will find a way to get the upper hand on the Demon.

## **Featured**

**Characters:**

* Batman
* The Outsiders
	+ Signal
	+ Black Lightning
	+ Katana
	+ Orphan
	+ Sofia Ramos

**Other Characters:**

* Lady Shiva
* Superman
* Alfred Pennyworth

**Antagonists:**

* Ra's al Ghul
	+ League of Assassins
* Ishmael
* Kaliber
* Karma

**Locations:**

* Gotham City
	+ Wayne Manor
	+ Batcave
* Metropolis

## Continuity

* The symbol seen in the sky at the beginning of this book is a reference to the *Year of the Villain* event.
* The death of Alfred is referenced a few times in this storyline. This death took place in *Batman #77*, part of the *City of Bane* storyline.
* Batman alludes to Superman recently revealing his identity to the world, which place in *Superman: The Truth Revealed*.
* Lady Shiva mentions her death at the hands of Ra’s Al Ghul, which took place in *Detective Comics #956*.