Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #132 (2000)

Colonel Brass packs to leave his post in the Middle East where he has been training soldiers on behalf of a dictator. His contract expired at 0900 that morning, and he isn't interested in staying to fight those same soldiers, who have now become rebels and are about to take the city. The dictator orders the men still loyal to him to kill Brass, but he is prepared. He summons a helicopter, which flies up behind him and begins firing, killing the soldiers. The pilot, Nightbird, tells him that Priest and the cowboys have secured the dictator's escape craft, but with the rebels moving in, it isn't a long-term proposition. Brass says little is these days. It fills his mind with thoughts of home. As he speaks, the dictator sneaks up behind Brass, but Brass slashes his throat. Batman is on patrol in Gotham City. He foils an attempted execution of a mobster by a rival gang before heading back to the Wayne Foundation. He changes and goes into the penthouse where he discovers Alfred is missing. Alfred Pennyworth is visiting the abandoned Wayne Manor. He stares up at the portrait of Thomas and Martha Wayne before covering it up. He then does the same for a portrait of Thomas's father Jack Wayne. He then leaves the manor. Colonel Brass and Nightbird are staying in the Hotel Metropolis. He has a picture of Wayne Manor in hand, and she asks him if he's considering buying the place now that they've closed it up. He isn't. His interest in Wayne Manor runs much deeper than buying or selling. He tells her to burn the photograph while he dresses up for his meeting. Oates and Struthers--"the Cowboys"--are meanwhile cleaning up a crime scene to frame the Skulls, a rival gang, while debating Western movies. They finish up and drive away to commit a drive-by shooting against the Demons, which will look like payback for the Skulls' supposed attack. Priest is threatening a mob bookkeeper inside the syndicate collection point after killing the mob soldiers protecting him. Once the bookkeeper tosses the money to him, he will pull the pin on the grenade. The bookkeeper can then grab Priest's knife and try to fight his way out. The bookkeeper tosses him the bag. After a moment, Priest walks out of the exploding building with the bag. The bookkeeper is nowhere in site. He tells Colonel Brass that this city is poor hunting grounds for a worthy foe. Batman is in the city prison, quelling a riot. The authorities have "contained" the riot by pulling out the guards and leaving the prisoners to fight each other before the guards release knockout gas. He heads into the security wing where he finds the mobster he rescued the other night dead and hanging from the ceiling by a rope tied around his ankles. Batman meets Commissioner Gordon at the docks where he tells him the riot was instigated to silence the mobster. Batman is shocked that Gordon seems so cavalier about the ensuing gang war, but Gordon's mind is on the car being dragged out of the water. There was a drive-by shooting last night. Teenagers were killed. Inside the car, Merkel finds a cloth in Demons colors, and since the drivers shot at Skulls, that means there will be two gang wars. Colonel Brass is having dinner in stuffiest restaurant in Metropolis with Silver St. Cloud. She marvels at his influence keeping the restaurant open past closing and getting them to serve a dessert not on the menu, but she can't accept the job he is offering her. She likes the challenge of the job, though she personally disapproves of his business, but she can't go back to Gotham. It has painful associations for her. He takes that as a challenge to change her mind. As they leave the restaurant, Silver asks Brass if she's an appealing woman. He responds, "And then some." On the street, she tells him she's going to get a taxi because it's never too soon to begin planning... if she's going to accept his offer. Colonel Brass gets into his car and takes off his wig before pulling out a tabloid photo of Silver out with Bruce Wayne. He tells the driver to take him back to the hotel. A soldier can rest for tomorrow's action. Bruce is working out in the penthouse when Alfred returns from his errand to the manor. Bruce says they need to settle into the Wayne Foundation because it's their home now, but Alfred can't bring himself to consider the penthouse home. Bruce argues that the penthouse is more convenient for his activities as Batman. He knows what that museum means to Alfred, but... Alfred cuts him off. Does Bruce know what Wayne Manor means to him? At the Valeside Armory in Metropolis, Colonel Brass tells his followers his plan: He has hired Silver St. Cloud to plan a convention for mercenaries. Their line of work is dying out, but with this convention, they can assemble and supply an army that will lay siege to Gotham, loot and gut it, and be gone in one last grand gesture, after which they can retire in style.