On Christmas Eve, Batman intervenes in a jailbreak at Blackgate Penitentiary led by Black Mask, who executes Police Commissioner Loeb and escapes. Left to battle the hired assassin Killer Croc, Batman prevails but learns that Croc is the first of eight of the world's deadliest assassins in Gotham City vying to claim a $50 million bounty placed on Batman's head by Black Mask. Hoping to learn Black Mask's location, Batman tracks the Penguin to his ship. There, he defeats the assassins Deathstroke and Electrocutioner and learns from the Penguin that Black Mask was purportedly murdered at an apartment complex. Batman investigates the murder scene, learning that the victim was not Black Mask and that the murder may have involved a criminal known as "the Joker".
