Well, here we are! The finale of my look back at the “Batman: Sword of Azrael” miniseries is here at last! And just in time for Thanksgiving too. So, when you’re stressed out from trying to get along with relatives you’ve hardly met (And some you wish you hadn’t met period!) this holiday season, why not grab yourself a turkey leg, sit back, and read my entertaining article? I’ll be back with another bit of my writing to save you Unspokenites from the horrors of Christmas next. Promise.

Armed men with savage guard dogs approached Azrael with violence in their eyes! They order the Avenging Angel to freeze as they run up to him. He does not. When the first man’s dog gets close enough, it’s quickly beheaded by the blazing blade from Azrael’s gauntlet! His owner runs to the animal’s corpse, but is stabbed by the same weapon through the chest! Alfred leaves the safety of the vehicle, pleading that this bloody violence is not needed. Nomoz verbally disagrees, in obvious appreciation of the grisly scene. Five more thugs and another guard dog encircle Azrael. Just as they close in, Azrael fires the firey blade as a projectile at one man, skewers him through the chest and into a tree! The rest are slain just as brutally and efficiently. They were hardly a threat at all to the new avenger for the Order of Saint Dumas. (For those of you saddened by the murder of the puppy, keep in mind that even Batman is a “cat person”. I mean, look at his love life. Ha! Little Catwoman joke there.) Azrael suddenly spies movement inside the mansion’s nearby greenhouse.

Garbed in Batman’s costume, LeHah stands over the body of the owner of this expensive estate. There is zero doubt in Azrael’s mind that this killer is not Bruce Wayne as he crashes through the greenhouse glass, weapons at the ready! (Could it possibly be the rather enormous bat-gut that’s protruding from under the infamous vigilante’s costume? Just a thought.) He pauses to look over the body but it’s a moment too long as LeHah attempts an escape! He leaps into a running car and speeds off! Nomoz roars that their prey is getting away! Azrael runs and leaps atop the racing vehicle, but is eventually thrown off due to a combination of LeHah’s erratic driving along with the positioning of an unseen tree branch. The murderer escapes this time. Later, as the young man’s injuries are bound, Alfred asks why he killed those men. Azrael answers that once the mask was in place, he became another person entirely. Nomoz chooses this moment to chastise the youth for letting his prey escape with his wretched life. The argument is halted, however, when Azrael suggests that this matter should be explored at a later time and that now is the time to find and rescue Bruce Wayne. The trio agrees. upon this at least.

After a bit of deduction and detective work, Azrael concludes that LeHah must be holding Bruce within his own oil refinery in Texas. Alfred agrees. A short time later, inside the aforementioned building, LeHah does in fact taunt a restrained and unmasked Dark Knight. Bruce finally speaks out about the madman wearing his costume. Wouldn’t his demon lord, Biis, be jealous that LeHah new wears the mantle of another man? A man that serves an even darker and more powerful demon? This ploy does seem to get to LeHah. Bruce has gotten inside this monster’s head it seems. LeHah turns with a heated knife! He will torture Wayne to death to honor his demonic master! This will atone for his act of disrespect. (Well, when you play with fire, there’s a chance you’re gonna get burned. I tried the same exact scheme with my dentist. I ended up with a root canal anyway. Sadistic bastard.) But, all is not lost. Azrael and his two companions are there. But before Azrael can don his mask, Alfred pleads that this dark avenger find another way to stop LeHah that doesn’t involve more killing. The young man says very little in reply. But before rushing into battle, Alfred asks the youth his true name. After a pause, he admits that he can’t remember.

After Azrael slices through a chain-link fence like melted butter, the trio approaches extremely thick metal doors that lead inside. Even Azrael’s heated blades would do little damage to them. Alfred examines the doors more thoroughly and determines that a power failure would be their only hope of entrance. Inside, the maniacal LeHah grins as he walks slowly towards the captive Bruce Wayne, weapon in hand! He then charges! But even an injured Batman is way too quick for this clumsy attack and brings both of his legs up into a mighty kick into the villain’s solar plexus! This not only knocks the wind out of him, but sends the blade flying just out of reach! Just then, as if Saint Dumas himself has intervened from beyond the grave, lightning strikes, creating a complete power outage through the large building! LeHah scrambles for his knife! He finds it and lunges! But Wayne kicks it out of his hand and now way too far out of reach in the pure darkness to be a threat anymore! But LeHah won’t surrender just yet! He pulls a handgun and aims it to Bruce’s temple! (Is anyone else biting their fingernails at this part? I know I am! Hell, I’m biting my toenails too! Come on, Azrael!)

The Avenging Angel them makes his presence known with a firey entrance! LeHah exclaims that he’s killed Azrael before, he can do so again! He fires at the anti-hero, but his bullets merely ricochet off of Azrael’s armor, hitting the pipes that are filled with highly flammable oil instead! The explosions are immediate! Flames engulf the factory! Azrael walks past the injured villain, instead rescuing a barely standing Bruce Wayne! Batman uses the last of his strength to tell Azrael that his costume is fireproof before passing out. Azrael takes the hint and wraps Bruce inside of his own cape before he, Nomoz and Alfred barely escape the inferno with their lives! Outside, Nomoz once again roars his disappointment at the Avenging Angel. Azrael removes his mask as he looks off in the distance. He replies that he is no angel. He is a man. And his name is Jean-Paul Valley.

End.

Greetings, Unspokenites and welcome back to the site. You know, it occurred to me that it’s been awhile since we sat down and chatted about what’s going on with me. You see, in a matter of weeks, my first grandchild will be born. Exciting, huh? The only problem is…..the stubborn child seems to be quite content with just living in the womb forever!!! Alas, I’m done venting…..for now. This article’s dedicated to you, Lillian Miller. You’re not even officially here yet, and I’d battle Thanos himself for you. (P.S. I know you don’t get my comic book reference yet, but I plan to remedy that A.S.A.P. as I teach you the ways of the nerd.) Anyway, hopefully when I write all of you next, I’ll be Grandpa Symbifan! But for now, back to Azrael…..

The blazing helicopter of Bruce Wayne plummeted uncontrollably into the cabin below! The result was explosive to say the least! What was left of the aircraft then rolled down a snowy hill, crashing into a large pine tree. This stopped the firey vehicle’s momentum. Bruce and Alfred both momentarily lost consciousness as they hung upside down by their safety belts. Alfred was the last to awaken. It had only been a few seconds, but in that amount of time, Bruce had deduced that the shimmer of light that he had spied and the ensuing explosion had been caused by a small rocket launcher. And if he didn’t miss his guess, LeHah was directly involved. Alfred asked about the cabin’s occupants. Bruce replied that their survival was next to impossible. (This is why I keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. With all of my enemies, this is all a definite possibility. What? Who’s exaggerating? Blogging is a dangerous biz, peeps!)

Meanwhile, below the very spot where the cabin once stood, the young man and his dwarven associate stand within a highly reinforced fallout shelter! (Wait a minute here! Let’s take a moment to reflect on the fact that Batman was just wrong! I now return you to the article, already in progress.) The new Azrael wonders aloud who might do this. But his thought is interrupted by a deafening sound from above. As he listens, so do Bruce and Alfred. The assassins look up and see the cause of the noise as they’re nearly buried alive by a massive avalanche! Bruce Wayne and Alfred escape their wreckage unscathed and Bruce fashions them snow shoes from odds and ends. As they walk away, they wonder about the attackers. They seemed to have reached their own helicopter in time, but whether or not they escaped the onslaught of snow was another story. But they did live. Just barely. One of the two, LeHah himself, now sits with his accomplice in the open air, looking at the smoking ruins of their aircraft. LeHah claims to the other man that he saw a face as they struggled to survive. He uttered a name as they were sure to die, Biis. And just like that, they leveled off enough for a crash landing.

LeHah continues to recount the tale, but the other man questions him as to why. He was there for every bit of it after all. But LeHah continues to speak until it becomes clear that he isn’t talking to the man at all. He speaks to this Biis. It seems that Biis would like LeHah to be his servant, but first he must prove himself. Before the other man can move to defend himself, LeHah uses a quickly drawn machete to sever his partner’s head! At that moment, Bruce and Alfred continue their slow trek through the snow. Alfred suddenly stops. He questions his employer and friend as to what they’re to do next. Civilization is too far off to reach before nightfall and surely they’ll freeze before they arrive. Bruce hands his own coat back to Alfred and instructs him to wear it over his own. He will wear only his Batman costume to combat the cold as it contains its own heating system. (What an ass! Alfred was freezing this whole time, and Batman’s warm and comfy in his coat and heated tights?! It just goes to show you what kind of hero the Dark Knight is. Damn!) That’s when the earth below their feet began to rumble once again! But this time, a literal wall of flames erupt from the snow before them!

Batman and Alfred barely have time to shield their eyes before a hovercraft bursts from the inferno! Batman leaps into the air without hesitation and grabs hold of the craft! Inside, Nomoz looks to Azrael and orders him to armor up and get rid of their little stowaway. The boy refuses at first, but Nomoz’s grim orders finally win out and Azrael completes his armor set by donning his mask! He then leaps outside through a hatch and attacks the Batman! Fists are thrown by both parties but to no avail! They seem evenly matched. They leap from the vehicle and continue their brawl in the snow. Batman attempts to talk sense into Azrael, but is instead met with a punch that sends the Dark Knight staggering! Batman vows that he won’t allow another strike to land. He begins to pummel the Avenging Angel! Seeing this, the dwarf bellows for Azrael to use his flaming sword! Without complaint, the weapon is drawn! He strikes, but Batman uses his cape to seize the blade and pull it from his attacker’s grasp! He then uses the momentum to hurl it far from both men! Alfred cries out for Batman to dodge quickly! The dark hero attempts to do this, but too slow. The hovercraft rams him in the spine from behind as it stops just long enough to pick up the stunned Azrael and then shoot off into the sky! (Bet you didn’t think you’d read about a dwarf flying a hovercraft when you woke up this morning! Surprised ya there, huh?)

After the hovercraft is far from sight, Batman rises from the snow. Though he’s a bit sore, he’s okay. His armor took the brunt of the attack. With Alfred at his side, he slides down into the fallout shelter to look for clues. Miles away, Nomoz grins. He tells Azrael that they have the Bat right where they want him. Confused, Azrael asks why it would be a good thing to have him in their lair. Nomoz replies as he lifts an explosive trigger that the place is wired to explode at the mere touch of a button! Elsewhere, LeHah grins as he applies facepaint in a mirror within his fancy hotel room. He then dons strange, medieval-looking armor. It is decided. He would now serve his dark lord, Biis, by eliminating Azrael once and for all! By this time, Nomoz and the young Azrael are settled into their own rooms within a rather old-looking mansion. Azrael has in this small amount of time constructed new, more high-tech armor. Blades now spring from gauntlets with the flick of the wrist and the armor itself is light and highly flexible for hand-to-hand combat. The dwarf looks pleased. (He created new armor in that short amount of time? Hell, it takes me longer in the bathroom. What? I’m old!)

Azrael asks more about the Order of Saint Dumas. Nomoz answers that those of the Order had become very wealthy by the end of the crusades. They would use this fortune for whatever good causes they found. But if they were betrayed, they would send Azrael to punish their enemies. One of these enemies was LeHah. LeHah had stolen money from the Order’s Swiss bank accounts and used the money to create an arms dealing operation for himself. That’s when Azrael’s father had been sent out. Unfortunately, LeHah had been ready and the former Azrael had perished. (The next scene was omitted because it served little point to the plot. It’s just LeHah standing naked, with facepaint on, vowing to serve the demon lord, Biis. But if you wanna see his old man buns for yourself, feel free to find this issue online. Ugh! Shudder…..) Meanwhile, Batman has discovered information in the hidden bomb shelter on the Order. That, and he has also discovered a loose wire dangling overhead. It was connected to the explosives all around them! It must’ve pulled loose when the hovercraft lifted off.

Nomoz looks to the new Angel of Vengeance and tells him that LeHah had been their treasurer and as such, knows the whereabouts of not only every single bank account, but every member themselves! The dwarf had called the nearest Order member to be ready for an attack. It turned out that he had been suffering from an illness in a nearby hospital. They should leave immediately. Nomoz had been correct. LeHah was in fact planning to assassinate all members of the Order of St. Dumas in tribute to the demon, Biis! Later, at the hospital in question, Azrael readies himself to protect this follower of the Order. Nomoz corrects the young man. Azrael is meant to avenge, not to protect. But this conversation is cut short as they enter the hospital room. Azrael hears screams within and kicks the door open. LeHah stands in full armor as he murders the nurse with a large rifle! Next is the Order member! He then turns his attention to Azrael and Nomoz! Nomoz orders Azrael to protect himself with his armor. But it’s all too late. Azrael can only clutch the duffle bag containing his armor. The gunshots hit him, knocking him through the glass window! Azrael lies in the alleyway below, smoke rising from his limp form!

To be continued…..