Robin (Volume 3) Issue 2

"The Beast"
As Robin is faced with the threat of KGBeast, he fears for his life. He realizes that while he has not faced the KGBeast before, the beast has met Robin before. KGBeast easily snaps Robin's Battle Staff in two, and just as he prepares to shoot the boy wonder down, Mr. Dzerchenko fires a shotgun blast into his shoulder. The beast retaliates with a fatal shot, to Ariana's horror.

The thugs begin to escape in their car with Ariana as a hostage. Robin gives chase, breaking a paint-bomb on the windshield and forcing the vehicle to stop. Angrily, KGBeast gets out of the car, and commandeers a public transit bus, dragging Ariana with him. Before he can do much to stop them, Robin is suddenly faced with the Ghost Dragons gang, led by Lynx. They fight, and Robin is too outnumbered to withstand their attacks. Fortunately, he is saved by Huntress. Together, they repel the gang, despite Huntress' displeasure that Batman has never told Robin about her.

As it turns out, Robin and Huntress are on the trail of the same organization: The Hammer - a KGB covert group that has gone criminal since the collapse of the USSR. Interestingly, Mr. Dzerchenko was a printer, and the Russian mobsters Huntress was tailing are dealing in some kind of paper. They agree to work together, allowing her to catch the bad guys and him to save Ariana, without Batman's knowledge. Meanwhile, Lynx returns to her master, King Snake. King Snake's interest is peaked when he hears that Robin was saved by a woman. He resolves to increase his resolve and marshal his forces to increase the Ghost Dragons' presence in Gotham. The commissar is angered by KGBeast's decision to kill Mr. Dzerchenko when they needed his services, while drawing the attention of Gotham City's vigilantes, but he is pleased to hear that Tony Bressi has accepted their terms. With her father dead, the commissar orders his men to kill Ariana.

The next morning at school, Tim wonders what the KGB wants with tear-proof paper, but he is soon called away to talk to the school counsellor, Ms. Hollingsworth. Over the course of their discussion, it becomes clear that she and his father Jack suspect that Bruce Wayne has been beating Tim up, given his bruises and the amount of time they spend together. Tim struggles to come up with an alternative explanation.

Individuals

 * Tim Drake
 * Huntress
 * King Snake
 * Lynx
 * Ariana Dzerchenko
 * KGBeast

Locations

 * Gotham City

Items

 * Robin's Battle Staff