Story: "The Hunt for Oracle, Part 1: To the Slaughter" (22 Pages)

Credits:

Chuck Dixon (plot, script)
Greg Land (pencils)
Jose Marzan Jr. (inks)
John Costanza (letters)
Patricia Mulvihill (colors)
Jamison (color seperations)
Bob Schreck (edits)

Feature Character:

Nightwing (next in Birds of Prey #20)

Guest Star:

Black Canary II (in between Birds of Prey #19 and #20)

Supporting Characters:

Oracle (in between Birds of Prey #19 and #20)
Nite-Wing
Cisco Blaine (revealed to be an undercover federal agent in this story; both next in Birds of Prey #20)

Villains:

Blockbuster II
Lady Vic
Brutale (all three last in Birds of Prey #19)
Mouse
Giz (both last in Catwoman Vol. 2 #??; all six next in Birds of Prey #20)
Gillian
Giles (first appearance of both; both die; both next, deceased, in Birds of Prey #20)
Grimm
Butchie (first appearance; one of Blockbuster's men)

Synopsis:

In an effort to discover Oracle's identity in order to force her to deliver the location of Gorilla City to him, Blockbuster has Nightwing tortured by the sadistic Giles and Gillian. He has also sent agents after Black Canary, but she is able to stay one step ahead of them in the Latin American jungles. In the event that neither of these methods is effective, he has also employed two top hackers, Mouse and Giz, to try and trace Oracle's on-line activities.

Oracle leaves the clocktower in order to be harder to find, just as Blockbuster has his first breakthrough. He orders his henchman Cisco Blaine to remain behind as he, Mouse and Giz go on the road in search of Oracle. Nightwing does not crack under the truth serums and other weirdness inflicted by Giles and Gillian and is surprised to find Blaine come to his rescue. It turns out that Blaine is an FBI agent, who has now broken his cover because he believes that Nightwing has important information which may be able to bring down Blockbuster.