Chapter Seven:
Talia al Ghul
1
After a maddening night of dead-end investigations, Bruce Wayne found he was no closer to determining the whereabouts of Akihiko Kayaba then when he had first stepped off his private jet over fourteen hours ago.
Back in Gotham, Barbara Gordon had apparently fared no better. Even with her high-level access to the Argus servers, the possible whereabouts of the mysterious Mr. Kayaba had remained a mystery. Oracle had only managed to produce a few stale leads which were long shots at best.
The man had simply disappeared.
Frustrated and exhausted, Batman called it a night. His next step would be the American Embassy and then the local Police Precinct in the morning while Barbara would continue gathering more information about the Cardinal system which hosted the Sword Art Online game. As Nightwing, Dick would be taking care of any local emergencies in Gotham and Alfred had already lined up the doctors, nurses and life support equipment to be installed in Damian's room.
In Japan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had just announced their intention to form a special SAO Incident Victims Rescue Force which would accept volunteers to begin transferring the ten thousand affected players to local hospitals where they would be cared for until the crisis was resolved. The government was also launching a criminal investigation into Argus Corporation and its employees were currently being questioned.
It seemed like everyone had done all that they could, but none of them were any closer to solving Kayaba's deadly puzzle.
Getting what little sleep he could back at the hotel, Bruce soon awoke and alerted the American Embassy in Japan as to his son's predicament, seeking their assistance in obtaining additional information. He then informed the Justice League that he would be unavailable for missions until further notice.
After a quick shower and breakfast, the CEO from Gotham then made his way back to the Police Station in Tokyo where he'd dropped off Ukyou Oshiro only hours before.
It was a long shot, but Bruce had hoped that she may have recalled some other detail regarding the case. He was politely informed that all Argus managers were being detained for at least another twenty-four hours before their bail amounts would even be considered.
With apologies, they were currently allowing no visitors.
Well, this was going nowhere fast.
Back in his car, Barbara's status still showed offline - which likely meant she was asleep. And without any subsequent leads from Oracle, his next step would be to visit the Argus Corporation Head Quarters or Akihiko Kayaba's private residence and look for clues.
But not dressed like this.
If Bruce Wayne couldn't get any answers, maybe Batman could.
After having made his way back to the penthouse suite of the Imperial Hotel through mid-morning traffic, the sharp-eyed Detective immediately had the sensation that something was wrong even before his private elevator doors opened…
He wasn't alone.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
Cautiously stepping through the shadows and preparing himself for a confrontation, Bruce made his way through the front room and soon spotted the unexpected visitor on his balcony, her bare back turned to him as she stood looking out over Tokyo's crowded skyline with a crimson glass of wine cupped in her delicate hand. Her perfect body was draped in a flowing white dress which fluttered in the cold November breeze, as though it was frolicking with the wisps of her long brown hair blown across her back.
Talia al Ghul.
"You have a lovely view from here, beloved... The pinnacle of mankind's vast creation seems to be almost at your fingertips from this high perch."
Bruce gazed in wonder as she turned around, a thick jade necklace tightly hugging her slender neck. The daughter of Ra's al Ghul was just as beautiful as the first moment he had first laid eyes on her twelve long years ago.
"Talia… I assume you've heard about Damian then?"
"Of course. I have come to offer you my assistance."
"Then do you know where Akihiko Kayaba is? Tell me!"
Bruce felt the point of something cold and sharp gently push against the back of his neck as he froze in his tracks. His eyes carefully drifted to a darkened mirror beside him on the wall, making out the unmistakable figure of Lady Shiva - the League's principal assassin and Talia's personal bodyguard – as she held the tip of a sword against the nape of his neck.
A cold shiver ran down his spine as the female assassin glanced back at his reflection in the mirror and winked. She had no intentions of hurting him, only ensuring he remained calm in the presence of her mistress.
As Batman, he'd had the dubious honour of fighting Lady Shiva three times in the past when it had never been a question of defeating her, but rather a matter of survival. Shiva was widely acknowledged as the world's deadliest martial artist, able to predict her opponent's moves before they even had a chance to use them.
Talia stared pensively into the dark liquid of her wine as she waved off her personal bodyguard.
"I do have a few ideas where he might be… If I did not have my own pressing business to attend to, I would be personally overseeing his torture instead of enjoying this excellent vintage of Échezeaux and your company, dearest."
"Talia, he has to be kept alive… He holds the key to Damian's release."
"Does he?"
"And thousands of other lives as well… Talia, please… Let me handle this."
Bruce stood transfixed as the sultry Talia al Ghul walked slowly towards him, a vision of exotic beauty and grace who gently placed her hand over his beating heart while the secrets swirling beneath the haze of her smouldering green eyes remained as mysterious to him as ever.
"You're requesting that I leave this with you, beloved? To trust you? Like I trusted you with our son?"
She then rested her head against his broad chest as he felt the incredible warmth of her, even as her soft-spoken words severed his wounded pride. Yet as difficult as it was to hear, it was the truth. Damian had been in his care when this tragedy had happened.
"I'll save him."
"Perhaps… But have you not considered the other option?"
Although Bruce had never wanted to admit it, there was another way to free Damian from the NerveGear's clutches which involved killing him outright and then using the Lazarus Pit to resurrect him, the mystical green pool of bubbling elixir which had been used to revive Ra's al Ghul for generations which could also be used to resurrect his grandson.
But over the years, Batman had discovered that there was a heavy price for this so-called miracle.
With each use, its bubbling waters seemed to strip away another layer of humanity. Ra's had only grown more evil each time he'd emerged from its murky depths, more deadly and more fraught with madness in each of their subsequent battles.
What would it do to their eleven-year-old son?
"Talia, no…"
She fixed him with an agonizing stare as her hands gently rested on his chest.
"It pains me to consider it as well… Surely you must have wondered why I've not yet resurrected my father, Detective... The dutiful daughter who had lived solely for the sake of her immortal patriarch... Do you have any idea of how painful it has been for me over the years to watch him descend deeper into madness with each new reincarnation until he craves nothing more than the complete annihilation of our own species?…
"As a mother, I can no longer support his aspirations of genocide… The Lazarus Pit has slowly been corrupted with humanity's madness, my love… A symptom of our dying world…
"You know this as well as I…
"Ra's al Ghul must finally rest in the peace while I must assume my birthright… And in time, our son too shall assume his birthright from me… But even though we are both aware of its inherent evil, I swear to you that no power on Earth will stop me from resurrecting our son should Kayaba's infernal device take Damian's life and steal his destiny."
The mother of his child paused and then drew a deep sigh before she continued.
"Alright, my destined… I shall allow you to continue your investigation for our son's captor and secure Damian's release… At least until I conclude my own dealings… But… Only on the condition that you shall willingly return Damian to me should the worst come to pass."
"It won't come to that."
"But if it does?"
"Then… I will."
Her lips were soft and warm as she kissed him. In a different lifetime, Bruce knew he would have stayed with her forever if only to taste of those perfect lips.
"Then it is decided… I leave this to you, Beloved… Oh, and one last thing, my betrothed… I see you've recently returned from the same Police detachment where Miss Oshiro is being detained… Please be aware that if that little Japanese whore ever lays one delicate finger upon your sacred flesh, the next time she happens to fall off a bridge, it will be far too late to save her... I trust I've made myself clear on this matter?"
"Quite."
2
As Bruce Wayne quickly donned his costume in the privacy of the bedroom to become the Caped Crusader, Batman suddenly received an emergency call from Nightwing on his comm-link. His immediate thoughts were of Damian's condition and the promise he had just made to Talia.
"I'm here, Nightwing."
"Batman… We have a big problem… Oracle's servers have been hacked… All of our data over the past year has been compromised."
"Are we secure on this line now?"
"Yeah, but proceed with caution… Someone broke into Barbara's tower last autumn and installed spy software with a workaround patch to keep tabs on us… Luckily, Oracle built tracers into all her files and she's managed to track them down to a server on Infinity Island in the Caribbean Sea… But there's something else you should know."
"Go on."
"Cardinal just contacted us… The AI that runs the Sword Art Online game first texted my comm-link and then instant-messaged Oracle at her computer… It asked if we were boyfriend and girlfriend."
Batman paused for a moment, quietly pondering this information.
"Could Kayaba be taunting us?"
"I don't think so… I honestly believe that it was the AI responding to Oracle's attempts to hack into it from earlier today... Almost as if it were curious as to who was snooping around at its back door… And I'm afraid there's one more bit of bad news as well."
"Is Damian?…"
"No, he's still the same… We had a second breach less than an hour ago… All of Oracle's server data was dumped through the compromised port only moments before the Cardinal AI contacted us… Babs just traced those files to the arrays contained in the fifth level sub-basement of the Argus Corporation… The server where Sword Art Online is located."
"You're telling me that an AI hacked us?"
"And then inquired about my relationship status… Yes."
Batman slowly exhaled.
"Damn… I'll need a full report of the breach sent immediately… Make sure you confirm who sent you that text as well… I'm currently with Damian's mother… There's a chance Ra's al Ghul may be alive once again, so be careful… And one more thing, Nightwing."
"Yes?"
"Could you please inform Oracle that there's only one organization in the world who has servers located on Infinity Island… And that's the League of Shadows... It's where Talia positioned her headquarters for corporate espionage a decade ago... Which means I have a pretty good idea of who was behind that spy software… Batman out."
After he ended the call, Bruce stepped out of the bedroom as Batman and slowly turned his intense glare towards the self-satisfied Talia al Ghul as she calmly responded to his silent accusation, but only after finishing the glass of vintage wine.
"So, your little crippled friend has finally done some housekeeping in that dusty old tower of hers, has she?... A shame, she's been very useful to me… But surely you didn't expect me to turn over Damian to you without first installing a baby monitor?"
"I expected League spies, not a full-blown wiretap on my private communications network… You've jeopardized the safety of my entire team, Talia!... Cardinal broke in through your hack and compromised all of us!"
Talia's features suddenly darkened as she stroked her chin in deep thought.
"You are correct, your safety has indeed been jeopardized… So I will ask you once again to let go of your foolish pride and take your rightful place by my side... Join me, Beloved... Although I've made many enemies in doing so, I've created a League of Shadows that is worthy of you… Join me as my husband and I swear I shall protect all those you hold dear."
The old argument again… Ra's al Ghul had once decreed the Batman as his rightful heir and allowed Bruce Wayne the privilege of his daughter's hand in marriage, even if the Dark Knight had been unwilling to accept it.
And yet, Bruce had been the only gift Ra's had ever allowed his daughter.
"Talia, you know I can't do that."
Her fingertips softly traced the curve of his strong jaw line.
"You can if you wish it so… There is a new dawn shining just beyond the horizon that even your darkened wings must soon acknowledge… And that sun will rise whether you want it to or not, betrothed… Even you can not hold back the dawn forever."
"Right now I'm only worried about saving our son."
A seductive grin.
"Then I shall pass on one last bit of advice onto you before I take my leave… Have you never considered that a man's heart may be betrayed by his past loves?"
Bruce studied her carefully before he realized Talia's cryptic message.
"Akihiko Kayaba doesn't have any surviving family members or a girlfriend… Trust me, I've checked."
A dangerous smile spread across those full, luscious lips as she placed her fingertip over his lips.
"No current girlfriend… But he did have one in University… Her name is Rinko Koujiro and my sources have reported that she purchased an isolated property in the Okuchichibu mountain range just west of here only four years ago… While they were dating… Did you know that, Detective?"
"No."
"My information also reveals this property would have been far out of her family's price range at the time, even though she paid for it in cash… Do you suppose someone may have simply bought the property for her?"
"I'll need that address, Talia."
As she brought her own soft lips upwards, Bruce was helpless to stop his own from joining them in a passionate kiss while their arms encircled one another in a tight embrace.
The mother of his child, the daughter of his deadliest enemy and the woman he could never resist. They were from two different worlds but their passionate hearts were forever entwined beneath that same star which had shone so brightly in the night sky twelve years ago...
As they finally relinquished their passionate embrace, Talia looked up at him with a wicked grin.
"I've already taken the liberty of forwarding the file to your private account, heart of my heart… And do apologize to your little redheaded friend for me... I'm sure if your Miss Gordon is ever able to become a mother one day, she'll understand my indiscretion… We shall meet again, beloved."
