I OWN NOTHING FROM THIS GAME! ONLY TAYLOR AND DYLAN ARE MINE!

Chapter Nine

Lucky Son of a-

"You wish to become an assassin? Why should I trust this change of heart?"

Dylan watched the trio standing before him. Talia looked shocked as Batman held his firm, emotionless face. Taylor, on the other hand, looked like she was sad, mad, and lost all in one. Dylan understood what Bruce was doing, but it seemed that his sister's emotions were keeping her from putting two-and-two together. Normally he would have told his sister to calm down but he was too bored at the moment and needed some entertainment. After all, Bruce was smart. He could get himself out of the hole he had dug for himself, couldn't he?

Dylan hoped so.

"Are you prepared to take the Demon trials? You must show you are willing to take a life to save the world." Talia told him.

"I'm ready." The man answered her.

"Are you serious?" Taylor finally spoke, staring at the man before her.

She was ignored and Talia gave a smirk. "Let the trials commence." She clapped her hands and the floor opened a path before them. "The two of you can follow me, as companions of Bruce."

Taylor opened her mouth to reply but closed her mouth again. Dylan glanced at her. Her mind was raging over and over again, there was no doubt about it.

"Thousands of warriors have fallen in pursuit of the Demon. Would be successors have proven to be nothing more than children battling the enormity of creation." Talia told them.

"I've seen worse." Batman replied.

"Nothing can prepare you for what comes next. Destiny will decide your fate."

"I won't fail." Batman turned his head to glance back at Taylor. The moment that he looked back, she turned her face away from him, glancing off to the side. He felt a guilty feeling boiling in his stomach. He should try and talk to her before this continued on, but with Talia nearby there was no chance that he could. The woman had ears like a hawk.

"I have heard these words a hundred times. Let us hope you are correct." They were led through a line of women with swords towards a large door. "Your journey begins through this door."
"Let's get started." Batman went to walk forward, but Talia stopped him with a hand on his chest.

"Are you sure, Bruce? Only one man has passed this ordeal."

"Are you trying to talk me out of this?"

~I would be, but you wouldn't listen to me~ Taylor sighed to herself.

"Of course not. I just…I just want you to be certain. When the Blood of the Demon takes hold, you will be on your own."

"Like always." He commented. Taylor bit her lip.

Talia rolled her eyes. "Then may the spirits be kind."

Batman moved towards the door, his weakened state clear to all of them. Taylor felt like she was going to cry. "Bruce-" She took a few steps after him but paused when Talia threw a hand out to stop her. The man glanced back at her in silence and their eyes locked for a moment. His gaze responded to her unvoiced question.

I'll be fine.

She was still and silent for a moment after the door had closed but she slowly came to remember who it was that stood behind her. She turned to stare at the woman who had blacked her with her arm. Talia slowly dropped it and placed a hand on her hip, glancing between the brother and sister.

"So, would you like to tell me what the two of you are doing with Bruce?"

"Oh, we're just helping him out like we did with the Asylum." Dylan told her. He totally did not want a fight between the two women to break out at the moment. They had more shit to worry about at the moments then these two fighting over a man in black leather.

"In the Asylum?" Talia glanced back at Taylor. "You mean that you're the Detective that helped him?"

"And if I am?" Taylor shoved her hands in her pockets and turned from the woman, moving to lean against the wall and wait for the rest of this to start again.

Dylan, realizing that this was just going to get worse, decided to change the conversation. "So, what exactly is going on here? What is it that Bruce is doing?"

"Bruce is undergoing the Demon Trials," Talia replied, turning to him. "If…when he succeeds, he shall take my father's place and become leader of the League of Assassins…by my side…" Dylan glanced at his sister and saw her furrowed brow and frown. "But…what are the two of you doing here? Are you wishing the join the League as well?"

"Uh, no, thank you," Taylor replied. "We're not murderers, thank you."

Dylan sighed and hung his head. "This isn't helping, Taylor." She stayed silent as Talia just stared between the two of them before turning and walking back down the hall again. Not knowing what else to do, Dylan followed her, leaving his sister to move after him. She led them to another large door and the trio just stood there in silence, not really feeling the need to talk to the others there with them.

"Bruce," Dylan's voice made both women turn to see that Batman was pausing at the stairs beneath them. A look of relief passed over Taylor's face before it fell again. They were still in trouble.

"You did it." Talia cried.

"You sound surprised." The man replied.

"Of course not. I always had faith."

"Where's Ra's? I need to see him now. I'm running out of time." Batman told her.

"Your final challenge awaits you through this door. I pray the spirits will be kind." She glanced at the twins. "You two will wait out here."

"The hell I will!" Taylor growled, balling a fist. "How do I know that you and dear daddy aren't gonna kill him?!"

"I would never do that!" Talia glared at her.

"Yeah, well, don't forgive me if I don't believe you!"

Batman and Dylan shared a quiet look. ~We have to get out of here fast; before things get worse.~ Not wanting to let this continue, Dylan shoved the door open and let Batman lead the way in.

Ra's al Ghul was not what Taylor had truly been expecting. He was an old man, kneeling over a pool of some sort towards the back of the room, a bunch of machines and other objects scattered around it as a green glow floated from the pool.

"Ra's al Ghul." Batman called out.

"Father," Talia followed.

The man turned, using his large sword as a cane that helped him turn to look at the group. "Welcome, detective." He took a glance at the twins for a moment before retuning his gaze to the man in leather. "It is time for your final challenge. Kill me. Replace me as the Head of the Demon. It is your destiny."

"I will never kill," Batman replied. "Not even you."

Talia turned and glared at the man beside her. "What? You lied to me!"

"I needed a sample of your father's blood. This was the only way."

At his answer, Taylor felt her feelings fall and a small, sound of relief passed through her lips.

"Allow me to help you," Ra's decided to reply. He reached forward and stabbed his sword into the floor. "Use my sword. Take it all."

"No."

"And that is your final answer?" He gave a grin before spreading his arms out and falling backwards into the green pool.

"Oh, well, you know that's never good," Dylan commented, placing a hand on his hip.

"I wonder how bad this one's going to be," His sister sighed, shaking her head as she moved out of the way and took a seat on one of the machines. "You two tell me how this goes."

"Wait, what?" Dylan and Batman both glanced at her. "You're not going to help?"

"Nope," The woman replied. "I think that Brune can handle it ALL ON HIS OWN, don't you think?"

Batman gave a sigh. He knew this would happen. Hopefully this would be as bad as it would get, though.

The machines around the pool began to shoot electricity into the liquid and it turned into a (beautiful) pink color as Ra's stepped out of it; he wasn't old anymore, that's for sure.

"Oh…my…God…" Taylor grinned to herself. "Not too bad for an old man!"

Ra's gave her a grin before glancing back at the man in leather. "Now, only one of us can leave this chamber alive."

"We'll see about that." Batman replied, taking a step forward.

Ra's reached forward and grabbed his sword again. Then, all of a sudden, parts of the ceiling broke and a strange substance began to float in. Dylan moved out of the way and stood beside his sister, watching the fight. It was sort of amazing to watch but it filled Taylor with worry. Ra's had a sword. Normally she wouldn't have worried but Bruce was still infected with Joker's poison and it was weakening him. This had to end soon, or else…

"We are fated to rule this earth," Talia's voice knocked Taylor out of her thoughts to find that Bruce and Ra's were fighting over the sword, it being held to the elder mans' throat as his daughter walked around them. "To wipe it clean of the scum of humanity. Only we can do this."

"All right honey," Dylan called out to her. "Sure, there's a bunch of scum on this planet, believe me I know, but what give you the right to take care of them? Killing them all just makes you worse scum than they are. Murder is murder, no matter how you look at it."

Talia stared at him for a moment before glancing back to the fighting duo. "My father is old. His time is over. Ours is just beginning. Take his blade. Kill him."

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Taylor had jumped to her feet. Dylan had grabbed her arm so she couldn't move forward to attack the other woman. "That man is your father! How can you just tell someone to kill him!?"

"Stay out of this!" Talia growled at her. She turned back to Bruce. "Accept your destiny. Accept our destiny."

"You know I can't do that, Talia." Batman shook his head.

"Then, beloved, you will have to die."

"Like hell he will!" Taylor wasn't sure what happened next between Batman and Ra's. what she did know, though, was that her fist had landed in Talia's face and the dup were going at it just like the two men were. "What is wrong with you people?! God, I'd rather put up with Harley Quinn and the rest of Joker's goons then to deal with you guys! You take these things way too far!"

"As I said, this has nothing to do with you!" Talia growled, landing a blow in Taylor's face as she landed another in her stomach. "Why do you get involved?"

"Because…I refuse to let the man I love go through all this alone!" that caught Talia off-guard, much like Taylor hoped it would, and her next hit sent the other woman sliding across the ground just as her father did moments later. She turned to the man in leather. "Are you okay?"

Before he could reply, Talia's voice caught them. "What are you doing?" Ra's, when she had gone to help him stand, was now being held by her father with a knife to her neck.

"Listen to me, detective. And listen well. You will kill me. You will lead the League of Assassins. Because, if you do not join us, I will kill the only person you have ever loved." Taylor felt a twinge at that, but ignored it as she set her face.

"This wasn't part of the plan." Talia cried. Bruce gave a frown and tossed Ra's' sword away and reached to grab a batarang but Taylor's had grabbed his wrist as Dylan, now behind Ra's and his daughter, grabbed the knife and released the woman before shoving Ra's away and tossing the knife off into the rubble.

"You hang out with too many freaks, Bruce," Dylan commented as his sister gave a sigh of relief. Batman moved forward and used one of his machines to take the blood he needed from Ra's before letting him go again.

"You should have killed me." The man told him.

"Yes, he should have." Talia growled. "What kind of man sacrifices his own daughter?"

"Like you got room to talk," Taylor snorted, crossing her arms with a glare. "Who was the one telling him to kill your father just a few minutes ago?"

Talia ignored her and turned on Bruce. "And you. You lied to me. I thought you loved me, Bruce. I thought you were ready to join our crusade."

"Talia…" Batman tried to explain but she turned to walk away.

"Don't. You two deserve each other."

Taylor watched as the other woman walked away. Sure, she didn't like the thought of Bruce's ex-lover being in the mix, but she still felt…sorry for the woman. She was sure that things would have been different if…if she hadn't of been here…

"You're looking old, Ra's," Batman's voice grabbed her and she turned to the three men in the room again. "What's really going on here?"

"I have used the Lazarus Pit too many times," Ra's pushed himself into a sitting position. "I have lived 600 years. My mind and body cannot take much more. Each time I enter the pit I am frightened of what will come out." A look spread across his face that made Taylor's heart cry. The man was scared. Scared and miserable.

"The Lazarus pit has corrupted your mind. Think about it. If your pit falls into the wrong hands, you will be powerless to stop centuries of destruction." Batman told him. "This is your chance for redemption, Ra's. Call off your crusade or I'll be back for you." He turned and began to leave. Dylan followed him but Taylor paused, staring at Ra's for a moment.

She was too soft.

"Are you going to be all right?"

He gave a laugh. "I've heard a lot about you, Detective Carmichael. Breaking into the asylum to save your brother, and now breaking into the City to save Bruce Wayne. Not many would do that…" He closed his eyes. "You should hurry off. I'll be fine…just like I always am."

The woman still felt sorry for him, but did as he said and hurried after her brother and Bruce. They were talking to Oracle.

"Did you find Ra's? Hold on, your suit's readings are back to normal. Are you cured? What's going on?"

"Ra's and his forces are based underneath Arkham City, extracting some kind of occurring chemical he's called 'Lazarus'. He's been using it for centuries, slowly perfecting the process until he was even able to bring himself back from the dead."

"And you took some? Taylor didn't, did she?"

"Thanks for giving me some of that concern," Dylan grunted.

"No, she's fine. He forced only me to," Batman answered as Taylor laughed at her brother. "Small doses appear to heal most ailments, but even the small amount I ingested had a few nasty side effects. Prolonged exposure has driven Ra's over the edge."

"So, do you think you're cured?"

"No, the effects are temporary. Ra's tried to convince me to use his pit, but the risks are too great. When I'm done here, I'll need to investigate this Lazarus technology further. I told Ra's to shut his pit down."

~Maybe Victor could help with that,~ Taylor thought to herself. ~He might be interested in something like this…speaking of Mr. Freeze…~

"And you think he will?"

"Unlikely. Ra's is addicted to the pit. I've given him one chance to break that addiction or I'll be back to do it myself. Did Robin get you that blood sample?"

"Yeah, he's down at Gotham General. It's going crazy there. I'll patch through."

There was a pause before the other man's voice joined them.

"Hey, Barb, am I glad to hear from you."

"It's not just Barbra this time, Robbie," Taylor grinned as she greeted.

"Ah, Taylor. Is Bruce all right."

"Define 'all right'," Dylan replied. "We talking mentally or physically…?"

"What's happening there?" Batman asked him, shooting the other man a glare.

"Bruce, it's not good. Gotham General has at least thirty confirmed cases, there are nearly fifty at Mercy and it's looking like the pattern repeats all over the city."

"I've run a simulation. Joker's blood could be in as many as 2000 people by the morning. The first fatalities are expected soon after that."

"We're on our way back to Freeze right now. Hopefully the blood sample I extracted from Ra's will complete the formula." Batman told them.

"I hope you're right," Oracle sighed.

"Good luck," Robin told them.

"Well, before we go off on our next adventure," Dylan commented. "I have the need to use the facilities."

Taylor gave a small grin at the reminder of a certain moment just like this in Arkham Asylum and a hand on her hip as her brother slipped off for a moment. Things were silent, but not for long.

"Taylor, I want to apologize for…that." Batman told her. "I would have told you but it was a spur of the moment thing."

"Spur of the moment, huh? I'm sure that Talia didn't see it that way." She closed her eyes before turning and glancing at the man in leather behind her. "You know, you're one lucky son of a bitch."

He raised a brow, not understanding. "I am."

"Yeah, for having someone like me who's not going to get mad at you over something like that," She turned away from him, a small smile spreading across her lips. "Just don't let it happen again."

Not that much longer now, guys! Five or so more chapters!

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