Talia
Bruce stood on edge as he sees the woman slowly pace around him. He felt her eyes watching him like he was her prey and she was his predator. Talia's lips curve into a smirk as she sees the man become unnerved by her "It's been quite a while since we've seen each other, hasn't it? You know this is the exact reason why I told you that you were not ready to leave Nanda Parbat. You're training was not yet complete and thus you returned to Gotham ill-prepared for what is to come" she appraised.
"Is that why you are here? To tell me that I'm not ready? I have used everything that I have learned to protect the streets of Gotham, and I am doing just fine" Bruce tells Talia. The woman stops as she stands right in front of him, only a few inches apart.
"Your physical training is indeed finished, however, your mental training is less than desirable. You left the league of shadows far too early, and so you are not properly conditioned to safeguard this city nor its people. You may have the strength to protect within the darkness, but your mind could very well be lost in the shadows" Talia observes.
"I can handle whatever Gotham throws my way, now if you don't mind..." Bruce reaches out his hand to the woman's shoulder. Talia's eyes narrow as her smirk grows wider. She grabs the man's wrists and throws him over her head and onto the ground. Bruce rolls on the ground only to then stand back up.
"Then show me just what you can do. If you can beat me; I will leave this city tonight, lover" Talia runs her hands through her hair as she sees Bruce steadily step towards her. Bruce unbuttons his blazer and throws it to the ground whilst he watches the woman crack her knuckles with her hands.
"You are going to regret coming here" Bruce warns her.
"Now you are making me excited..." Talia sniggers with her voice full of libidinous. She kicks upward with her knee. Bruce sees her move and counters with his own knee to block her. Talia throws both of her firsts at the man, one after the other in sequence. Bruce catches Talia's right hand with his left and her left hand with his right. His hands tighten around her wrists as he looks the woman in the eyes. Talia's eyes light up in excitement "What's the matter? Too scared to throw a punch of your own?" she muses.
"Not here. People could see us" Bruce scolds her.
Talia leans in until both of their lips with only a few centimeters apart from each other "I don't mind doing it out in the open. Plus knowing that anyone could walk in on us only makes it hotter" she jolts her leg upward and kicks the man in his crouch. She then made the most out of the situation as she kicks the man's shin. Bruce released his grip on the woman as he was forced to breathe while he tried to concentrate after her previous strike. Bruce saw the woman was gearing up for another punch and he managed to catch it. He pulls her forward and spins her around with his arm around her neck. His free hand grabbed the woman's left hand and held it behind her back.
"I always loved it when you were this hands-on. Of course most of those times...we weren't fighting..." Talia muses.
"Enough. Just quit it. Tell me what you are doing here!" Bruce snaps.
"It's a long story" Talia throws her head backward and rams it into Bruce's nose. The man lets go of the woman as his hands travel to his nose. Blood was trickling down his right nostril. Talia turns on her heels as she looks to Bruce "But I will do my best to shorten it as much as I can". Talia kneels as she swipes at the man's feet with her own. Bruce was knocked off balance, but managed to use his hands to catch himself. Talia rolls onto her heels as she looks over the man "See a couple of months ago...I was told that there one someone running about Gotham who seemed strangely similar to you"
"Let me guess...you mean the Talon, right?" Bruce sees Talia begin to kick her boot to his face. He grabs her foot with his hands and twists it. He then jumps to his feet and punches towards the woman. Talia tilts her head to avoid the blow and repeats the same action the other way as Bruce throws another punch her way. She curves up to her knee and kicks the man in his stomach. After receiving the blow, Bruce quickly grabbed her leg and pulled it towards him in an attempted to trip her up.
"Great work, detective" Talia compliments in a condescending tone quickly before she delivers another blow with her boot to his stomach which caused Bruce to been hurled forward out through the door to the room and to enter the main hall that was now emptied. He slid against the floor before rolling until he eventually stopped. He rubs his now bruised shoulder, looking to the entrance to the room as Talia followed him through as she waltzes in "It's quite remarkable you see. From what I have been told...it seems that he has all of your training - which is remarkable since I was the one who trained you, so you must understand why I'm coming in person to investigate this"
"If you are here because of that...then why did you come to the party?" Bruce inquires as he stands to his feet. Talia begins to charge towards him. Bruce holds his arms up to block the woman as she kicks in the air. He then sees his chance and proceeds to throw punch after punch to the woman. Talia blocks everything that Bruce throws her way. Every punch, every kick, every quick maneuver that he tried to pull off was countered by Talia's own.
"I thought you could tell me about what you know about the Talon. I was told that you had an encounter with him a few nights ago, so I decided to come and see you first. My father would have never allowed for an unchecked individual to run around with the training of the League of Shadows, so neither can I. I must find the Talon and kill him" Talia austerely reveals.
"Alfred! Alfred! I said let go of me!" Selina yells as she shakes free of the man's hold. Both her and Alfred were stood outside on the ground of Wayne Tower just away from the crowd. Selina looks to the butler as she folds her arms "Just what is going on? If Bruce wanted to leave he could have just left without saying a word, that's what does most of the time. So what is the big deal?" she asks.
"For your information miss Kyle. I was a strong advocate for Bruce to attend the ball in the first place, however, he told me to run and take all the guests with me. Bruce is many things, but he has never been one to overstate the situation - I have to trust him to make the right call" Alfred tells Selina.
"Why would he all of a sudden tell you to do that? What happened in there?" Selina inclines as she expected a truthful answer from the grey-haired man.
"Master Bruce was quite dandy this evening, though we did clash somewhat. He started to get worked up when this strange woman just showed up out of nowhere. I sure as hell did not recognize her, however, he certainly seemed to" Alfred says as he sees the woman stood before him tense up.
Selina's eyes lit up with vex at the man's words "And you just left him, alone with someone that he seemed so scared of that he told you to evacuate the entire floor? What were you thinking?" she was clearly and most certainly annoyed.
"It was his decision. And we must respect that"
"Listen to you! You don't even believe what you are saying. Bruce has been making the worst decisions lately. For god sake, he went after the same guy who almost killed him the night before! I mean who does that? What rational thinking person would think that was a good idea? I don't and I hope you don't either! The Bruce that I knew would never have done something so stupid and reckless!" Selina frantically throws her arms in the air.
"I know. Bruce has indeed changed during his travels. I know that he has the best intentions in mind, but the man that he has become...I fear that there is no returning from that darkness" Alfred confesses to the woman stood before him. He turns his head as he hears someone calling his name. Jim Gordon quickly made his way towards him as he puts his phone into his coat's pocket "Commissioner Gordon? What seems to be the problem?"
"I just got off the phone to my friends over at the station and I was told that there was no fire every reported. Could you care to explain to me why you evacuated the floor when there was no danger?" Jim asks Alfred as he had a clear look of irradiance to him.
"Apologies, I was just talking to Miss Kyle" Alfred lets the commissioner know.
"Selina? Where?" Jim questions as he sees Alfred stood on his own.
Alfred quickly looks over his shoulders only to met with no one there "Oh bloody hell now she's doing it" he says under his breath.
"Do you mind telling me just what is going on? You were in quite the rush to get us out of there, and I don't see Bruce there...so would I be right to say that he is still up there?" Gordon's friendly front was now gone as he glares to Alfred "Stay here" he tells Alfred as he looks up to the tower. He leaves Alfred on his own as he heads back into the building.
"That's not happening! I will not allow any bloodshed in my city" Bruce replies to the woman as he sees Talia step in front of him. Talia winds up another kick to him. Bruce shoves her leg away with his hands as he then side-steps to avoid one of her punches. Talia then quickly repeats her previous action as she goes for another jab of her fists. Bruce catches her hand and throws himself forward as he punches the woman in her stomach.
"Really now? That's fine, just beat me here and now and I will leave as promised" Talia murmurs as she regains her footing. She font flips and hits Bruce's face with her boot which made the billionaire move back. Talia flips her hair with a quick move of her head as she jumps towards the wall of the room to the only jump off of it and delivers a punch right to his face. Bruce stumbles backward as Talia was quick on her feet. She rams her elbow to the back of his right shoulder.
"What's the matter, lover? Do you need your suit or your fancy gadgets? You are still wounded from your fight with the Talon, aren't you? You are putting up an even worse fight then you usually do" Talia comments as she wraps her right around the man's neck while her left hand moved to the back of his head "With just a little more pressure...your neck would break, so I recommend no sudden movements...just in case I might be surprised and accidentally snap you like a twig" Talia whispers in the man's ear "Yield, submit to me"
"Even if I did not come to this city...you would still not be able to face the Talon and the Court in your condition. You would die, and I cannot allow that" Talia's words were tender as they sounded to be genuine from her heart.
"Wait, you know about the court too?"
"Yes, the league of shadows and the court of owls have found themselves in war the past few months. I first discovered this Talon when he managed to kill several of the league's highest ranking members with ease. That was when I knew that he had to have been trained by an al Ghul. That was the only way to explain it. I am in Gotham not just to kill the Talon but the rest of the court as well to honor my fallen comrades. This is my fight...you cannot hope to win alone" the woman adds.
"He's not alone!" a voice calls out.
Talia's eyes widen as she sees a whip slash her face; cutting down her cheek. Talia quickly pressed down on the back of Bruce's neck; causing the man to fall to the ground. Talia looks forward as a figure leaps down onto the floor. Catwoman looks over to the fallen man. Her goggles zoom into to get a better look at the man's condition "What did you do to him?" she hisses as she stretches out her hands as her claws glimmer with the light.
Talia slides her gloved palm down her cheek where the cut was "I hit his pressure point. He'll be unable to move for a while. And who the hell are you?..." the woman asks as she sees Catwoman grab the whip attached to her waist.
"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing" Catwoman replies.
"As you wish, my name is Talia al Ghul. I am the daughter of the grand Ra's al Ghul and I am the current leader the newly formed League of Shadows" Talia tilts her head.
"Al Ghul? Another one? Wait, did you say Talia? So you were the woman the Bruce was called to in his dreams" the cat burglar's eyes narrow "I'm going to enjoy this a lot more than I really should..." she adds as she readies herself.
"Sorry, but this won't be a pleasurable experience for you" Talia smirks as she steps forward.
"Ss-Selina...do-don't...she will kill you" Bruce warns Catwoman, however, she quickly refuted his words as she charges towards Talia. The league of shadows' leader saw the other woman who was ready to swipe with her claws. Talia steps backward and grabs one the ears on the helmet that Catwoman worse. Talia then moves out of the way and shoves the other woman into the banquet table. Catwoman was knocked into the table and caused over a dozen platters of refreshments to be thrown across it.
"Sorry kitty-cat, was that too rough for you? Well, you better leave now because that was me going easy on you. If you stay...well I might just kill you" Talia gives a fair warning to Catwoman. Selina turns to face the other woman as she smirks.
"Selina...please don't fight her...just leave...please" Bruce was reduced to begging the woman to leave for her own safety.
"After everything that her family has done to the city...I'm letting this go. I'm going to kick her ass" Catwoman shoots back.
"Please, Selina. She could have killed you already if she wanted to...please leave. I don't want you to get hurt, please listen to me" Bruce looks to both Catwoman and Talia as he tried to be the voice of reason. Talia shrugs as she looks over to Bruce.
"Oh, Lover. It sounds like you care greatly for these women. I'm almost jealous" Talia remarks.
"Wait, did you just call him *lover*?" Catwoman was lost for words "Hold on, Bruce... did you and her...you know...do...you...know...what?" she asks the man that was lying on the ground. Talia would be lying if she said that she wasn't going to enjoy the answer that the man would give.
"We...are-not-discussing that" Bruce was quick to shoot Selina's question down.
Talia smirks as she sees the discomfort on the other woman's face "Of course we did...and it was amazing every time" she found great pleasure in seeing the woman's face drop into a fluster of emotions. Catwoman bares both sets of her claws on display as she slowly reaches for the whip attached to her waist. She takes hold of it in hand.
"Bruce...we need to talk later and heads up, I might end up killing you" she then uses her whip to hit Talia who rolls her eyes. Talia moves out the way as the whip hits the ground, she then takes hold of the whip and uses it to launch Selina forward. Right before Catwoman was near her, Talia spins on her heel and kicks Catwoman in her ribs as she is sent to the ground on the right of her. Talia looks at the whip in her hand as she looks to the downed Catwoman.
"I remember the first thing that I taught Bruce when he first came to me: never fight with anger; it blinds you and makes you do some really stupid thing, it makes you look pathetic" Talia drops the whip and kicks it over to Catwoman "Act and never should you react. You need to calm, focused. Because you will never know when you will be put in a life or death situation...like now" Talia walks over to Catwoman and presses her heel on her head.
"Talia...please don't do this!... Please...I am begging you" Bruce pleads as he could not get up, no matter how hard he wanted or tried.
Talia's ears pricked at his words. With a few moments, she removed her heel and turns to Bruce "As you wish, but only because I have more pressing matters. Since you can no longer stand, I am the victor, and with that...the Talon is mine to deal with and kill. And I will kill whoever I need to in order to find both him and the court. I am giving you one warning my love. Do not get involved any further...you are not ready. I should have never allowed you to leave when you did..." Talia walks to Bruce and kneels in front of him.
"Heed my warning...if you try to stop me...I will kill her and you know that you can't stop me, not in your condition" Talia forewarns him.
"GCPD, don't move!" Gordon yells as he charges into the room with his gun in hand.
"Goodbye, Lover. It's been...fun" Talia runs off while Gordon tries to shoot at her, but every single one of his shots misses. Talia jumps through the window of the room; shattering it. Catwoman's eyes narrow as she too aimed for an escape route.
"Stop where you are!" Gordon calls out to her. Catwoman looks at one of the windows that were already open. She made a break for it as she runs towards the window "I said freeze!" he shouts as he shoots at her. This time he manages to hit his target as a bullet hit Catwoman's left leg as she craws out of the room'; leaving both Jim and Bruce alone. The commissioner returns his gun to his jacket and he quickly makes his way beside Bruce.
"Bruce? Bruce? Can you hear me? What happened?" Jim asks concerned for the man as he quickly pulls out his phone and flips it up. Dialing a number he then holds it to his ear "Hello, I need an ambulance. The 25th floor of Wayne Tower, comes quickly" Jim's eyes wander over to the shattered window as he slowly approaches hit. Looking down to the streets only to see that the woman had completely disappeared "Bruce...what have you gotten yourself into..."
[Underground]
"The Talon has ascended...now he can fully take his place as the savior of Gotham and with your rise shall come to a new dawn for the court" the masked woman addresses a room full of people who also wore the owl mask over their faces. She walks to a figure who was kneeling before her on the stage "Reborn through the Lazarus pit, neither the Talon nor 514A exist anymore. A new knight has been forged. You will be the one to past judgment upon the people of Gotham, from now you shall be their true dark knight..."
"You are no longer a copy made to replace, you now a warrior created to stand tall, rise my dark knight and claim Gotham as your Kingdome" the dark-haired woman held out her hand "Show the city that the court of owls will always be supreme, and that we shall rule again. No longer in the shadows, but now in the light as the saviors of Gotham" she looks at the figure lifts his head to look to her "There is one thing that you must do before...you must enact your judgment to show Gotham...kill Batman and everyone else that would oppose us...now rise as you are now..."
The figure slowly stands to his feet. Dressed in dark grey armor and owl-shaped helmet with a black cape that goes all the way down to his boots. His eyes were covered by a black visor in which two fully white circles look to the woman "I am the judgment that shall enact the punishment upon the criminals that plagues this city, I am the day whose light will eradicate the shadows of Gotham, I am the one who is destined to protect the city. That is who I was born to be...who I have become...I will become the legend...that neither Batman or the League of Shadows could hope to destroy...I am the Owlman" he spoke emotionlessly as the white eyes on the vizor narrow.
"Good...good. Now go out and show the city their salvation...use the training of my family to reign, no one can stand in your way, not Batman, not Gordon...not even Talia" the woman grins "You can kill them all" she sniggers.
[Outside Wayne Tower]
"Move! Everyone clear out!" Jim calls out as behind him a group of paramedics was courting Bruce Wayne who was lying on a gurney towards the ambulance. Jim stays close to Bruce as he looks down to him "Bruce! Can you hear me? We're taking you to the hospital...you're going to be fine" he tries to reassure Bruce as the crowd of people quickly move out of the way to make room for them. Bruce's eyes widen as his vision was blurred.
"Bruce! Bloody hell what happened?" Alfred moves beside Bruce which caused Jim to quickly grab the butler by the shoulders as he pushed him back and away from Bruce. "Gordon, what the hell are you doing? Bruce needs me" Alfred protests.
"No! You are going to shut up and listen to me! You knew this was going on up there, didn't you? Didn't you!" Jim yells as he grabs Alfred by his shirt.
"Master Bruce told me to evacuate all the guests...I was only doing as instructed" Alfred replies.
"Doing as instructed!? Bruce can barely breathe! He needs to put on a ventilator to survive! And there is the fact that he has a days-old knife wound in his stomach! Just what have you and Bruce gotten yourself into? Was it the court? Was it The court of owls!" Gordon spits.
"Oh my god...what happened?" Lee runs towards Gordon as she pulls his hands off of Alfred "Jim...what is going on? Why is Bruce being taken away...is he hurt? What the hell happened up there?" Lee asks in concern as she sees the look on her husband's face.
"I don't even know where to start, but I think you might..." Jim glares at Alfred "I'm going to find out just what happened here tonight, and I would suggest that you head down to the station, right now..." Jim warns Alfred.
"Jim? What are you doing?" Lee intervenes as she moves between the two men "Just what has got you so worked up? And what did you see in there? Please, Jim. You are starting to scare me" Lee looks her husband in the eye.
"I got there after it was over. I saw Bruce lying on the ground. He could barely move or breath. I saw this woman next to him. I didn't recognize her but she seemed to have been cozy with him, it looked like she was the one that did that to Bruce. I tried to put her into custody, but she uh...sort of jumped through the window and vanished. Then...there was this third party involved"
"Who?" Lee asks.
"I don't know. I never got a good look at her, but she was in a hurry to get out of there so I'm guessing she wasn't someone with a clean record. I warned her to stop moving, she kept going so I had no choice...I shot her in her leg, but she still managed to get out of the building. I swear this city has gotten even weirder ever since..." Jim's eyes slowly look at Alfred.
"Jim? What's wrong?" his wife asks concerned.
"It's nothing..." Jim dismisses as his eyes remained on Alfred.
They were stopped at one of the paramedics walks up to them. A man with blonde hair looks over to the commissioner "We're ready to move out. If any of you want to come along, I suggest you do now" Jim gives a quick nod as he follows after him.
"Hold on just a bloody minute! Bruce is my concern, and I am going to be the one to keep an eye on him!" Alfred challenges Gordon's decision as he paces after him "Mate, are you listening to me. I'll be going with him, that is my duty after all..."
"No. I'm taking this one, and once he's awake. I will have some questions for him, that is unless you think that Bruce has anything to hide from me?" Jim follows after the paramedic. He enters the ambulance as he sits beside Bruce while the paramedic closes the doors behind him.
"Alfred, I am so sorry about that. I'm sure that James didn't mean to be such an asshole just now" Lee was apologetic.
"Never mind that, Miss Tompkins. Gordon is simply doing his job and if you would excuse me...I need to do mine" Alfred walks away as his eyes narrow "Oh bloody hell" he swears under his breath.
"Someone help me!" a woman screams as a man forces his way on top of her. She tries to struggle against him, but he proves to be too strong and restrains her. She screams louder which caused the man to cover her mouth with his hand. The woman's eyes widen as she sees something fly past both of them. The man laughs as he slowly leans into her. The woman closes her eyes as she dreads what would happen next. She hears a loud scream from the man and by the time she opens her eyes; he was gone.
Slowly pulling herself up she sees the same thing as before moving at the corner of her eye. Lifting her head up she sees her attacker impaled through the chest with a large metal pipe that was stuck in the wall above her. She trembles as her lips quiver "Th-thank you...you...saved me..." she whispers. On top of the building stood Owlman as he looks down to the woman. His white eyes illuminated from the shadows as his cape was blown by subtle breezes of wind.
Owlman gives a subtle nod to the woman as he then turns around and walks out of her line of view. Owlman expands his cape as he begins to glide between the buildings of Gotham as his shadow roamed against the streets and the buildings themselves. People on the streets look up as they seem him fly over them. All of them gather in a large group as they see Owlman stood on top of the building. They all look nervous and confused as they bare witness to him.
Chapter End
Look to 3) for updates to the story.
1) Just a little side note that originally I wanted for the clone to become Azrael, but I remembered that the show had already tackled that character with Theo Galavan. So I thought that Owlman would be the next best thing since it fits in with the court of owls. Plus Owlman is usually portrayed as an "evil" version of Batman is most iterations so that also helped me decide on it. I was thinking of letting the clone remain as the Talon, but I felt him becoming Owlman would be the best way to make them seem equal to each other.
2) What do you think of my version of Talia? I have been thinking of making her a recurring character throughout the story. Not on the level of the main characters, but her presence in the story will indeed carry over past this story arc.
3) The Court of Owls plot is not going to be the whole story. Even though this story is titled as "Season 6"; this story is going to be more like the Smallville Season 11 comic where it will tackle multiple storylines in its duration. And as such this current story arc is planned to end soon and such a new storyline will begin. I will say Batman is going to meet quite the "super" guy. Anyways thanks for reading and I hope that you are looking forward to the next chapter.