Arkham City (Closed)

Amusement Mile

12:14 A.M.

"You didn't need to get yourself arrested to see me Bruce, after that night we spent in Metropolis... you could have just called."

"My father always intended us to be together, to command his army."

"I thought you loved me, Bruce. I thought you were ready to join our crusade."

"We offered you this chance, Batman. Now follow your heart."

"I'm sorry, beloved. I didn't know..."

"Bruce…"

"Bruce!"

Opening his eyes as the firm voice of the former Batgirl snapped him back into reality, Batman kneaded his forehead sorely with the cold breeze rushing up to greet him.

Perched atop one of the buildings overlooking the partially submerged Gotham Freeway bridge, Batman took a moment to readjust to the current situation before Oracle's voice poured in again.

"You okay, Bruce? I've been trying to talk to you for like the past five minutes?" came her concerned voice yet again.

"I'm…...I'm fine, Oracle. What's the status of the Batwing?" he grunted, observing the GCPD personnel congregating around the bridge.

"Coming right at you. Should be inbound any second now, but are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"Ideally no, but for now it's the best use of my time. Robin is the priority now, and delineating time and resources to take on the entire League of Assassins, even sans Ra's, would be more trouble than it's worth."

"Yeah, but I meant is it a good idea to just give them back the sword like this? I mean, well…" He could almost feel her shifting back uncomfortably in the chair. "With Talia, I know you had plans to-"

"It gets the League out of Arkham City," he stated bluntly.

"Right," she reluctantly conceded.

"Too many lives have already been lost here. Taking this personally would only jeopardize countless more," he reminded her.

And with that, the familiar swoosh of the ever-versatile Batwing thundered into the air above him.

Piloted remotely by the Batcomputer, his personal aircraft hovered over him for just a moment before the ejector panels in its underbelly parted.

Ejecting the sword into the building before adjusting, it then took off with a fiery boost from its jet afterburners.

"Right on time." Walking up to the deposited cargo with its sharpened tip still planted firmly within the concrete, Batman firmly grasped the weapon by its handle.

Pulling the ceremonial sword out of the ground, he examined its deadly blade for only a moment before clipping it against his utility belt.


Landing quietly on the now frozen pool of what used to be the Gotham City Casino's outdoors venue, Batman slowly stood up and surveyed his surroundings.

Anticipating an ambush from his first step forward, he adjusted his gauntlets before starting towards the center.

"Do you have the sword?"

Recognizing the voice behind him, Batman turned around only to be greeted by the razor-sharp edge of her blade levelled at his throat.

Remaining completely calm even with the blade just centimeters away from slicing open his throat, Batman merely glared at the bald assassin who wielded it.

"You're not getting anything if you keep pointing that sword at me. I suggest you and your colleagues stand down," he told her calmly, nodding as at least a dozen assassins who burst out of their hiding spots and began surrounding them.

Each one clad in the same crimson garb as their apparent leader, their brandished swords formed a metallic ring around the outnumbered vigilante.

"Do not presume that because you hold favor with the Master you can simply make demands. Test me and I promise you will not live to regret your mistake," she snarled, keeping the weapon training on the masked man.

"I'm waiting," Batman stated simply, a challenge that incensed not only her but the rest of her crimson cabal.

Drawing their swords even closer to the vigilante, they seemed ready to lunge at the mere snap of her fingers.

However, just as the assassin was about to retort….

"At ease!"

Immediately, the bald assassin's blade withdrew from Batman's raised chin as she stood to attention.

Following this authoritative command, the rest of the assassins also withdrew slightly from his vicinity,

Lowering her gaze away from his glare, she bowed her head in a somewhat submissive gesture as the now familiar voice rang out again, but in a much more confident and almost teasing tone.

"Is this any way to treat a former student of mine?"

His ears perked up at sudden realization of who he was truly dealing with.

Turning around, his worn eyes then glimpsed a woman he had not encountered in nearly a decade.

It was the same woman who had trained him, who tested him, and like several others, who hunted him down on a night he had never forgotten.

Warriors far greater than him would shudder at the mere mention of her name.

Yet despite it all, he had no trouble uttering the name of the woman who could very well be the best hand-to-hand fighter of her time.

"Shiva," he growled, in a tone that only seemed to amuse the apparent acolyte of Ra's al Ghul.

Much to his surprise, or rather lack thereof, she looked virtually the same as she did nearly a decade ago. Raven black hair swept down both sides of her attractive facial features, partially obscuring her right eye while the nuances of her Chinese heritage remained deceivingly youthful.

Still wearing her trademark crimson mandarin jacket and leather duster, she sported a slender yet highly athletic build only accentuated by tight black pants and matching heeled boots.

"Lady Shiva," she corrected him curtly, her hands clasped behind her in a dignified pose as she addressed him again. "It's good to see you again, Batman."

"The feeling isn't mutual," he replied sarcastically, a comment that almost instantly enraged the bald assassin.

"Heathen! Another word and I will feed you your-!" Stopping just short of finishing her outburst, the bald woman quickly bowed her head again to avert Lady Shiva's cross glare.

"It's quite alright, Onyx. The Batman and I didn't exactly part on the best of terms last I was in Gotham," she assured her lieutenant, easily withstanding the Bat's condemning stare without so much as a blink.

"You killed a man in cold blood," he growled, to which she merely shrugged.

"Yes, and your city is better off for it. You, of all people, should know that the League does not take half-measures. And if you had allowed us to finish our work here in Arkham City-"

"I would've been complicit in the systematic murder of hundreds, including innocents who were forced here by circumstance, not choice," he finished.

"In my experience, it would've been a relatively small price to pay to cleanse your city of its sin. Nonetheless, what's done is done," she sighed, bemoaning the fiery reckoning for a moment before directing her ire towards the bald assassin.

"You'll have to forgive Onyx. This was never intended to be an ambush," she spoke somewhat forcefully, her words causing the bald woman to flinch away.

"My apologies, mistress. We were warned of this one's treachery by our sisters. Precautions had to be taken," she hastily apologized, only for Shiva to hold up her hand.

"No need. I am the only precaution you need. Now, onto other matters…."

"Why do you work for Ra's al Ghul?" Batman demanded.

"He who has conquered death commands mastery over all life. I merely chose to follow the natural order," she explained matter-of-factly, as if there could be no other reason.

"There is no order with Ra's. He's a deranged lunatic with centuries of bloodlust to back up his twisted ideology. He's a madman!"

"Yes, and when it comes to madness I will certainly defer to the expertise of a man who in his naive desperation to save his city fails to realize that he has created the very cancer that has doomed it," she countered coolly.

His glare intensified, but he said nothing in response.

Chuckling at his stoicism, she proceeded on.

"You grant mercy to criminal filth who would never show it to their victims. You mistake weakness for restraint, and that is why your city will die. Because you, unlike the Demon's Head, lacks the proper will to do what is necessary," she continued confidently.

"I don't believe in taking a life to save one. It makes you a killer all the same, no matter how much you think you can justify it," he maintained, a point that only seemed to greatly amuse the master assassin.

"Amazing. After all these years, you truly have learned nothing."

"I don't have time for this, Shiva," he growled irritably, starting to reach into his utility belt only for Shiva's entourage to instinctively begin to advance forward.

Quickly holding up a hand, Lady Shiva's hand gesture immediately prompted them to return back to their original stances.

"As you wish," she spoke, nodding to Onyx as Batman unclipped the handle.

Producing the ceremonial blade from his right side, he held it out in front of him impatiently as the second-in-command swiftly took the blade from him and walked over to her mistress's side.

Examining Talia's blade for just a moment, Shiva looked up in apparent satisfaction as Onyx remained by her side.

"You have what you came for. Now leave Arkham City," he barked.

"You have held up your end of the bargain, and thus the League shall adhere to theirs. No further judgment will come upon the city, for now at least," she acknowledged, echoing Onyx's words from earlier.

"Good. Now leave," he repeated irritably.

Ignoring his command, the Chinese woman turned to one of the assassins who produced a capped vial from her jacket and offered it to the Dark Knight.

Within seconds of scanning it top to bottom, Batman instantly knew what it was.

It was the deadliest elixir of all, one that poisons the mind into thinking that the body can truly live forever.

Lazarus.

"It's a small amount, enough to restore your body. Unfortunately, it can not cure what ails your brain. I'm afraid that is a lost cause," she smirked. "Consider this a gift, nothing more. The master has not yet given up on your true potential."

"I don't want it," he refused immediately, knowing full well the true side effects of the Lazarus waters.

Regarding his visibly battered state, Lady Shiva chided him. "You may not want it, but you clearly need it."

"My answer remains the same. Unlike Ra's, I don't run from death and I certainly don't need help from a society of criminals and psychopaths," he shot back adamantly.

"Yet you accepted our training, or have you forgotten?" she pointed out with a sly grin, turning to face the vine-infested former stronghold of the plant queen.

Her back to him, he followed her curious gaze to the now dilapidated hotel before she finally spoke again. "There are powerful forces still at work here, Batman. I can feel it."

"I'm handling it."

"Be that as it may, the Demon's Head has bestowed his blessing upon you. It would be in your best interest to accept it." Sensing his hesitance as she looked at him, Lady Shiva added sarcastically, "Who knows? It may even save your life."

"I doubt it," he stated, but wanting to avoid further hostilities, reluctantly took the vial for himself.

"Our business is concluded here. For your sake, pray we never meet again. Next time will not be so cordial," she smiled, throwing up one hand in the air.

Sheathing their weapons, her crimson-clad followers fell back into the shadows, vaulting over the railing and disappearing into the night.

Remaining still as the remaining few darted past him, Batman cast one last fleeting glance at Talia's sword before it disappeared along with Onyx over the side of the rooftop.

"Do not pursue us," Lady Shiva warned him sharply, turning to follow suit with the others.

"I still haven't forgotten, Shiva. If I see you again, I'm bringing you in," Batman called after her.

Pausing mid-step, she almost chuckled to herself before turning around to face him one last time.

"When we fought last, the Master wanted me to test you. You survived because of that, a privilege that very few have enjoyed. So tell me, Batman..."

Now staring at him with both eyes unobscured, her usual taunting smile was replaced by a darkened glare that rivaled his own.

"Do you truly wish to tempt death for the second time?"

And with that, a mass of smoke suddenly engulfed her, rendering her completely invisible even to his trained eye.

Just seconds later, a sudden gust of wind blew the remaining wisps away revealing empty space where the master fighter had just been at.

Eying his periphery to ensure that no further assassins remained on the rooftop, he then activated his comlink.

"Oracle, it's done," he reported, setting his sights on the hotel. "I'm going to Robin's last known location now. Tell Gordon the situation has been dealt with."

As he started towards the hotel, he was met with an uncharacteristic silence from the usually always responsive redhead.

"Oracle?"

Her voice came into his earpiece just a few seconds later, albeit much more urgent than expected.

"Bruce, we have a problem."