Seated across one another and with their meals right in front of them, Tom dug into his meal while Talia used her chopsticks to eat hers.

Talia paused her meal as she seemed like she was hesitant to voicing her thoughts. "I want to sincerely apologize for betraying you and joining hands with my dad to fight against you."

"I know you're just doing this as a formality and so we could start up this new alliance with no bad blood between us." Tom replied, knowing her apology wasn't a genuine one and neither was it out of regret but of duty.

"As a daughter I am mad at you for disgracefully ending my father's life but as the leader of the League of Assassins, I have to put that behind me and do what is beneficial for the League."

"I expect no less." He said with a drumstick in hand before biting a chunk of meat from it.

As they ate their meal, Talia paused with her chopsticks halfway into her meal, contemplating in her head before speaking. "About my father's corpse."

"Your father's corpse, huh." Tom replied, taking a break from his meal as he took a sip from the glass of red wine next to him. "What about that old bastard?" He asked, knowing Talia was walking on eggshells and trying her most possible best not to aggrevate him.

"I Know I am in no position to ask but, I would like to know what has become of my father's corpse." She insisted.

"I cremated him, then scattered his ashes across the desert. I wasn't going to risk having you lots bring him back to life with some Lazarus pit juju, so now his corpse is one with both the desert and the wind, but his soul has probably taken permanent residence in the underworld. It's about time that immortal bastard forcefully got his ass laid to rest, for crying out loud."

"Even in death you disrespect my father." Talia said with a glimpse of emotions in her eyes.

"A lifeless corpse doesn't need respect, their gone and moved on to whatever awaits them at the other side." He replied as he casually cut up a piece of stake and chewed on it.

"Everybody get down!!!" A voice came from the restaurant as masked individuals threatened the people in there with fire arms. "Don't even think about it." One said with his gun placed at the head of the receptionist who's hand was reaching for a button beneath his desk.

"Hands up in the air." He yelled. "Take off your jewelries empty your purses into the bags before you." Another instructed the crowd.

"Great, trouble just seems to follow me whenever I try to relax. "

"Do not resist or try anything stupid, don't be a fool and give up replaceable items rather than lose something you wouldn't be able to recover, your life to be precise." He added as the rest went around with bags, collecting the valuables.

Reaching for his smart watch, a gun was pressed against the side of his and Talia's head. "Hey kid, I wouldn't make a move if I were you." Tom slowly retracted his hands and raised it above his head as both him and Talia slowly rose to their feet.

"Your big sister is quite the hottie." He said then spanked Talia's ass, then accompanied it with a short whistle as he checked her out with lustful thoughts while the rest continued to raid the place.

"You're both coming with us, I want a piece of this cutie pie over here." A black bag was thrown over Tom's head and same as Talia, but she immediately ducked away from the bag, grabbed the head of her harasser then broke his neck on the spot.

"Fire!!!" One of the robbers yelled and their guns were immediately trained at both of them.

The sound of the first gun shot reverberated across the room as a shot was fired directly at Tom's chest. "Wrong move dude." Tom said with his head still inside the black bag.

After hearing this, they were confronted with a shocking sight, the man who fired the shot had his hand pressed tightly against his neck as blood gushed out of it.

Tom removed the black bag over his head and more shots were fired, Talia immediately ducked as two knives slipped right out of her sleeves and into her hands. She sprang into action as she engaged the gun men one after the other like some ninja from Mortal Kombact, ripping out their innards the second her blade reaches them.

"A little help would have been appreciated." She said to Tom who seemed to be very relaxed, considering the situation they found themselves. "You just ruined the nostalgic feeling of being held hostage.

"Hold it right there!!!" A female among them yelled as electricity crackled around her, blasting a shot at Talia. Tom instantly pulled Talia to the side with his telekinesis then returned the blast back to its sender with a casual slap but it missed her by an hair's breadth.

"That was a warning shot." Tom said to her in expectations of her to be shaken by that display. Instead she let out a laugh before addressing him. "Why don't we take it outside pretty boy, and do not even think of making any clever moves because I could electrocute every other person in seconds." They were just two of them left and the sound of sirens could be heard approaching from a distance.

"And why would I do that? I could take you down before your eyes complete a blink." Tom replied, noticing a fire had broke out in the midst of the action earlier and it was rapidly spreading, trapping everyone inside.

"Even if you take me down, that dude over there is a Pyromaniac who would burn everyone to a crisp in seconds. So I suggest you quietly come with us." Licking her lower lip in a lustful manner, she add. "It's been a while I met someone who could stand up to my abilities, it would be a waste to end you right now without seeing what you can actually do."

The sound of cough filled the room and the bystanders were enclosed by the flames and choking from the fumes, while the two oppressors had on gas masks. A sudden gust of wind swept through the restaurant and extinguished the flames, purging away the fumes with it.

"I have a better proposal, how about we do it my way." While she looked around in surprise, Tom's voice came from behind, and she was presented with an unexpected sight.

As she looked around in wonderment of the extinguished flames, he swiftly made his way to her fire bending companion and buried his fist deep through his spine and out of his chest.

As she beheld this sight, her expression twisted into that of anger mixed with irritation. "You'll pay for that." She said as electricity began to cackle around her.

…

[Barbara Gordon's POV]

That night Barbara just returned to the Batcave after her usual night patrol, bored from the slow evening she had. "Welcome Miss Barbara, how was your evening?" Alfred welcomed.

"Thank you Alfred." She replied as she took off her cowl. "It was a slow evening, all I did tonight was stop some muggers who were about rapping a lady who found herself in the wrong neighborhood." She added.

"Thanks to you that lady was saved from that unfortunate fate. I've prepared snacks for you to go with some tea to help you sleep soundly tonight."

"Thank you Alfred, I'll have them right after my bath." Suddenly the blaring sound of an emergency alarm engulfed the Batcave. "What is it?" Bruce asked, as he entered the Batcave with his cowl off.

Barbara hastily made her way to the system, clicking on keys until a report came up on screen. "An emergency alarm from Bruschetta's, an exquisite restaurant way down town."

"I know where it is, I've been there once for a business dinner." Bruce replied while Barbara just gave him a short look before moving on. "What's the situation?" He asked.

"The police are unsure but they labeled it as either a robbery or an hostage situation." She replied.

"Why would the attackers target a restaurant in the first place?" Alfred wondered out loud.

"Maybe they are mad at them since they weren't able to get reservations and it's an act of revenge, or they are robbing the place because only the rich and well connected would be in there, kind of hitting the jackpot at the least expected place." Barbara said as she geared up.

"It's either the latter, or they are after someone. It might be a kidnapping." He speculated as he stroked his chin while pondering on what could be the actual motive of the attackers. "Let's move out, the police are already on their way heading there as we speak."

Batman wore his cowl and Barbara did the same, before heading out, Batman in his Batmoblie while she took her bike and they drove off into the streets of Gotham, hoping to get there before it was too late.

"GCPD, we have this building surrounded, put your hands in the air and slowly exit the building or else we would have no choice but to smoke you out ourselves and I promise you it won't be pretty." A voice said through a speakerphone from outside.

"I would have liked to completely break your spirit tonight but that's our que to leave, see ya around." Before she could utter a word, I immediately cloaked Talia and myself, nullifying any sound emanated from us at the process.

"Wait, where'd you go?" She asked as she watched us suddenly disappear. "Come back, we are not done yet!!" She yelled out.

"Stay close and follow my lead." Talia who had already taken a battle stance, looked at me with a raise brow. "Relax you deadly assassin, there's no need to engage her tonight. The police are right outside and we both know Batman would be here any second now."

"There's no way she is just going to let us leave like that, and how about the police right outside the building?" Talia questioned, full of doubt but they were clearly understandable. The orange haired meta-human looked around for a bit before giving up, then turned back to the door as she was probably thinking of an immediate escape plan as her colleagues were already dead.

"Then it's your lucky day, or should I say night." As Talia gave me a confused look, I shoved both hands inside my pocket then walked past her, and out of the building. Looking up I saw Batman and Batgirl as they arrived at a nearby rooftop right next to the scene, while the hostages who escaped earlier were giving reports, information to the police so they could get a better understanding of the situation they've stumbled upon.

There was no way she could come outside pretending to be an innocent victim of the incident as everyone there would definitely identify her as their captor and oppressor.

The Commissioner of the Gotham Police signaled for the SWAT and quite a number of teargas was tossed through the top windows of the building. Being a private establishment, there were no windows at normal level but about eight foot high along the wall.

Few seconds after hurling the teargas inside, a fully geared up SWAT team smashed through the doors, others crashed through the windows using harnesses.

Talia and I were already up in the air, with her in my arms and about flying off when the heavy sound of multiple gunshots emanated from the establishment as the sound of men screaming in fear and agonizing pain caught everyone's attention.

Batman immediately dived into the building through the window but was sent flying back out through the door as he crashed into the hood of a police car, damaging the windscreen that instant.

Wearing her mask from earlier, she jumped out of the smoke and attacked the officers at a speed faster than they could react to. Others opened fire but she cleverly moved in a pattern that lead to friendly fires.

Batman and Batgirl engaged her in a two V one combat as they traded blows and kicks, it was quite entertaining to watch until she punched Batgirl in the guts so hard that she dropped to the ground.

Batman did a back flip then leaped into the air to put some space between them. He shot his grapple hook to wrap around her leg to restrict her movement but she evaded it and took a boosted step towards him, then punched his jaw with a fist crackling with electricity, enough electricity to give him a slight concoction while falling to the ground.

"You should be safe here, if I don't do something she would end up slaughtering every officer at the scene. We can't have that happening now, can we?" Dropping Talia at a rooftop I turned back down to see an officer shoot her with meta-powers dampening cuff but she dodged it and gave him an instant head shot with a piece of glass on the ground.

"Since when do you care about the life of the police?" Talia asked.

"I don't, but they are part of the reason why Gotham isn't a complete lawless city, even though a bunch of them are so rotten that they would look the other way for some change."

"Ugh… Admit it, you just want to fight her."

"True, she already picked a fight with me and it would be rude to ignore her challenge. She wouldn't stand a chance against me but she might serve as some entertainment for me tonight, especially after seeing how she moves." I said as a smirk slowly found it's way to the corner of my lips.

She kept shooting Batman with jolts of electricity as if playing with her meal before devouring it.

"You know, I've always wondered why a superhero without any powers remains alive even after fighting meta-humans with extraordinary powers. Well, this is the end of the road for you, rodent." She taunted, then she rose both hands into the air as electricity crackled and gathered around them.

"Haaaahhh!!!"

She screamed in agonizing pain as she held on to her ears. Batman had reached for a sonic tech in his utility belt which produced a frequency that could affect meta-humans in it's radius. "Just kidding, you'd have to do a lot better than that." She said as she gathered electricity around her hand like some anime character. As she was about to strike, I quickly grabbed her arm from behind, still cloaked, I made her instantly disappear from the scene.

…

The evening unfolded with a sudden crash as the orange-haired girl collided with a large container in a ship yard, leaving a pronounced dent in its metal surface. As she staggered to the ground, a mix of frustration and determination flickered across her eyes. "Hey, don't you dare interfere with my business. Batman was mine. But don't worry, you'll compensate with your life," she declared, her voice a blend of madness and arrogance.

Meanwhile, Tom, seemingly unfazed by the chaos, descended leisurely onto a nearby crate, his demeanor calm and collected. "Easy there, no need to get all blood thirsty on me. How about we start with introductions? I'm Tom," he suggested, his tone casual yet alert.

The orange-haired girl scoffed at his attempt to defuse the tension. "And what does my name matter to a soon-to-be-dead man?" she retorted, her grip tightening around a metal rod that lay within reach. "This place is deserted, no one will hear your screams. You've chosen a perfect spot for your demise."

With a swift motion, she infused her powers into the metal rod and hurled it at Tom with deadly accuracy. However, to her surprise, Tom remained unperturbed, not even flinching as the rod hurtled towards him. Just before impact, a subtle shift in the air occurred, and the rod was sent back with incredible force, surpassing the girl's initial velocity. It narrowly missed her by a hair's breadth, piercing through the container behind her with a resounding clang.

"They said you were indeed powerful, I didn't take it you would be near invincible too." She grit her teeth and took on a firm stance as if ready to give it her all.

"They?" Tom asked, replaying everything that had happened that evening as if piecing them together as he watched the black iron sand begin to raise up into the night air. "As in the robbery wasn't a coincidence but an assassination attempt against me?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Shut up and die already." She replied as electricity ran through the iron sand around her and she extended it around Tom who just seemed to be a bit fascinated by the light show. "Controlling the iron sand with magnetism, I have to say that's quite brilliant."

She seemed to get more pissed off by his remark as she created a vortex with him in the middle, then caused it to implode within itself and with Tom right in it's eye.

"That should do it." She muttered, but to her surprise the imploding iron sand vortex was suddenly dispersed like it was canceled out.

"Okay, I see you're quite skilled and creative with your powers, but I'll give you just one last try to prove this wasn't a complete waste of my time. Then you'd have to answer a few questions of mine." Tom informed her, still curious as to why he would be targeted even after living a life of a teenager who doesn't seem to have anything notable going on.

Gritting her teeth in shame, surprise and humiliation, she thought to herself. 'He's able to repel my attacks without even trying. There is no way he is that strong there has to be a trick behind this ability of his, at least a blind spot.' A slight smile appeared on her face as an idea came to light within her.

"That's it, give it one more go." Tom said with a smile as the iron sand began to rise up into the air again while they swirl and shaped into numerous spears all around him, from every angle imaginable, including some hidden ones beneath the ground right below him, hoping there must be a blind spot or draw back to him repelling each and every one of them.

"You better give it your all because I can't really break your spirit until I've belittled the most powerful attacks you have in your arsenal."

"Shut up and die already, you scum." She yelled and every one of them began to rotate so hard that they began to emitting a radiant glow due to the intense friction and electricity coursing through them. "This is the end." She declared and the rotating spears began launching themselves at Tom from all direction and with slightly different timing from each other as the heavily magnetized spears tried drilling their way into Tom.