Chapter 13: League of Assassins

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Ra's al Ghul's age was unknown, he probably was hundreds of years old, but he only looked like a middle aged man with white sideburns.

He stood out in his group with his green outfit, which included a cape. All of those standing behind him were dressed in black, with some minor differences in design for some.

One was a beautiful woman dressed in black leather that showed her curves. She had long auburn hair and had a sword on her back, contrarily to her father's, who wore it on his hip. This was Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's.

Next to her was another woman, dressed in a long black coat. She didn't look as seductive as Talia, but she looked much more deadly. Although she had no apparent weapon, her hands were more dangerous than any of the assassins' weapons. She was Sandra Wu San, also known as Lady Shiva.

The group walked into a disaffected area in Gotham, and Ra's yelled "BATMAN!"

As if to answer him, a net fell from the sky. The assassins hurriedly dodged, but the ones in the center didn't have enough time, and about ten of them got caught in the net. Before they could start struggling the net electrified them.

Ra's looked at the fallen assassins with clenched teeth, he immediately understood what Batman was doing. Knowing his scheming mind, he was trying to make them split up. No, he was forcing them.

Ra's knew they would be stronger if they all remained together, but they were much more vulnerable to traps as groups. Although he was going along Batman's plan by doing so, he still ordered his men to split off.

He took out radios, but just as he expected, there was a jammer in the area. Ra's didn't like heading into enemy territory like this, and go along their plan, but what Batman did was unforgivable, and for that he would have to pay.

Moreover, no matter how many schemes Batman did, he wouldn't be able to overcome overwhelming strength like he possessed. Well, that's what he thought.

Ra's, Talia and Lady Shiva all split up, each taking a third of their forces as they walked toward the buildings.

The one Ra's chose was the one in the front, as his instincts told him there was a strong foe inside. However, much to his surprise, there were no traps as they entered the building, nor were there any more as they moved up the stairs.

As they got onto the highest floor though, he finally saw a man. It was not the one he was expecting though. This man was sitting cross legged on the ground, he only wore pants and a jade pendant as he seemed to be meditating.

The man opened his eyes, and said "Ra's al Ghul and his minions."

Ra's al Ghul's face turned a little nastier "Richard Dragon, I didn't think I would be meeting you here. Are you helping the Batman?"

Richard didn't answer his question though, and simply got up, still facing the group. Then, his pendant started glowing with a green light. Ra's al Ghul frowned and said "Attack!"

His minions did not hesitate in the slightest as they ran toward Dragon, weapons unsheathed. Dragon looked at them calmly though, and as they approached he suddenly stepped forward and punched the two nearest assassins while dodging the many attacks. He then jumped and took one of the stances of the Dragon Style, and kicked around himself, knocking out four other opponents.

The assassins tried to defend themselves, but Dragon crushed them with ease as he wasn't only more skilled, he was also much stronger than any of them.

Before long, all of them got knocked out, leaving only Ra's al Ghul. The immortal drew out his sword, taking a stance he himself had created over his long life.

Dragon raised an eyebrow and picked up the sword from one of the nearby assassins, before taking this time a stance of the Tiger Style of Kung Fu. Dragon's concentration reached it's peak as the glow of his pendant went to his sword, and he suddenly pounced forward like a tiger.

Ra's performed a vertical slash, but Dragon didn't care in the slightest about it and continued going forward. As their swords made contact, Ra's felt an overwhelming strength from Dragon's sword, stronger than his own.

His centuries of experience clearly weren't for nothing as the moment he felt he was outmatched in strength, he used Dragon's strength to slide his sword downward this time, sliding like a snake around Dragon's.

This took Dragon by surprise, and his chest was marked. Dragon hurriedly moved back and looked at his bleeding wound with surprise, while Ra's said "You may be strong, but don't think you can win this fight."

Dragon replied with his ever so serious face "I didn't expect an easy fight." He once again attacked, but this time did not pounce, but jumped. This was the Dragon Style, what he was famous for!

Ra's first prepared himself to block the strike using the same technique as earlier, but as Dragon was in mid air Ra's suddenly seemed to hear a dragon's roar as the descending blade turned into a mighty beast of legend.

His face abruptedly changed as he tried to defend himself, but his defence didn't last a tenth of a second as Dragon's sword slashed across his chest, from his right shoulder to his left hip. Moreover, the wound was extremely deep.

Ra's tried to retreat, but Dragon jumped forward the moment his feet touched the ground, and he tried to cut Ra's in half. However, as his sword was about to bisect Ra's, he slowed down as his strike lost all of it's strength, allowing Ra's to retreat.

Dragon stumbled back too, before coughing. He looked down at his chest, and saw his blood there had turned black. He said "Poison."

Ra's coughed too and said "Indeed, I am surprised you managed to last this long before the poison affected you."

Dragon grunted and stirred his Chi around his wound, purifying his body from the poison. Ra's wanted to attack him, but his own injury was too heavy for him to attack, so he started retreating. As he got to the window, he said "Do you think Batman is saved? You may have stopped me, but you can't fight either. Do you think Batman can take my whole League of Assassins?"

Dragon's face, which had remained serious until now, broke into a smile as he said "Who said only I came to help?"

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While Ra's easily entered in his building, this wasn't the case for Lady Shiva and Talia. Both of their groups lost a few assassins because of the traps.

Talia still had around 15 assassins with her as she arrived on the second floor of her chosen building, and that's when they were attacked. A dark shadow suddenly dropped on them, and Talia, who had been waiting for this, immediately turned to the figure and shot at him. The assassins with her all did the same, showering the Batman in bullets.

However, as they did the figure revealed itself to be a dummy, which exploded in their midst. Talia realized they fell in another trap, but she didn't have the time to react as the real Batman suddenly appeared from the shadows and knocked out a couple of her men.

They all tried to hit him, but he had already disappeared by the time their bullets left their gun, and as they stopped shooting he appeared in another part of the room, knocking out a couple more men.

Talia's face changed a little as she ordered for their retreat, but as she did the floor below them suddenly exploded, making them fall to the first floor.

By the time Talia got back to her feet, only five of her men were still up. She shot a nearby window and jumped out of it, quickly followed by her men.

They arrived in another building, but were once again greeted by a trap. This time however, none of them were caught in it.

But it did not do them any good as Batman attacked once again, using his grappling gun to hang one of them by his feet to the ceiling before knocking him out.

Talia threw away her gun and unsheathed her sword as she followed Batman with her sight, this time making sure he wasn't getting out of her sight.

However, the wall on their left suddenly changed as a bunch of darts were fired from there. Talia, who was right behind Batman, managed to dodge them, but the others weren't as lucky as they were all shot. They tried to continue the chase, but they quickly all fell as their bodies became paralysed.

Meanwhile, Talia kept on following Batman, making sure not to lose him and to be close enough so his traps would harm him too.

However, as they went from building to building, Batman suddenly stopped in a wide room. Talia stopped too, vigilant of her surroundings.

Batman looked at her and asked "Why are you still with your father, Talia?"

Talia looked at Batman with vigilance, and said "What should I do? Run with you, Bruce? Live our life as lovers?"

Batman, or Bruce, grunted "You were the one who told me you had enough of working for your father. Was that a lie?"

Talia frowned and said "It wasn't. But why did you have to aim for the Lazarus Pit? You almost destroyed it."

Batman shook his head and said "Isn't that a good thing? Without it, he would become mortal once again."

Talia frowned and replied "He is no immortal, just a mortal pushing his death a little farther everytime he enters the pit. But trying to destroy it, you made him furious, and you ruined my plans. And what if it was really destroyed, are you really ready to destroy a mean to resurrect someone?"

Batman replied "Yes, without hesitation. You know as well as I do the pit isn't anything good."

Talia looked disappointed as she asked "So if I were to die, you wouldn't try to revive me through the pit, if you had the opportunity."

Batman didn't answer, but Talia looked angry as this was as good as a yes to her. She clenched her fists, ready to bawl it out.

Batman sighed and said "I don't want to fight you, Talia." Talia growled back "I fear you don't have much of a choice."

Batman shook his head and replied "I do." As he said that, he began walking away, enraging Talia as she tried to pounce on him. However, as she started moving she suddenly fell to the ground, her mind starting to black out.

The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Batman turning to look at her, and saying "Knock-out gas. I learned this from your father. Manipulation, I learned that from you, Talia."

Bruce sighed as he looked at Talia, and cleared the gas out of the room using the screen on his forearm. As he did so he took off the breathing mask he put on and climbed onto the building's roof and used his grappling hook to head to Dragon's building.

However, as he arrived he only saw Ra's goons, and Dragon, who was meditating. As he felt his arrival, Dragon opened his eyes and said "Ra's escaped with a heavy injury. What about you?"

Batman replied "Talia is in another building, knocked out." Dragon frowned and asked "You are letting her go, again?"

Batman looked away, of course he knew Talia would wake up and escape. After a moment, he asked "What about Edward?"

Dragon got up from the ground and replied "Didn't see him. If you fought Talia, then he must be fighting Sandra."

Batman frowned a little and asked "Didn't you tell me she was as strong as you a few years ago?"

Dragon nodded, and Batman asked "What are we doing here then? We should go help him before she kills him."

Dragon smiled and replied "It is about time to go, but don't worry, this is a test for him. Even if he doesn't manage to defeat her, he is great at stalling for time."

Batman snorted "A wonder he is still alive."

Dragon chuckled lightly and got on the window's edge, and asked "Any idea of where they are?"

Batman looked at the screen on his forearm and said "There are presences in multiple buildings, he must have used the traps to take care of the other assassins… I think I know he is in which one, follow me."

As he said that, he used his grappling gun to get on another roof while Dragon followed him with a big jump, and he climbed the wall using his bare hands as hooks, shattering bricks as if they were sand.