It was already halfway through February, and hints of green were starting to show on the branches of the pentagonal maple outside Baia's window. The Wayne Manor was located in a remote area, but Alfred's carefully maintained gardens always brought a sense of pleasure. With that in mind, she was even less willing to return to the metropolis.
Although Gotham was dangerous, it wasn't as terrifying as outsiders often believed. The relentless efforts of Batman and Robin weren't in vain. As for the rest, it was just a matter of getting used to it.
It was just barely dawn, and Baia hadn't slept much anyway. Rubbing her eyes, she fed her canary, feeling much more awake after that. She had woken up so early mainly because the Great Detective had been scratching at her window since five in the morning—despite Alfred leaving a door open for it.
When a cat was done playing, it wanted to come in; when it was in, it wanted to eat. Baia simply wore her pajamas and headed straight to the kitchen, filling Ace's bowl and steaming fish for the Great Detective. At the same time, she prepared breakfast for the family.
Later, Baia's delivery arrived.
It was a large box containing some prototypes developed by Tony. The largest one inside was an assistive exoskeleton that could help patients with spinal injuries stand up again, which was also their first product they planned to launch.
Tony had drawn this without hesitation, indicating that he had researched it before, but Baia wasn't quite sure of the specific reasons.
There was also a wristband inside, similar to Tony's original one, which could transform into a palm cannon and connect to Friday.
Because she had plans to go to the drama club with friends on Monday, Baia's schedule was tight. She tied her hair into a single ponytail today, changing her usual style of being wrapped in loose coats. Instead, she wore a neat short jacket, revealing the waistline outlined by her fitted black sweater.
System: Choosing clothes in the same style as your opponent is a major taboo in warfare. You can't compare to Talia.
Baia: Well, the important thing is to participate.
Damian was quite magical.
You see, Tim at the company and Tim at home were completely different. The latter looked gentle and harmless, and very normal.
But Damian was different. Even in green crocodile pajamas, he could exude the aura of a domineering CEO, not to mention being raised by Talia.
Baia didn't want to blend in with the assassin mother and daughter as a little cutie. It was better to have some momentum.
When she finally saw Talia, she found that this was a woman who was different from the impression she had in mind. On the day she was taken away by Talia, Talia was wearing the black tight suit of the League of Assassins, looking as dangerous and fierce as her mother. But the Middle Eastern beauty sitting opposite Baia today was wearing a low-key dark red long dress, with dark brown long hair casually draped down, and her two straight honey-colored long legs casually crossed, elegant and classical like a muse.
If Baia didn't know who she was, if Baia was just a passerby who caught a glimpse of her, then it was highly likely to lead to love at first sight.
Bruce fell for her for a reason.
No one was watching her around, which more or less indicated that the area had already been cleared by the League of Assassins.
"Mother," Damian whispered.
Talia nodded and looked at Baia.
Baia felt uneasy.
System: Shout it out, or there's no other way!
Baia: "I shouldn't have brought Damian! I can't shout."
The girl obediently looked at Talia, blinking her big eyes and pretending to be dumb.
Talia didn't care too much. She got straight to the point: "I need you to come with me to the League of Assassins."
"She won't go anywhere." Damian said, "Father wouldn't allow you to use her as a pawn."
Talia squinted at Damian. She didn't like Damian's defiance, and in this respect, Batman obviously hadn't set a good example for his son.
Baia stirred her drink with a coffee spoon absentmindedly and said casually, "I can do anything, as long as my dad agrees."
Before deeply investigating this famous yet nameless girl, Talia might still believe that she was truly obedient and weak, but now her appearance was just a refusal to cooperate. But since she was willing to come see her, there was still room for negotiation.
Just as Talia was about to reprimand Damian, she suddenly became alert and said, "You have a tail behind you. Can't you sense it?"
Damian quickly observed the surroundings. "It's them, they just won't go away."
"Who are they?"
Without waiting for Damian to answer, a crisp metallic clang echoed in Baia's ears. Talia's thrown shuriken collided with a sharp metal feather in mid-air, and the two projectiles interlocked and transformed, embedding into the wall with a gust of wind.
"Dead men," Damian's expression soured. "You better hide first."
It was daytime, and Damian couldn't act.
"Damian, protect your sister."
"She's not..." Damian hesitated, but ultimately restrained himself and pulled Baia to hide behind the bar counter.
Talia, dressed in a dark red gown, showed no fear. She drew a shiny long blade from under the table and leaped backward, shattering the glass in front of them. Amidst the flying glass shards, a tall, dark figure appeared in front of Talia.
Clad in ancient armor and an owl mask, the Talon was the most loyal servant and assassin of the Court of Owls.
The lenses of the Talon's mask, symbolizing the round eyes of the owl, reflected Talia's tall figure. Without further ado, their assassin instincts alerted Talia to the danger. The female assassin, wearing Roman-style high heels, took two steps to build momentum and leaped into the air, aiming a downward strike at Talia's helmet. The blow landed on the Talon's armored helmet with a resounding clang.
Despite being well-trained, the Talon, being undead, couldn't match Talia's speed of reaction. Nevertheless, it had the upper hand in terms of strength. After being hit head-on, it only took a few steps back, with a crack appearing on its armor. Failing to land a decisive blow, Talia swiftly changed her move, preparing to choke the opponent with her legs.
If it were a living person, they would have died long ago.
The Talon leaned back, slamming Talia onto the table. It sidestepped to evade Talia's attack aimed at its throat, kicking over a nearby cabinet to topple onto Talia.
Rolling away to avoid the heavy furniture, blocking three sharp feather knives, Talia's carefully arranged long hair became messy, and her skirt was torn by the Talon's small knife. She remained composed, tightly pursing her lips, her eyes burning with anger.
A Robin's batarang shattered the lenses of the Talon's mask, revealing a cloudy eye.
"You carry throwing knives when you go out?" Talia pulled out a knife from under the table, which surprised Baia.
Damian turned to her. "Don't you?"
Talia had been fighting the Talon for several rounds, and the female assassin, whose attacks were blocked by the arm armor, gave a low growl. She leaped off the wall with a kick, and finally pierced the Talon's heart directly through its armor after several attempts.
However, the Talon was still moving.
Talia cursed inwardly, wiping the blood from her face. She hadn't intended for things to escalate to this point. She needed to finish this quickly.
Being pressed against the table by the Talon had somewhat affected her mobility, but then she heard the singing of an angel. Looking again, her wounds had healed completely.
Talia gave Baia a deep look.
Then, with a long knife stuck in her heart, the Talon and Talia simultaneously charged at Baia and Damian.
The female assassin lifted her skirt, pulling out a snake-shaped dagger from her thigh strap. She jumped behind the Talon, clasped its neck with one hand, and ruthlessly stabbed the dagger into the Talon's eye socket along the broken lenses of its goggles.
After struggling for a while, the Talon finally stopped moving.
"Forget it, this is not the place for a conversation," Talia pulled out the dagger, allowing the Talon's body to fall to the ground. She was still breathing heavily, but her face was as calm as ever.
She looked at Baia. "I will come to find you again."
The female assassin took a few steps back and disappeared into the shadows.
This was a development that Damian and Baia hadn't anticipated.
But the surrounding customers were just illusions created by the League of Assassins, so it wasn't a big problem. Although the battle was intense and thrilling, it ended in the blink of an eye. Damian ordered Talia's subordinates to dispose of the Talon's body. Now that a window was broken and the shop was in a mess, there were no customers left, so they just needed to deal with the shopkeeper's problem.
Dragging the frightened employees and shopkeeper out from behind the counter, Damian pressed a card onto the table. "This is for your compensation."
"Alright," Baia sighed, taking out a magic wand with pink stars, "now look here."
"We went out for nothing," Damian grumbled.
System: Not just for nothing, but also involving a magic wand!
Baia murmured, "Talia sis is so cool, I think I'm in love."
Damian: ?
Upon learning of the incident, Tim helped delete the surveillance footage from the shop. He scolded Damian for taking Baia to meet Talia, but ultimately managed to keep the situation under control, ensuring that the Wayne siblings didn't become a big headline in the Gotham Gazette.
"It's probably better not to let her return to Gotham," Damian said. "She's a troublemaker."
On the other side, in the League of Assassins.
Talia's trip wasn't in vain.
Against the backdrop of snowy mountains, a cold and elegant woman played with a strand of long black hair between her fingertips.
She didn't believe the results of the DNA test from last time, so she was about to command her subordinates to conduct another test when a dignified and elder voice came faintly.
"There's no need."
"But?" Talia paused.
The leader of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul, slowly approached. Instead of looking at Talia, he gazed into the distance.
"It doesn't matter where she comes from or if she lied."
"What matters is that she personally linked herself to the League of Assassins... You must seize this opportunity and make her one of ours. Do you understand?"
"I understand," Talia nodded slightly.
"From now on, she is my daughter... and will be at my disposal."