Ch.43 Talia’s Secret

In addition, Talia had a little secret: she disobeyed Ra's al Ghul's orders and secretly maintained contact with Batwoman. She was the only member of the League of Assassins who could freely enter and leave Gotham, as long as she was under Batwoman's constant supervision.

Because Batwoman did not trust her.

Talia differed from Bruce in one crucial aspect: she believed that strength was the sole standard, that combat ability was everything.

But Bruce believed that a person's strength was measured by their beliefs and willpower, that true strength was overcoming one's own fears.

Ra's al Ghul didn't count because he was afraid of reality and the world. Talia didn't count either because she was afraid of her father. Even Batwoman herself didn't count, as the bat was the source of her fear.

To Batwoman, only a few individuals like the Joker and Deathstroke could be considered truly strong, because they were utterly fearless.

Even the Scarecrow, who invented the fear toxin, would cry for his life when he inhaled it himself, something that made her laugh uncontrollably. If she hadn't been in the Bat-suit at the time, she would have doubled over laughing.

But these differences didn't stop Talia from visiting her. Sometimes, after completing a mission in Central City or Star City, she would make a detour to Gotham.

Although Ra's al Ghul considered Gotham to be the world's cancer, the filthiest place, and believed that destroying the world must begin with destroying Gotham...

Talia thought Gotham wasn't too bad.

It was filled with chaos and madness, with all sorts of masked lunatics taking the stage one after another, making it feel like watching a play.

Living in a barren, icy wasteland for a long time was incredibly boring. She preferred the excitement of Gotham.

Whenever she arrived in Gotham, whether at Wayne Tower or on the rooftop of the police station, Batwoman would silently appear by her side, staring at her with cold, suspicious eyes, monitoring her, making sure she didn't cause any trouble.

Talia enjoyed this. She would just chat with Batwoman about her recent activities, mention how many people she had killed lately, ask if any of the lunatics had been out performing, and then quickly leave.

Ever since their first encounter, when Talia lost to Batwoman, she had been deeply interested in this powerful masked woman, and she unilaterally decided that Bruce was her friend.

Because Batwoman had defeated her but hadn't killed her, something Talia found utterly incomprehensible.

If you don't intend to kill, why fight at all? Isn't killing the simplest solution?

In truth, her understanding of Batwoman was far less than that of the Joker. The Joker was absolutely right when she said that Batwoman and she were the same.

The Joker, though she did kill people, didn't do it often, because she preferred to see everyone's minds filled with the chaos and madness she created, and then hear them all burst into laughter together.

Batwoman never killed because she wanted the hearts of evildoers to be filled with fear of her, fear of the Bat.

She would break her enemies' limbs or spine, torturing them in the most brutal ways, leaving them permanently paralyzed in bed, making them live in fear for the rest of their lives, just as fear tortured her.

Living in fear forever is far more cruel than the release of death.

So, when Gordon and some others considered her to be Gotham's heroine, Bruce never saw herself that way. Her actions were full of vigilantism, an outlet for her own fears through violent means.

Gotham was just her hunting ground, and she hunted the wicked there.

This was likely the reason why so many masked individuals flocked to Gotham—they saw a reflection of themselves in Batwoman.

Bruce's tactics worked well at first, but things changed when the Joker appeared. This lunatic, who seemed to have come out of nowhere, would still cheer and laugh joyously even when Bruce had broken every bone in her body, as if Bruce was making her feel comfortable.

And the next time she appeared, those injuries that should have left her paralyzed or disabled were mysteriously healed. She could continue playing new games with the Bat.

Furthermore, more and more people with medical backgrounds were gathering in Gotham. Even if Bruce broke their fingers to stop them from treating themselves, they always helped each other continue the game.

Take Hush, for instance. She was a childhood friend of Bruce's, and their families were old acquaintances. As an adult, she became a lunatic but remained a top authority in medicine. She could perform surgery on herself with just a knife, not even needing a mirror.

Batwoman had crippled her countless times, yet the next time she showed up, she was as lively as ever.

Dr. Hugo Strange, Professor Pyg, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and so on—all of them were experts in biology or medicine. They could heal any injuries caused by Batwoman.

Not to mention the Court of Owls lurking in the shadows, who, wanting nothing more than to see the world in chaos, would also provide medical assistance to the villains.

This led to the widespread rumor that Batwoman suffered from a savior complex, that she was a weak woman who wouldn't even harm an ant, who let villains escape over and over to hurt the citizens, unworthy of being called a heroine.

Batwoman wouldn't change her ways, because all she wanted was to instill fear in the wicked. She continued doing things her way, without needing to explain herself, because she never saw herself as a hero.

She just felt she needed to update her combat techniques. How could she cripple someone in a way that they could never recover?

She didn't have an answer yet.

It wasn't just her; Batmen in other parallel worlds probably had the same trouble. The old combat techniques seemed outdated. If only there were a martial art that could evaporate part of the opponent's body with one punch, leaving only their brain intact.

That way, the enemy would better experience fear—the fear that the Bats had endured as children, which they could never escape.

So, Talia believed that Batwoman was just like her, a cruel person, only cruel in a different way. The citizens of Gotham had been deceived by her. But Batwoman never confirmed or denied it. She seemed not to care what others thought and remained cold as ever.

Talia was always left speechless by Bruce, returning to Nanda Parbat dejectedly, but after some time, she would get bored and go back to Gotham.

Ra's al Ghul never noticed her little secret, because in every other aspect, Talia was no less skilled than he was. If not for his immortality, Talia could have easily taken over as the second Demon's Head.

Talia could already be called the Master of the League of Assassins.

Stealth, combat, disguise, archery—she was proficient in every killing technique. As a new-age ninja, she also mastered hacking and various firearms, far surpassing Ra's al Ghul in many aspects.

Although Ra's al Ghul believed that using firearms did not bring a warrior any honor, assassins had to kill their targets to get paid. If the target didn't care about honor, neither should they.

Apart from the issues of gender and Gotham, which were his inner demons, Ra's al Ghul was still a very competent leader in most situations.