Off Balance

Sitting on one of the couches, Isis watched her 'father' and his friend spar against each other in the living room of the former's loft. Her green eyes went back at forth as they were seemingly all over the provided space, with all of the furniture and appliances moved so nothing would get broken or them getting injured by accident. If one were to look closely into the feline's optics, they'd notice boredom in her gaze.

You see, there are several reasons why the black cat was currently bored out of her mind. First being that she can't leave the current residence, at all. Second, the spars she watches were becoming dull as of late. And third, Isis hasn't really 'socialized' with the 'outside' world for quite some time.

Now to explain this, you'd have to go back some weeks ago when the Joker was back in town.

It started out when Isis was out and about on the streets, as per usual habit of hers, so she could find something new and exciting for her to enjoy. Her 'mother' was out of town for work and had asked 'father' to keep a close eye on her until she got back a few days later. Nothing bad was going on for the time until she was getting quite hungry really late into the evening and sought out a meal before heading back home.

Then out of nowhere, this one man with an odd shark-like helmet came out of nowhere and nabbed her before getting into a van and drove off. Isis went nuts and tried to claw the man's face off, if it wasn't for his head's protection. Wasn't long before the sharkman placed her down and fed her some food to be sure nothing was wrong. She didn't know on what to think about it, but her hunger won over the rational parts of her mind on not trusting the man.

It helped a little more when the food was really delicious with some exotic looking fish she never had before, with the white scales and green fins, that she took her time in eating it.

Once done with her meal, the sharkman dropped her off a block away from her home before giving her an extra fish for the road. Isis appreciated the gesture as she would feast on the extra fish once in her home. By the time she made her way towards her 'father's' residence, Isis' mind was starting to get cloudy and things weren't all so very clear. And once she got to her second home, everything went really fuzzy before blacking out.

When waking up, she was at the Vet for some reason while being checked. Things weren't right when she was being examined since Isis clearly knew her last check up was months ago and wasn't due for another one later on. But things were somewhat explained to her on what happened once she got back home. Something about the Joker seemingly poisoning her and her went on a weird rabby spree of some sort.

...What? You think that just because Isis was an intelligent feline that she would know everything spoken to her? She's a cat for crying out loud, not a super pet of any kind.

Anyways… Isis was forced to stay at the loft for a full recovery and not step foot outside for her health, which she didn't mind at all. A few days inside wouldn't outright kill her and she could find something to do to entertain herself like finding yarn to play with or take the usual nap. But that seemed to change when her 'mother' returned home.

The thief wasn't thrilled when hearing on what happened to her precious girl and became more protective towards her. As a result, Selina didn't want Isis out of either of the lofts for her safety. This ended up limiting her exposure to the outside world as a whole.

Basically, Isis was grounded in an odd sense of the word. No real punishment at all, but just the cat being guarded a bit more.

Now that she can't go outside, for who knows how long, Isis can't really appreciate things all that well. The spars she occasionally watched lost it's luster, which was normally a fun experience to watch. Isis lost contact with many of the other felines in the city that she would occasionally chat with, resulting with her feeling anxious on being out of the loop on the current happenings in the animal social circles.

But before you jump the gun and say that Isis could sneak out of either loft, like she's done in the past countless times, you can blame her 'bodyguards' to keeping her inside.

Selina asked her boyfriend to use some of his Nobody summons to keep Isis inside at all times, unless otherwise. He complied and used several of his Dusks and Creepers to watch over the black cat while Selina, Naruto, Shizune and Rachel were vacant from the premises. They were annoying to the feline and she tried to leave in various methods, but Isis was stopped each and every time.

Suffice to say, Isis did not enjoy being 'grounded' at all. She's primarily an outdoor cat and loved being outside. Feeling the nice air and pleasantly smelling delectable things when she passes by some of the outdoor food vendors. Isis even enjoyed going out to help her 'mother' out with her nightly escapades, but now that seemed to go out of the metaphorical window.

...At least she got revenge by wrecking some of Naruto's sweaters for compensation.

Now going back to the present time, Isis got up from her seat on the couch and made her way towards Rachel's room so she could take a nap on the ward's bed. Isis did have to quickly move out of the way a few times on the way towards the stairs, due to Naruto falling down before Talia soon followed. Their current spar was starting to escalate a bit more after going at each other for roughly half an hour so far.

The Uzumaki currently wore a black t-shirt with a white Nobody symbol printed on the front, a pair of black workout shorts and black tennis shoes. As for the Demon's Daughter, she's currently wearing grey yoga pants, a green sports bra and black tennis shoes.

Naruto traded blows with his old friend as both kept blocking or parrying the other's strikes. There were few instances that a hit was successfully made, only for it to open up the opponent's guard for a potential takedown move. Though not much could be done in the limited space since some prior spars would consist an entire large room on their fights.

As much as the publisher enjoyed a decent spar with his three girlfriends, both in the waking world and in the Dreaming to help improve their skills, Naruto couldn't go all out on them. Part of his subconscious didn't want him to really harm his lovers, causing him to hold back (primarily with his powers of course). But the last time Naruto really enjoyed sparring hand to hand, when not holding back, was against Ted Grant back at Starling City and Talia when they traveled together.

The pair sported small grins on their faces as one tried to take down the other. It was honestly quite fun for them to do this again after so long, even though yesterday they had a sparing match. With the sweat dripped off their brows, causing slight discomfort of the salty liquid hitting their eyes, they continued their morning workout as sounds of grunts and smacked flesh filled the air.

Naruto came in close as he delivered a sweep kick to knock her over before swinging several punches and elbow strikes. As Talia fell onto the training mat, she quickly recovered and spun around before responding back in kind with her own attacks. Their reflexes were on par with each other on the reaction speed, due to their separate experiences with harsh battles.

Both tried to restrain themselves so they wouldn't give things away on their full potential, but it was hard to do so with them trying to prove who was the stronger fighter. Talia wanted to see more on what her former student had to offer, causing her to be more fierce. This, in turn, got Naruto to retaliate against his teacher in return.

The Uzumaki sent an uppercut towards the woman's chest, making her smack it away as she tried to punch Naruto's head from it's side. It was blocked as he moved his feet around to get behind his sparring partner to hit Talia from behind. The Demon's Daughter barely caught sight of it before she quickly ducked down and elbowed Naruto's side. The attack was successful, but Naruto grasped her appendage and twisted it before flipping Talia onto the mat once again.

Wanting to be let go, the woman used her legs and kicked his own to fall down as well. With Naruto still grasping on her arm, Talia had to resort to moving in an awkward angle so she can strike his exposed side hard enough to force him to release her. Once done, she quickly got up and smirked at the face he sent towards her.

"That was cheap, you know that right?" Naruto stated as his powers kicked in a little to help heal the wound so he can keep going.

"Of course Naruto." She replied as he got up and resumed his fighting stance. "Not all fights are fair."

He shook his head a little and sighed. "True and it's annoying when that happens. But then again, it's life or death on any encounter."

"Exactly."

Once ready once again, Naruto delivered several jabs with a following roundhouse kick. Talia blocked them easily before sending out a right cross and came in close to knee her opponent's stomach. As he was pushed back, she twisted to a spinning roundhouse kick that landed on his waist.

Talia pressed forward, but the Uzumaki intercepted her strike by punching the inside of her arm. He soon struck her chest with a palm strike with a following right cross towards her face, which left her spinning a little. Talia used her newly gained momentum for a upward kick towards Naruto's head. Though the foot was caught as he soon brought her close for a quick moment before tossing her onto the ground.

Not wanting to be outdone, Talia pushed herself off the training mat with a flip kick before landing back onto her feet. Still dazed, Naruto was hit back with a spinning back kick that almost sent him to the ground. The whiskered man recovered just in time as she pressed her attack with two front kicks with a following elbow strike towards his face. Naruto dodged and weaved through the assault as he hit her side with a punch that made her stumble sideways.

"That one hurt." She mumbled as she rubbed her side.

"Payback for the cheap shot from earlier."

Talia merely glared a little at the response. "By exploiting my weak spot, you mean."

All Naruto could do was shrug as he suddenly threw a spinning back kick which Talia barely dodged. He used his momentum to deliver another that almost knocked the Demon's Daughter down if she didn't catch it just in time. Talia then elbowed Naruto's leg that made him stumble in his stance before coming in close with a downward cross onto his face. The Uzumaki countered by uppercutting her that landed on her stomach.

The whiskered man then had to back flip away, while trying to kick Talia in the process, as said woman performed a sweep kick. Though she had to quickly lean back to evade the kicks coming towards her face. Using her momentum, the Demon's Daughter rolled back to block the downward strike from Naruto's assault.

Their spar would've continued longer, if it wasn't for the little alarm clock sounding off to signal it's end. The two tried to relax as best as they could, though it was hard to with their rapid heart beats and the adrenaline coursing through their veins.

Helping Talia off the ground, Naruto gave her a chuckled smile. "You really kept me on my toes on that one, Talia."

"You weren't so bad yourself. And I've gotta say, I was right that you're probably one of my best students. Probably on the list of people who could possibly beat me hand to hand."

"I aim to please." He said before a questioning look came across his features as he turned off the alarm. "Don't mind me asking this but who are on that list?"

As she stretched her limbs a little to get out some kinks, Talia answered. "Well there's my father, for starters, and my sort of riva.."

"Sort of?"

Walking towards the her towel to help wipe off her sweat, she explained. "She just wants to prove she's better than I am back at work and we occasionally fight to let out our frustrations. I lost some and she lost some. Simple as that."

Naruto gave her a look as he felt there was more to that, but didn't want to press onto that. "Anyone else or is it just gonna be a really short list?"

"Oh it is a short list actually and the other one is my sister with her winning a handful of times." She said as she didn't mention one or two of the other current Horsemen in her father's organization. Said Horsemen could fight her on even ground, but won't go too far since she's Warith al Ghul and they don't want to anger her father by killing her.

"Really? Well I can't wait to see that happen and maybe fight her one day." He said as he started stretching, alongside his friend, so his body wouldn't get sore later in the day.

"Who knows, maybe you will some day." Talia briefly said before making her way towards her pack. "Would you mind if I use your shower again Naruto? Seems I built up too much of a sweat in this session."

The publisher shrugged before answering. "If you brought a spare change of clothes, then go ahead."

The Demon's Daughter briefly smiled with a nod as she grabbed her bundle of clean clothes and made her way towards one of the loft's guest washrooms with a shower. Passing through the opened door, Talia started to slip off her shoes as she closed the bathroom door. It wasn't long before she pulled off her yoga pants, panties and sports bra to leave her in the nude before climbing into the shower and turning on the hot water.

'Hmm, this is nice.' Talia thought as she moved her hands over most of her scarred body before running her fingers through her dark brown hair. 'A good workout with a following bath or shower makes everything feel better.'

This has been their second sparring session ever since Talia came into town and they've done these sessions once Rachel was dropped off at school. The Demon's Heir did have to wait outside of her former student's loft for a bit, due to her barely missing catching Naruto when he left with Rachel to drop her off at school. But Talia got impatient and broke into Naruto's residence, hoping find out any more information about her possible love interest.

Talia combed through the rooms as she learned more on the Uzumaki that she didn't know beforehand from what the Crock couple informed her. The Demon's Daughter was surprised when hearing that Naruto was in a relationship… with possibly two or three women. She was slightly concerned on the reason why, but things seemed to simmer down a little when hearing about Pamela's predicament from the Crock matriarch.

After inspecting the loft, with a critical eye, Talia was playing with Isis by the time Naruto returned. He wasn't really surprised of her breaking into his place since the Uzumaki knew that Talia had that kind of habit for as long as he'd known her. And after having the promised spar, the dark haired beauty questioned her former student on various subjects she had in mind, even though she knew several of the answers.

But it didn't hurt to hear them coming from his mouth.

Things started off on her wanting to know more about Naruto's upcoming book, Final Fantasy, before it hits the shelves to the subject shifted into wanting to know more about Rachel. Naruto told her on what he knew but his ward has been vague about her past, knowing that it's still a sensitive matter that he wouldn't delve into until she felt ready. As for the book, he explained the premise of the first book of the series but didn't want to spoil things too much so he wouldn't ruin her enjoyment reading his first attempt in a more fantasy genre…

And before saying anything, no, his Gutsy Ninja and Arashi Rasen stories weren't really fantasy novels to him, but everyone asides his three current girlfriends would say otherwise unless they knew the truth about them.

...Anyways… After those little explanations, Talia decided to finally ask about him being in a relationship; especially since she saw evidence of women living in the loft in his bedroom and in one of the guest rooms.

So after some pressure, due to Talia's persistent attribute in her nature, Naruto caved and gave the best explanation that he could muster about his polyamorous relationship without giving away too much sensitive information. He felt awkward about the situation from the beginning, with Pam giving him permission to be with other women, but over time Naruto somewhat accepted things as he fell in love with the women he's currently with. But the Uzumaki had to keep this a secret, with a handful of people knowing, since he didn't want his lovers to be ostracized because of it.

During the explanation, Talia kept the facade of her previously knowing on the situation. She did express her concerns like what every normal person would do, while saying her apologies on what the publisher/botanist pair had to go through. But hearing all of this from him somewhat made the assassin happy that she might have a chance being with him.

Don't get her wrong, Talia did feel horrible that Pamela lost one of life's great experiences a woman could ever have. But this turned into a good opportunity for the assassin with Naruto open towards the prospect of having various consorts/concubines if he could become the new Demon's Head. Though Talia would want to meet these other women in his life and possibly earn their trust of having her join their little group.

'But first, I must win him over and ease him into joining me in the League.' Thought the Demon's Heir as her hand went towards her lower lips while the other kneaded her breast. Wasn't long before she started to play with herself as she imagined her whiskered friend pleasuring her as her hopeful husband to be. 'And once that happens, then I get to have Naruto in my bed and bear his children.'

Unknowing of his former teacher's alternative actions, Naruto was getting out of the shower in his respective bathroom as while his clone was cleaning up the living room. The Uzumaki simply went through a simple rinse to clean himself up, making him finish quicker than a woman who takes their time showering and bathing. Though he did share some similarity with women when it pertained to his long, silver hair.

"...Takes forever to dry out my hair." He muttered as he used his towel to get rid of the extra water. "Sometimes I don't know how Pam and Harley deal with this every time they do this. Hmm, I should probably get a haircut to at least get rid of the long ponytail. Maybe donate that amount of hair to a wig store."

As the publisher was getting dressed, his eyes landed on his Lexicon as it lied on his nightstand.

"...I need to put a damn alarm on that thing." Sighed out the publisher as he shook his head. "Showing up whenever I least expect it."

Naruto sometimes thought his one book was sentient with it showing up out of the blue, on most occurrences. It would pop up whenever the publisher needed it to write down ideas or fighting moves in the past, but it's been appearing lately if something new is added into it's entry log without him knowing. Last time this happened as yesterday morning before he dropped Rachel off at school as new material was shown towards him.

Naruto did see more information about his Foundre daggers and Kazekage lances on what they could really do. On what was provided showed techniques and skills that were now accessible with their odd powerup after defeating the mysterious, hooded man once again. Not only that, but it seemed that he could be able to summon an additional Nobody now, something called Dragoon, but other entries were still blacked out on what he could summon.

As for wanting to train with those new skills, they appeared to be a bit more destructive from what he remembered in his fight at the Gotham Harbor. He had to resort working on his new skills while he's in the Dreaming. If Naruto did that training in the real world, he'd be noticed way too quickly with how 'flashy' those new skill sets are.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Naruto disbursed the Lexicon into smoke. "Don't want Talia to see this on accident now if she snoops around, again."

Some time has past as the Uzumaki sat on one of the couches and waited for Talia to finish getting ready for the day. He didn't know what she wanted to do exactly, asides from sparring earlier, while she was still in town. They went to the museum, the clocktower and even checked out Gotham's Statue of Justice as some of their activities before Naruto had to pick up Rachel from school yesterday. And from there, Talia just stuck around the loft for another home cooked dinner before heading out for whatever she was doing for her job.

"And, of course, I don't really know what she does for a living." Muttered the publisher as he went through one of his notebooks to clean things up for the next book in his Final Fantasy series. "Keeps evading to explain its entirety to me at every turn."

"Evading what now?" Spoke the Demon's Daughter, causing Naruto to turn around in his seat to see Talia walking towards him. She was currently wearing a pair of tight jeans, combat boots and a black t-shirt underneath a green button up shirt on top. Her hair was tied back into a low ponytail and her pendant was shown above her shirts.

"Just ideas for my book series." Lied the former shinobi as he didn't want to get into that old argument again. "They just keep avoiding me."

"Then just take a break Naruto. It's not like it's going to be the end of the world if you try to complete it right away." Talia jokingly said, earning a chuckle from her crush.

"True, but sometimes it helps to jot them down and not forget about them later." He said as he placed his notebook down onto the coffee table. "Anyways, do you have anything in mind you want to do today?"

Adopting a thinking pose, the assassin took a moment before an idea came to mind. "I've heard that the botanical gardens here are really spectacular as of late and I'd like to see what your girlfriend, Pamela, has done so far over there."

"...I guess we could go there, but don't know if you'd like to do that later in the week when Pam gets back. She could maybe give you a tour if you prefer that."

She shrugged. "I would, but I'd rather go when I can."

"If you say so." He said as he stood up and headed towards the jacket hanging on the wall. "Is there anywhere else you'd like to see?"

"Well… There is the old Wonder City Grand Greenhouse." She said, not noticing the slight flinch Naruto responded with. "I really want to see the many rare flora stationed supposedly there and I heard that they're quite wondrous."

"Are you sure about that Talia? That place has been abandoned for years. Who knows if that place has been properly maintained at all ever since it shut down." Said the Uzumaki as he tried to divert his friend from going there. "Besides, it's private property and we can't go there."

As much as he'd like to show Talia Pam's unofficial greenhouse, with how much the meta-botanist changed and strengthened the flora, Naruto didn't want to barge in there and end up revealing Pam's experiments. The Uzumaki respected his first lover's privacy over there and would only show up to check in on Pam, when not at home, along with doing a nice stroll with the girls. It would've been considered a bit of an intrusion and Naruto respected Pam's space.

Even though the Green champion had been intruding that area on a constant basis while ignoring the 'Private Property' notice at the gates.

Talia merely rolled her eyes as she grabbed her keys, jacket and motorcycle helmet from the kitchen counter before the pair left the loft. "Please. You know it's not the first time we entered 'private' areas before."

Once locking up the door, he responded back. "I know that Talia. But from what Pam told me, her work had procured a good amount of the plant life and transferred them to the botanical gardens some time back to help take care of them. What you'd see at the gardens will largely have what the Greenhouse used to have."

That was partially the truth. The botanical gardens have indeed taken a good amount of flora from the Grand Greenhouse some years ago for study and to preserve them. But new ones were created when Ivy went crazy early this year and were kept for Pam's usage and pleasure.

"...That's good, I suppose."

Naruto looked at her oddly before stating the obvious. "You sound disappointed."

"Well... I wanted to see the Greenhouse, for some time now, from what my father told me when he came to Gotham years ago." The Demon's Daughter said as they walked through the hallway towards the elevator. "He loved seeing them and even took samples of some of the rarer flora to preserve them in his own right."

"With the place closed off for decades now, why wouldn't he take some." He said, not knowing of when exactly Talia's father got said plants. "Since the gardens are on the list for today, are there any other places you have in mind or would you just want to wander around?"

"I'd just wander around and see what else we could do." She answered before a thought came to mind. "Though I wouldn't mind seeing where you work."

Naruto chuckled at the thought as they entered the elevator and made their way down towards the tower's garage. "Maybe when I actually go to work next you could stop on by and I'd show you around."

The Uzumaki didn't expect his former teacher in wanting to see him in the office, but he did appreciate the heads up. All that he did expect was for her to hog him for most of the week before she leaves. Naruto was prepared by having a clone take his place at work for the next several days, but this might help cover things when the time came.

Not knowing what was going through her crush's head, Talia smiled slightly since she'd want to see how well her former student is faring in running a successful business. As they waited in the elevator, the assassin made a mental list on what she'd need to do later in the day before meeting up with the Crock couple at the rail station tonight for their assignment. If she won't be seeing the Greenhouse with Naruto, then she'd see it by herself.

'While I'm at it, I might as well start doing full background checks on each of Naruto's lovers since I couldn't do that yesterday.' Thought the Demon's Heir with a mental frown. 'I need to be prepared for them by the time when they get back into town and not be thrown off in case of anything.'

-Some Hours Later, On the Streets-

There was a slight chill in the air, despite of how nice of a day it was so far. With the autumn colors starting to take over the city from what nature provided, for instance. But the occasional breeze made people want to bundle up a little.

Or in most couples' cases: being really close towards each other for warmth, like Talia hugging Naruto's arm as she enjoyed her time being with him… even though they're not really a couple at all.

For years, Talia has loved the whiskered Uzumaki after he unknowingly wormed his way into the deepest parts of her heart during their time together. She didn't know how he snuck past her defenses, but as time went on the Demon's Heir didn't mind at all as they traveled together. It was a pleasant experience for her and Talia would always cherish the memories.

Now you'd be thinking that she shouldn't be feeling this way towards him; due to crossing the relationship boundary between teacher and student, in a romantic sense, is a big no-no. Talia had indeed thought through all of that as she never crossed that boundary with any of her former students. But Naruto was different from the rest as odd fantasies eventually plagued her mind during their second year together, yearning for him in every way shape and form.

Hell there was even a good amount of them of the Demon's Heir wanting to give her favorite student some 'private lessons' or 'disciplining' him for no reason at all.

"...lia."

'Hmm… And what a good session that might be.' Came the assassin's… slightly perverted thoughts, with her cheeks lightly dusted red as various scenarios ran through her mind.

"...alia?"

'Teaching him certain ways in really pleasing me… Or even him showing me how it really is to be a woman, his woman to be exact, if my hunch is correct about his-'

"Talia?!"

Her thoughts ended abruptly by her friend and love interest by raising his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry Naruto." She apologized while recomposing herself. "What were you saying? My mind was elsewhere."

"I guess so since I've been trying to get your attention for the past minute." He said before pulling out a handkerchief from his back pocket.

"What's that for Naruto?"

"Well I don't know if you're hydrated enough or not, but your nose is bleeding slightly."

Blinking at this, she brought her fingertips towards her nostril and felt blood was indeed coming out from it. Talia then took his handkerchief and nodded in thanks before wiping away the excess blood. Once handing back the piece of cloth, the Demon's Daughter spoke.

"So what were you trying to saying earlier?"

Moving his head towards the side, Talia saw the music store they were some feet away from. "I was wondering if you'd like to go inside and look around."

Seeing no harm, she complied as he opened the door for her with him following. Once inside, the two were greeted with an interesting sight of what wouldn't be seen in most music stores as it's one or the other. With most stores, they just display the different instruments from pianos and cellos to different guitar varieties as examples with the different tools and equipment to maintain and handle each complementary instrument. Other stores have just music players and albums out for their merchandise. This place seems to be a large balance between the two.

"Hello." A voice called out from the nearby counter. Looking towards the employee, the pair saw a ginger looking man with his hair slicked back hair. He wore a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to compliment his purple pants and shoes with the music note tie around his neck. "Welcome to Symphony of Sorcery. Where we have the instruments and music from around the world. How can I be of your service today?"

Taking a glance at the nametag, Naruto responded. "We're just browsing around Neil. Don't know if we want to purchase anything or not."

The employee nodded as he waved his hand towards the rest of the store with a smile. "Well let me know if you have any questions. Until then, have a pleasant day."

The pair nodded before checking out the merchandise out on the floor and shelves. Talia inspected the different instruments out on display and saw they were greatly maintained that much time was taken to finely tune each and every one. With Naruto, he was looking through a variety of shelves and placed different albums into his hand.

'Hmm… These might be good for a nice start for Rachel's music collection.' Thought the publisher as he eyed the little collection in his grasp. There were the likes of Janet Jackson and Nirvana to some OST's from some anime the young ward enjoys watching. 'I know she likes listening to some from my collection, but I'll need to ask on what she enjoys more.'

Just when he was going to purchase the acquired albums, his hazel eyes briefly glanced at a simple guitar sitting by it's lonesome on the far off wall. The Uzumaki didn't know what drew him towards it, but his curiosity made him inspect the lone stringed instrument. Picking it up with care, since he didn't want to damage the wooden guitar, Naruto strummed the chords as he tightened or loosened them without realizing it.

And before he knew it, his fingers started to play on their own as he went into a trance-like state.

-Insert Final Fantasy VII: Aerith's Theme on guitar-

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Once the final note was strunge, Naruto heard some clapping coming from his friend and the one employee currently working.

"My, that was superb my good sir." Neil said with a pleasant grin.

Blinking in confusion, the publisher could only mutter a reply. "Thanks?"

"I didn't know you played the guitar Naruto." Talia said as she came up to him.

"Actually, that was my first attempt with a guitar."

"Really?"

It was at this point the store employee spoke up. "You must've been a natural and played on what was on your heart."

Scratching his head, Naruto didn't know how to properly respond. All that he could do was shrug. "Who knows."

"Maybe you should play another."

Before the whiskered Uzumaki could decline, Talia added into the pressure. "I agree Naruto, you should definitely play some more."

Having a bit of encouragement, Naruto took some breaths and did their request.

(Listen to FFIX You're Not Alone, Melodies of Life and Rose of May on guitar in no particular order. Though FFX To Zanarkand is last… Pause reading and just listen to the music.)

Each song came to him as he stood there and played them back to back. This time he wasn't much in a trance like the first time as he saw the pleased looks on their faces, along with others that started to appear into the store. They were pleasant tunes that seemed to boost the publisher's confidence as he played each of the nameless songs. And once the final note was strung on the third song, due to him not stopping in between each of them, the people clapped a bit louder, which got the Uzumaki to blush a little in embarrassment.

"Alright, alright." Neil said as he tried to disburse the crowd. "Break it up people."

As this happened, Talia came up to her crush and gave him a beaming smile. "That was wonderful Naruto."

"You really think so?"

She nodded as the two eventually made it back up front with Naruto wanting to purchase the albums he originally planned on getting. Of course the Uzumaki decided to buy the guitar he just played along with a case and a maintenance kit. Naruto was about to give it a pass, but he questioned himself on how he could play it so well on just the first time. Knowing that he'd need to look into this and had a feeling it was connected to him… somehow.

-Evening, Gotham's Statue of Justice-

In the autumn night, the winds were brewing as the waves rocked across the shores of Gotham. It's chilly air would make one unfocused, if not properly bundled up, as most people would to seek warmth in the process. Whether it's staying inside of a vehicle or building to wearing better clothing so they'd stay healthy by night's end.

Though this wasn't the case for one man in particular from where he was standing.

'God, it's freezing up here... Why'd I agree to come here in the first place?' The man thought as he leaned against the railing of one of Gotham's main landmarks: the Statue of Justice.

Also known as 'Lady Gotham', this monument is situated offshore of the New Jersey city and loosely modeled after the Statue of Liberty over in New York. Even though there was a downsized copy of the Statue of Liberty over in France, the creators of Wonder City/Old Gotham wanted to take liberties of making their own with differences. The crown was modeled differently, for starters, as the metallic woman was blindfolded. The statue still had it's torch in its right hand, serving as a lighthouse-like beacon years ago, while the book was replaced with a shield.

Now you might be wondering who this particular man is exactly and why he's here in the first place. Well he goes by the name Twitch, a freelance underground informant. And as to why he's here, Twitch was here for a rendezvous with one of his pals for work. But the informant has been rather displeased in standing out here for so damn long at an isolated area.

"An hour I've been waiting." The informant muttered as he paced around the statue's torch. "Why couldn't we just met up at a bar or at a strip joint? It would've been better anywhere else but here." Rubbing his face a little with his gloved hands, Twitch was getting really annoyed at this point. "I don't know why Nico wanted to meet here anyways."

"He didn't Twitch." A voice called out from the shadows, causing the informant to quickly turn around. "I did."

Seeing who it was, Twitch widened his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at the Bat of Gotham. "You! Y-You tricked me!" Seeing the cowled vigilante coming closer, the informant backed away until his waist hit the torch's railing. "W-What do you want?!"

"Information," stated the Bat with a narrowed glance, "on the League of Shadows." This caused the informant to actually twitch, like his nickname states, at the mention of the infamous assassin group. "Word is they've been spotted here… So tell me all about them."

On some of his off days when he tried to relax from patrolling, keyword being 'tried', Bruce would've been scouring through his bat computer and going through past cases to keep his mind sharp. One particular case was months ago when the Zephyr battery was sought after by those assassins as they broke into his home to capture both the battery and it's creator, Simon Feck. Batman wanted to know more about who they were, so he went digging through many of his resources.

From what he eventually found out, they're a society of assassins that started up roughly nine hundred years ago that sought out to restore balance to the world. Everything else about the group was very vague as their history is kept secret and much about them was hidden away. But from what else he found out, they have a very tight set of rules that each member lives by.

When word was heard in the underground channels that the League was spotted here in Gotham, Batman tracked down the one man that he realized had some small connection to them: the informant right in front of him.

Holding up his hands, in a defensive manner, Twitch spoke. "There ain't that much to tell. I-I mean, I only worked for them, okay? Not with them."

Seeing as his earlier hunch was right, Batman continued the little interrogation. "It'll have to do. Now talk!"

"Okay, okay! From what I know, I was approached by them a few days ago to spread word of some drug deal happening at the harbor." The man explained as he tried to get some breathing room. "And from what I overheard that it was meant to draw one of you heroes out, for some reason."

The Dark Knight narrowed his eyes at what Twitch was referring to. A few nights ago, there was an incident at the docks where many thugs were killed off by either electrocution or having their throats slit. From what Vanitas told the GCPD, he faced off a metahuman in a hooded outfit that caused the majority of the damage. Surveillance footage was found, helping backup the claim, and Batman wondered what the purpose of the attack was.

'If the League of Shadows was really involved with that attack, then I don't know what they're planning.' The bat-themed hero thought before speaking. "What else do you know?"

"Well, word on the street is they got something major going down tonight." Twitch answered with an eventual shrug. "Gonna boost some kind of new ultrasound gizmo, or something."

"...Who runs the show?"

This got the informant to scratch his head to help give good answer. "Strange dude really. Different from the group that I first met as I only met the guy yesterday. Wanted layouts and information for several places while claiming he was doing it for his group."

"Does he have a name?" Questioned the Bat as he pressed for answers.

"All I know is that he goes by the name 'Vertigo'. They say he's-" Twitch was about to say more when his eyes landed on someone else, causing him to gasp in fright.

Turning around, Batman saw a man standing on the far off railing. He wore what appeared to be black military fatigues with a ski mask and goggles to cover up his features. To complete the look, the man had a small utility belt with a knife and gun strapped to the side.

Twitch backed away, only for his back to hit another man in a similar outfit. "P-Please! H-He made me talk! I didn't mean-!"

Not much was said before a knife was quickly plunged into Twitch's chest with a following twist. The informant widened his eyes as the weapon was pulled out before the assailant pushed him over the edge of the torch's railing. It wasn't long before Twitch's corpse fell into the water.

"Such be the fate for all traitors." The masked assassin stated, causing Batman to growl at the two men.

"You'll pay for that!"

Just when the Bat was about to attack them, one of the assailants pulled out a gun and fired several shots. The hero effortlessly dodged the bullets, but this left an opening for the other man to put an attachment onto his weapon before firing. Hearing the shot, Batman moved out of the way, thinking it was another bullet, but it was in fact a grappling cable.

When realizing what it was, he saw the assailants flee by sliding down the cable towards the statue's head. Wanting to catch up, Batman opened up his cape and glided down to their position. As he got in close, he drop kicked the both of them which caused them to tumble.

Getting back up, the dark assailants took out their knives and lunged at the Batman. Said man raised his arm to block one of the attacks while dodging the other. In one quick move, the Bat grabbed one of the fighters and tossed him into his comrade. Falling back onto the ground hard, the two lost their bladed weapons as they fell off of the statue's head.

"Are you two with the League of Shadows?" Questioned the Bat as he stalked towards the two assailants.

No response was given as the two men muttered something under their breath. It was hard to make out, but barely saw the outline of their mouths open up before crunching down on something. Remembering the incident months ago with the supposed League members, the Batman tried to stop one of them as he pulled off the ski mask to see foam coming out of the man's mouth. It also wasn't hard to realize the same thing happened to the other assailant as well that the two used cyanide pills to get away from answering any questions.

Knowing that he won't be getting any answers from this, Batman pressed a switch on his utility belt for his batplane to come for him. He needed to get these corpses to the authorities so they could maybe help him out on this current case, even retrieving Twitch's corpse from the waters below. But as Batman waited for his ride to arrive, he took samples of each of the assailants so he could find something from the batcomputer.

Unbeknownst to him, the Dark Knight of Gotham was being watched on the shoreline by three individuals from their binoculars.

"Well this changes things." Sportsmaster muttered as he lowered his piece of military equipment.

"That I can agree with." Huntress said as she stood up from her crouched position. "It seems that they are here in the city without us knowing about it."

"So what should we do about them princess? Should we deviate from your Father's objective or stick to it?"

Underneath her hood and face mask, Talia had a displeased look across her features. Them showing up was not what the three expected as a simple 'snatch and grab' just got complicated. Then again, missions can never be too simple in their line of work.

"We stick towards the objective at hand." Warith al Ghul stated as she placed her binoculars away. "But we'll need to obtain the device before they do."

"And what if we don't get it, my lady?"

Not looking at the female assassin, Talia simply answered. "Then we improvise and go with the flow."

-GCPD-

Several shots could be heard inside of the shooting gallery as Jim Gordon fired bullets from his trusty sidearm. He would occasionally come in here during the slow hours while on the clock to keep up his shooting skills. Even using this time to help him think with a clear head without any paperwork or officers to discuss assignments with.

Hearing the little click in his gun, indicating that the magazine was empty, Jim pressed the button in his stall to bring the target sheet closer to him. As he was about to insert a new clip into his gun, Gordon heard the rooms entrance open up and quickly close with no following footsteps. Placing his gun onto the table, he turned around and looked for the new arrival.

"Batman?"

"Over here, Jim." The Bat called out from the darkest area of the room before stepping into the light.

"So, what brings you here?" Asked the commissioner as he pulled down the target sheet.

"Twitch is dead."

Jim blinked a few times before he let out a frustrated sigh. Twitch was a good informant, even though he does his work for both the police and criminals alike for the right price.

"Did you at least bring the body?"

Batman nodded as he stepped closer. "He's currently in the GCPD morgue, alongside two men who I believe work for the League of Shadows."

"Them?" Jim surprisingly asked. "I thought they were a myth."

"The incident with the Zephyr battery would say otherwise."

Gordon scratched his upper lip on remembering the incident with the varied corpses that seemingly disappeared from their morgue. Their appearance did scream 'assassin', but Gordon didn't know at the time they were members of the supposed group.

"So what do you think they're after?"

"Before Twitch died, he said something that makes me think they're going after Wayne Tech's new sonic drill. Tonight when it comes into Gotham." The Bat revealed in his ever present tone. "Tell Bullock he should add more guards to be safe."

Once again, the commissioner let out a sigh as he placed a new target sheet up on the rack. "Is there anything you don't know about? I mean, I only assigned that detail a couple of hours ago." Hearing no response at all, Jim looked back to see the vigilante vacant from the room. "I swear, one of these days I'm gonna nail his feet to the ground."

-Gotham Rail Station-

Sitting on top of one of the far off buildings, Vanitas overlooked the rail station as he waited for a particular train to arrive.

In his patrols, Naruto would occasionally come here to see if anyone is willingly dumb enough to hijack a train and steal it's goods. It was something the masked Uzumaki had to make a habit out of ever since the Red Claw incident back in January. Past times coming here were good when he stopped an illegal business deal or two and he wasn't gonna stop now, even when it was just a short visit.

Well right now, the helmeted vigilante is here since he heard through the grapevine that some Wayne Tech gizmo was being transported here from out of town for further testing.

'I don't know what it is exactly, but if someone stole it then it'll be used for some nefarious scheme or sold to the highest bidder.' Vanitas thought as he focused his attention towards the surrounding area. 'And I don't want to see either happen.'

As Naruto waited, he thought back on today's earlier events to pass some of the time. There was the sparring session with Talia, going to the botanical gardens and having an early lunch there. Afterwards the two went to that music shop and him playing a musical instrument really well for the very first time.

The Uzumaki remembered playing some musical instruments back when he attended the ninja academy, but he absolutely sucked at it. It was just a simple extracurricular course that could be further developed while out on the field. Something about being unsuspected while doing reconisense work or something. The one teacher stated that Naruto wasn't cut out for the musical arts as it wasn't in his affinity or something, making him no longer want to try out the skill ever since.

Well that is until today.

It felt natural to him and this confused the hell out of the former shinobi as he played way too well for his liking. It even unnerved him when he and Talia went to pick up Rachel from school. Though he did hide it well from the two as he played some songs once back at the loft, causing the young ward and his old traveling companion to take a nap.

Naruto did admit it was cute of Rachel clinging onto him as he got her into her room before waking up some hours later for an early dinner. Even seeing Talia sleep so peacefully on his couch brought up the old memories of their time together to see such a rare sight. Past times he saw her sleep was sometimes restless, as she tried to be somewhat alert to her surroundings, or have nightmares that made him concerned for his friend.

Wanting to pass the time before they woke up, Naruto had a clone start to prepare dinner while the original practiced some songs that were on the top of his head with a silence barrier. Jotting them down into the Lexicon if he wanted to look back at them at a later time. Though he was surprised in seeing other musical entries listed in the odd book, causing him to wonder if his newfound skill was indeed connected to his powers or not.

His musings were cut short when Vanitas heard the train whistle sounding off with a big plumb of smoke coming from it's wheels and smoke stack.

As the train slowly came to a stop, a good dozen men approached the Wayne owned transport. Opening up the boxcar, some of the security detail for Wayne Enterprises went inside while the rest stayed outside with weapons at the ready for any sign of trouble. Not long after the men went to work, Lucius Fox was being escorted by a handful of GCPD personnel with Detective Bullock by the CEO's side.

"You don't want us to touch the drill? Right Mr Fox?" One of the Wayne employees questioned.

"Not unless you have to." Came Lucius' response. "And be careful boys. It's the only, working prototype from our lab in Chicago. And I don't want to inform Mr. Wayne it broke before we got it back to HQ for final testings. It would cost a fortune to make the necessary repairs."

Scratching his head, the head security officer spoke. "But I thought you said it could be dangerous."

Needing to explain a little, Mr. Fox spoke to the man. "Well, it's intended for building excavations, oil rigs and the like. But-"

"Hey, relax kid." Harvey Bullock butted in as the desired crate was being carried out. "That gizmo ain't gonna hurt nobody as long as Harvey Bullock is-"

All of a sudden, the detective heard a loud ringing in his ears that could've been defining. He cried out and clutched his head in pain as he wasn't the only one to do so. From what Bullock could see, everyone was feeling whatever was happening to him as well: the Wayne security detail, Mr. Fox and even the GCPD personnel. And before he knew it, his vision started to warp all over the place as it started to intensify to the point Bullock unloaded his stomach contents onto the station's floor.

'God, this fucking hurts!' The detective thought as he tried to make sense of anything. Readjusting himself so he could appear sitting on the ground, Bullock soon made out a strange man standing not far off on a crate. He couldn't make out any of the man's features, but the detective guessed the man… woman… whoever was behind this mess.

"W-Who are you?" Bullock groaned out in a queasy tone. "W-What do you want?"

"The first thing I want is for you to stop asking stupid questions." Came the perpetrator's masculine voice with some European accent. "The second is a powerful weapon, and I think your sonic drill will do nicely."

"And I think you'll do a couple of decades over in Blackgate, at least." A voice called out from high above, causing the perpetrator to gaze his eyes upward to see Vanitas standing at a nearby building.

"Vanitas, I presume? I suppose this had to happen sooner or later."

"Right you are." Was the response as the masked Uzumaki gazed down below with a narrowed glance while inspecting the perpetrator. The blonde man, with a short flat-top haircut, wore a dark grey military fatigue with black boots and gloves. To finish off his appearance, he wore a gun and knife on his belt along with what appeared to be a metallic eyepatch over his left eye. "And who might you be?"

"You may call me Vertigo." The perpetrator said before he whistled, summoning a dozen masked men to come on out to the area. "And I'd like you to leave."

"Fat chance."

Vertigo's men soon fired their weapons at the helmeted vigilante, who ran from his position. Jumping off the nearby rooftop, Vanitas created a few clones so they could draw their attention away and take them out. This left the original to run towards Vertigo as he jump kicked the man's midsection, sending him flying into a stack of crates.

Not liking where this was going, the eye-patched man brought his hand up to his device and dialed up the power. The results were instant as Vanitas hunched over in pain, leaving him wide open to Vertigo's coming assault. The eye-patched man quickly got up and punched the hero's helmet a few times before kicking the hero down to the ground.

Just before Vertigo could deliver the next strike, the man was knocked away from behind as Batman kicked his back. This sent the perpetrator into another stack of crates and seemed down for the count, for the time being.

"Seems you need some help." Batman said as he helped Vanitas up to his feet.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

Once back up, the two were surrounded by more of Vertigo's men with their weapons trained at the two. Vanitas knew his clones weren't gonna last long, only serving as distractions at the time, but it seemed they were outnumbered by the unknown amount of masked men here.

'I should've done a sweep of the area before the attack.' The masked Uzumaki thought in self beratement as some of Vertigo's men started their attack. 'Would've saved me the trouble.'

As the bullets flew, Vanitas threw up a barrier around the two before summoning a clone to hold it up. Once done, the two vigilante's eyed their surroundings before leaving their cover. As Vanitas ran out with a pair of escrima sticks on hand, Batman jumped out to dive towards a handful of the armed men. The two heroes assaulted their fair share of opponents as they tried to lessen their forces.

As they were preoccupied, Vertigo got up from his placement on the ground as he rubbed his sides. His attention was then placed towards two of his men prying open the contents of their desired crate to pull out the objective of their mission. With the device in hand, one of them radioed in for their pick up.

'Now to take care of these two.' Vertigo thought as he activated his eye-patch once more. The two heroes were soon bombarded with the vertigo wave, causing them to stop their assault as they were heavily affected by the attack.

Trying to get ahold of themselves, the two vigilantes turned around to see the distorted figures of Vertigo and some of his men with the sonic drill in their possession. Not wanting them to get away, the two ran and tackled them as Batman got Vertigo while Vanitas got whoever was nearby, due to not getting his sense of direction right. Being fully blasted with the vertigo wave, Batman laid onto his assault onto Vertigo as he punched the eye-patched man into the nearby wall.

Their little fight would've continued if it weren't for an arrow getting lodged right between the two.

Turning towards the source, who was standing high above them, Vertigo growled in recognition. "Warith!"

As the Batman was distracted by the new arrival, his head was bulged hard enough to send him to the ground. With the mixture of the vertigo waves and the newly gained pain, the Bat was unable to get up at the current time. All that he could soon make out were the sounds of helicopter blades coming closer to their position as the masked men fled from the scene.

"Come." Vertigo ordered as he stepped onto the helicopter's rope ladder. "We're due back by the tolling of the hour."

By the time Batman got back up from the ground, he saw Vertigo getting into the helicopter with the sonic drill on hand with a few of his men. The Dark Knight was wobbly as he leaned against the wall for support while rubbing his head's sore spot.

"Doing alright there Bats?" Vanitas questioned as he staggered towards his friend's position.

Turning to his unknowingly masked friend, the cowled vigilante answered. "So far."

Leaning against the wall, the hooded Uzumaki spoke with a small groan. "I did not expect having to deal with that wave thing again."

"...What do you mean 'again'?"

"Vertigo's wave attack. Dealt with something similar back in Starling."

Being curious on this bit of insight, Batman asked the obvious question. "How so?"

"Well... the former Vlatavan count I had to deal with at the time was a metahuman made people go into a vertigo state. Seems that this new guy is using a device that does a similar effect by distorting everything around to seem topsy turvy. Though getting the migraine portion must've been a hassle to get right."

Nodding on the newly gained information, Batman eventually came to the same conclusion as he thought things through. Looking at the imbedded arrow near him, the Bat pried it out and briefly examined it before tucking it underneath his cape.

"So… Where do you think they went off to?" Came Vanitas' question.

"No clue." Walking away from the scene, Batman spoke as he pulled out his grappling gun. "But I'll be sure to find out."

As the man propelled himself into the air and glided away, Vanitas looked at his friend's retreating form and shook his head. "Yeah, you go do that Bruce. You do your way while I do mine." Looking over to the fallen GCPD officers and Wayne Enterprises employees, the masked Uzumaki sighed a little as he walked towards them. "Right after I help these guys."

As he drew near them, the masked publisher turned back towards a particular rooftop as a question came to mind. Someone he briefly made out that stopped the fight between the eye-patched man and Batman. 'Who was that anyways? Vertigo seemed to have recognized the guy.'

-Batcave-

It took a while for Batman to return to the batmobile, as the vertigo state still had a small hold of him during recovery. This did give him the small excuse to have the batmobile set on autopilot to get back home through autopilot. He used this time to think of what happened back at the rail station. And once returning, Alfred greeted him with a spot of tea to help clear his mind.

"...But are you certain this Warith character was working with this Vertigo fellow?"

"I highly doubt it Alfred." Taking a sip of Alfred's drink, Bruce went back into his examination on the arrow procured from earlier as he spoke. "The tone Vertigo used when speaking towards him is not something one would use on a comrade... or somewhere in that nature. If I didn't notice that, then yes, Vertigo would never have been able to escape if Warith hadn't shown up."

"And you said that Warith wasn't affected by the device you mentioned. Is that right?"

As per usual habit when either Bruce or Dick return back from patrol or from a mission, Alfred would ask on what occurred so he could have some insight. With him being a former British agent, the Pennyworth butler wants to keep certain traits sharp when needed. This helped out quite often during past missions whenever Bruce seemed stuck on his investigations with a fresh perspective.

"That eyepiece of his is the device. It gives off some kind of radiation that mimics the exact same properties of a vertigo wave."

"My word. And how much did you get affected by it?"

"Quite a bit, but I'm fine now. As for Warith, I think he was outside of the device's range." The Bat said before he let out a frustrated sigh. "Not that it matters now."

"What do you mean sir?"

Leaning back in his chair, Bruce stared up towards the caverned ceiling as he explained. "Nothing about him could give me clues to his whereabouts. I mean, he mentioned returning to his base before the 'tolling of the hour' which suggests a clock tower or even a church bell. Then fled west. Yet there's no such structure that could conceal a hideout within 50 miles or so west from the rail station.

At this point, Alfred released a small sigh as he served himself a cup of tea. "Might I suggest, Master Bruce, that you take a break?" Taking a sip of his tea, he continued. "If you keep pushing yourself like this, you soon won't know your right hand from your left."

Those words echoed through Bruce's mind for several moments before things clicked. "Alfred… You're brilliant!" Not seeing the butler's pleased look, the billionaire started typing through the batcomputer. "With my head turned around, I couldn't tell one direction from the other. They didn't escape to the west, they went east."

After shifting through a series of photos, consisting of different churches, until one seemed to stand out among the rest. "There, Alfred. That has to be the place."

-Outskirts of Gotham-

With the moon so high, it's lunar rays shined upon the landscape below to reveal it's details on the darkened night. Situated off by a cliffside lies an abandoned cathedral with its high walls and multiple windows. The forest surrounds the grounds as a river lies at the bottom of the cliff.

"That place must've been beautiful in it's prime. Possibly still is with it's rustic appearance." Vanitas muttered with his Hawkeye ability active to see many of it's details. "Shame that it's an enemy fortress right now."

Once helping the GCPD and Wayne personnel from the attack at the rail station, the masked publisher went out looking for the perpetrators. He had no such luck in his search as he helped stop a few other crimes along the way. Naruto had been trying to find them at any clock towers or churches within the city limits on the westside. But seeing things as a polar opposite from a nearby mirror got the publisher thinking that the perpetrators would've been heading the opposite direction from what he saw the helicopter fly towards.

Then again, he was still under the vertigo state so blame the delay on that.

Situated on top of a tree branch, Vanitas kept watch of the enemy base. "I would've just ridden my lance to get in there and snatch the sonic drill, but what I'm seeing is correct then that might not be an option." Noting the gatling guns mounted on some parts of the wall, the masked publisher guessed they were prepared for any airborne threat. "Seems I'll have to go in through the old fashioned approach."

Moving his attention away from the cathedral, Vanitas looked around the forest to see some of those masked men patrolling the area. Seeing they had assault rifles with them this time, he'll need to be a little quicker on his approach when taking them down. But if he wants to go in with stealth, he'll have to knock them out one by one and use his 'memory ability' to make them not see him at all.

Just when he was about to move, Vanitas spotted someone entering his field of vision.

From what he could tell from the moonlight, the person's figure inside of the black bodysuit with green armor indicated that of a female variety. There were bladed weapons strapped around her waist and a quiver on her back with a compound bow in one of her hands. Her appearance was indeed hidden with the hood and face mask covering her features.

'Who is she?' He thought as he soon saw several masked men approaching her position with weapons trained at her. 'As much as I'd like to see her fight this out, which she could clearly handle on her own… I think, I need information from her and she won't do me good dead.'

Jumping down from his position, Vanitas ran towards the one area when he saw the archer woman throw a man into another from behind. When another masked man came in close with his knife, the woman grasped the offending arm and twisted it before kicking him away and using that same knife to stab another opponent. Just when another masked man was about to ambush her from behind, Vanitas tackled the man's midsection before tossing him into a couple of Vertigo's men.

"Mind if I tag along?" He said as he summoned his ice shield to block an array of bullets from harming either of them. "I mean it's fifteen against one and it would be so unfair if you hogged them all to yourself."

Hearing the hooded woman chuckle, she responded back with some indication of a voice modulator to hide her identity. "Flattery will get you nowhere, since I can clearly take care of myself." Grabbing one of Vertigo's men, she reared back and smacked an elbow down onto the man's head, causing him to slump down onto the ground.

"I can clearly see that." The masked Uzumaki said as he smacked an incoming stab towards the hooded women's side with his shield. With the blade bouncing off it's cooled surface, Vanitas kicked the man's legs before slamming his battle shield onto the ground to have ice cover the masked man.

"Still, the gesture is appreciated."

"Don't mention it."

Just when more men were about to ambush the two, a shadowy figure dropped down from up high as it kicked two of Vertigo's men onto the ground. With the acceleration of the speed, the man had to do a recovery roll before quickly standing up in the moonlight to reveal the caped crusader. Not wanting to waste the energy and speed, the Bat punched one of the men's head before elbowing another on the upper body to throw the man off balance. To finish it off, Batman tackled the two men to have them fall onto the ground hard to knock them out.

Taking note of the new arrival, Vanitas spoke to him in a joking manner. "Two's a company, yet three's a crowd. Hope there isn't anyone else joining or else it'll be too much."

Batman didn't say anything as he ducked to avoid a punch, which ended up hitting one of the other masked men. With the mild confusion, the Bat did a sweep kick on the two before punching their lights out. He was then kicked from behind, causing him to tumble, and was about to be hit by a barrage of bullets when Vanitas covered for him before creating an ice wall.

"Thanks." Came the Bat's response. As he stood up, Batman saw the hooded woman back up towards the two as more of Vertigo's men surrounded the three.

"This is getting a little hot. So let's cool things down." Raising his shield up into the air, Vanitas slammed it down to surround the three with ice spikes coming out of the ground. Some of Vertigo's men were thrown back by the sudden attack, leaving most injured with them pierced by the frozen spikes.

With her new form of defense, the hooded woman pulled out several arrows and shot the men down as they advanced. One of them did seem to get a bit close without her noticing, but a quick throw of one of her daggers silenced the man as it dug into his head.

As this happened, Batman jumped out of the cover, alongside Vanitas, to take care of the men. The Bat moved quickly as he struck some of the men with vicious kicks before grabbing one of them to throw the man into another.

With Vanitas, he engaged a pair of Vertigo's men with his escrima sticks as he quickly disarmed them by smacking their weapons out of their hands. With them gone, he nailed one of them with an uppercut to the man's head before grasping the other's head and bringing it down to knee his face.

Just when he turned around, he saw a pair of them about to fire their assault rifles onto him. He was about to pull out his shield when arrows struck the two, causing them to fall onto the ground. Looking at her, Vanitas could barely see the odd mirthless in her gaze.

"You're welcome."

With no other men coming at them, for now, it left the three time to breath. This got the Batman to approach the woman in his usual mannerisms. "Mind telling us whose side you're on? You're clearly not with them."

"Well that would be telling."

"And it would make no difference." A voice called out from up high, causing the three to look to the source. There they saw two men perched on top of a large rock as they had the Wayne Tech sonic drill on hand. "As of now, this battle has ended."

Before the three could react quick enough, the sonic drill was activated as it's powerful pulses landed on the ground beneath them. It started to quickly crumble, causing them to shake and fall onto the dirt. As the pulses accelerated, the ground soon caved in, causing the three masked individuals to fall into the chasm below. Vanitas wasn't quick enough to form anything to stop their fall as he was quickly knocked unconscious with the other two following suit.

-Later-

Inside of a secluded closed off cell, Warith al Ghul looked onto the two men lying on the cots in front of her. They were thrown in here together as Vertigo's men brought them to this place as they were unconscious. For good measure that neither of them would escape, the three were relieved of their equipment with what they visually had on them.

Letting out a sigh, she pulled out a washcloth out of a bowl of water that was provided for them. She figured the men wanted to see who would fight for who for the water since the air was rather dry and was making her parched. But the masked heir needed to use it to help clean not only her wounds but also that of the Batman.

She would've tried with Vanitas, but his suit and helmet had no way of removal to check for injuries. A brief thought occurred if the man was human to begin with, due to there being no visible way one could fit inside of it. But apparently so with the small opening on the dome was formed from the fall from earlier as she saw the human skin underneath.

Draining the cloth of the excess water, Warith dabbed the Batman's exposed, bruised face before waving her hand at a scurrying rat. "Filthy creature."

"I've been called worse." Batman groaned out as he was starting to wake up. Feeling the dampness on his face, he brought his gloved hand onto it and felt something was off. "What happend to-My mask!" Jolting up from the floor, he glared at the hooded woman in front of him. "What have you done with it?!"

Unfazed by the yell, she reached behind him and pulled slightly on his cape to show the mask was still there. "I had to remove it since it's easier to clean your wounds that way."

"Then you know. You know that I'm-"

"Bruce Wayne." A voice spoke out as the two looked towards the side to see Vanitas sitting up with his head towards them. From what they could see on the exposed part of his mask was the eyehole on the left side as a glow seemed to be coming from the man's eye. "Makes sense that the only way Batman would be able to afford and access his toys would be through an illustrious company. Who would've thought you were such an embezzler; from your own company, no less."

This was one of the explanations Naruto realized when he did the mission for Lord Dream as it was hard for the publisher to accept his friend was the Batman. As he overheard the details from Dream Harley's office, things seemed to piece together as some revolved on how Batman got his equipment. No one could afford such technology and amass such a fortune to procure them, but Bruce easily could.

That is unless someone got said equipment through the black market, which was highly unlikely.

Being on the receiving end of the infamous Batglare, Vanitas merely shrugged it off as he dealt with worse. "Oh don't worry if saying it outloud would cause problems. No one can hear us from outside this room."

"And how can you be so sure?" Bruce replied with his ever present glare. "There could be a guard stationed right outside."

"For one, I don't see any security cameras in here." Standing up from the ground, Vanitas stretched a little to get rid of some kinks. "And I figure these walls and entrance door are damn thick enough for no sound to be heard unless said door was opened. Something I've got to admire about the architects who designed and built this place, among other features."

The hooded woman merely smirked underneath her facemask at this. "My thoughts exactly. I noticed the same details when I woke up earlier when I planned on escaping this cell."

Gritting his teeth a little, Bruce pulled his mask back on as he got up from the cot. 'When I see the Cooper's next, I need them to add a security feature for my mask.' He thought before turning his attention towards the woman. "Just who are you? What are you doing here? Are you with those League of Shadow agents?"

"Well that's just rude Batsy." Vanitas said in a pouty tone as his helmet repaired itself, realizing there was an opening while feeling the dry air in the cell. "You should be polite when introductions are being made." Turning towards the hooded woman, the masked publisher held out his hand. "Hello, my name's Vanitas. Though that's not my real name. But if you buy me dinner, then I might tell you."

"...Cute." Was her chuckled response. "But if you must know, I go by Warith."

'Same name Vertigo called out.' Vanitas thought the same thing Batman did before speaking. "The Inheritor, in arabic. But what are you inheriting exactly?"

"Not telling. But if you must know why I'm here is to deal with Vertigo and his men."

"You mean the Shadows?" Asked the Bat.

All the Dark Knight got in return was a scoff from Warith. "They weren't Shadows at all. Merely a fallen branch from the League itself."

'A defected group then.' Batman realized with a small nod. "Then who are they?"

"Drones merely working for larger entities who want to rule the world as they see fit. A collective simply called HIVE."

Seeing as there was nothing else to ask for now, Batman walked forward and leaned down to inspect the lock. "Hmm, simple enough lock." Moving his hand towards his waist, the Bat continued. "I can get it open with-My belt!"

"Oh, I forgot to mention they took our equipment when they brought us to this cell." The assassin stated, getting a dry look from the Bat while earning a hidden surprised one from Vanitas.

"Really?" Looking down towards his waist, he realized his utility belt and battle skirt was indeed gone. "Hmm, I should fix that." Focusing a little power around his waist, his utility belt and battle skirt reformed before he checked to see if it's contents were there. "Seems everything is in order." Looking at the two other people in the room, he tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"...Nothing." Came their singular response as they seemed slightly jealous.

"Okay… Since we're possibly on a time schedule, let's get out of here." Grasping their hands, he pulled the two along as he phased them through the steel door and into the empty hallway. "Now come on, we need to find Vertigo and the sonic drill before these HIVE guys leave to who knows where."

Regaining her bearings, with her not used to that odd feeling at all, Warith soon followed the two male vigilantes as they formed a temporary truce.

-Meanwhile-

Unbeknownst to the three escapees, Vertigo was having an important conversation with a particular pair of individuals. They weren't really there per say as they appeared to be projections of some kind that made it seem the two were indeed inside of the room. Anyone would've been fooled if one gazed at the site, especially with the room's occupants were kneeling in front of the projections.

"What is the progress with procuring the sonic drill Vertigo?" Spoke a sophisticated man with pale blonde hair as he wore a dark suit to compliment his dark smile.

"Everything has turned out well, my lord." Replied the eye-patched man. Waving his hand slightly, one of the HIVE agents stepped forward and held up the sonic device up towards the two projections. "We've successfully acquired the drill and await further instructions."

"Were there any complications?" Asked a darkly cloaked man. The only other detail the being had on him were the eight glowing, green eyes situated in two columns of four underneath his tattered hood.

"None that we couldn't handle sir." Vertigo quickly answered. "The Batman and Vanitas were no match for the vertigo state I subjected the two in when we procured the sonic device."

"And have they interfered at all since then?"

"Yes, but only a short moment as two of my men tested the device on them before they were rendered unconscious."

"...And where are they now?"

"Currently locked up in a cell deep within the cathedral sir." The former League operative stated, getting the pale blonde man go tilt his head slightly.

"Why are they still alive Vertigo? Shouldn't you have have them killed already?"

Gulping slightly on this little mess up, Vertigo had to respond with a quick answer. "W-We were planning on killing them, my lord. That was until you two demanded our presence."

Nothing much was visually seen from the darkly cloaked being in terms of a response, but the pale blonde merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Seems there's no harm done then. Just be sure to kill them quickly and move on out to the extraction point to deliver the drill."

"Of course."

"So... is there anything else?" Questioned the first projected man as he looked at the watch on his wrist. "I'm supposed to head towards a gala event in five and I don't want to keep my wife waiting any further."

"The two were accompanied by a woman." Vertigo said before he widened his eyes and grasped his throat as he tried to breathe. Looking up, he saw the pale blonde man hold out his hand in a choking hold while the darkly cloaked being seemingly glared right into his soul.

"What woman?"/"What woman?" The two projections demandingly asked.

Berating himself on the slip of the tongue, the eye-patched man was forced to answer. "I-It… It w-was… Warith al Ghul."

Hearing this, the pale man soon let loose the eye-patched agent as he deeply breathed. When bringing up his head, Vertigo was soon met with the angry eyes of the cloaked projection. Before anything could be said, the dark being placed his projectioned hand onto Vertigo's face as the agent's skin started to turn grey with black veins appearing on his face.

"Do you have any idea what your incompetence has done Vertigo? You had let her live alongside those heroes. And now she might've escaped by now and possibly aiding her fellow captives in ruining our coming plans." Letting go of Vertigo's face, resulting in it returning to normal, the dark cloaked man returned back in his normal placement beside his colleague before turning towards him. "And here I hoped he did a good job as he spied for us to keep up with the League's movements."

"I completely agree, old friend." Looking towards Vertigo, who was currently shaking like a leaf, the pale blonde man clicked his tongue. "Seems it was too early to have him fully defect to our side. But it seems he got overconfident in his first leading mission while working for us and he made several mistakes in the process." Raising up his hand, the man twisted it quick, resulting in the necks of three HIVE agents snapping in unison as they dropped onto the floor dead. "Because they just costed him three of his Ghosts."

Looking back at Vertigo, the cloaked man spoke in a low tone. "And the next mistake will indeed cost your life Vertigo... So it's time for you to clean up your own mess before delivering the weapon, NOW!"

Nervously nodding, Vertigo bowed his head onto the ground as he spoke to them. "Of course Lord Darhk, Lord Odysseus." As the two projections faded away, Vertigo stood up and barked out orders.

-Back with Vanitas, Batman and Warith-

During their search in finding Vertigo and the drill, the three encountered a handful of HIVE agents. They were easily dealt with from the mixture of surprise attacks and quick assaults towards their goal. Things were a little easier when Vanitas had to summon several Creepers, which caused Warith to widen her eyes underneath her hood, to aid them by taking out the enemies further down the corridors.

It wasn't long afterwards for the group finding the armory to procure Batman's utility belt and Warith's arsenal. Though there was no sight of the sonic drill anywhere.

"The sonic device must be Vertigo." Vanitas guessed as he thoroughly checked the room. "It must be within his reach by now until he has to deliver it to his boss, whoever he or she is."

"I agree." Warith said as she exited the room. "Which is why we need to quicken our pace."

Exiting the room, the three went further down the hallways before entering a room that seemed to be a lab of some sorts. It was some mixture of a chem lab and engineering. Looking around, the three saw there was no one in the expansive space as something clicked in their heads.

"You do realize, of course, that this is a trap." The hooded assassin stated.

"Naturally." The Bat simply said as the group walked further into the room. "But what other choice do we have."

All of a sudden, a loud ringing was heard throughout the entire room before everything seemed to distort. A voice was then heard from the loud speakers installed around the room. "Good evening. I've been expecting you three."

"Your little dizzying trick won't stop us, Vertigo." Vanitas growled out as he held his head while trying to focus on his footing.

"Maybe, maybe not." Stated the former League assassin. "You see, you'll have to get across this room alive." Soon a loud click was heard from behind(?) as their one entrance automatically locked. "And that may prove difficult, considering this entire laboratory has been rigged to destroy you. So goodbye and good luck. You'll need it."

The speakers stopped transmitting Vertigo's message before the vertigo effect seemed to increase in power. Wanting to be rid of the noise, Vanitas tried to raise a silence barrier. Sad to say it failed as he couldn't properly focus in maintaining it, much less making one.

Turning towards Warith, Vanitas spoke to her. "You alright?"

"No, I'm not." She answered bitterly. The Demon's Heir tried to regain her sense of balance, but everything kept distorting to the point that she fell onto the ground and started to heave.

"I can get us through this." Batman suddenly said, causing Warith to weakly look towards his direction.

"How?"

"I trusted you. So I believe it's your turn."

The assassin didn't say anything as she tried to think and weigh her options. But she suddenly felt a hand placed onto her shoulder, causing her to look at the helmeted hero.

"Even if it's just this one time, let us help you like you helped us."

The Demon's Daughter didn't have much choice soon after as Vanitas helped her up and kept her steady. Once balanced, to some small degree, she reached out and grasped Batman's hand before taking Vanitas'. The three had to make their way across the room before they seemingly fell, due to a trap door.

"Jump!" Batman yelled as he used his strength to throw Warith up alongside Vanitas so they could land safely.

'How did he know? She thought as she looked at the Bat with curiosity.

They continued forward before some metallic sound was quickly heard. "Down!" Batman ordered as he, Vanitas and Warith ducked down from something that flew right over their heads.

After taking some steps, Vanitas felt his food sink into the floor before he yelled out an order. "Stop moving, now!" The two complied as they heard metallic arrows imbedding into the nearby wall

Warith was getting a little impatient as she moved a bit forward before Batman and Vanitas pulled the assassin back. Hearing metal sliding on the ground, the Demon's Daughter realized that another trap was sprung mere moments ago and she almost fell for it. Reaching forward, the Bat grasped onto the handle and tried to turn it, only to realize something.

"It's locked." Batman muttered before he was pulled alongside Warith. After a few moments, the vertigo effect started to fade as they seemingly were outside of the laboratory.

"We're clear." Vanitas muttered before he released some deep breaths. "Damn. Focusing a lot to just phasing us through the door with that going on was not great, at all mind you... Ugh, I'm gonna have a migraine soon enough."

Wanting to finally know the two managed to get through the room. "How did you two do all of that?

"It's simple." Turning towards Warith, Batman showed his cowled face. "I just kept my eyes closed."

"...Excuse me?" She asked in a baffled tone.

"I figured the only way to hopefully neutralize the vertigo effect was to rely on my other senses to see us through."

The Demon's Heir then looked towards Vanitas as attention was partially focused on him now. "Honestly, I didn't have my eyes shut at all. All I did was to trust my instincts and try to make out things through my basic senses."

The hooded assassin could admit that Batman's solution was indeed impressive. She would've done that trait if her head wasn't hurting too much. And even then, she should've trusted her instincts but her mind was preoccupied in trying to make sense of things.

"Now that we're out of that nausea induced room, where to next?"

As she took some breaths to help clear her head a bit more, Warith answered while walking at a quickened pace. "If I'm correct, then Vertigo would try and leave with the drill very soon."

"And the best place for an extraction could either be the bell tower or the courtyard if he wants to escape with his helicopter." Vanitas added in, earning nods from the assassin and hero."

"Then it's best we stop him before that happens." Batman stated as he ran forward with the two soon following his action.

-Cathedral Courtyard-

Letting out a small sigh, Sportsmaster looked at his wristwatch for the upteenth time.

"You know Laurence, looking at your watch too often isn't going to make time move faster."

"I know, but I'm just wondering when it's finally time to spring into action." Laurence muttered in a low tone so their position wouldn't be compromised. "Talia's been in there too long and I just want to get into the next phase of our plan."

The masked Crock matriarch shook her head as she responded back. "And here I thought your patience was strengthened over the years. Clearly it tends to get chipped."

"Yes, well, beggers can't be choosers. Even with the supposed deadline the princess gave us."

The three League assassins originally planned on procuring the Wayne Tech sonic drill back at the rail station, but the unfortunate arrival of HIVE agents complicated things. The group was able to track them down to this cathedral as they needed a way to get inside. With how guarded it was, Talia volunteered to get herself captured so the Crock couple could easily get into the grounds.

As they blended with the shadows, Sportsmaster and Huntress waited patiently for their time to finally move into the next part of their plan. It was really simple on their given orders from the Demon's Heir: scout the area, take out any necessary Ghosts and secure the helicopter before Vertigo can escape. There were indeed some armored land vehicles, but from their knowledge of Vertigo before his defection, he prefered air travel the most when making a quick getaway.

The couple did find good spots to strike when the time was right as the two can handle their fair share of enemies left and right. After all, they were highly trained League members that could possibly become Horsemen in all but name alone. The only reason why they kept turning down or having the title be put on hold was primarily on Paula's insistence on wanting to maintain a normal life with their two daughters.

The two soon heard the sudden sounds of helicopter blades in the air. This caused the two to quickly move to another vantage point to see the aircraft starting up as the Ghosts were making their move now.

With an assault rifle on hand, procured from a recently dead Ghost, Sportsmaster "Welp, I'm not waiting any longer. Don't care if the princess gets pissed on me not waiting for her signal, but I believe it's time for us to do our part since I don't want to lose that chopper."

"Seems you're right." Pulling out her sword and a handful of shuriken, Huntress turned towards her husband. "It's time to do our part now."

Seeing the many HIVE agents making their way towards the armored vehicles, the assassin struck as they don't want many of the enemy forces live past this night.

-Cathedral Bell Tower-

Making his way up the bell tower steps, Vertigo tried to hurry up his pace to reach the top. The eye-patched agent thought he got rid of the two heroes and the Demon's Daughter as he locked the one labratory up nice and tight. Vertigo wanted to use this chance to escape and deliver the sonic drill to his masters, or at least one of their lieutenants or captains, at the extraction point whether the former captives were dead or alive.

As the former League assassin ascended higher and higher, he heard someone shout from down below.

"Going somewhere, Vertigo?!" Vanitas called out as the three were ascending rather quickly on top of what appeared to be a floating playing card.

"No!" Vertigo bellowed out in rage. "It's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible."

Letting out a snarl, the HIVE agent activated his Vertigo device. "Then I will finish you three myself!"

As the three were hit by the vertigo wave, Vanitas held his head in pain before he ended up rocking his floating platform off balance. This resulted with the three masked individuals to fall off and land onto the stone staircase lining against the tower's walls. Each felt the effects placed onto them as they tried to focus and regain their bearings.

While this happened, Vertigo aimed the sonic drill at them as it started to charge before firing the blast. The recoil was a bit much for the former League member as the blast was off course and landed just above the three. The result was a large hole from what the sonic drill just created. Trying again, Vertigo aimed and fired the weapon. The same results happened again, but this time it was below the group as they were now trapped with nowhere else to go with the vertigo state currently affecting them.

Almost falling down from the broken walkway, Warith groaned out while holding onto Vanitas for support. "I can't take much more of this." Letting go of the helmeted hero, she trusted her instincts as she walked forward. "There's only one thing to do."

Seeing the hooded assassin fall, Vanitas tried to reach out and grab her. All that he snagged in his grasp was only air before crying out to her. "No!"

Falling down, Warith reached out her hands and felt something against her palms. Quickly grasping the object, she felt a heavy tug before a large sound emanated from up above. Looking up, the Demon's Daughter formed a hidden smirk as she saw one of the cathedral's bells ring out.

*DONG* *DONG* *DONG*

The large ringing caused Vertigo to cry out in pain as he held his head on instinct. This caused the former League member to stop emanating the vertigo effect. And as a result, he let go of the sonic drill from his grasps.

Not wanting to see the device damaged, Batman leapt towards the hanging rope with a clearer vision than from before. He latched onto the rope first, causing the second bell to start ringing, before reaching one of his hands out towards the device. But he was too slow and missed his chance.

Seeing this happen, Vanitas ran and jumped before yelling out 'I got it!'. Like the others, he too grasped the hanging rope to help ring the third and final bell in the cathedral's tower. But unlike Batman, the masked Uzumaki was able to grasp the device just in time.

With all three bells ringing loudly, Vertigo was yelling out in agony. This was because he was born with an inner ear problem as he could not deal with such loud noises or else he would end up in his own vertigo state. Not being able to regain his balance, Vertigo walked back and lost his footing before he plummeted down from the stairwell towards his death.

The last moments he had in his traitorous life was screaming for dear life before his head met the stony floor as his brain matter and blood painted the area.

-Outskirts of Gotham-

As the early sun started to rise from the horizon; Batman, Warith and Vanitas walked out of the cathedral grounds. Neither realized on how fast the night went with what they had to deal with earlier. But what the three had to deal with, time would surely pass on by quickly.

"...Without Vertigo to lead them, his agents have all fled?" Questioned the Dark Knight as he held the sonic drill in his grasps.

"Yes and no." She knew Sportsmaster and Huntress did their part of the plan flawlessly and took care of many of the HIVE agents, though most could've fled during the little raid.

Not wanting to comment about that, due to it being a very long night, Batman spoke. "Well, I've gotta get this back to Gotham City."

"And I can help give you a lift Batsy." Vanitas said as he formed his Kazekage lance in one hand and a Fair Play card in the other. "Which would you prefer: the lance or the usual card platform?"

Before an answer could be given, the two heroes heard the sound of the compound bow wielded by Warith being pulled back. Looking towards her, she aimed a few arrows at the Bat with a small visible glare. "I'm sorry. But I'm afraid that despite our temporary truce, I can't let you leave with the drill."

The two heroes tensed as they went into their respective defensive positions as Vanitas spoke. "And here I thought I finally knew which side you were on. But it seems you used us to not only take care of those HIVE agents, but also getting the chance to get the sonic drill."

Forming a hidden smirk behind her mask, Warith spoke in an even tone. "Naturally. I was ordered to obtain the device by any means necessary."

Soon the three heard the sounds of a helicopter coming closer to their position, causing the two heroes to look towards the source. As it came to a stop, a rope ladder fell down near Warith's position as she still aimed her arrows at the Dark Knight.

"I'll ask you this one time Batman. Hand over the drill or else my men will kill you from where you stand."

Vanitas was about to spring into action, but was stopped when he saw the caped crusader walk forward towards the hooded assassin. This made the masked publisher raise a hidden brow on what his friend was doing. All of a sudden, Vanitas saw the Bat literally hand over the dangerous sonic drill into the woman's hands, once she placed back her arrows and compact bow in their respective spots.

Seeing the device on hand, Warith nodded before walking over to the rope ladder and climbed up. As the helicopter started to take off higher into the air, she yelled towards the two heroes. "I am truly sorry, Batman! Vanitas! It could have been sweet!"

As the hooded assassin left the scene, the masked Uzumaki turned his head towards his masked friend.

"Why did you just willingly give her your drill Mr. Wayne?" Vanitas questioned with a hidden, narrowed glance. "Who knows what she and her group could do with that."

"...Did you really think I'd let her take the drill without some insurance?" The Bat rhetorically asked before he walked away leaving a slightly dumbfounded hero behind.

It didn't take long for him to realize on what his friend actually did to it, leaving a wicked grin underneath his helmet. 'Who knew Bruce would have been that sneakily crafty.'

As this went on, Talia climbed aboard the helicopter as Huntress helped pull her in while Sportsmaster flew the aircraft through the mountain range to their rendezvous point to drop off the drill before heading back to Gotham. Once sitting in her seat, Paula handed Talia a pair of headphones and did the hand motion that someone was on the other end. The Demon's Daughter nodded as she spoke into the microphone.

"Hello Father."

"Hello, my daughter." Ra's al Ghul spoke from the other end of the comms channel. "I take it your mission was a success?"

"Indeed it has." Came Talia's response. "There were some complications, but Sportsmaster, Huntress and I were able to deal with them accordingly."

"From what I was told from Sportsmaster, HIVE was involved."

"It seems they were after the drill as well. And on another note, Vertigo has been dealt with, Father."

"Hmm… Small wonder you seem so pleased."

"But of course. He was a traitor towards our cause and had to be dealt with by any means necessary."

Talia could tell her father nodded on the other end before speaking back to her. "Was there anything else that happened in the mission?"

"Yes, but I'd like to speak to you in person about what I thought about Batman and Vanitas since they were involved with the mission." She answered, which made her think her father raised a brow on her response. "It's better to make my report when I'm face to face with you."

"Of course, my daughter… Now as for the device, I want you to choose a target and test it. We must be certain it has survived its ordeal intact."

Nodding on her Father's order, Talia signaled the Crock couple to keep the helicopter steady as she searched for the ideal target in mind. Seeing a rather large one, the Demon's Daughter took aim and pulled the trigger for it to charge up before firing. But as this happened, Talia saw smoke coming out from it as it started to short circuit and overheat.

She yelped as it exploded in her grasp, causing her to let go and fall towards the mountain range below. Seeing this happen, thoughts ran through her mind as to how this happened. It was working perfectly fine back at the cathedral and it seemed to be in working order until…

"The bastard!" Talia yelled out with a glare. "Batman must've sabotaged it somehow!"

"What do you mean, daughter?" Asked the Demon's Head in a concerned tone.

"His company made the device in the first place! Who better yet to have known how to disable it without me knowing would be him!"

"Hmm… So even in defeat, the detective manages to achieve some small measure of victory." Ra's cooly said to himself. "Now Talia, I expect you to be back by weeks end so we can discuss further matters."

Regaining her composure, Talia nodded before signaling to end the call.

-End Chapter-