Dealing with the Undead

Batman and the Talon disengaged, moving back to put some distance between them both as they began to slowly circle one another. Neither liked being exposed like this, but due to the area in which they stand and the nature of their battle they had to do so. However, despite being in an environment that went against their natural style of fighting, they continued to act as they always would. Their fight had predominantly involved them circling one another carefully, shifting their stances and studying the other for any openings.

Batman would then find an opening, a fake he had quickly learned but took them anyway as they were both too good of a fighter to leave any real opening and they would have to force them. He would charge and what would follow was a quick and brutal exchange with Batman forcing the Talon back with powerful and quick strikes that were masterfully parried and dodged with Talon swiping and slashing at Batman.

The two would then disengage and repeat the cycle over again with Batman littered with a few more cuts each time. Nothing major, but even Batman knew that enough of them would cause him to slow down eventually, even if it were for just a fraction of a second.

That was all it would take to give Talon the advantage in their fight.

Something he could not allow, the man was too skilled, and he doubted that even the combined skill of Black Hood, Batgirl and Robin could defeat Talon even if he were tired. They would lose simply due to the difference in skill and experience and nothing would stop Gotham from falling into the control of the Court.

That was something he could and would not allow.

"You know it amuses me how you Wayne's always prove to be difficult for the Court." The Talon said and while Batman was intrigued, said nothing. One thing he had learned was that the Talon liked to talk. An odd thing for a trained assassin, but it served a purpose of allowing the Talon to probe his opponents and discover a psychological,weak point that could be exploited.

Besides, he doubted the Talon would stop talking even if he asked nicely.

"You Wayne's have always being some of the Court's greatest allies and worst enemies. The Court of Owls were always at their strongest when a Wayne was allied with them and even more so when the Wayne's led them." Talon informed him and Batman fought hard to keep himself from giving any outward sign that he disliked the information that had been told him.

He of course knew that his family weren't as good as they liked to present themselves and that some of his ancestors had done some bad things. But to join the Court of Owls, that was something he did not like the idea of.

"But your families conscious would always get in the way and eventually one your family would betray us, and one does not simply betray the Court and live to tell the tale." Even though he couldn't see it, Batman could tell Talon was smirking beneath his mask.

Again, he gave no outward reaction, continuing to study Talon for any opening and he found it.

A subtle shifting of Talon's foot exposed his left side completely.

It was a fake, without a shadow of a doubt, but Batman had long since learned that the only way to find an opening in an opponent of equal or greater skill to himself was to force it. False openings were especially dangerous for the creator as it was for the opponents that fell for them, it was a double-edged sword.

Rushing forwards, Batman swung his leg round in a roundhouse kick that Talon blocked.

Talon's stance was firm, and his feet were planted, yet even so, his upper body jerked to the side as a result of the power behind the kick. Even then, Talon did not let this moment go and swung his free hand upwards to cut Batman's leg and would have succeeded had Batman not reacted in time.

Using his balancing leg, Batman jumped into the air and spun his body round in a clockwise direction, swinging his right leg round in a way that would have let his heel strike against Talon's temple. A brutal strike that would have dazed even the likes of Killer Croc for a few seconds, yet for someone like Talon, it was a knockout blow.

There was no way of avoiding it in time.

So, Talon did the only thing he could and raised his free arm to block the strike.

As Batman's heel struck Talon's arm, the assassin grunted and was forced to move backwards to lessen the shock of the blow. As a result, he sacrificed his grip on Batman, but not without digging his claws into the leg, leaving a few cuts on his lower leg. But Batman did not stop, rushing forwards to capitalise on the opening presented to him, only to have to lean backwards, Talon's claws mere inches from cutting into his face and once again, the two disengaged in order to put some distance between them both.

"You're certainly skilled, unlike your ancestors." Talon said, ignoring the dull throbbing in his left arm from where he had blocked Batman's heel strike. "Apparently my predecessors have killed quite a few Wayne's over the centuries due to the problems your family has caused us."

The two continued to circle one another cautiously.

"The Court even planned to finish the Wayne's once and for all to save us the trouble. Then your parents got shot in alleyway and you were just a young child, perfect for the Court's plans. Then you disappeared before they could reach out to you. Now I'll finish what my predecessors started and end the Wayne family for good."

Then Talon went on the offensive.

The sudden change, halted Batman for barely a second before his body moved into action, knowing that blocking would only give Talon opportunity to cut him. Batman focused on moving and parrying, leaning his body from side to side and slapping aside any strike that was getting in too close.

Occasionally he managed to lash out with a kick or punch, but Talon just moved around it with masterful footwork and continued his strike. Batman had even landed a glancing blow to Talon's slightly dislodging his mask, only for Talon to use the momentum to spin and come round with a slash that nearly cut open his throat had Batman not blocked.

Even then, the claws cut into his suit and skin.

That's when a kick to his sternum managed to slip through, the various cuts and the blood that seeped out at a slow and gradual pace finally starting to catch up with him. The blow wasn't the strongest Batman had felt, nothing compared to the likes of Clayface or Killer Croc, but it certainly stalled him enough for Talon to gain the upper hand.

Knowing this, Batman tried to put some distance, but again Talon never let up, constantly chasing after Batman with such determination that he never left the area within a few inches of the Caped Crusader empty.

Grunting as the claws on Talon's glove cut deep into his skin, Batman swiped with a backhand that Talon ducked under only for him to fall for Batman's feint. With his left fist clenched tightly, and his muscles tensed, Batman swung his left arm up in a powerful uppercut that Talon was forced to block. The strength behind it lifted Talon off the ground and his arms throbbed in pain, but he gracefully flipped in the air and landed in a crouch.

Using this position, Talon tensed his leg muscles and despite having only just landed on the ground for nary a second, pushed off the ground. He quickly closed the gap between him and Batman in a few seconds and once again, they were back where they started.

However, Batman had been prepared this time and with trained movements, pulled out a few Batarangs from his utility belt and threw them at the ground. It was a risky manoeuvre that posed just a great a risk to him as it did to Talon, but he was trained and so jumped backwards just as they exploded. The force lifted Batman further off the ground, but he quickly recovered using his cape to slow his descent to the ground, landing in a crouch.

Talon on the other hand had not being able to change his course fully and while he had managed to stop just out of the range of the explosion and raise his arms in a cross-guard to cover his face. He was still picked up off the ground as a result of the force and peppered with debris that opened a few cuts here and there.

Rolling into a crouch, Talon looked to see that Batman was once again stood waiting.

Smirking beneath his mask, Talon rose to his feet. 'It seems Mr. Wayne has realised that while he is skilled, I have the advantage in this fight. A pity, I was starting to enjoy myself.'

-X-

Ducking under a strike, Esau pushed one of the Undead Talons away while quickly turning to flip another away, the action becoming tedious. It had been a constant repeat of similar moves, using kicks, flips and pushes to keep the undead at a distance in order to avoid getting overwhelmed by their sheer number.

It was a difficult task to do, despite how easy it sounded.

Every time he put distance between himself and one Talon, another would be on top of him in an instant.

It left him with next to no time to breathe and even with his stamina, Esau was starting to get tired.

That wasn't even beginning to say anything about Robin who despite his greater skill was struggling worse than Esau. His breathing had become heavier as his movements had become sluggish, yet despite that he pushed on, but it was only a matter of time before he found himself overwhelmed.

Esau knew this and so did Robin.

As a result, Esau had started to take the lead more with Robin acting as a defence compared to before where Esau followed Robin's lead. "I think we're far enough in." Esau noted.

"I don't know." Robin smacked his escrima sticks into an undead's face, before following it with a spinning hock kick to the face of another.

Kicking another in the chest, Esau stumbled backwards tiredly as he once again began parrying strikes from the Talon's. "We don't have a choice." Esau replied. "We're going to get overwhelmed if we don't get out of here now."

Robin was still unsure, but nodded his head knowing that Esau was right.

He was on his last legs and his argument, weak though it was, was nothing more than false bravado.

"Barbara, on my signal!" Esau shouted and while he couldn't hear her reply, he could see the suit standing in front of the entrance in preparation. Its hands clutching the sides of the door in order to close them quicker than they would automatically. "Ready?"

Robin parried a blow from one Talon allowing it to stumble past him. "Yeah, let's do this." He replied and with it, Esau shouted for Barbara to close the door. At the same time, both rushed forwards, Robin using the Talon's heads as steppingstones while Esau used brute force to just break through the swarm.

For extra measure, Esau grabbed hold of the Talon at the back and with a grip on its shoulders, tossed it in the direction of the charging undead, temporarily halting a few of them.

As quickly as their tired limbs would allow, Robin and Esau rushed for the exit where Batgirl was closing the door, the light from the Batcave slowly diminishing, plunging the room further into darkness.

Panting, Esau felt his legs burning, but didn't stop and pushed on.

It hurt, his lungs burned, and his breathing was heavy as each intake of air scratched at his throat, but Esau couldn't stop. He knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to escape and he would be shut in the room with the undead and killed. That thought drove him on further, pushing himself as fast as he could with what little energy he had left.

As he came close to the exit, Esau could see that it was almost closed and with set shoulders took one last step forwards and leaped as far as he could. He honestly didn't expect to make it, he expected to hit the closed door or be crushed between it, yet neither of those two things happened.

With a laugh, Esau collapsed onto the ground beside Robin, the door closed behind them, with the undead pounding on the door from the other side.

"I'm surprised you made it." Robin said and despite the situation, Esau laughed.

"Yeah, me too." Rolling onto his back, Esau looked up to see Batgirl giving him a smile while she climbed out of the mech suit.

Landing on the ground, Barbara moved forward and helped Esau to his feet. "You guys okay?" She asked earning a shake of the head from both boys.

"Hardly." Esau replied and she smiled, but the moment of rest was ruined all too quickly as they saw several Batarangs slam into the mech suit and a few more around the Batcave. All three of them watched as the Batarangs beeped ominously before exploding, each of them picked up off their feet and launched backwards as the whole Batcave went up in flames.