Chapter 68: Dance of the Fireflies

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"People do what is in their best interest, regardless of who gets hurt. Is it evil to take what one wants, to satisfy hunger even if doing so will cause another suffering? What some would call evil, I believe to be an appropriate response to a harsh and unfair world."

- Klaus Mikaelson, (The Originals)

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<(Omniscient POV)> 

"Nyssa, we are slowly being encircled. If this continues, we won't be able to fight for much longer. Maybe, it is time for us to retreat. Some have chosen to fight for us, so we can still make it if we just have them cover for us..." Talia started hopefully as she fought three different assassins all at once, still not being at a disadvantage for even the slightest bit.

"NO. Bruce is still in there fighting, we can't abandon him..., at least I won't. You however are free to leave any time you want 'sister'. After all, I doubt that you trust or even trust me enough to stick along. Perhaps I am just a liability to you." Nyssa harrumphed while slitting the throat of an assassin who had tried to kick her in the face.

"You are still angry at me? I didn't tell you because I thought it would be easier for you to not know that your own sister and boyfriend were plotting to kill your father to take over all his wealth and assets. But yeah sure, I would definitely include you the next time we plan something like this. Just stop making me miserable with that cold shoulder of yours..., little sis." Talia said as she struggled to repel the attacks of five assassins who had attacked her together.

Even though the two sisters had been quite successful in evading and countering all the assassins trying to kill them, things weren't looking up for them at all. Instead, they were constantly being pushed back by the attacking forces as more and more brainwashed ninjas joined the tide against them. 

"Look out," Talia yelled as she quickly rushed towards her little sister and hacked away at the assassin who was about to literally backstab her with a massive hunting dagger. "Keep your eyes open. There are too many of them." She said with concern as her mind began to run at full capacity on how to escape with her sister alive from what was basically a losing battle. 

After planning this very rebellion with Bruce for the last few years, Talia had begun to consider him as a friend, someone who was quite similar to herself, a kindred soul whose ambitions reached the sky just like her. Normally, he had the perfect traits she desired in a partner for herself but unfortunately, he was already taken, and that too by her own sister, so even though she regularly liked to tease and flirt with him, trying to make him blush, she still stayed within her own self-defined limits. 

But all this didn't change the fact that she loved herself and her own sister much more than a boy she had met a few years ago, someone who might have just been using both sisters to take over their father's shadow empire. That's why Talia had always planned to seize any chance she got and become the next leader of the League of Assassins after her father's defeat before Bruce could even try it but unfortunately, like all things in the world, her plans had gone completely awry. 

Just when Talia was weighing her options and considering knocking Nyssa out to forcibly carry her away to safety, a heavy tap on her shoulder by her little sister finally broke her out of her thoughts. 

"We have new guests climbing from the east side of the mountain... Wait, those assassins... they are Cain's, aren't they?" Nyssa sounded surprised with a hint of worry audible in her voice. 

"... What the hell are Cain's forces doing here? Did Father call them for backup after he realized our plan? Shit, even escaping is going to be much harder than I thought. Come on Nyssa, we don't have much time. We need to go, NOW." Talia exclaimed with worry as she tried to drag her sister away from the battleground while killing anyone who blocked her path. 

"No, leave me. I won't go. LET ME FIGHT" Nyssa argued like a little girl as she used her full strength to fight back against her sister's pull. She was determined to fight till her last breath. She wasn't gonna be like her father, she didn't want to end up like him. She knew that Bruce had trusted her to have his back and she was going to make sure that she didn't lose that trust of his. 

*Zzz* Before Talia could answer, a strange faint noise suddenly began to echo on the entire peak of the mountain as almost everyone fighting stopped for a fraction of a second after hearing the voice in surprise.

It wasn't exactly a loud sound but more like a combination of lots of soft sounds making it almost unbearably annoying for anyone nearby. It was like dozens of bees constantly buzzing near the ears.

"What is that sound?" A random ninja whispered out loud while looking around for anything suspicious going on but couldn't find anything particularly fishy except for a great number of fireflies flying around.

"Fireflies? At this height?" Nyssa wondered curiously as she saw most of the fireflies converging on the assassins that were battling them as well as the ninjas coming their way while avoiding the two sisters themselves as well as their newly made allies.

Almost everyone at the scene was now confused. Most had even stopped fighting. They could not understand from just where so many fireflies had come all at once. The entire area seemed to have gotten an extra glow in the dark of the night from the swarm of fireflies flying together. It was a weirdly beautiful scene. 

However, before anyone could appreciate their beauty for long, a ninja who was examining a firefly sitting on his arm suddenly yelled out at the top of his lungs.

"Wait, they aren't fireflies. They are..." 

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*... 

Multiple explosions began to ring out all over the forest as each firefly exploded in a spectacular function like grenades giving rise to controlled blasts capable of wiping out entire living beings.

"DUCK" Talia screamed as she forced Nyssa down in an attempt to shield her from the explosions but not even a speck of flame or ember from the blasts touched them nor did they feel much considerable heat on their skin. It was like all the explosions around them were coordinated perfectly to take out the maximum number of enemies around them without harming either them or their new allies. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Even the newest group of League assassins who had just reached the 'battleground' were eliminated just like that without them even realizing how they died. 

A lot of the new squad's ninjas were still climbing the mountain and were pretty far from the bombing site but the rapid and repeated multiple explosions had caused a chain reaction that had created an avalanche, one so dangerous that it had not only wiped out almost all the climbers but even destroyed a major portion of the hidden town below. 

The entire ordeal had happened so quickly that most of the still-living people weren't even able to comprehend exactly what had happened and were still reeling from the absolute shock of it. 

"*Cough* *Cough* What the fuck just happened?" Talia panted in panic and excitement as she coughed from the smoke. She could not believe her own eyes. Almost all of their enemies were dead from just that single round of explosion and yet, they were untouched which basically meant someone just helped them survive. But the question was, who? 

"Something in the way 

Mm

Something in the way, yeah

Mm"

A slow melodious song suddenly began to play in the distance as the source of the sound gradually began to move towards them.

"Something in the way

Mm

Something in the way, yeah

Mm"

The volume of the song continued to increase until the source where the song was coming from finally became visible to the people who were still alive and standing. It was one single hi-tech-looking drone that appeared to be flying in slow motion while scanning everything happening in the scene around it.

"Assigned objective accomplished. Project Firefly was designated a success. Data recorded. Thank you all for your participation." A polite female voice boomed out from the single drone as it hovered above the bombed site like it ruled the place.

"Is this really happening or am I dreaming?" Talia questioned her own sanity as she tried to make sense of whatever she was seeing. She already had a lot on her plate but exploding fireflies and talking smart drones seemed to stretch her patience thin. 

"I think it's... our backup... from Bruce. He always told me about his fascination with drones and other tech stuff. So, maybe this is his? I mean he does have the money for... all this." Nyssa tried to make sense of their situation with a hopeful explanation.

"Protocol 'League Slaughter Night' 70 percent complete. All chosen combat drone units reaching location in eta 1 minute." The drone uttered as it slowly shifted into offensive mode while hidden weapons began to emerge from its body. "This is a message for all League members. The League of Assassins' Nanda Parbat headquarters has already been taken over and has been temporarily placed under the administration of Nyssa and Talia Ghul. You are requested to kindly cooperate with us and surrender to the true heir of the Demon Head or be prepared to die the most horrible death you have ever thought possible." It announced while ignoring both the Ghul sisters as countless similar-looking droids began to appear beside it and took their positions beside the original one.

"Yep, it is definitely our backup," Nyssa confirmed as she wondered just how smart and rich her boyfriend was to have an entire army of murderous drones in his arsenal as well as how parallelly stupid he was to place his trust in her elder sister. 

"Hey Miss Drone, since me and my sister are temporarily in change, that means I can..." Talia started talking with her gaze directed at the drones.

"Bruce has made me responsible for handling the entire surrender process as well as all the core decisions while he is absent. However, if any important decision that needs a human touch needs to be made or if you two have any particular requests then you can give your advice, Miss Talia." Cortana's savage reply immediately silenced Talia and almost made her eyes twitch.

"Yep, it is definitely Bruce's," Talia murmured with a bitter expression on her face.

***

<(Bruce Wayne POV)> 

"I feel like someone is cursing at me for some reason. I wonder why?... Eh, whatever. I am sure handsome people get cursed a lot for their good looks." I thought to myself while feeling my inner narcissistic awakening at my own thoughts. "Anyway, now to a more serious topic, I have seen two different small Lazarus pits till now while descending the stairs of the monastery and both are the most vile and disgusting pools of dirty puddle water I have ever seen. It looks like green radioactive dirty trash water for god's sake. So the question of the millennium is how the hell does Ra's Al Ghul manage to bathe in these Lazarus pits without puking his guts out?" 

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(A/N: Happy New Year my dear readers 🥳. Hope the New Year is going to be amazing for both me and you guys.

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