Infinity Island

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean

2002

Infinity Island, headquarters of the League of Assassins. As I exit the water and walk onto the beach, I cannot help but observe the fact that finding it has turned out to be far easier than I anticipated. Then again, I certainly cheated by utilising the powers granted to me from my divine heritage.

Once on the beach, I remove my rune suit and replace it with pants made of regular cloth before storing my rune suit in the storage space tattooed on my stomach. Having taken care of that, I move onto the next step, sealing all of my supernatural abilities to leave me in peak human condition.

Invented to serve as a training tool, the runic array is designed to be able to seal either one supernatural ability or all, even suppressing my divinity. Its purpose is to simulate the loss of one, or all, paranormal attributes. As such, should I ever truly lose one or all of my magical abilities in battle, I will not be caught flat footed. It can also serve to seal an enemy's powers.

Barely taking me a second to inscribe on my skin and to activate, the array makes use of all the knowledge I have learned from Japanese sealing magecraft.

Once the seal is activated, I immediately feel my loss of connection to the sea, the earth, and even storms. I can no longer feel my magic circuits, nor is any of my bending abilities available to me. I have effectively been turned into a human being, albeit one at peak physical capability.

With that done, I no longer tarry and make my way towards the jungle connected to the beach. Stepping past the initial trees, I can already countless eyes fall upon my person and heavily scrutinise me. Remembering how the League operated back in the Arkham Universe, I know that it is highly likely that, before I even make it one mile into the jungle, I will be set upon by assassins from all sides.

As I pass the first half of the mile, I begin to subtly regulate my breathing and shift my casual walk into an alert one. This is a skill that Bruce taught me for when I am being stalked by a potential assassin. Done correctly, it will help the body instantly shift from relaxed to battle ready with your opponent none the wiser. As far as I know, only two people have ever managed to see through the ruse, Lady Shiva herself and her daughter, Cassandra Cain. Even then, it was due to their ability to read a person's body language as if they possessed the sharingan.

Reaching three quarters of the mile, I immediately feel a shift in the atmosphere as danger makes its presence known. My first indication of the incoming attack is the rustle of the leaves over my head. Without bothering to stop my walk, I casually step to the right as the assassin perched over my head falls and impales the location from which I would have been had I not sidestepped. Not giving the assassin time to retrieve their sword from the ground, I kick him to the back of the head and knock him out.

The second assassin makes herself known by accidentally snapping a branch as she lunges towards me from the right, sword poised and pointed towards my skull. For a fodder member of the League, her execution is almost exceptional. From the top of my head, only about seventy non powered humans can survive this assault, and of those seventy only half would come out unscathed. Tilting my head backwards, I evade the stab and proceed to let her fly by me before grabbing her unconscious comrade's sword. As she tucks and rolls into her landing, I throw the sword where I calculate she will come to stop. However, it seems that she is far more skilled than anticipated as she forces herself into a premature stop before turning around and deflecting the flying sword away from her.

Without saying a word, the assassin launches herself at me as I hear more approaching. Dodging her first slash step into her guard and kick her in the solar plexus, knocking the breath from her lungs. Soon enough the kick is followed by an elbow to the back of the head that knocks her out. Just in time for the remaining assassins to decide that hiding in the shadows is futile with their paltry skill level. Before fully turning my attention to them, I pick up the female assassin's sword and give it a few practice swings.

As predicted earlier, I find myself surrounded from all sides by about a dozen assassins all garbed in full black and grey combat gear. Surveying each side, I am easily able to tell that while these assassins have been bloodied, that they are in no way, shape or form the best of the League. It is in their stance. There is a quiet confidence there, yet that confidence is clouded by a layer of doubt.

Taking the initiative, I launch myself at the ones facing my front. Not expecting me to react in such a way, the assassin barely manages to move his sword in an attempt to block and fall for my feint. Not wasting the chance, I hit the side of his head with the flat side of the sword, knocking him unconscious.

As his body falls to the ground, I am forced to dodge a sword slash towards my throat. In retaliation I knee him in the solar plexus before also slapping him with the flat side of the blade. While I was preoccupied with these two, the assassins at my back stepped forward with the instigator stabbing towards my spine. Bringing my own weapon up, I knock his blade aside before kicking him to head, sending his body to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Seeing their compatriot knocked out does nothing to deter the rest and as a group they attack. Dodging a slash towards my chest, I step back to evade another stab while at the same time bringing my sword up to block a third strike. With my superior speed I deflect the blocked sword and take the opening to knock the wielder out with a punch to the face. During the time it took me to do so however, an assassin attempted to remove my head from my shoulders. I duck under the swing and launch into a roll that places me behind the assailant.

"That's enough!" commands a masculine voice before I am able to retaliate.

Turning to face the owner of the voice, I see a man with an imposing physique. He is large, muscular, and has large fists. He is bald, has bulging eyes, and wears an earring in his left ear. The man is easily recognizable as Ubu, Ra's al Ghul's most loyal servant. Even more loyal than his daughters. Ubu wears a practical utility suit, consisting of a green shirt, gray cargo pants, sturdy boots, and a utility belt with plenty of pouches. He also wears heavy bands around his wrists.

"You have proven your martial prowess intruder." comments Ubu as he approaches me. "As such, the master has deemed it fit to permit you an audience. Come"

Without seeing whether I am following him or not, Ubu walks past me towards the center of the island.

Dropping the sword in my hand, I follow Ubu towards his master's location. The journey is spent in complete silence as we traverse through the jungle with ease. Eventually we exit the jungle and come upon a mountain with a castle built at its peak. Due to how it is built within the mountain, differentiating between the mountain itself and the castle is extremely difficult. Not bothering to see whether I managed to keep up with him, Ubu begins to scale the mountain with me following close behind.

Three minutes later, we arrive on a plateau upon which a hidden doorway opens. Traversing through the door, I find myself in a barely lit corridor which we travel for approximately two minutes before encountering our first turn. From there we make a series of turns which I make sure to keep track of just in case.

After our fifteenth turn in total, we arrive at a wooden doorway guarded by two assassins. Judging by their stance alone I am able to identify them as far more skilled than their counterparts in the jungle. It would not surprise me if these two are members of the League's elites.

With synchronized nods, the assassins allow Ubu to open the door and make his way inside. Following him, I enter a study well lit by a hanging chandelier. Surprisingly the room is not lavishly decorated and contains the bare minimum to make a functional study. Both the left and right walls are covered by shelves full of books. Up front is a desk large enough to sit three people comfortably with Ra's al Ghul himself sitting behind it.

Ra's al Ghul is a tall and daunting man with green eyes. He has black hair with gray streaks on the sides along with a long black mustache, and wild black eyebrows.

He dresses in a regal manner, with the majority of his clothes covered by a high-collared green cloak with large gold buttons. Underneath it, he wears a black vest with gold hems, a white undershirt, and a golden sash. He wears black pants and knee-high black boots.

Behind Ra's right shoulder stands someone I did not expect to meet as of yet, his daughter, Talia al Ghul.

Talia is a woman with an Arabian heritage. She has high cheekbones, a sharp nose, green eyes like her father, and long brown hair. She wears pants and a top of a light fabric, exposing her midriff, shoulders and sternum. She also wears golden earrings and a beaded belt. Hidden behind her lower back, and mostly attached to her belt, is a dagger whose hilt I am barely able to make out.

"Thank you Ubu." says Ra's as the servant makes his way next to Talia to stand. "Now tell me, intruder, who are you and why should I not have your head removed from where it rests on your shoulders."

"My name is Ambrosius Malphas." I answer him. "And as for you removing my head from its shoulders, you are certainly welcomed to try."

"Ubu." commands Ra's with narrowed eyes.

Obeying his master's command, Ubu launches himself at me with a fist swinging towards my head. Bringing an arm up, I redirect Ubu's punch with a palm and follow through with a punch to the throat. Recovering quickly, Ubu blocks with his forearm only to slightly wince from the pain of the impact. Before he can fully recover, I attempt to sweep his legs out from under him only for him to jump over my leg. Borrowing one of Zuko's favorite moves, I turn the leg sweep into a helicopter kick that connects painfully to Ubu's waist while he is still in the air. Using the kick's momentum, I launch myself into the air and throw a roundhouse kick at my opponent's temple. Ubu manages to reorient his forearm to block and once again winces in pain from the impact. As gravity takes hold and I begin to fall, I kick my opponent in the solar plexus with my remaining leg, knocking the breath from his lungs, and as he hunches over in pain, I bring my elbow to the back of his head and knock him out.

"Impressive." comments Ra's as he stands up from his desk. "You have proven yourself to be worthy of keeping alive. Now, how did you find this island? This location cannot be found on any map and is invisible to any form of satellite imaging."

"While that may be true,-" I answer him with a stoic face. "-nothing protects it from mysticism."

"Magic." comments Ra's al Ghul with a slight sneer. "I very much miss the days when it was accessible to a select few."

"You assume that I am not part of this select few." I answer.

"Are you?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Perhaps." I answer with a shrug. "Perhaps not."

Hearing my answer, Ra's stares into my eyes as if searching for something. After a few seconds he simply nods with a slight smile.

"You impress me Mr. Malphas." says Ra's. "Certainly not an easy feat to accomplish. Especially not in the limited amount of time in which we have known one another. Tell me do you prefer your Roman heritage, or perhaps you favor your Greek heritage."

His question catches me off guard for a second before I fully process what he is asking me. Having done so I cannot help but chuckle at having such information found out this quickly.

"You certainly impress me Mr. al Ghul. My heritage is not something that I expected to be found out this quickly." I say to him. "To answer your question, I am in fact partial to my Roman heritage as I do not possess a Greek one. How ever did you know?"

"Your fighting style. There is a hint of pankration there. However, while you made use of that style, your mannerism screamed Roman. From the way you analysed the field, to how you identified the weakest link." he answers as he makes his way around the table to stand in front of me. "You attempted to hide it, which for the most part you were successful."

"Pankration is a lost art, and as for my mannerism, any warrior worth their skill would have done the same." I reply with a raised eyebrow.

"Very true, however-" says Ra's with an almost unnoticeable smile. "I have lived for at least six hundred years and possess scrolls from every era of mankind. As for your mannerism, well let us say that throughout my centuries of living I have encountered quite a few interesting things and leave it at that."

No matter how much I analyse him, I cannot seem to tell whether he is lying or not, and this very much unnerves me.

"Now Mr. Malphas,-" says Ra's as he brings me out of my thoughts. "-to what do I owe the pleasure of your unannounced visit?"

"I have a goal." I tell him. "There is a certain state of mind that I wish to accomplish, yet seems to elude me."

"Mushin." comments Ra's al Ghul as his eyes slightly widen. "You believe that I know how to achieve mushin?"

"Of course not." I answer. "However, this place can be said to be a sanctuary for martial arts and warriors alike. If I am to achieve this state of mind, then here would be the best place to try."

"And why should I help you when you have nothing to offer me?" asks Ra's.

"Should I succeed, then you would know what method is most likely to be a success. It would allow you to train your personal warrior to also achieve Mushin." I reply.

"Very well." answers Ra's al Ghul before he turns towards his daughter. "Talia, escort our guest to a room."

With a nod to her father Talia makes her way out of the room as I follow behind her with a triumphant smirk on my face.