Batmobile

The whistling of projectiles shattered the standoff. The second Talon rapidly scattered a barrage of shuriken, feeling out Jude's position.

As killing weapons cultivated by the Court of Owls, they had all undergone harsh and complex training. Locating targets by sound and sensing killing intent were among those skills.

As long as the shuriken covered Jude's location, he would have to move to evade them. And once he moved, his footsteps would make a sound. Even if it was faint, Talons, whose physical abilities far surpassed ordinary humans, could hear it.

Unfortunately, this killing machine was facing Jude, a highly intelligent opponent. The instant his enemy made a move, Jude had already seen through the Talon's intentions.

He bent slightly and activated the Gravity Boots. With a light push, he instantly retreated seven or eight meters, landing without making the slightest sound.

The Talon had scattered his darts in a wide circle, yet heard nothing at all. Puzzled, he simply fired his grappling hook at the smashed Jeep Wrangler door. His muscles tensed as he yanked, forcibly tearing the door right off.

"You have to be nearby. Come out!"

He roared and wildly swung the car door, smashing craters into the ground with booming impacts. A moment later, even the door had been smashed to pieces, yet he still heard nothing.

"Could he not be near me?" Thinking of this, the Talon loudly warned his companion, "Be careful! Jude Herbert is heading your way. He can turn invisible."

But before his words faded, a chill ran down the back of his neck. While he had been swinging the car door, Jude had silently arrived behind him.

"I heard Talons are all afraid of the cold. Is that right?"

The wrist blade stabbed backward, but the Freezing Ray was faster. Under temperatures approaching absolute zero, the Talon had no ability to resist and instantly became an ice sculpture.

Elsewhere, a roar came from within the fiery whirlwind. The whirlwind abruptly dissipated, and Bridget was struck in the abdomen by a punch, coughing up blood as she flew backward.

The Talon, already burned into a charred wreck, charged toward her. He leaped into the air and stomped heavily on both her arms. The crisp cracks of breaking bones rang out alongside Bridget's scream.

Still unsatisfied after crushing her arms, the Talon kicked her in the jaw. Bridget's already petite body flew several more meters, while fresh flesh buds had begun to emerge from his rotting body.

Seeing that Bridget had not yet passed out, the Talon muttered, "A modified body really is different."

He jumped again, this time aiming for Bridget's legs. Someone with all four limbs crippled would no longer pose any threat, even if they remained conscious.

Just as the Talon was about to break Bridget's legs, an invisible pair of giant hands pulled her away by a hair's breadth. The spot where she had been was now covered in ice.

It was too late for the Talon to change his movement. His feet landed squarely on the ice, and with a thud, he slipped and crashed headfirst to the ground. Before he could react, another Freezing Ray struck him, instantly turning him into an ice sculpture frozen in the act of getting up.

Turning toward Ivy, Jude saw that her plant-based methods had all failed due to countermeasures. The Talon's wrist blades had crippled both her arms and sent her flying.

The Talon looked back at his companions and saw that both had become ice sculptures. Frowning, he sensed that something was wrong and hurried over to Ivy, intending to take her away first. Capturing even one would do.

He bent down and grabbed Ivy by the throat, raising a hand to knock her unconscious. But a battered little robot suddenly fell out of the bag on Ivy's back.

"Attack protocol activated!"

Butter Bot's eyes abruptly changed from blue to red. Then its two gun barrels began spinning rapidly, spewing a blaze of bullets that all struck the Talon with precision.

A full fifty bullets instantly riddled the Talon. Even with this killing machine's physical strength, he was forced back again and again before falling to the ground.

Seeing this, Ivy seized the chance and reached out toward him. A small red flower nearby suddenly swelled into a giant carnivorous plant and swallowed him whole in one bite.

"Don't underestimate me, and don't underestimate plants either! Also, thank you, Kevin."

Butter Bot nodded. "You're welcome. It's what I should do."

Jude hurried over to her and asked with concern, "Ivy, how are you?"

"I'm fine. My head is just spinning. Let me rest for a bit before I stand up."

Three minutes later, the carnivorous plant opened its mouth and spat the Talon out. He had already passed out. His owl armor had been corroded into tatters, and his body was pitted and uneven, looking almost as bad as Deadpool. But his powerful regenerative ability counteracted the plants' corrosive mucus, leaving him unconscious but alive.

"How did you do that? You actually knocked him out. Was it lack of oxygen?" Jude asked curiously. After all, knocking out a Talon was no easy feat.

Ivy smiled. "No, toxins. I ordered that flower to evolve deadly paralytic venom, but it only managed to knock this monster unconscious."

Bridget gave a bitter smile as well. "That regenerative ability is terrifying. They're practically my nemesis. They aren't afraid of fire at all. It hurts so much."

"Don't worry. Fortunately, I came prepared."

As he spoke, Jude pulled out a syringe and a small vial from his belt. The vial was filled with green life liquid. He drew it into the syringe and injected it into each woman's arm.

"What is this?"

"Good stuff. The medicine left over after restoring your arm."

The moment Jude finished speaking, both of their arms were completely restored, without even the slightest discomfort.

Bridget exclaimed in delight, "Do you have any more? Give me a bottle, just in case."

"No. We left in too much of a hurry, so I didn't have time to make much. That was all I had left. We should get out of Gotham quickly. This failure will only make the Court of Owls send more Talons."

Ivy asked in alarm, "They have more monsters like this?"

"Of course. Lots of them."

The two women immediately lost their joy at having survived the disaster. They quickly got up from the ground, gathered their things, and prepared to leave.

"The car is wrecked. How are we supposed to get to Central City?" Ivy said anxiously.

"Let's get out of here first. At worst, we can hitch a ride," Bridget suggested.

Of course, what she meant by hitching a ride was more accurately stealing a car. It just depended on who the unlucky victim would be. Jude had no objection to that. At a life-or-death moment like this, fussing over such things would be pedantic. They could always pay afterward.

The three climbed over the guardrail and returned to the road. After walking for only a few minutes, a car came speeding toward them from the distance at a jaw-dropping pace.

More importantly, it was no ordinary car. It was Batman's exclusive ride—the Batmobile.

The vehicle roared to a stop in front of Jude and the others. The small Robin poked his head out from inside.

"Looks like you need a ride, friends."

The Bat Family had arrived.