Sheets of rain shrouded the factory rooftop in a bleak gray haze.
Talia seemed not to have heard his warning at all. She brushed straight past Batman, her steps steady and unhurried, and walked toward the unguarded edge of the factory roof.
A drop of several dozen meters lay beneath her feet, along with scattered gunfire and chaos as the people below continued fighting the mechanical bats. She slowly spread her arms, as though embracing the city she intended to conquer yet despised so deeply.
"Bruce," she said, her quiet voice carrying clearly through the rain with an unnervingly calm edge. "Look. Your city, me, and all these people under my command... the vermin, as you see them. We're all here."
She turned her head slightly, glancing at Batman from the corner of her eye.
"The solution is simple, isn't it? Just like that... brutal justice you've always insisted on."
Mockery and exhaustion colored her voice. "Kill me! Right here, right now. Then go down there and kill everyone I brought with me. Every last one!"
She abruptly turned to face Batman, rain streaming down her beautiful but icy face.
"Once you do it, your Gotham will be safe tonight. No one else will die. No more innocent citizens will bleed because of us. Stain your peace red with our evil blood. Isn't that the most straightforward answer, deep in your heart? Eradicate all evil, whatever the cost!"
Batman's fists clenched abruptly, his white lenses fixed on Talia in the darkness. He could feel the murderous impulse rooted in his dark past stirring at her provocation, but he fought to hold it down.
"That isn't justice, Talia." He shook his head, his voice low. "It's murder. I won't let you turn me into an executioner."
"Really? You're still so... naive,