The night wind carried the acrid smell of the adhesive hardener, dispersing the gunsmoke. Talia al Ghul stood on the ravaged street, trying not to look at the figure pinned firmly to the pavement by a thick mass of high-strength adhesive.
Her father, Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head of the League of Assassins.
He was still frozen in the posture of someone straining to break free, like an angry amber sculpture forgotten by time. Only his pitch-black eyes still burned with a fury fierce enough to consume everything, fixed on the black-clad figure who had emerged from the cumbersome armor nearby.
Batman's breathing was slightly labored. His fierce battle with Ra's al Ghul and the effort of operating the armor had drained much of his stamina. He gazed back at his former mentor with conflicted eyes, silent but utterly unwavering.
Talia took a deep breath and stepped in front of him. Her gaze lingered on his masked face, filled with emotions too complex to put into words-concern, resentment, perhaps even a trace of deeply buried love, but above all, a heavy sense of helplessness.
"Bruce..." Her voice was soft, nearly scattered by the wind, but Batman heard every word. "Thank you... for not killing him."
Those words weighed heavily on her. She knew better than anyone how cruelly her father had pressured Bruce, and she understood better than anyone that, in the situation they had just faced, Bruce had countless reasons and opportunities to end this centuries-old nightmare.
But he had chosen the hardest path, and the one most faithful to his principles.
"If you want to save him, take him out of Gotham, Talia."
Batman gave a slight nod and spoke in a low, gravelly voice. Then, after a brief hesitation, he reached up and removed his voice