Storyline Talia Nr. 1 (Sidestory)

Dear readers. At this point Gorel and I would like to inform you that the next chapters will not deal directly with Bruce or Dracula. We have decided to give our side characters their own story that they will live out. Each of them is a powerful character within the DC world and deserves a little attention. We have decided to dedicate the next 30 days inside the Storytimeline to these forgotten heroes and villains. The side characters we have chosen are.

Zatanna

Talia

Harley

Talia's story.

All life is born to die.

Talia stood on the roof of the Iceberg Lounge and sighed. She had received an order that she had been waiting for a long time but she was aware that this test was the ultimate trial for her. Right after the meeting with the bosses, he set out to track down Mr. Freeze. To her astonishment, however, he had not killed him. Talia simply did not understand the motives and approach of Him. It was almost impossible to see the paths he was moving along. But she was still a toddler compared to him. Maybe in a thousand or so years she would act as funny as he did. Maybe then she would even understand how such an ancient being looked at the world. But none of this was of real importance at the moment. She knew that this fight that was ahead of her would be harder than the fight against a Bruce/Batman/Werwolf.

Knowing that she had no choice but to obey, she went back to her room. Zatanna sat amused on the bed and studied some old books she had fetched from her estate. She knew what Talia was up to. However, she was forbidden to help. Talia would have to do this on her own. However, the chances of surviving were not too great. Not that Zatanna didn't know exactly how good Talia was, even better than Vampire, but this fight would demand everything from her.

"Should I take you there?" she asked. Dracula had not forbidden her to help her in this matter.

Talia thought about it. The journey to her destination would be a risk for her mission. But if she could go through a portal of Zatanna she would be able to overcome a big obstacle. Because at every airport in the world there would be units that would recognize her. That would take away the element of surprise. That's why she nodded to Zatanna and even thanked her.

When she had passed through the portal, an icy wind struck her. Due to the special protective measures of the fortress, she could not penetrate directly into the fortress. Zatanna's magic would have sounded the alarm if it had got even closer to the fortress. Amused, she looked at her hands. It was icy temperatures and even if she noticed the temperature it had no influence on her body. That would certainly help her here in the mountains. The Shadow Brotherhood had hidden bases all over the world and in each of them there was a cave modeled after the Lazarus Pit, but there was only one real source of Lazarus. And unfortunately her destination was exactly there. In the most dangerous place of this planet. The worst fighters of the brotherhood were gathered here.

The outer defenses alone were already dangerous. But she was no longer a simple ninja. She wouldn't have any big problems with such things anymore. She was sure of that. The problems would begin only in the inner. After all, some of her own teachers were also represented there. And even though Talia was faster and more skilled now, she still used the same old fighting techniques she had learned from her masters. Slowly she walked through the snow-covered mountains and headed straight for one of the peaks. She had replaced her black leather suit with a snow-white one whose hood also concealed her black hair. In this outfit she was hardly visible to the human eye at a greater distance. It didn't take long until she could see the first defences. Bunkers carved directly into the rocks allowed a wide view of the surrounding rocks. Theoretically, it would be completely impossible for anyone to approach the temple unseen, but Talia was not just anyone. Of the many options she now had, she decided against her biggest ace. Even if she increased her speed so much that no one would see her, it would have a big effect on the powder snow under her feet. The resulting vortices would ensure that you would see her despite her speed. So she only had the deep slow approach.

It took her eight hours to get there. It was only about 800 meters but it took a long time. Again and again she had to keep still in order not to arouse suspicion. Now she had one of the bunkers right in front of her. From here it was easy for her. She waited patiently until she could hear the change of guards inside. Now she had 8 hours. It would take that long until this bunker would report again. The almost paranoid safety regulations of the plant were now an advantage for her. None of the bunkers should report as long as nothing had happened. Absolute radio silence was the A and O. Like lightning she shot through the view hatch of the bunker. Before the 2 guards even knew what had just happened they were already lying on the ground. Her masters would have been very proud of this attack. It had been absolutely silent and carried out flawlessly.

But now the actual fight would only begin. Even if the security within the installation was not so strict there were nevertheless one or the other hurdle. The most dangerous would become probably rather coincidental meetings. Talia hoped that she could reduce the number of deaths to a minimum as she assumed that the majority could still be used. Unfortunately the first turnoff she took was a path of blood. Carefully she looked around the corner just to see the astonished faces of 2 assassins. Even the hardened Talia took a second to grasp the whole situation. The reflex second was something that was hard to get rid of. But her physical abilities were superior to theirs. All three grabbed their weapons at the same time but unfortunately the two did not manage to pull theirs. They fell to the ground with a dagger in their throat and bled to death. Talia looked down on them without any emotion and hastily searched their equipment. She could use a part of it. Because even if she didn't want to admit it to herself, one thing was clear. Since she had been walked she had lost access to one of the most powerful networks there was. And even though her abilities were now far greater, sometimes a simple fog grenade could be worth more than 20 years of training. That's why she was pretty happy when she could equip herself with the basic equipment. Of course she still had her 2 katana and her personal equipment, but she was missing grenades, throwing knives and other items.

Self-confident, she now moved through the corridors and had three throwing knives in her right hand as a precaution. Should she be surprised again, she would react faster. But it came to no further meeting. She could avoid all patrols and penetrate the inner sector undisturbed. There were 5 rings she had to cross before she would reach the fountain. And each level would be harder and harder to cross. Even Talia knew only 3 of the 5 security barriers and had no idea what to expect on levels 4 and 5. Although she had been there many times before, she had never encountered the defenses. That would be different now.

Immediately the first test would demand everything from her. Physically and mentally. As expected he sat directly in front of the temple gate and meditated. His snow-white hair hung far over his shoulders.

"So it's finally time for me to see your full potential." Said the 80 year old as he slowly rose and turned around.

Talia felt her stomach turn as she bowed.

"Master Yaric. I'm here to kill my father. I will not insult you by asking you to step aside, but know that I will kill you in a fair fight according to the Code."

The old man smiled and bowed deeply. "So shall his disciple. Don't hold back. I won't make it easy for you." The old man smiled full of self-confidence.