Jason had already closed the distaween himself and Ra’s, a glinting kit knife now in his hand. His movements were swift and precise, honed into his muscle memories from years of trainihrust the bde toward the elder man’s chest, aiming to end the Demon’s Head irike.

  The attack was intercepted.

  A masked League of Shadows guard, who had been standing silently in the er, reacted instantly. He caught Jason’s arm mid-thrust and smmed his head into the table with a dull thud.

  The kered to the ground, skidding out of reach.

  Jason gritted his teeth, refusing to yield. Using his free elbow, he drove it into the guard’s face with enough forake the man stagger back. But the grip on his arm was ironbsp;

  Thinking quickly, Jason stomped on the guard’s foot, leveraging the pain to push himself upward. He kicked off the edge of the table, twisting mid-air like a wildcat, and nded behind the guard, finally freeing himself from the hold.

  Ra’s remained seated, his expression passive. He observed the scuffle as if it were nothing more than a mild inveniealia, however, was now on her feet, her body tense, while the masked guard took a low, baance, preparing for the move.

  Jason lowered himself into a ral stance, his eyes fixed on the ground, hair hanging over his face. “What kind of monsters py with the dead?” he muttered, his voice barely audible. His shoulders rose and fell with each ragged breath. “What kind of sick people disturb the souls of the resting?”

  Ra’s cocked his head slightly, his curiosity piqued.

  Jason slowly lifted his head, his face shadowed but his eyes unmistakable. They were a dull, unnatural shade of green, devoid of any spark or refle. They were dead eyes—empty and haunting.

  “Jason?” Talia’s voice softened as she addressed him cautiously. “Are you… there?”

  Jason’s gaze shifted toward her, but it was as if he was looking through her rather than at her.

  Without warning, he lunged, aiming to take Talia down. But the masked guard intercepted him with a perfectly timed strike, blog Jason’s advance.

  The guard opened with a series of swift, calcuted jabs aimed at Jason’s torso and head, each blow desigo disorient.

  Jason tered with raw aggression, parrying the strikes and delivering a brutal ko the guard’s ribs. The guard staggered but immediately retaliated, sweeping low to trip Jason.

  Jaso over the sweep, using the momentum to deliver a spinning kick to the guard’s shoulder. The impact made the guard stumble, but he recovered quickly, log Jason in a grapple.

  The twled, each vying for dominance. Jason headbutted the guard, loosening the hold, then twisted free, nding a vicious elbow strike to the man’s jaw.

  The guard faltered but adapted, using Jason’s momentum to throw him toward the table. Jason hit the edge, knog over ptes and gsses, but he didn’t stay down.

  Grabbing a broken pte shard, he flung it at the guard, f him to block. In that split sed, Jason surged forward, his fists a blur as he overwhelmed the guard with a barrage of punches.

  The guard mao catch Jason’s wrist, twisting it to disarm him. But Jason, ever resourceful, used his free hand to strike the man’s throat.

  The guard gasped, losing his bance, and Jason capitalized on the opening. He swept the guard’s legs out from under him and delivered a final, decisive blow to the back of his head, leaving the man unscious.

  Jason turned, his focus shifting to Ra’s. Talia was now on the opposite side of the room, her expression wary. Jason moved toward Ra’s with a dangerous calm, his fists ched and his steps deliberate.

  Ra’s, unbothered by the chaos, simply extended a hand. Jason swung his fist, but Ra’s caught it effortlessly, pulling Jason forward and delivering a precise strike to his temple. Jason’s body went limp, colpsing onto the floor in an unscious heap.

  “What just happened?” Talia asked, her voice tinged with both and frustration.

  Ra’s stood, examining Jason’s lifeless form with a critical eye. “It appears,” he said slowly, “that this is a side effect of the Lazarus Pit. A temporary surge of overwhelming anger, perhaps… or something deeper.”

  Talia g Jason, her brow furrowed. “And what do we do with him now?”

  Ra’s smiled faintly, his tone as cold as ever. “We wait. The answers will reveal themselves in time.”

  ****

  At sunrise Jason stirred awake, his bleary eyes blinking open to the same dimly lit ceiling he had seen before. "Why does this feel like déjà vu?" he muttered to himself, shifting slightly on the bed.

  He tried pieg together memories of the previous night. The st thing he could recall was dining with Ra’s and Talia al Ghul. Beyond that? Nothing.

  “Must’ve had too much to drink,” he cluded with a faint groan. The ck of clear memories didn’t bother him much—after all, losing his memory was already a recurring theme in his life. “Cut me some sck,” he muttered under his breath.

  Jason sat up, letting his eyes adjust to the faint glow of the torches in the room. His attention snagged on something different this time: a masked figure standing silently by the door, watg him. A shiver ran down his spine.

  “Great,” he muttered. “Either I’m halluating, or the creepy patrol has officially arrived.”

  Shaking off the uling thought, Jason swung his legs off the bed and reached for the slippers peatly beside it.

  He crossed the room to the adjoining bathroom, freshened up, aurowel-drying his hair. As he gnced back at the door, the figure was still there, unmoving.

  “Not a halluation after all,” he noted grimly, tossing the towel aside as he got dressed.

  The silence was unbearable. “Hey, what’s your deal?” Jason called out, addressing the figure. The masked person remained eerily quiet, their gaze fixed straight ahead.

  Jason frowned, stepping closer. “You’re just gonna stand there? No expnation? No ominous warnings? I feel like I’m starring in some low-budget thriller.”

  Still nothing.

  “Alright, fine. I’m out,” Jason decred, striding toward the door. But as he reached for the hahe figure moved swiftly, blog his path with an assertive sidestep.

  Jason raised a brow. “Last warning, get out of my way.”

  The figure held firm. Then, to Jason’s surprise, a woman’s voice broke the silence. “Lady Talia has ordered that you remain here until she arrives.”

  Jason smirked. “Oh, so you do talk. And you’re a dy. I was hoping for that. Otherwise, it’d be even creepier having some dude standing there, watg me sleep.”

  Before she could respond, Jason reached up and tugged the mask from her face. The woman gasped, revealing strikiures marred by a bold scar running diagonally across her cheek. Snatg the mask back, she quickly pulled it over her face again.

  “A pretty ooo,” Jason remarked, his toral but ced with cheek.

  The woman’s voice sharpened. “Do not ever do that again.”

  Jason’s smirk deepened. “Feisty, huh? Look, I wouldn’t be b you if you just let me out of this room.”

  “My orders are to ensure you stay put. Lady Talia will e for you when she have your time.” She snapped, her tone all business.

  Jason rolled his eyes. “Right. Because waiting around in a glorified dungeon sounds like a bst.”

  He stepped forward, brushing past her, but she moved with lightning speed, pulling his arm over her shoulder and attempting to flip him. Jason instinctively adjusted his stance, flipping himself to nd squarely on his feet.

  The exge escated. She threunch, which Jason caught, followed by a kick that he narrowly dodged.

  The fight ended abruptly when she jabbed two pressure points on his shoulder, rendering his arm limp. Jason stared at his useless limb, then cast an intense gaze at the woman, a wave of raw bloodlust radiating from him.

  The woman faltered for a moment, her instincts urgio step back. She regained her posure, widening the distaween them.

  Before Jason could retaliate, the door swung open.

  “What is going on here?” Talia’s voice cut through the tension as she ehe room. Her sharp gaze flicked between Jason and the masked woman.

  Jason pointed acgly. “She creeped on me all night and refused to let me leave.”

  The masked woman stood at attention, speaking curtly. “I followed your orders, Lady Talia. He refused to ply.”

  Talia studied Jason with a raised brow. “How do you feel?”

  “…Peachy,” Jason deadpanned.

  Talia nodded, dismissing the guard with a wave. The woman bowed stiffly before leaving, not without casting o hostile gre at Jason.

  “Do you remember what happe night?” Talia asked, her tone probing. From the ck of light in his eyes wheed hostile, she assumed the might have not been himself and probably wouldn’t remember much of his as that from the previous night.

  Jason frowrying to recall. “Not much. I remember dinner and… then waking up in my bed without the slightest memory of how I got bay room st night.. What happened? Am I going to keep losing ks of my memory like this?”

  Talia hesitated, theured for him to follow. “e with me. My father will expin.”

  Jason sighed, trailing after her. “Sure, why not? I’ll just ighe whole magical schizophrenia vibe I’ve got going on.” He deadpanned, sarcasm practically dripping down his words.

  "That's what we’re about to find out, now stop with the sarcasm and follow me," she said, exasperation evident in her voice.

  "Finally," Jason muttered, ign her tone as he fell into step behind her.

  Stepping out of his chambers, the hallways were dimly lit by flickering torches mounted on stone walls. Shadows danced across the a, worn floors, adding an eerie ambiao the fortress.

  Jason couldn’t help but notice the masked individuals patrolling in sileheir movements purposeful. Every one of them was armed—knives, swords, and other ons glinted faintly iorchlight. His eyes lingered on a guard adjusting a strap on his chest.

  “Who are you people, anyway?” he finally asked, his voice breaking the heavy silence.

  Talia g him, a small smirk tugging at the er of her lips, as though she found his question amusing.

  They made a sharp turering a narrower, more secluded hallway guarded by two imposing figures who stood like statues, their faces obscured by dark masks.

  As they passed the guards, she mused aloud, “art of an anization that was long thought to be a myth—an iion of Ra’s al Ghul to keep his followers in line. But iy, we exist to stop humanity from destroying itself. That is our sacred duty.”

  Jason frowrying to process what she had just told him. “So, you guys are like some kind of… world-saving vigintes?”

  Talia chuckled softly. “Something like that. But we’ve been doing this for over a thousand years. While the world remains blissfully ignorant of us, we carry on with our mission.”

  As they approached a grand wooden door adorned with intricate carvings, her pace slowed. The air here felt heavier, the faint st of inse lingering in the corridor.

  Jason smirked faintly. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me the old man was some kind of immortal vampire.”

  This earned a genuine ugh from Talia, light and melodiot quite. He is no vampire, but he is indeed turies old. A man of great power and unparalleled knowledge.” She gestured at the door. “We’re here.”

  She knocked lightly, her voice soft but firm as she called out, “Father.”

  A deep voice responded from the other side. “e in, daughter.”

  .........

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