Chapter 38:

Dogs Scared Me When I Was a Kid

DC: The Infinite Villain

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Talia al Ghul was the daughter of the Demon's Head and the mastermind who had almost destroyed Gotham.

Yet Damon's barrage of words left her shaking with fury.

Her heavy breathing came clearly through the phone.

After a long moment, she forced down her anger.

For Gotham's destruction, she would endure it.

"Fine. Very good. I..."

She had decided to endure, but if she did not throw out at least a few threats, the rage in her chest would not settle.

"I'm good, you're good, everybody is good. What is this, a supplement commercial?"

Damon cut her off.

"I do not even take you seriously, so what is the point of threatening me? Just prepare what I asked for."

Talia's anger, which she had barely suppressed, surged up again.

"I will kill you. I swear I will kill you."

Hearing her roar through the phone, Damon tilted his head slightly and said impatiently, "Do not yell at me. Dogs scared me when I was a kid."

"..."

"Did you just call me a dog? You dare call me a dog?"

"Dogs are humanity's best friends. So why should best friends fight? Can't we sit down calmly and slap each other a few times instead?"

Damon sounded earnest.

Talia al Ghul's chest rose and fell violently.

After a long moment, she said coldly, "When I see you, I will slap you more than a few times."

"If you can."

Damon laughed, unconcerned. Then he began listing the suit's measurements and requirements.

Talia knew that continuing the argument would only leave her at a disadvantage. As that bastard had said, why argue?

When she saw him, she would simply kill him.

"Three days from now, deliver it to Frank Bertinelli's house in Starling City."

It would be easy for Talia al Ghul to learn who Frank Bertinelli was. He was one of Starling City's major crime bosses.

Damon was not foolish enough to think she would obediently deliver the suit without arranging anything.

Better a friend die than himself.

A trap was a trap, no matter who fell into it.

Besides, Helena probably would not mind.

Damon hung up and left.

At Wayne Enterprises, inside the CEO's office, Talia al Ghul set down the phone and leaned back in her chair, eyes closed in thought.

The measurements were clearly for a woman.

Who would wear it did not matter.

What mattered was using this opportunity to kill Damon. Failing that, she had to recover the photos he had taken.

Her eyes snapped open as she thought of someone.

That little cat.

Catwoman had once been locked in the same cell as Damon. With that connection, she could approach him more easily. Even if she could not kill him, her talent for stealing might help her recover what Talia wanted.

As for why Catwoman would help?

She wanted the Clean Slate program, did she not?

Once the bait was there, how could the fish refuse?

Talia al Ghul had people begin making the suit while she found Catwoman.

Catwoman was elusive and difficult to track, but Talia had her own methods.

After finding her, Talia approached under the identity of Miranda Tate. She told Catwoman that Damon was blackmailing her with photos and demanded a suit, then asked Catwoman to find Damon and recover the material he had taken.

In return, she could give Catwoman the Clean Slate program that would erase her criminal record.

Catwoman remembered Damon vividly.

Back then, fear of Bane had pushed her to betray Batman, only for Bane to be killed easily by Damon.

She did not want to provoke Damon.

But for a clean slate, Catwoman thought it over again and again and finally decided to try.

Talia al Ghul did not ask Catwoman to kill Damon, because she realized Catwoman would never agree to that condition.

Besides, she had other arrangements.

Three days was not long, but it was not short either.

Talia al Ghul arranged for the finished suit to be sent to Starling City, and Catwoman traveled with it.

Starling City.

The Bertinelli house.

Helena stood by the window and looked outside.

At least twenty armed guards were stationed in and around the villa.

She let the curtain fall, then turned to Damon, who was lying on her bed.

"How did you even get in?"

"A man needs some skill to steal in for forbidden pleasures. So? Surprised? Caught off guard?"

Damon smiled.

"After I came back last time, my father banned me from going out, and he has been looking for you. You still dare come to my house? You are asking to die."

Helena was pleased to see him, but she was also worried. She urged him, "You should leave. If my father comes back, you will not get out."

Damon sat up and pulled Helena onto him.

He grinned.

"Your father is outside searching everywhere for me, and I am in his house sleeping with his daughter. If he knew, he would explode. Do you not think that is more exciting? Even as a crime boss who murders and burns his way through life, he cannot stop his daughter from being taken in her own protected bedroom."

"There are two bodyguards outside the door."

Helena glanced toward it.

"Then keep your voice down."

Helena's eyes brightened.

"I have an idea. Wait."

She got up and went to the wardrobe. A moment later, she brought out a black gag as if presenting a prize.

"This way, we do not have to worry about the sound."

"You own that? You really are twisted."

Damon watched her put it on herself, and his interest rose at once.

"But I like it."

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