A large number of chemical substances had invaded Talia's body—acidic ones, alkaline ones, metallic, non-metallic… a whole chaotic mix.
This time, Thea wasn't acting. After her recent training, her magic had finally reached a level where she could handle such delicate work. Otherwise, there was simply no way she could do this.
She continued wrapping each toxin inside Talia's body with her magic. Because she didn't know how dangerous those greenish substances were, she didn't dare draw them out through the pores. Instead, Thea made a large incision on Talia's arm and squeezed out a clump of unknown chemicals.
"Her heartbeat has stabilized!"
Batman had been watching several instruments closely. Now that the first wave of chemicals had been removed, he knew Talia's life was no longer hanging by a thread. All their efforts weren't in vain.
"Hah—"
Thea let out a long breath. She was under the greatest pressure—both spiritually and magically exhausted. And this magical surgery wasn't even finished yet. Right now, Talia had only gone from "on the verge of death" to "half-dead." If Thea walked away now, Talia would basically end up a vegetable.
There were still many chemicals left inside her body, and many had already adhered to her internal organs. Thea's knowledge of chemistry was far from enough to identify everything. She only removed the ones she recognized—the lethal ones. The rest… she wasn't confident about. Two unknown substances reacting could kill Talia instantly.
This was where the great cheat code—Batman—had to step in.
After learning about Thea's difficulty, he told her to leave the rest to him. Without asking for help, he ran off alone and started machining, drilling, milling—God knows what he dismantled.
Thea didn't stay idle either. She pulled out her laptop, connected to the network, and began analyzing on the spot. Anything she really couldn't judge, she simply asked Batman—the walking supercomputer.
They extracted a few more highly dangerous substances, but the remaining ones were impossible to classify by eye.
Fortunately, Batman worked ridiculously fast. No one knew what parts he had scavenged, but in just half an hour, he built something that looked like a metal rod. Sweeping it over Talia's body collected the trace elements emitted from within, then transmitted them to the Batcave's main computer for full analysis—chemical properties, toxicity, everything.
Much better than Thea fumbling in the dark.
Batman even had to scribble calculations from time to time—the ratios of certain chemicals, whether they'd damage capillaries, intestinal lining, respiratory tract. Sometimes four or five substances mixed together so messily that even a giant nerd like Batman couldn't be fully certain.
Anything he couldn't determine, Thea didn't bother wasting brain cells on. She simply went for the brute-force option: cut deeply near the suspicious substance and take it out.
Damian watched from not far away, seeing Thea carve his mother up with cut after cut until she was covered in wounds. His heart ached terribly, but he also knew this was to save her life. He stood there, anxious beyond belief.
Midway through, Barbara and Jason Todd joined to help—bandaging wounds and cleaning the floor. The smell in the Batcave was downright horrific: overwhelming blood mixed with countless chemical odors. Barbara got dizzy and had to cover her nose. Jason was tougher, but even he was swaying.
"You're not affected at all?"
Batman sent Gordon and Damian out first, but even he was reaching his limit. Being too close for too long, his vision was going dark; he knew he'd been exposed to too many chemicals. To stay clear-headed, he put on a gas mask, finally feeling a bit better.
But he noticed Thea looked perfectly fine—not even a drop of blood on her—and couldn't help asking.
"Huh?"
Thea was busy examining a dark brown lump near Talia's kidney. She replied casually, "These fumes don't affect me."
Batman nodded—superhuman durability. Nothing new. You're not the first person with that ability. I'll note it down later.
Thea, of course, had no idea that in Batman's little black notebook, right below "X-ray-like eyesight," he had now added a new line: "super endurance."
Barbara helped for half an hour and felt she'd done enough. She had zero relationship with Talia anyway. Using the excuse that her injuries weren't fully healed, she left to rest. The entire night felt surreal to her—arriving at the Batcave unconscious, and now walking out as if nothing happened. She needed time to process whether today had been real.
Jason Todd, on the other hand, was as tough as advertised. Seeing Thea completely unfazed, he refused to use a gas mask out of sheer stubbornness. He wasn't as close as Batman and got to the entrance occasionally for fresh air, which helped him last about an hour longer than Barbara—before he also left wobbling on his feet.
At one point, Thea called Star City. Talia's condition was too complicated; she wasn't making it back for dinner. Batman politely offered to host a meal to thank her, but Thea waved him off—they needed to drag Talia fully away from death's gate first.
The two worked through the entire night. Catwoman, who hadn't shown up all day, dropped by briefly. Seeing they were treating Talia, she felt a flash of jealousy, but after seeing Talia's face—completely ruined, barely recognizable—she said nothing. The smell was unbearable for her too, and she left shortly after.
Finally, just before sunrise, the two completed the treatment. After scanning Talia twice with Batman's custom device, they confirmed all toxic substances had been removed. But long-term chemical intrusion had devastated her body—every organ was severely damaged. Forget returning to normal—even basic mobility was uncertain.
"Miss Thea… about her follow-up treatment…"
Batman's voice cracked. Saving Barbara had already put him in her debt, and now there was this. She had helped tirelessly all night—he was deeply grateful. But seeing Talia in this corpse-like state, remembering the fiery woman she once was… his heart twisted painfully. He broke his principles and, embarrassed, asked for help again.
Looks like Selina's dream of becoming "Selina Wayne" had just gotten harder…
Whoever said Batman had no feelings for Talia was a liar.
Thea sighed. As much as she was closer to Catwoman, she couldn't outright refuse when Batman asked so sincerely.
"Honestly, the best treatment for Talia… is the Lazarus Pit."