Super powered

The Art of War and Love"

Chapter Thirteen

"The Art of War and Love"

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

Sun Tzu's The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy. It has had an influence on Eastern military thinking, business tactics, and beyond. Some have even extended it to all interpersonal activities, using the metaphor of the battle for all interactions.

By using several of the thirteen precepts, you increase the likelihood of victory. Batman, of course, had read it. Analysis and logical decisions are at its core.

Eristic, from the ancient Greek word Eris meaning wrangle or strife often refers to a type of dialogue or argument where the participants do not have any reasonable goal. The aim is to win the argument.

When an argument gets personal, all rules other than winning go out the window.

New York

Karen could just make him out in the shadows. Like most of the newer members of the League she respected Batman more than just about any other hero. Also like the other new members, she was a little intimidated by him. Though she had minimal contact with him even in the League, she had heard others tell horror stories about getting the Bat glare. Seeing him in her living room, she could fully understand those stories.

The only thing that mitigated it was she was pissed.

"We need to talk, so you broke into my house?"

"It was necessary."

"Oh, was it now?'

"Have you really thought what you're doing through," he asked.

"What-What are you talking about?"

"This tryst you're having with Superman."

It caught her by surprised that he knew. It shouldn't have, she thought, he's Batman, after all. Something about his choice of words, tryst and the way he said it annoyed her.

"That's private, between us," she managed to say. This wasn't going her way. He had her out of step, feeling awkward in her own home,

"Is it, really?"

Positioning.

Batman had chosen to confront her here in her own home for a reason. He wanted the element of surprise, to make her off balance even in a familiar location. He'd done his homework, checking out each room before deciding on the living room. It was large and spacious, with no centralized lighting for the whole room, just a series of table lamps. He had even calculated which light she would turn on first. While it illuminated her, he remained mostly in the shadows. With her enhanced vision she could see him, but not as well as she would want to.

"Yes, " she said in answer to his last question about it being private.

"For how long? Your little fling is already starting to leak out, isn't it? How many people already know?"

The Challenge

He wanted to keep her on the defensive, always explaining and justifying. By hitting at the weakest spot, or what she thought was the weakest spot, he could start the seeds of doubt in her mind.

'Not that many, just a few people know,' she replied. Karen knew he was manipulating her, trying to shift her focus. It only pissed her off more. She took off her jacket and tossed it on the sofa. His strategy only worked if she let it. She needed a moment to gather herself.