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"It's just pathetic to give up on something before you even give it a shot."
– Reiko Mikami, (Another)
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<(Omniscient POV)>
On a mountaintop filled with snow and ice, a lone man was standing with only a thin robe barely covering his body, unfazed by the unbearing cold that was freezing for the hundreds of black-clothed assassins working and practicing their techniques in front of him as he watched them all with a blank expression on his face.
If Bruce were here, he would be able to recognize this man as someone looking really similar to Liam Neeson if Liam Neeson looked like a murderous vampire dictator with severe psychopathic tendencies.
"Do you think he will pass Ra's? It has been a week and we haven't received any news from our spies, not even a single sighting." A buff-looking man standing beside the Liam Neeson lookalike asked in a low voice, filled with respect.
"It doesn't matter what I think Ubu. What matters is what happens. If he passes, we can move forward with the next part of our plan, if he doesn't, then I guess we go back to searching for someone else again." The man named Ra's answered.
"But, then what about the prophecy? The prophecy was clear about the glorious rebirth of the league under the new demon of the night, on the path paved by someone of the blood of the Wayne. If he somehow dies while..."
"He is not the only Wayne out there. There have been many Waynes down the years, most are dead but some can easily be brought back to life. You my friend underestimate the power of the Lazarus Lit and the sorcery the League possesses. Even though I do not personally like the dark arts, nor do I prefer them, the fact still remains that they still do exist with their immense potential and we can always use them if things ever become that dire." Ra's explained.
"I understand. I was foolish for thinking that the great Demon's head wouldn't be able to find a way out of a mere prophecy." Ubu lowered his head in respect, his eyes glittering with blind loyalty.
Ra's Al Ghul didn't say anything else and just stared at his men training. It had only barely been a week since he had given Bruce the test of finding and reaching this place. Normally, people can't reach this place even after months of exploration. This village, no, this small city was hidden from satellites due to its heavy cloud cover. Even planes and helicopters could not fly low enough to register this place in their scanners due to the unique positioning of the mountains around it. So, it wasn't a wonder that almost no one knew about this headquarters of theirs, the Nanda Parbat.
They themselves occupied only a portion of the massive mountain but it was more than enough for them. Their hidden city was strategically one of the most elusive places in the world and was one of the main reasons why he liked this city almost as much as his original base in the Arabian peninsula.
"I don't think we will be seeing him before at least a few weeks. After all, even I took more than two weeks to find this place on my own when I first heard of it from a priest of Rama Kushna about five a hundred years ago..."
"Whoosh" The sudden sound of a plane suddenly interrupted him as both he and Ubu looked at the sky in mild surprise.
"A plane in this area? Is it lost?" Ubu wondered aloud.
Planes flying through here would normally crash into the mountain if they flew too low. Only the best and most expensive military-grade jets could successfully fly well above these mountains and not get affected by the cold.
"No, it's flying considerably higher than normal planes. So, it's probably a military jet, here on a routine patrol..." Ra's Al Ghul words were again stopped in his mouth as he saw something get dropped from the jet.
"Is it a bomb?" Ubu was mildly surprised. Did anyone find out about their hidden city? But it should not be possible and any considerable explosion at this height could destabilize the entire mountain and could destroy the nearby cities or even cause a big earthquake in the worst scenario. So, no government should be crazy enough to do that.
Of course, he wasn't too worried. Their hidden city had quite a number of defenses placed all around which even included magical defenses to evade the eyes of mages and sorcerers as well as protect the city in case of surprise or large-scale attacks.
"No, it's a person." Ra's said with disbelief painted on his face at what he was seeing and yet could not deny the sight being shown to him by his trained eyes.
"But that should be suicide. The high winds and immense cold at this height should make parachute jumping impossible. Whoever that person is would probably become a red splash on the mountain even before he is able to open his parachute. And even if does open it, he would still die as he would get dragged off with the wind or the parachute would itself get too frozen for the mechanism to work properly." Ubu said as he looked at the unfortunate soul who was idiot enough to try sky-diving here of all places.
But contrary to his expectations, the figure continued to descend like an unstoppable missile, his path of descent as stable as possible heading straight in their direction.
3000 feet, 2500 feet, 2000 feet, the distance between them and the ground was continuously reducing. However, the person didn't try to open their parachute as they continued to freefall like someone with a wish to die.
It was only at 1,500 feet that a parachute much smaller than a typical one opened which was perfect to resist high wind. The figure's descent began to slow down but not at all at a rate that would offer the person a safe landing. Instead, the now clearly visible figure who was dressed in all-white combat clothes fell with a big thud even with his parachute open. He landed crouching on his legs with only one arm touching the ground for support, a little away from where Ra's Al Ghul and Ubu were standing.
"You still alive there?" Ra's asked a few seconds later, staring at the unmoving figure, his immense surprise not visible on his expressionless face and neutral voice.
"Never better." The jumper answered as he slowly stood up, not at all looking like he was hurt from the fall. "Love the weather by the way." He further added as he stretched his arms and legs and cut off the parachute from his back.
"Then, may I ask who you are now?" The Demon's head asked as his trusted aide Ubu took a slightly defensive position behind him, ready to kill or even be killed for his master if the situation called for it.
"Huh? You don't know me? But I thought you were the one who invited me. This is a little awkward. Wait, I know. You probably don't recognize me due to this stupid face mask. Here, now you should be able to see my handsome face." The person dressed in all white opened his helmet to reveal his face.
"... Bruce Wayne." Ra's Al Ghul uttered as realization struck him after looking at the now uncovered charming face of the orphan billionaire.
"In the flesh." Bruce performed a theatrical bow.
"I didn't expect you to reach this place like... this. I guess it was my fault for not specifying that you needed to climb the mountain to come here. But again, ordinary people aren't crazy enough to try that jump." He said with a chuckle, not trying to blame Bruce for using his smarts.
"Yeah but I am not ordinary people, am I? And I doubt you wanted an ordinary person to reach this place. Anyway, since I reached this... city, are you going to train me or are you going to give me some other task and make this a needlessly complicated and long process even when you know that I'll pass every one of them with flying colors?" Bruce asked, absolute confidence oozing from his voice.
"So, you want to learn? To grow powerful beyond what you are capable of as a mere ordinary human?To be at the absolute peak of humanity?" Ra's Al Ghul asked trying to entice Bruce and manipulate him into thinking that he was giving him a chance of a lifetime by letting him join.
"Of course, why do you think I am even here, out in nowhere freezing my ass off instead of having a vacation in Hawaii, knockoff Liam?" Bruce asked with an arrogant smirk on his face.
"Good. Then from today on, you will be my new student. Rest for today because, from tomorrow, your life will be a new type of hell, one filled with absolute discipline. Ubu, show our young billionaire here to the guest quarters and give him enough food and water. He will need it." Ra's said, ignoring Bruce's arrogant remarks. "Oh and I advise you to stop behaving like a spoiled child from now on, or your arrogance could one day make you pay a hefty penalty." He added.
"Me, spoiled and arrogant? You must be dreaming Mr. Dracula. I am the most humble kid billionaire on the planet. Anyway, I am quite tired, so, I'll need to have my beauty sleep. So I guess I'll follow you, Mr Buff." Bruce smugly replied with a helpless shrug.
Ubu didn't react to the insult, he was too trained to react to minor insults like these. He just bowed to Ra's Al Ghul and went towards one of the bigger houses, not caring if Bruce followed him or not.
"By the way, what do I call you? I don't think I can call you Dracula for the rest of my training period, can I, even though I really want to?" He asked picking up a small backpack attached to the base of the parachute as he prepared to follow Ubu.
"Call me Ra's Al Ghul or Ra's for short. Everyone here calls me that."
"Head of the Demon, cool choice for a name. I guess that's where the logo on your letter comes from." Bruce muttered aloud as he began to follow Ubu, not caring to prolong the conversation with the centuries-old assassin.
'His personality is a lot different than what was reported. Even his body language matched with his arrogant personality. His voice, his smiles, and his way of talking, all indicated the same thing. He is one of the most selfish, greedy, arrogant, and narcissistic people I have ever met and I have met quite a few.' Ra's Al Ghul thought to himself, a while after Bruce left, wondering how his subordinates especially one of his most capable, Lady Shiva could have reported such inaccurate information about one of the most important targets they were keeping tabs on.
'But still, that's good. Controlling him would be much easier now.' He thought with a small smile on his lips. He was confident that in just a few years he could mold Bruce to be the type of person he wanted, to shape him into the instrument he needed to further evolve the League, and perhaps for him to even be the successor that Ra's Al Ghul had been searching for so long.
Ra's Al Ghul would train Bruce with everything he had but he would also make full use of him when the time came even if that meant taking his body for himself in case the kid didn't turn out to be what Ra's desired for him to become.
But Bruce Wayne would serve his purpose nonetheless, as a tool for The League of Assassins.
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(A/N: Before any of you complain about the abrupt personality change in Bruce, I recommend you wait and read the next chapter. Peace.)
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