[Dawn]
The courtyard has been transformed into a dueling ground. Every assassin has gathered, watching with their own eyes the epic battle between Batman and Ra's al Ghul. Diana, Talia, and Nyssa were also standing in the gallery.
The duel starts at 6 in the morning. Both combatants enter the battleground. Ra's al Ghul has worn the cursed Suit of Sorrows. Its glowing blue lines illuminated Ra's dark aura as he stared coldly at his opponent. However, to everyone's surprise, Batman took off his armor, revealing his real identity, Bruce Wayne.
Ra's narrowed his eyes at the familiar face in front of him. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I thought it was Thomas, but considering the fact that Elana is training you, I should have guessed that it's the young heir. But..." He looked at Bruce, who walked into the arena wearing his regular suit and leaving his armor behind, "Foolish or overconfident? I expected at least a little bit of caution from you. Didn't Elana teach you not to underestimate your enemies?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me," Bruce clenched his fist and pointed it at Ra's, "I'm gonna beat the shit out of you. But what you should be worrying about is that armor. The amount of darkness and bloodlust radiating from that thing is just insane. It's a miracle that you are still sane after wearing it."
"Hmph," Ra's scoffed and took out his sword. He pointed it toward Bruce, "Then, shall we begin?"
"Bring it!"
Ra's speed was so fast that he almost vanished from everyone's sight and appeared before Bruce with his sword already slashing him. However, such speed is like a child play in front of Bruce, who went through a complete genetic reconstructive with Kryptonian DNA, granting him an enormous boost in physical capabilities.
Bruce caught the tip of Ra's sword.
A wave of air blew past his left as soon as he caught the sword, such was the power behind the slash. But Bruce's new body is far more powerful than this old man.
"What?" Ra's was flabbergasted at the scene before him, but he quickly recovered and calmed his mind. He threw a hard kick on Bruce's left side, seeing an opening in his guard. However, the impact sent a tremor throughout his entire leg. "Impossible," Ra's couldn't believe the scene in front of him. The one before him is just a normal human, but why does he feel so strong?
Ra's armor should give him an edge, but right now, he is feeling like a newborn calf, trying to take its first step.
"Umm... That's kinda embarrassing. Try harder," Bruce broke the sword in half, then grabbing Ra's leg, he threw him like a ragdoll. Ra's hit the ground hard and bounced a few times before rolling a few feet away.
The assassins watching this scene were stupefied. They couldn't believe that Ra's al Ghul, the immortal demon, had just been tossed aside like a piece of trash.
Ra's got up on his knees, panting heavily. His whole body ached. He felt the bones in his legs breaking under the pressure. But this wasn't the end. He took out his second sword and tried again, this time, activating the Suit of Sorrows' hidden abilities.
Darkness radiated out of the armor and covered Ra's body. A pair of black wings made from pure darkness sprouted from his back and his eyes turned into a pair of glowing blue orbs. The suit began to drain his life force in exchange for power. He flew toward Bruce, leaving a trace of dark smoke. It was as if a demon from the abyss was rushing towards its prey.
Ra's swung his swords, but Bruce dodged every attack without breaking a sweat. It looked like he was dancing. And the moment an opening appeared, Bruce's fist landed on Ra's abdomen, sending him flying backward.
Bruce walked over to the fallen Ra's.
"Get up, old man. I ain't done playing yet."
Ra's stabbed him with his sword, but it didn't even go into Bruce's stomach. It was as if a thick metal sheet was covering his abdomen.
"How?" Ra's gasped.
"How? What? Impossible? Why? You are here to ask questions or fight?" Bruce kicked Ra's stomach, sending him high into the sky. Ra's used the dark wings to somehow fly back to the ground, but he could feel that two of his ribs were broken.
"Cough! Cough!" He coughed up blood, but the suit absorbed it all.
"No, no, no... That won't do. This isn't a proper fight yet," Bruce shook his head and blinked before Ra's at a blinding speed. He grabbed the back of Ra's neck and pulled him up in the air. The dark energy from the armor was trying to coil around his fist, but lightning crackled out of his lightning ring, tearing apart the darkness and zapping Ra's hard.
"Hmph," Bruce smirked as he threw Ra's down like a meteor. "That's it!"
"Gyaaahhhh..." Ra's let out a loud cry as his body slammed onto the ground, creating a small crater.
Bruce then began to tear apart the armor piece by piece. With a flick of his finger, the helmet flew away. And the wings were ripped off, and the rest followed soon after.
"Stop! Stop!" Ra's shouted weakly, his body trembling as his life force was slowly being drained. He can't take anymore. His whole body is hurting.
"That's not how you fight a duel," Bruce sneered and grabbed the armorless Ra's by the hair and lifted his face up, "I had a big impression of you. The immortal Demon Head with hundreds of years of experience... To think, he's begging for his life. Pathetic!" He dragged Ra's body toward Nyssa. "Come here and kneel!"
Nyssa's eyes were wide open. She couldn't believe her own eyes. Just now, Ra's was using a power far beyond her comprehension, yet he was beaten easily. The respect and pride she had for him as her father was slowly fading. She can't look at him the same way anymore. All she ever wanted in her life was his acknowledgment and wanted to surpass Talia in his eyes, but now, even that seemed meaningless.
Talia's expression, however, was the complete opposite of Nyssa's. Her face was full of confidence, and even a hint of joy. She knew that Bruce would win, but she didn't expect that he'd humiliate Ra's like this. She has experienced the terror of fighting against Bruce in the first hand after all.
"I said, kneel, motherfucker!" Bruce kicked Ra's legs, breaking them like twigs, forcing him to kneel.
Ra's coughed up more blood. His whole body was on the verge of collapsing.
"Tell me, how does it feel to lose everything in an instant?" Bruce grabbed his jaws from behind and asked.
"..." Ra's didn't respond.
"You were so confident when you challenged me, but in the end, you are just another cockroach, crawling at the bottom. No matter how much you try to raise yourself, you will always be a weakling," Bruce's tone was cold and merciless. "What was that about strong and weak people? You took advantage of my father's weakness and used him for your dirty work. You used Elana as a pawn in your game. You used Lex and tried to unleash hell in Gotham and Metropolis. You used your daughters as your pawns and pit them against each other. All you wanted was control. And look at you now? A weak and helpless man, unable to even control his own destiny."
"Balance must be maintained, no matter the cost. I did for the sake of humanity," Ra's responded, his voice raspy and hoarse.
"And look where that got you," Bruce slammed him on the ground once more, "The balance you talked about... I will destroy that fucking balance and build a new world."
Ra's quickly took this chance to take out a vial of potion and chugged it down his throat. His wounds quickly healed, and he stood up. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. If not for Gordon, that bullet wouldn't have missed your head that night. Everything was perfect. EVERYTHING! Gotham and Metropolis was supposed to be the start, yet, you... You lived and kept foiling my plans."
"What are you talking about?" Bruce grumbled in rage as memories of his past resurfaced. Falcone, Joe, and Thorne are all dead. Everyone responsible for his coma was dead. The Crime Alley incident was a canon event, he prevented it by saving his parents and thought his coma was a result of messing with the timeline, but it would seem that his interference with the event has led to some changes that he never imagined.
"If only you hadn't woken up, Elana and the Waynes would still be in my grasp, but you... YOU BRAT JUST HAD TO MESS EVERYTHING UP! But don't you worry... After I kill you, I'll restart everything from the beginning and get it right this time."
Bruce's eyes were burning red with fury.
"So, it was you. Good... Very good. You have no idea how relieved I am to know that I'll get to kill the motherfucker who messed with my family and my girl," Two red beams shot out of Bruce's eyes that pierced through Ra's knees. The pain was so agonizing that Ra's dropped to his knees. "Don't expect an easy death. I'm gonna enjoy it, you bastard."
However, Ra's legs began to heal on their own as he stood up again like a zombie.
"I'll cut open that body of yours and find out the source of your power," Ra's cracked his neck as Ubu threw two short swords at him. "This time, I'll make sure that you'll stay dead." Ra's caught the swords. Green vapor was rising from the blades, which were clearly poisoned.
----[Powerstones & reviews]----
If you want to support me or read advance chapters, check out my Patr éon.
Support Link: https://www.patr eon.com/XcaliburXc
⭐As of now, Pat reon is 17 chapters ahead⭐
[Exclusive r18 contents] [No double billing]
---
Next, Ch: 142: Velocity 9
Ch: 143: Perfect Plan & a Ring?!
Ch: 144: Bruce's prediction
Ch: 145: A drunken mess
---