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"I want you to become my successor, Detective…"
"Think of what we can accomplish together, Bruce…"
"I'm no killer…"
"You and your principles are going to be your doom…"
"Either you will become my successor or I will kill the woman you love…"
"What kind of a man sacrifices their own daughter…"
"Bruce. Bruce." Dick shook Bruce, who came to as he held in his hand Talia's dagger on which was still her blood. "You had me worried for a second. You didn't react."
"Sorry, Dick. My mind's… few miles away." Bruce said.
"Are you seriously contemplating Ra's offer?" Dick asked.
"I… don't know what to do, Dick. But if I don't do something, Ra's and his League will kill thousands of people." Bruce said. "He's already killed Talia in front of me to prove a point."
"Bruce. Some men, like Ra's… you know no prison can hold them. You know what you have to do." Dick said.
"I'm not a killer." Bruce said.
"He's already dead." Nyssa said as she entered. "He has died a thousand of times and every time the Lazarus pit restored him, he came back worse. More hateful, more crazed… I tremble to imagine, what he would have done if he had risen again. You know no prison can hold him and he's already killed my sister and the woman you live, right in front of you. But with him gone, the League will be finally mine. And it will shed no more innocent blood and the assassins will leave Gotham and will not set foot here, ever again."
"Why should I trust you?" Bruce questioned.
"I swear by the woman we both loved, Bruce." Nyssa pleaded. "I swear on Talia's grave. I will win this war we wage against our father, Detective. It's up to you how long it rages, or how much will you let your city bleed." She walked away.
Dick sighed. "Bruce, you know how do I feel about the League of Assassins but she's not as zealous as Talia was and she's always seemed to be the most reasonable in the al Ghul bloodline. But be honest with me, do you trust her?"
"I do." Bruce said.
"And are you ready to kill for her?" Dick pressed and Bruce remained silent. "All I'm saying is that Ra's al Ghul has lived beyond any natural lifespan and he has died already, in fact, so technically, this is not murder."
"I swore not to kill, Dick." Bruce protested.
"He's a dangerous, uncompromising zealot, Bruce. Restored to full strength, there's no telling what he'll do or who he might hurt. Is preventing an ungodly resurrection truly the same as taking a life?" Dick pointed out.
"What would you have me do?" Bruce asked.
Dick sighed. "Honestly… sometimes you gotta do what's against your beliefs. I'm by your side, whatever you decide. All I'm saying is, Ra's al Ghul has died before already. Is it murder, what you do?"
Bruce contemplated.
Bruce faced Ra's on a rooftop, behind him Barbara, Dick, Jason and Tim as Ra's was accompanied by Nyssa and his men.
"There's no compromises or way out this time, Detective. One of us is going to die here." Ra's said.
"There's only one person I'm going to let die tonight." Bruce said as he and Ra's faced each other as Ra's handed him a sword before he pulled out his own.
Ra's eyes narrowed before he attacked but Bruce dodged before he tried to attack but Ra's parried with his sword and tried to slash Bruce but Bruce jumped back as they swung their swords and sparks flied. Bruce tried for a fierce strike as Ra's dodged but Bruce suddenly twisted his own wrist and with one swift movement, he sliced Ra's arm off as Ra's knelt down, screaming as he glared and had an urging look in his eyes.
"Do it." Ra's sneered. "Do it!"
"Every choice you made, ended with pain, misery and death. People died. I stopped you. Yet you came back and did it again. And again I stopped you. And this cycle kept on going and more people died because of that." Bruce glared. "Never again."
"Finally. You've become what I've always wanted you to be." Ra's smirked in satisfaction.
"No." Bruce said.
"If not murder, what do you call this then?" Ra's challenged.
"Justice." Bruce said before he swung the sword and Ra's head went flying as blood spattered before Ra's head landed few feet away from Nyssa with glassy look in his eyes as his headless body toppled down on the ground.
The assassins and Bruce's "family" stared at Bruce in shock, although Jason and Dick were quite satisfied, never expecting him to kill as Nyssa smirked in satisfaction and clapped her hands before she picked Ra's Ring of the Demon and put it on.
"I am Nyssa al Ghul. The Demon's Head. Is there anyone, who dares to challenge my claim?!"
All assassins bowed before Nyssa. "All hail the Demon's Head!"
Nyssa turned to Bruce as they shook hands. "I shall honor my word, Bruce. From this moment, the League of Assassins has no business in Gotham City and no innocent blood shall be spilled, ever again."
She was about to walk away before Bruce spoke up, stopping her for a moment. "Nyssa. This is the only time I am telling you this. Do not make me regret this. Or I am coming for you next and you will regret it instead."
She turned around, nodding before smirking. "You have changed, Bruce. I wonder what happened…"
"Maybe I've realized something." Bruce said. "Either I'm willing to do whatever it takes to save lives, or I should not be out there at all."
Nyssa chuckled. "I've wondered what did sister see in you." She walked away as the assassins followed her.
Jason smiled at Bruce, satisfied. "Finally. I've been telling you this for years. Scumbags like him need to be wiped off the face of the Earth, just like that pasty-faced freak."
"Bruce… are you OK?" Barbara asked hesitantly, never expecting him to do something so extreme.
"Honestly… I don't know what I'm feeling." Bruce said. "Never to kill, that's what I've lived by for years. And where did that bring me? Talia. Jason. You." She pointed at Barbara's legs, referring to when the Joker had crippled her. "The only reason I've never taken a life, was because I did not want to become like Ra's or the Joker."
"Bruce, just because you take a life, does not make you a monster. And you feeling awful about it, is a human reaction. That's what separates you from people like Dent, Cobblepot, Elliot, Ra's or the Joker or the others." Tim said.
"Having second thoughts and doubts about taking a life is what makes you human. They are monsters. And you're no monster." Dick said. "Remember when you talked me out of trying to kill Tony Zucco?"
Bruce nodded and considered before sighing.
"We all have darkness inside us. What matters is how we rise above our demons. And as long as we have people that love us, we can always pull back from that edge." Bruce nodded.
"And Ra's al Ghul was a monster incapable of love, who would've killed his own children without a second thought to support his own agenda." Jason said.