RWBY: Batman Begins

Chapter VII

Bruce and Cinder stood before Salem.

The leader of the League of Shadows smiled as she looked to Bruce.

"We have purged your fear," she said. "You are ready to lead these men. You are ready to become a member of the League of Shadows."

Bruce smiled back, nodding in respect to her.

"But first, you must demonstrate your commitment to justice," Salem said. She turned around. "Bring in the prisoner!"

At her command, two men dragged in the farmer-turned-murderer Bruce had seen locked up. They brought him to his knees.

Cinder lifted a sword, and held it to Wayne for him to take.

It didn't take words for him to realize what they were asking him to do. In the moment where he pieced together what this test was, his view of the League of Shadows changed entirely. This wasn't something he supported, or even condoned.

He shook his head. "No. I'm no executioner."

Cinder's eyes widened, and she stared at him in disbelief. After everything they had been through, was he really going to refuse to have the will to act?

Salem scowled. "Compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share."

"That's why it's so important," Bruce said. "It separates us from them."

"You want to fight criminals," Salem said. "This man is a murderer!"

"This man should be tried." These words were something he imagined Weiss would say to him, and yet he meant them truly.

"By whom?" Salem said. "Corrupt bureaucrats? Criminals mock society's laws! You know this better than most!"

Bruce shook his head. "I will not kill him."

But Salem didn't back down. "You cannot lead these men, unless you are prepared to do what is necessary to defeat evil."

"And where would I be leading these men?" Bruce asked.

"Vale," Salem said. "As Vale's favored son, you will be ideally placed to strike at the heart of criminality."

Bruce grew concerned. What was the League of Shadows really? Had his view of them been wrong this whole time?

"How?"

"Vale's time has come," Salem said. "Like Mountain Glenn or Kuroyuri before it, the kingdom has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we've performed for centuries. Vale . . . must be destroyed."

Bruce was horrified at the revelation of what he had been a part of this whole time. Vale was his home. He had wanted to save it, not destroy it, and the lives of those who lived there.

He turned to Cinder, the teacher he had looked up to and viewed as his friend for so long.

"You can't believe in this!" he said.

"Salem rescued us from the darkest corners of our own hearts," Cinder said. "What she asks in return is the courage to do what is necessary."

"I will go back to Vale and I will fight men like this, but I will not become an executioner."

"Bruce, please," Cinder pleaded, a desperate expression on her face. "For your own sake, there is no turning back."

Bruce sighed, knowing what he had to do. He took the sword in his hand, and stepped up to the prisoner.