RWBY: Batman Begins

Chapter XV

Bruce sat near the bar.

He had not missed this place. The last time he had been here, he had been thrown out by Torchwick's men. But he was never going to be comfortable on the field.

He saw Cardin Winchester enter the bar, and sit across from Roman. He carried on with his disguise as a homeless man, but placed a device against the wall, listening in on the conversation inside.

"I need you at the docks, Thursday," Roman said.

"Problems?" Cardin asked.

"I don't want any trouble with the last shipment."

"Sure," Cardin said. Then, he changed the subject. "Word on the street is you got a beef with somebody in the academy."

Bruce listened closer, almost breaking cover at the intrigue of their discussion.

"Is that right?"

"And that there's a fat prize waiting for anybody willing to do bring her to you."

"So, what's your point, Mr. Winchester?"

"Have you seen the girl? It's a pretty little girl in black and white. Wears a cute bow on her head. She's a Huntress."

Bruce immediately knew who he was referring to. He had looked into Weiss when he came here. That "black and white girl" had to be Blake Belladonna, a friend of hers and a member of her team. Team RWBY he believed they were called.

"I still don't understand your point," Torchwick said.

"What do you plan on doing with her?" Cardin asked. "Because I would like to have my way with that girl."

Bruce scowled at that.

"If you bring her yourself, you can do whatever you want," Torchwick said.

"What makes you think people are going to go after a Huntress?" Cardin asked.

"Never underestimate Vale," Roman said. "People get mugged coming home from work every day of the week. Sometimes things just go bad."

Bruce returned to the cave with the information he needed gathered. Alfred informed him of a problem with the cowl. He took a spare they created, and bashed it with a hammer.

"It's a problem with the graphite, sir," he said. "The next will be up to specifications."

"At least they gave us a discount," Bruce said with a shrug.

"Quite," Alfred nodded. "In the meantime, sir, may I suggest you try to avoid landing on your head?"

Bruce nodded in agreement.

That night, there were only a few more additions to add to his equipment. He fit earpieces inside the "bat ears" of his cowl. He cut the harness attached to the utility belt so he could clip it to his waist himself. He gave a test of the skeleton for the cape. They were just as durable as Lucius had advertised.

Alfred came back down into the cave to see him creating gadgets of his own. They were sharp boomerangs, shaped like a bat. Bruce tested one of them out, tossing it into the wall. It stuck there easily.

"Why bats, Master Wayne?" Alfred asked.

"Bats frighten me," Bruce said, thinking back to that moment back in the well. It was as if his entire life was a result of that moment.

"It's time my enemies shared my dread . . ."