DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 65: Loyalty and Betrayal

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"Everyone always has a story they tell themselves to justify bad decisions. It never matters. You are always alone in your actions."

– Hawke, (Dragon Age 2)

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<(Bruce Wayne POV)>

"You sure that Nyssa isn't going to be a problem?" I asked Talia one last time as I wore the traditional League of Assassins clothes I was supposed to wear for my 'graduation' ceremony. We were currently in my room which was one of the very few places we could talk without having to worry about being spied on since I had thoroughly checked the room for bugs and installed a couple of portable voice nullifiers which basically made this room fully soundproof.

"No, she definitely isn't. I sent her on a mission to our Arabian base, Eth Alth'eban saying that she was needed there urgently. She didn't really want to go and miss your ceremony since she didn't have the faintest idea what would truly be happening there tonight but I somehow convinced her. She isn't going to be back by next week. So, by the time she returns, everything should be over." Talia spoke a little nervously.

"Hey don't worry. I promise I won't let you die today. Whatever happens, you will get to meet your sister again, trust me." I smiled as I grabbed her shoulders and squeezed them lightly to give her some much-needed confidence.

Both Talia and Nyssa though hated their father were also utterly afraid of him and yet had an inner urge to constantly need his approval for all their achievements. This was of course by design. Ra's Al Ghul was a smart, cunning, and ruthless man, qualities that can make someone very dangerous when grouped together. He had carefully trained his daughters from birth and psychologically conditioned them to feel those feelings for him in a bid to make them equally merciless and yet loyal to him and the league, no matter what.

I personally have been trying to apply my own psychological tricks to try to break the mental hold their father had on them for the last couple of weeks. I have even succeeded somewhat with Nyssa due to how much she already distrusted and hated her father after the All-caste mission.

I have even hinted about my own 'incompatibility' with her father which she took quite well to. I wanted to let her in on the plan about... well, betraying and murdering her father on the day of the ritual since I didn't want her to misunderstand anything after finding it out on her own or from someone else. Also, she could be quite useful to us if she was included in the plan and I had even started to slowly break it to her but unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough. So we had no choice but to send her on a 'mission' to keep her away and safe from everything that was going to happen tonight.

Still, I have only been partially successful with Talia. Her father's toxic lessons were ingrained so deep within her that it sometimes even pushed her away from her own little sister whom she loved so much. It seemed that Ra's had somewhat succeeded in making her think that her entire life's only purpose was to serve the League. For her, living a normal life was equal to a mental suicide. Through my barely successful efforts, I could only change her way of thinking partially about some of the League's illegal activities and the terroristic process of achieving its goal.

Her need to seek constant approval and prove herself to her father had also decreased but in return, she seemed adamant about proving herself useful and capable to me for some reason, even though I never once questioned her capabilities knowing that she was possibly one of the very best assassins in the world probably at the level of Marvel's Black Widow, only more ruthless. Hell, even her physique was enhanced to the degree of a pseudo-super soldier much like her sister.

"Haha, just focus on saving your own life, Mr. Playboy. Believe me, I can survive on my own, don't try to play the part of a white knight. Doesn't quite suit your character." She lightly chuckled as she closed the distance between us and began to straighten my ninja costume or as it is traditionally called shinobi shozoku.