DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 71: Young Bat vs Old Demon (2) – A Soup for the Soul

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"You need to accept the fact that you're not the best and have all the will to strive to be better than anyone you face."

- RORONOA ZORO, (ONE PIECE)

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<(Bruce Wayne POV)>  

"So Bruce Wayne, do you just want to kill me and take over my organization or do you want an opportunity to take everything I have for yourself, my knowledge, my skills, and even my life?" Ra's Al Ghul said, doing his best to tempt me to accept his offer.

Now, the normal me would never think of even considering this offer of his. Hell, I would have already killed him to get this over with and be happy with only the league that I could take over after him but the problem was that this was not the normal me.

No, this me right now was high on a particular psychoactive drug that was forcing me to operate on cold hard logic rather than emotions and caution. And my logic according to my currently enhanced mind right now dictated that I could stand to profit more if I just heard him out. I could tell that there was a seventy-seven percent chance that Ra's Al Ghul wasn't lying.

"How?" I finally asked, giving in to the temptation after running thousands of possible scenarios in my mind, concluding that this could really be a huge leap for me if I managed to somehow succeed.

"The Lazarus pit could extend one's life and even enable one to live for centuries, albeit with some terrible side effects including addiction to the water itself and even... decay of the soul. The longer you continue to depend on the water, the more the side effects increase making true immortality impossible through just this." Ra's Al Ghul explained, revealing that he knew the negative effects he was currently suffering from because of overusing the pit.

"But after centuries of research, I discovered a way to achieve true immortality. If two different people enter the pit together and fully immerse themselves in its water, the Lazarus pit will choose only one of them to extend their life. The one with the stronger will to live, the one who can endure the pit's torture and outlast the other until they drown, will not only be the one to gain immortality without any drawbacks but also inherit everything that the loser had, including their knowledge and skills. The loser will die, while the victor will get all." He revealed his secret with a triumphant tone.

I eyed him with suspicion, wondering what he was hiding behind his calm facade. "So you think you can beat me in this ritual? You seem very confident... Or is this your last resort, and you are just acting out of desperation? Tell me, Ra's Al Ghul, how desperate are you to keep living, in a world where even your daughters despise you and might try to kill you if you survive this?" I asked, trying to gauge his true feelings.

"You have no idea about sacrifice, about responsibility. I have the duty to survive and lead the human race to prosperity, to save them from extinction even if it is from themselves. And if I have to kill my own daughters for that, then SO BE IT." He screamed trying to make his point.

The worst thing about this was that he wasn't acting. He truly believed that whatever he was doing by building this weird terrorist organization full of ninja assassins while ending entire civilizations and cities, 'purging' them from evil was actually helping the world. I could tell that he regarded his work as something that he was doing for God himself. Truthfully, it was pathetic.

"Fine, then so be it," I repeated his words as the All-blades from my hands disappeared. "Let's do this then. One pit, two killers, one survivor. Let's see who wins." I said as I began walking towards the pit while Ra's Al Ghul began to do the same in measured steps.

By the way, I wasn't just blindly trusting the old assassin's words. Even if I was ninety-three percent sure that he wasn't lying, I couldn't let down my guard. No, the reason why I agreed to his proposal was to get his knowledge and skills even though I could do it with the Amusphere because I was positive that the device was not gonna work on him. 

Ra's Al Ghul had lived for centuries and could be one of the most influential people on the planet. I was damn sure that he had at least a dozen different types of protections on his mind along with his own natural mental shields that getting in there was going to be practically impossible for me.

The Amusphere was incredibly powerful but currently due to its technological limitations, when faced with magic or some other supernatural barrier around the mind, it was as useful as a knife in a bowl of ramen. So, this was my only opportunity to successfully gain Ra's Al Ghul's knowledge. Of course, the immortality bit was a cherry on the top.

My calculations and logic told me that fooling me wasn't going to be easy especially when we were both going to be in the same pit together. If he tried anything, I had an eighty-three percent chance of being able to foresee it and a sixty-five percent chance of effectively stopping him. 

After we both arrived at the opposite edges of the Lazarus Pit, Ra's Al Ghul stopped and looked at me expectantly, his face still brimming with confidence.

"We have to dive in together, but since you look like you barely trust me, we will go in step by step and meet at the center of the pit." He announced. 

"Fine by me," I muttered as I mentally tried to calculate the depth of the pit which didn't seem like a lot, maybe about nine feet. 

"Three... Two..." He started the countdown. 

'I still can't believe that I actually agreed to this. I know as a fact that when my mind stops running at its full potential limit after this and I go back to the regular old emotional Bruce, I am going to curse myself for this... what is going to seem stupid to the regular old me. But, this is going to change a lot of things if it succeeds, particularly my efficiency at taking over the entire League of Assassins.' I thought to myself as I didn't even feel a shred of fear in my completely logical and apathetic mind.

"One... Now" Both Ra's Al Ghul and I confidently stepped into the pit together, both hopeful at being the victor of this little match to achieve our own selfish objectives.

The moment I came into contact with the pit's liquid, I felt it. The Pit's water was not at all what it seemed from the outside. It was some metaphysical liquid that had something akin to chi mixed in with itself, something that could affect any living being not only physically but even spiritually. In fact, I could already feel it, the water was trying to seep deep into my skin while its energy was somehow trying to affect my soul. I could tell that staying in this water for long could be catastrophic for my unprotected spirit.

I even activated my analysis ability to try to analyze what this compound truly was but I only got a half-assed result. There were a couple of natural chemicals and elements mixed in with an extremely unique element, something that I was positive I could identify with enough research but there was something else mixed in too, something unbelievably sinister and taboo.

"Amazing, isn't it? You can almost feel the water nourishing your body while affecting you on a more spiritual level as well. I spent years trying to artificially replicate these pits but I was never successful. These pits are freaks of nature and can only be formed naturally. The best thing however is that they never lose their effectiveness, in fact, it only increases with time. Because with time, it gets the secret component it needs to effectively function, bits and pieces of the souls of its users.

Every time someone uses a Lazarus pit, part of their soul gets torn off and mixed in with the pit's liquid while the torn-off portion sometimes even gets replaced with other pieces of souls that are already present in the pit. So, this entire Lazaus pit is actually a big soup of soul bits and pieces from its previous users." Ra's Al Ghul explained while slowly approaching me, his intent to try to drown me apparent on his face. 

The pit was a living nightmare, a swirling mass of pieces of tormented souls that had once belonged to Ra's Al Ghul and its other previous users. I should have recoiled in horror, fled from the abomination that defied nature and morality. But I felt nothing. No fear, no disgust, no pity. Only cold logic that kept me rooted to the spot.

My objective still remained the same, the only thing that changed was the need to do this as soon as possible because something was slowly changing inside the pool. The water that seemed to want to nourish my body a few moments ago was now beginning to feel irritating on my skin like it was some sort of weak... acid that was gradually increasing in intensity. 

*Bam* As Ra's Al Ghul approached me, I launched a swift punch at his face, hoping to catch him off guard. But he was prepared for my attack and deflected it with his arm, then countered with a vicious headbutt. I shrugged off the impact and retaliated with a headbutt of my own, cracking his forehead open and drawing blood.

The fight would have been much easier with my All-blades but I wasn't sure that using it inside the Lazarus pit would be the safest option, so I chose to just stick to my physical abilities as I used my strength to completely submerge him into the water of the pit and keep him there. 

We were locked in a fierce struggle for survival, submerged in the depths of the Lazarus pit. I could not use my breathing style underwater, so I had to rely on my chi to fend off Ra's Al Ghul's attacks and overpower him. But the water of the pit was not a passive medium; it was a corrosive force that sought to consume us both. It burned through our enhanced skin, trying to melt our flesh and bones and assimilate our souls.

Me and Ra's Al Ghul were at a stalemate. I had my hands wrapped around his neck as I continued to push him down deeper and deeper into the pit, forcing him to breathe in more and more of the pit's acidic water while he had his fingers on my throat trying to rip my throat out. He had even tried to escape the pit altogether when he realized that he wasn't going to win as easily as he had previously thought but I had made sure to not let him escape, pinning him under my weight inside the pit, as I patiently waited for this to be over.

Our lives were hanging by a thread, as we fought each other in the deadly waters of the Lazarus pit. Ra's Al Ghul had an advantage over me, as he had used the pit many times before and knew its secrets. But he had overlooked one thing. I had a hidden trump card that could keep me alive longer than him, my regeneration.

Not only could I hold my breath for much longer than Ra's Al Ghul but also, my skin regenerated almost as soon as it was being destroyed, giving me a considerably higher chance of survival than the assassin lord. Of course, my accelerated regeneration could not keep up with the destructive properties of the pit forever but again, I did not have to survive the pit's destructiveness, I only had to survive till Ra's Al Ghul died.

"AHHHH." With a muffled scream, Ra's Al Ghul made a final attempt to break free from my grip, but it was too late. The Lazarus pit had taken its toll on him, reducing him to a charred skeleton. He went limp in my arms, as his life force left his body. Ra's Al Ghul was no more.

'Shit.' I felt a surge of panic as I saw the state of my skin and body, ravaged by the pit's corrosive water. I had to get out of there before it was too late. I realized that the effects of my NZT-48 drug were wearing off, probably due to the pit's effects resulting in my emotions coming back to me.

The drug and the desire to kill Ra's Al Ghul had clouded my judgment, but now I felt the full extent of the agony caused by the pit's water. It was like being dipped in a pool of acid, slowly dissolving my flesh and bones. I realized how foolish I had truly been to enter the pit.

'I was a goddamn idiot to listen to a shrewd enemy like Ra's Al Ghul and even attempt this.' I cursed myself for agreeing to this challenge while wondering what had even possessed me to do such a foolish thing in the first place.

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