DC: I am Bruce Wayne

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"Never trust anything that can bleed for a week and not die."

- Chad, (In The Company Of Men)

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<[Court of Owls Gathering Hall]> 

<(Omniscient POV)> 

"I can't understand how we are not able to profit from them. Wayne Industries is supposed to be a rapidly declining corporation that we were going to devour to increase our own wealth. It was going to be something extremely easy and profitable for us, so can any of you gentlemen tell me why the hell have we not been able to take even a single one of their assets yet?" The man in the golden owl mask questioned in a severe tone as he looked around the table at his 'juniors'. 

"We almost had the entire Wayne Corporation in our hands. According to the people we have on our payroll, the company is still massively bleeding money in most of its technological ventures. Even Wayne Biotech is losing money like water with job cuts being a regular incident. So, things were going exactly according to our plan. But instead of the conglomerate discreetly selling their assets to us, the members of the Court of Owl, they have been steadily selling their assets and loss-making companies to Bruce Wayne." One of the people with a white owl mask on said with a disgusted expression on his face. 

"But that should be impossible. We own more than half of the board of directors in the company. We should be able to buy whatever they sell off at the dirt-cheap prices. How are they allowing that Wayne kid to do this? Is he offering them even more money than us?" A woman wearing a white owl mask suddenly asked." 

"No, actually quite the opposite. According to our insiders, Bruce Wayne's butler who is managing his finances is using his biggest shareholder status in Wayne Enterprises and a small loophole in the accountancy system to get first dibs on every company the massive corporation sells which allows him to be the first to offer a price for it. Wayne Enterprise being a public company has to legally accept that deal as long as the price offered meets their valuation expectations or as long as someone else doesn't try to challenge the deal by betting a lot more than what they have offered.

But again, the family never seems to run out of money especially now that they have brought that bank. So, outbidding them for an acquisition is out of the question, and even if we do manage to do that somehow, it will ultimately be our loss in the end since we would have sent too much to make an actual profit. So, no matter what we do, Bruce Wayne and his newly established Wayne Solutions will always emerge as the final winner." The previous white owl-masked man explained.

"Maybe we should target Wayne Solutions directly by using some of the... classic methods of Corporate Espionage and Industrial Sabotage that we can employ. Also, we have our government dogs, don't we? I think all of us are giving the Wayne orphan and his estate more importance than we should." Another member sitting at the table said with what sounded like a calm yet bored voice.

"Mr. Seventh, believe me, or not, we are just as busy as you are, and as you can see we are definitely not some children to worry about a kid. We have already tried almost every trick in the book. We had our newest pawn, Penguin hire a few professionals to enter and steal whatever company secrets they could find at one of the company's bases but it had not only proved useless since they could not even pass through the outermost defense of the building but even the few people we had managed to sneak into the company as employees came up empty handed before they were caught and given to the cops. The company reportedly does not keep any of its confidential data in a publicly known base. 

Also, the local city government authorities do not have any power over the company especially because of its rumored connections with the military. As for the national organizations that do have the appropriate power to act against the company for some reason won't. Apparently, they have got quite some goodwill from different senators." 

"Not only that, even some of our overly ambitious members who were previously tasked with manipulating Wayne Enterprises from the inside as its board of directors have stopped reporting for some reason, especially with what happened last year with the mass shootout in its HQ. Although we were able to increase our number of shares in the company after the death of so many of their board members, it was still useless because the share prices of the company fell a LOT which still haven't fully recovered even today. In one word, the Wayne family has continued to be a pain in our path even after the death of most of their family members." The leader with the golden mask spoke out quite seriously. "Makes me wonder if we should take care of the boy right now to..."

"But that will expose the Court of the Owls too much in front of the normal public, won't it? Also, I am sure that the Parliament of Owls does not want that to happen. After all, the Court and the Parliament are directly connected and one being sabotaged will always negatively affect the other... The League of Assassins too will prefer the Court being hidden for now. We already have too much on our plate to take care of. We will prefer if we can stay out of the public eye as well." One of the masked Owls who was also the representative of the League of Assassins suddenly interrupted with a calm yet resolute tone of voice.

"... I don't like being interrupted, Mr. L... But still, you are right honored member. It is wiser not to act and simply to observe while trying to find out the exact situation we are in and also how we can profit from it. Furthermore, the current company CEO of Wayne Enterprises who is one of our puppets is still alive and well. Removing him from his position will be hard for the boy, even with his bulk of shares.

Maybe, that fat good-for-nothing CEO will be able to not only destroy the corporation but also a major portion of Bruce Wayne's wealth as well. People take years to earn their billions but a single day is all it takes to lose it all. So, observe and wait we will. And who knows, maybe one of the hundreds of crazy freaks who have started roaming the streets of Gotham might be enough to end the young billionaire." The leader of the Court had started with his teeth clenched in anger at the beginning but had resorted to ominously chuckling toward the end. 

He knew that according to some rumors, the League was going through some rough patches after losing its 'Head' and they were comparatively weaker than before but he didn't want to bet on the fact. So he controlled his anger. The League of Assassins wasn't an organization to be trifled with even if it became a shadow of what it originally was and he did not want to make a mistake by poking such an organization that he was going to regret later just due to some anger and pride. 

"Yes, I am sure that when the great Court of Owls does decide to launch an attack against the young Wayne, he will never see it coming and he won't even be able to resist against its power. At the end of the day, no matter how rich the boy becomes, he will always be just a pathetic boy, the blood of those weak whiney Waynes." One of the normal members who had been previously speaking declared arrogantly with a disgusted expression on his face as he looked at the others for support.

"Yes indeed. I am sure that he will never expect it. He is just a 'boy' after all." The League representative remarked with a strange sarcastic voice, a voice that almost seemed to be making a joke but yet, no one there noticed it and only supported the statement with heavy nods.

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<(Bruce Wayne POV)> 

"Interesting, so they have already noticed Bruce Wayne and are considering me a minor threat. I guess building one of the nation's largest companies does get you noticed quickly. I wonder how long they will be able to fool themselves into thinking that they have the upper hand." I wondered aloud as I turned off the live video transmission of the meeting of the Court of Owls on my Bat-tool's screen. 

'Those small fireflies sure are quite useful as subtle drones especially when hidden on another man's clothes... However, the sound and picture quality has to be increased a lot for these to compare to my bat, bird, spider, and combat droids.' I thought to myself as I quietly stood at the edge of a huge building's rooftop, silently gazing at the beautiful skyline of the corrupted yet stunning city.

"I think I'll have to work on my brooding skills. a lot." 

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