Bruce found Lucius.

He was pouring wine into his glass. Getting to him wasn't easy with how many guests were in his way, and wishing him a happy birthday as he went. But Bruce pressed on through the crowd.

"Happy birthday, Bruce."

"Thank you," Bruce nodded, stepping up next to Lucius. "Thanks. And thank you for that item.

Lucius looked up to Bruce. "You're welcome. I know you'll put it to good use."

"I already have. How long would it take to manufacture on a large scale?"

"Weeks. Why?"

"Somebody's planning to disperse the toxin using the water supply."

Lucius shook his head. "The water supply won't help you disperse an inhalant."

Suddenly, he paused, as he started to realize what could be happening.

Bruce noticed it. "What?"

"Unless you have a microwave emitter powerful enough to vaporize all the water in the mains. A microwave emitter like the one Wayne Enterprises just misplaced."

"'Misplaced'?"

"Earle just fired me for asking too many questions about it."

Bruce looked out into the party. Of course Earle had fired the faunus. He had always been that kind of human. He turned back to Lucius to make eye contact.

"Go back to Wayne Enterprises now and start making more of that antidote," he ordered. "The police are gonna need as much as they can get their hands on."

"My security clearance has been revoked."

Bruce smiled. "That wouldn't stop a man like you, would it?"

Lucius smiled back. They hadn't known each other for long, but Bruce seemed to get him. "I suppose not."

Bruce walked back out into the party. He wasn't sure what to do next. A part of him wanted to go back to the Batcave, but he still needed to keep these guests occupied.

"Bruce, there's somebody you must meet!"

Bruce turned to see an old woman, whose name he believed to be Delane.

"Not now, Mrs. Delane," Bruce said as she pulled him to a blonde woman.

"Now, am I pronouncing this right?" Mrs. Delane said. "Miss Salem?"

Bruce halted, looking at the blonde woman who stared at him. He observed her form. She was the same size and build as the woman he'd once known as Salem. Her hair was styled the same. But her face was very different from the old Salem.

"You're not Salem," Bruce said. "I watched her die."

"But is Salem immortal?" Bruce knew that voice. He turned around, and found himself face-to-face with Cinder, his old mentor. "Are her methods supernatural?"

Bruce glared at Cinder, as the pieces started to put together in his mind. How Salem died in the fire. Why Crane was dumping the toxin into the water supply. Everything made sense.

"Or cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity, Salem?" he said.

Cinder, or Salem as he now knew her, smiled, proud of her student for putting the pieces together.

"Surely a man who spends his nights scrambling over the rooftops of Vale wouldn't begrudge me dual identities."

"I saved your life."

"I warned you about compassion, Bruce."

Wayne looked around at the constant guests, who were completely oblivious to the danger they were in.

"Your quarrel is with me," he said to Salem. "You let these people go."

"You are welcome to explain the situation to them," Salem offered.

Bruce didn't hesitate to take the opportunity. He lifted a glass of fake champagne, and called out to the guests.

"Everyone!" he called. "Everybody!"

The party went quiet, and everyone turned around to look at him.

"I . . . I want to thank you all for coming here tonight and drinking all of my booze."

The guests laughed.

"No, really. There's a thing about being a Wayne that you're never short of a few freeloaders, like yourselves, to fill up your mansion with. So here's to you people. Thank you."

He took a drink from the champagne, as Earle stepped up to him to tap his shoulder. "That's enough, Bruce."

Bruce pushed his hand away. "I'm not finished. To all of you . . . all of you phonies, all of you two-faced friends . . . you sycophantic suck-ups, who smile through your teeth at me . . . please, leave me in peace. Please go. Stop smiling, it's not a joke. Please leave. The party's over, get out."

The confused guests started to leave at his requests. A few looked around for a moment in confusion, not understanding what was happening, before following the others out.

"The apple has fallen very far from the tree, Mr. Wayne," he heard a guest say.

The words stung, filling Bruce with guilt. But he didn't let it get to him. This was for their own safety, whether they understood it or not.

As the crowd filed out, he could see members of the League of Shadows glaring at him, still as statues.

"Amusing," Salem said with a smile. "But pointless. None of these people have long to live. Your antics at the asylum have forced my hand."

"So Crane was working for you," Bruce said.

"His toxin is derived from the organic compound found in our blue flowers. He was able to weaponize it."

"He's not a member of the League of Shadows?" Bruce asked.

"Of course not," Salem nodded. "He thought our plan was to hold the city to ransom."

"But really, you are gonna release Crane's poison on the entire city."

"Then watch Gotham tear itself apart through fear."

"You're gonna destroy millions of lives," Bruce tried to reason with her.

"Only a cynical man would call what these people have 'lives', Wayne," Salem argued. "Crime. Despair. This is not how man was supposed to live. The League of Shadows has been a check against human and faunus corruption for thousands of years. We destroyed Mountain Glenn. Loaded trade ships with plague rats. Brought Grimm to Kuroyuri. Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance."

Bruce shook his head. "Vale isn't beyond saving. Give me more time. There are good people here."

"You're defending a kingdom so corrupt, we have infiltrated every level of its infrastructure."

Salem's eyes changed from anger and determination, to a look of sadness and betrayal.

"When I found you in that jail, you were lost. But I believed in you. I took away your fear, and I showed you a path. You were my greatest student. It should be you standing by my side, saving the world."

Bruce wished he could stand by her. He wished he could protect the people he loved alongside his teacher; his friend. But he couldn't support what she was doing.

"I'll be standing where I belong: Between you and the people of Vale."

"No one can save Vale," Salem said.

She peered behind him, and nodded to the men in the back.

As she spoke, Bruce could hear the manor being torn apart. Tables were broken, gasoline as poured, and fires were lit.

"When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural."

The flames burned bright, and the League spread throughout the house to destroy as much of the home as possible.

"Tomorrow the world will watch in horror as its greatest kingdom destroys itself. The movement back to harmony will be unstoppable this time."

Bruce took note of that last part. "You attacked Vale before?"

"Of course," Salem confirmed. "Over the ages our weapons have grown more sophisticated. With Vale we tried a new one. Economics. But we underestimated certain Vale citizens . . . such as your parents."

Bruce stiffened, unable to comprehend that his teacher had truly just said that to him. She was the reason he had turned into who he was today, and she was talking about his parents now?

The fire was spreading further.

"Gunned down by one of the very people they were trying to help. Create enough hunger and everyone becomes a criminal. Their deaths galvanized the city into saving itself, and Vale has limped on ever since. We are back to finish the job. And this time no misguided idealists will get in the way. Like your father, you lack the courage to do all that is necessary. If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart."

As she finished, Bruce spun around to grab the sword of an incoming attacker, quickly incapacitating him, and turning back to Salem.

"I am gonna stop you!" he vowed.

Salem smiled. "You never did learn to mind your surroundings."

Bruce started to notice the sweat, and fully processed how quickly the fire had spread. Everything around him was burning, and pieces of the house were starting to fall apart.

Salem kicked him back, and a large log collapsed from the ceiling, crashing on top of him.

"Justice is balance," Salem said, glaring down at Bruce. "You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even."

With that, she left Bruce in his burning home. The injured Wayne struggled to push the log off his waist, but he was starting to lose his ability to move.

He looked around, and his eyes settled on a picture of his parents. Thomas and Martha were standing beside one another, with genuine smiles on their faces, just by being together. As the glass of the picture frame started to crack in the flames. They had loved this house. They had wanted Alfred to take care of this house for them. And now it was burning down.

All of this was his fault . . .