The Narrows was tearing itself to pieces.

The toxin was spreading throughout the city, turning even the kindest civilians into maniacs that tore each other apart.

Salem looked over her work with a smile, a gas mask on her face to protect her from the toxin as she and the League of Shadows hooked up the microwave emitter to raise it into the train.

Weiss Schnee held the child in her arms, hugging him close, and soothing him to the best of her ability.

"It's okay," she assured. "Nobody's going to hurt you."

Then, she heard the sound of something approaching, and she turned to see Jonathan Crane riding a Beowolf Grimm. He wore his scarecrow mask, and the sleeves of his straightjacket were freed from the original fixed position.

"Of course they are!" he said.

Weiss shook her head in denial as she saw him. "Crane?!"

"No," he said. "Scarecrow."

Weiss pushed the boy behind her, and lifted Myrtenaster in her hand. Crane, or "Scarecrow", charged at her on the Beowolf. She formed a glyph underneath her feet using her semblance, and dashed out of the way.

She set the kid down.

"Stay here," she ordered, before turning around to take on Scarecrow.

Ruby Rose wasn't in nearly as tough a situation as Weiss, though she was working hard to keep people from killing each other, or her.

She pulled out her scroll, and answered one of Professor Ozpin's many attempts to contact someone inside the Narrows.

"Ozpin!" she shouted into the scroll. "This is Ruby Rose!"

"What's going on in there?" Ozpin's voice came through.

"We need help in here!" Ruby said. "You need to send people in! But give them gas masks!"

"Ruby," Ozpin said, "all of Beacon's staff and students are on the island with you!"

"But they're all poisoned by this toxin!"

There was a pause on the other end. "Ruby . . . there's nobody left to send in . . ."

She heard the sound of an engine after that last part.

"So my team and I are on our own?!" Ruby yelled into the scroll.

Then, she heard the sound of something hitting the ground behind her, and she spun around to see the Batmobile land in the Narrows after boosting over the river.

She smiled as she watched the windshield open, and Batman climbed out.

"The Narrows is being destroyed!" Ruby said.

"This is just the beginning," Batman explained. "If they hit the whole city, there's nothing to stop Vale from tearing itself apart."

"How are they gonna do that?" Ruby asked.

"They're using the train. The monorail follows the water mains to the central hub beneath Wayne Tower. If the machine gets to the station, it'll cause a chain reaction that'll vaporize the city's water supply."

"Covering Vale in this poison!" Ruby finished, blown away by the plan.

"I'm gonna stop them from loading that train, but I may need your help."

"Anything," Ruby nodded. "What do you need?"

Batman reached into his utility belt, and pulled out the remote for the Batmobile. "Can you drive stick?"

Meanwhile, Weiss leapt over Scarecrow, landing behind the Beowolf. It spun around, swiping its claws at her, but she ducked underneath, carving a scar into its wrist with Myrtenaster.

It reared up roaring, and fell back down to growl at Weiss, as she prepared a glyph beneath her feet.

"There's nothing to fear," Scarecrow said, "but fear itself!"

Weiss smiled. "So what does that make you?"

The glyph boosted her into the sky, and she flipped around until she landed on another glyph in the air, which pushed her straight to Scarecrow.

She kicked him in the face, knocking him off the Beowolf, and backflipped to the beast's head, plunging Myrtenaster into its skull. It roared in pain, and Weiss pulled the blade of her weapon out, jumping off of it, and landing beside the child, watching as the Beowolf fell to the ground, dead, and its body faded into black dust.

Weiss looked to the ground, where she saw Scarecrow laying unconscious.

She embraced the child again, staring off into the cloud of Crane's toxin. But, even as she tried to calm the boy, she saw a crowd of Arkham inmates closing in from the smoke. Leading them was Victor Zsasz.

He smiled as he laid eyes on Weiss, pulling out his knife. He licked his lips, a sick grin as he imagined the ways to skin them alive.

"Batman will save us," the boy whispered. "He'll come . . ."

Weiss held him with one hand, and pointed Myrtenaster at Zsasz with the other.

"He'll come . . ."

"Don't peek," Weiss ordered the child.

Then, Zsasz looked up a second before a caped figure crashed on him from above. Batman spun around to grab Weiss and the boy, and fired his grapnel gun to carry them to the safety of the rooftops.

Ruby finally figured out how to open the windshield of the Batmobile with the remote. She didn't know how she was supposed to drive this thing. She couldn't drive a car, let alone a tank.

She knew she wouldn't be able to jump over the islands the way Batman did, so she needed to find another way across.

She heard someone yelling and running towards her from behind. She spun around to see a cop gassed by the toxin running towards her, and she kicked him in the gut, knocking him to the ground.

She rushed to his side to grab his radio, and turned it on as she put it to her lips.

"This is Ruby Rose, professional Huntress," she said. "We have a serious situation down here. I need someone to lower the bridge."

Batman carefully set Weiss and the boy down on the roof, and backed away to give them a moment.

Weiss held the boy, softly petting his hair to reassure him. He smiled as he looked at Batman, and turned to her.

"I told you he'd come."

Bruce recognized the boy. It was the same child he had encountered on the night he was gassed. Seeing him like this filled him with rage toward his mentor. How could she do this to an innocent child and claim this to be justice?

Batman rushed to the edge of the rooftop.

"Wait!" Weiss called to him, standing up. "You could die! At least tell me your name!"

Bruce was hesitant to do so. He had done so much to keep this from her. He couldn't tell her now.

He turned back to look at her, and he found himself gazing into those pale blue orbs again. Just as before, he found himself unable to lie to her. Unable to say no. He trusted her more than anything.

Weiss made the same eye contact, and now she knew for sure she recognized those eyes. She was just struggling to figure out whose they were. But she knew they belonged to someone she cared about. She didn't know who he was underneath the cowl, but she knew she cared about him in some way.

"It's not who I am underneath," Batman said, "but what I do that defines me."

Weiss blinked, her eyes widening as it clicked.

"Bruce?"

At the mention of his name, Batman leapt off the building, and spread his cape to glide like a bat.

Weiss watched him, shocked at the sudden revelation. She knew he had changed, but this was nothing like what she had imagined.

Batman looked at the terrified civilians below as they fled, viewing him as a monster flying overhead. He didn't do anything to make that fear worse. He was on his way to the monorail, and he had to stop Salem before she loaded the microwave emitter on the train.

Salem heard the sound of screams in the distance. At first, she didn't think about it at all. She had dispersed a fear toxin throughout the Narrows. Screams were expected. It was only when she realized they were getting closer and closer that she turned around to see what was causing the commotion.

Through the cloud of gas, Batman emerged. He landed in a crouched position on the guardrail, and glared at Salem.

"Well," Salem chuckled, impressed. "You took my advice about theatricality a bit literally."

"It ends here."

"For you and the Huntsmen and Huntresses, perhaps. My fight, however, lies with the rest of Vale. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a kingdom to destroy."

She grabbed a rope to climb into the train, as two League of Shadows soldiers approached Batman.

"I can't beat two of your pawns?"

"As you wish."

Two more soldiers dropped down from above, and all four approached Batman for battle.

He pounced at one of them, sending both tumbling off the monorail, and landing on an apartment's balcony. The other three ran after him, and Batman began the battle with all four at once.

Ruby was still struggling to figure out how the Batmobile worked, but she managed to find how to drive forward. She pressed a few buttons on the GPS, and received the path to Wayne Tower. She sighed. This was going to be difficult.

Batman battled the relentless soldiers, his Batsuit a slight limit to his movement, and the cowl restricting his ability to turn his head. The battle made him grow woozy, blood starting to spill into his suit from his wounds in the mansion.

But he managed to knock the soldiers unconscious, and he pulled out his grapnel gun, aiming it at the train. Then, one of the soldiers sat up, tossing a rope at Batman's hand, and knocking the grapnel gun out of his hand. It fell off the balcony, onto the street below. Batman pounced on the soldier, and they fell with the grapnel gun.

The soldier hit the ground, falling unconscious, while Batman somersaulted onto his feet. He looked around the floor for his grapnel gun.

Footsteps.

Batman turned around, and saw a huge crowd of people approaching. They stared at him in terror, but that fear quickly turned into blinding rage.

Batman turned around, spotting his grapnel gun on the floor. He reached down to pick it up, only for the crowd to swarm him, grabbing him, and tearing at his limbs. He heard the sound of the train starting up, and watched helplessly as it rode off along the monorail.

He desperately reached down, feeling at the ground for the grapnel gun. When he finally grasped it, he reached upwards, firing it at the train. He was immediately tugged away from the crowd, hanging from the train.

The bridge to the Narrows lowered, catching Professor Ozpin's attention.

"Who authorized this?" he said.

Suddenly, the train past overhead, Batman hanging underneath. Manholes burst out from the ground, the toxin spraying out.

Ozpin heard an approaching engine, and he turned around to see the Batmobile driving wildly out from the Narrows. He jumped out of the way as it nearly hit him.

Batman was struggling to pull the grapnel line to his belt, his muscles burning up as he clung desperately at the speed of the train. His body bashed into a bus stop, destroying it. The pain added to his wounds, and he was using all of his strength and willpower to keep from falling.

"" the GPS spoke to Ruby, ""

Ruby swerved the Batmobile to the right, almost crashing into a parked vehicle in the process. But she managed to regain control of the Tumbler, and kept going.

Batman finally tugged the grapnel line to his belt, and he was pulled up to the train. He crashed through the window.

Salem heard the sound of the window breaking from her position in the front of the train. She turned around, and watched as Batman leapt onto the microwave emitter.

The two glared at one another, knowing this was where it would end.

"You will never learn."

Batman jumped off the microwave emitter, and ran into battle with Salem.

Ruby sped down the road, and accidentally crashed against a parked vehicle. She turned the controls, and the Batmobile lost control, hitting another vehicle, before Ruby managed to get it moving straight again.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Salem watched Batman's attacks, hoping to find anything new. But everything he did was just what she'd taught him. She pulled a katana out, and swung it at him, but he blocked the attack with his gauntlets.

"Familiar," she critiqued his performance. "But do you have anything new?"

Batman lifted his arms, blocking the katana with both gauntlets.

"How about this?!"

Using the sharp scallops on his gauntlets, Batman split the sword in half. Salem froze, comprehending what he did, impressed.

Batman kicked her away, and hurried to the controls.

Ruby looked to the GPS. ""

She skidded the Batmobile to a halt at the support towers for the monorail. Now she just needed to figure out how the weapons worked.

Salem charged Batman from behind, activating her semblance. She brought her burning hand to him to kill him, but he grabbed it, and he pushed it against the controls.

He turned around, kicking her out of the control room, and running after her to attack.

Ruby pressed another button, and she heard the computer speak again.

""

Ruby was moved from the driver's position into the bike position, and the missile launcher was prepared.

Outside, a homeless man walked up to the Batmobile with a smile.

"Nice ride," he said.

Ruby messed with the controls, until finally, she pulled a trigger, blasting missiles into the support tower. The man jumped back, and quickly ran away.

Batman was losing the fight. He was groggy from the fight in the manor, and his suit limited his movements, allowing him to move freely enough to fight back, but he wasn't able to fight at the best of his ability, especially against his teacher.

Salem knocked him to the ground, and pinned him down with her knee.

"Don't be afraid, Bruce," she said.

Ruby fired again, getting a much better hit on the tower, but she still had one missile left, and the train was closing in fast.

Salem grabbed Batman by the throat, and squeezed hard. Batman wheezed through the choke hold.

"You were just an ordinary man in a cape!" she said. "That's why you couldn't fight injustice, and that's why you can't stop this train!"

"Who said anything about stopping it?" Batman wheezed through her grip.

Salem raised an eyebrow in confusion. What did he mean? He was trying to stop her, wasn't he. She looked up to the controls, and saw that he had made her burn the controls, making it impossible for the train to stop. But that only made her more confused. He only made it impossible for her to fail.

Ruby fired one last missile, and it made a direct hit on the support tower. Then, the tower began to swerve in its place, and the tracks started to snap and break off their place.

"Yes!!!" Ruby cheered in victory.

Salem saw the tracks breaking in the distance, and finally, she pieced together Bruce's plan. There was no winning this battle anymore. Even if she killed him, there was no destroying Vale anymore.

Batman punched Salem, knocking her onto her back, and climbing on top of her, lifting two batarangs above her. A single strike downwards, and Salem would be dead.

"You'll never learn to mind your surroundings!"

Salem smiled as she stared at the sharp ends of the batarangs. "Have you finally learned to do what is necessary?"

"I won't kill you," Batman said.

He tossed the batarangs into a window near the front of the train, causing a wind to blow against his cape, and tossed an explosive behind him, destroying the wall of the train behind them, leaving a massive hole in the back to glide out of.

"I will never kill you," he reassured. "Come with me, Salem. It doesn't have to end like this. We can save Vale together."

He reached his hand to her, offering a chance. Salem looked to his hand, touched that he would do that for her.

She locked her eyes with his, and shook her head.

"It's over, Bruce," she said. "I know when I can't win a fight. And I will teach you to do what is necessary, one way or another."

She punched Batman, knocking him back, and kicked him in the chest. Batman was sent tumbling out the back of the train, unable to save Salem from her fate. He spread his cape, allowing the wind to slow his decent into a smooth glide.

Salem looked to the front of the train, watching as she closed in on her imminent death.

She shut her eyes, accepting her fate.

The train was sent flying off the tracks, and crashed through the concrete into the subway below. It slid against the ground, the microwave emitter sent flying as the train rolled.

In an instant, an explosion went off from the machine's tumbling in the train, and the flames traveled a mile underground.

Upon the microwave emitter's detonation, the gas pouring out from the manhole openings came to a halt, and a silence fell over the city.

Ruby climbed out of the Batmobile, trying to figure out whether they won or not. Her body seemed intact, and she wasn't scared at all. Did they actually win?

She looked up to the sky, and saw Batman gliding overhead, his cape spread like the wings of a bat. She smiled as she saw him, the terrifying image of a giant bat filling her with hope. She waved at him, hoping he would see her.

So they did win . . .