A war without smoke unfolded on this independent continent that had long been far removed from warfare. Bruce Wayne had not chosen appeasement as they had imagined; instead, he began fighting back with unprecedentedly fierce measures.
At first, the masterminds behind it all believed that if Bruce's ambitions were as great as his power, then only this could put enough pressure on him to force a compromise.
At first, Bruce Wayne had also thought he could compromise. It was not a matter of backbone; business inevitably required both sides to make concessions. Harmony brought wealth, and maintaining order was what mattered.
But the greatest reason plans could never keep up with change was that plans might be perfect, while people never were.
The leader had only wanted to bite off a suitable piece of meat to make the other side submit, but those following behind felt they deserved more, so they each took another small bite.
When everyone took one more small bite, the situation became one where the prey felt it certainly could not escape, so it simply stopped running and fought to the death.
At first, they had merely wanted to teach Wayne Enterprises a lesson, to make Bruce Wayne stop being so Greed-y and quit trying to seize both economic and political power, morality and profit alike, the spotlight and the shadows alike.
But humanity had far too many tricks when it came to persecuting its own kind, and no restraint whatsoever. One decision-maker added a little personal vengeance, while another took another sip of blood.
Before those who had launched the offensive could even react, Wayne Enterprises had already been driven to the brink of collapse.
Thus, Wayne Enterprises was forced to skip the stage of negotiation and compromise and go straight into a fight to