FIC: Bruce Wayne: The Spirit of Vengeance: Prelude

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One night in Gotham City, 25 year old Bruce Wayne was walking home

with his parents, arguing.

"No, Father, I'll decide what I want to. I'm not twelve year old

anymore. I'm an adult."

"You'll regret it, Bruce. Becoming a police officer wasn't what I

wanted for you when I raised you."

"But you're a doctor, Father! And you help others! Shouldn't I do the

same thing?"



"Yes, but you know it's dangerous here in Gotham. I worry that you

might be killed!"

"Killed, Doc," a raspy voice chuckled, "Is exactly what yer gonna be

if you don't give with the goodies!"

A man in a cap stepped out of the shadows with a gun.

"You animal! Get away from my family or--!"

"Or ya could die!" He sneered, shooting him in the chest.

He quickly shot Martha Wayne in the chest, too.

"You bast--" he lunged, but he got shot in the shoulder for his

trouble.

As Bruce fell onto his knees, the gunman aimed his gun at Bruce's

head.

"Nothin' personal, kid. Was jus' followin'orders."

Then he shot Bruce Wayne in the head.



Suddenly Bruce Wayne found himself...somewhere else. He covered his

ears, hearing deafening screams. He look around.

Bruce found himself atop on a hill....surrounded by naked, restless

people screaming, "Avenge me!"

"BRUCE WAYNE," a booming voice suddenly rumbled from nowhere, "THOU

ARE IN LIMBO, THE REALM WHERE THE MURDERED DEAD RESIDES!"

"What about my parents?!?" Bruce shouted back, enraged, "What kind of

God would allow my parents to be murdered? What kind of God would

allow ME to be murdered? Where is the justice?!"

"THIS IS NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE,BRUCE WAYNE," the voice replied.

"No?! Then why don't I see my parents among the dead here?! Where are

they? Where are my parents?!"

"THEIR SOULS HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY AN EVIL BEING WHOSE LAUGHTER IS

RESERVED SOLELY FOR BLOOD AND PAIN."

"Then send me back! My parents must be avenged--"

"IS THIS WHAT YOU DESIRE, BRUCE WAYNE? KNOW THEN, THAT YOU RISK

LOSING PARADISE IN EXCHANGE FOR VENGEANCE. YOUR MISSION, THEN, SHALL

BE TO CONFRONT AND COMPREHEND EVIL. TO CARRY THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN

TO EARTH...AND RID ALL EVIL FROM THE MORTAL WORLD...A TASK YOU SHALL

ULTIMATELY FAIL."

And Bruce Wayne was gone from the hill.



Chapter One

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Bruce Wayne found himself standing over where he died with a bullet

in his head.

"No one must know that Bruce Wayne is truly dead. Henceforth, let my

mortal body be dust!"

Bruce waved a hand over his corpse and it dissolved into dust.

He turned to his parents' bodies, "Mother... Father...I shall never

rest until your souls are free. Until the very being who decreed that

the spirit of Bruce Wayne must remain to rid all evil from existence,

starting with the foul murderer who has spilt our blood."

Suddenly lightning brightened the night sky, as a dark mist seemed to

surround Bruce.

"I shall rest when my thrist for vengeance is sated."

The black mist had now engulfed Bruce Wayne.

"But until then, I shall not be Bruce Wayne any longer when the scent

of blood is near when these the slain cry vengeance for are near. So

swears..."

The black mist exploded, revealing a figure clad in a tattered, black

cloak and hood, with a cross on his chest, his body likewise clad in

black, his fingernail extended and turned black. His eyes beneath the

hood becoming the eyes of death, as skulls replaced Bruce Wayne's

pupils.

"THE SPECTRE!"

He dissolved into black mist, his voice fading into the

night, "Joseph Chill, you have the smell of blood on you, and it is

strong, but I shall find you, whether in the land of the living or

the land of the dead, and you will face the Judgment of God!"

Lightning again struck through the night sky, signaling the beginning

of a storm.



Chapter Two

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The Spectre flew over Gotham City, following the scent of spilled

blood.

Suddenly Bruce Wayne, the new host to the Spectre Force, stopped at a

warehouse building.

The assassin is in there, he thought, and I sense that he's taken

satisifaction in a task well done...

The skulls in his eyes became more visible in the shadows cast by his

hood.

"A satisifaction that will be replaced with fear."

Inside, Joe Chill took out the bullets he managed to pull out of the

Waynes' hearts before the cops arrived.

Suddenly he heard laughter echoing in the room.

"Ah, my loyal dolt!" An image of a demonic looking clown appeared

before the assassin, "I see that you have the souls I require for the

spell that will set me free from this accursed dimension that was my

prison since that cursed entity called the Spectre banished me! But I

will have my revenge! Since the Spectre is a servant of God Himself,

I shall raze everything he has ever created, starting with Earth, and

then I shall open the gates of Hell and let every murderer, sinner,

and rapist out, and they shall ravage Mankind till there is no

vestiges left of it! And I shall do it with laughter!"

Suddenly a voice boomed, "YOU! YOU HAVE SLAIN THESE WHO HAVE DONE

NOTHING TO DESERVE BEING SLAIN. YOU HAVE SLAIN ME! IN RETURN FOR

BLOOD SPILT IN MURDER, YOURS SHALL BE SPILT IN REVENGE!"

"Who dares distrubs the amusement of the Demon Joker?" He snarled,

while his smile never left

"I---THE SPECTRE, AVATAR OF HEAVENLY VENGEANCE!"

"Ah! So another one has taken the mantle of the misbegotten ghost who

has imprisoned me to this cursed prison of a dimension! Well met, old

and new foe... and PERISH well!"

Suddenly the Spectre was taken unaware as Joe Chill blasted him from

behind.

The Demon Joker cackled, "In exchange for providing me with the means

in which to free me from my imprisonment, as well as serving me, I

have granted him power... sorcerous power, in which he had thought

that would improve his pathetic excuse of an existence! Power that

should be enough to kill even YOU!"



"WHATEVER THIS DEMON HAS PAID YOU, CHILL, WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH TO

ESCAPE GOD'S JUDGMENT THAT AWAITS YOU! JUDGMENT I SHALL SEND YOU TO!"

He met Chill's blast with a blast of his own. A blast that increased

with every moment.

"N-no! It can't be! Y-you can't beat me! The Demon Joker promised me!"

"DEALS WITH DEVILS, MURDERER," The Spectre growled, "NEVER PAY."

Chill backstepped, trying his best to match the Spectre's power, but

it wasn't even enough. Not by a long shot.

The Spectre advanced upon his parents' killer, "YOU HAVE TAKEN THESE

I LOVED FROM ME, AND YOU SHALL BE TAKEN!"

With a final blast, Chill's last defense was taken away.

The Spectre towered over the murderer. "Before you die, give me the

bullets with my parents' spirits."

Chill realized that he still have the bullets, and he raised his head

to look into the Spectre's eyes.

"Go to hell, freak." and he threw the bullets towards a portal that

suddenly opened up.

"NO!" The Spectre screamed, trying to get to the portal, but he was

too late. The portal closed.

He whirled to glare hatefully at Chill.

"YOU SHALL DIE FOR THIS!"

Suddenly, before Chill could reply, the Spectre's eyes glow green,

and the murderer screamed in agony as his flesh started smoking and

melting, till all that was left of him was his skeleton, vital

organs, and blood.

The Spectre turned to confront the image of the Demon Joker, who had

a smug look on his face, and in his hand... two bullets.

"Once I have all the souls I require, ghost, I will return to this

mortal plane, and I will start with destroying the city you love so,

and I will continue ripping apart every creation your Master has. And

then I will laugh in your face before I undo your existence."



The Spectre seethed with rage as he watched the image dissolving into

nothingness, his laughter echoing, roaring in his dead ears.

And outside... lightning exploded in the sky...and rain turned to a

storm... as if the heavens itself is crying out in rage.



To be continued...