Chapter 4: A Tale of Vengeance
The chilling November air blow in between the brick tinged buildings of down town Gotham as Miranda looked out the window of her penthouse. There was a soft sound of police sirens echoing down blow as she closed her eyes and remembered when her life changed her life forever.
33 years ago...
On the shores of Romania a young dark hair woman sat in the sand playing with her two year old daughter as the waves came crashing on the shoreline. The woman was named Sora , some called her the prize of the ocean because of her beauty and ice blue eyes but she was the treasure to a handsome warrior who dedicated his life into preserving the balance of justice and rid the cities of the worlds from corruption and chaos. Sora was engaged to be married with a doctor's son who had a corrupt soul and treated his former wife like a prize instead of a human being. Sora knew the son's plan so she told her maids that on the night of the wedding she would take a dagger and slice her throat. Her father two days before their wedding was found in his bed When Sora found out the heartbreaking news she took to the mountains, bringing only her father's sword for protection. Three days past, she could feel her body starting to give out. Her lips became numb and her eyes glossy with tears. She knew without a doubt that this snowy landscape would be her final resting place. Finally on the fifth day she found a frozen lake and a cave full of ice. She took her father's sword "But you do need love." One year later Sora gave birth to a daughter who would grow up and fulfill her father's purpose. But fate had a different story. Sora was sleeping in her bed chambers will her husband was training a new student of his, when all of a sudden she awoke to a blade pressing against her throat. Her blue eyes went wide. "What ... do you want?" she gasped shifting her eyes to her daughter sleeping in a small cradle.
chambers poison with waterdrawt hidden in his red wine. His wife, Sora's mother was found in a puddle of blood on her floor with her locket missing.
and was ready to dig into her chest when a man's strong hands grabbed the blade.
"You only have one life woman." he said. Sora looked up and saw a tall handsome man with sharp features staring at her.
"It's my life to take." she answered. "I have nothing to live for. My house is empty and my soul is a
prisoner with grief. Let me be free from the life."
The man shook his head. He crouched down and placed his hand on her frozen cheek. "I can give you a new life woman."
"How?"
He leaned his head in closer and pressed his lips against hers. She pulled away. "I don't need a man."
Sora lowered her head. The man lifted her chin and looked down at her with piercing blue eyes.
"Come with me. Together we will bring balance to this land. I promise you I will never let anything happen to you my Sora."
Sora looked at him confused. "How do you know my name?"
"You're the daughter of my teacher. I watched you in the shadows. I have been in love with you never since I set my eyes on you."
Sora smiled feeling still a little uneasy. "I am to be married."
"And you will be my Sora." he paused. "I can't give you riches and a home. But I can give you a new life. Sora will you be my wife."
She nodded. "I will."
"If I can't have you Sora, than no man can."
The man in black sliced her throat with the sword and there licked the blood off the blade. "Now you and I are one."
Sora took her final breath and died. The man dressed in black walked over to the cradle and grabbed the little girl. "You are all that is left of your mother. You'll be mine." He picked up the daughter with his hands. The child opened her eyes and saw her mother lying in a puddle of blood. "Mommy?" she screamed.
"Mommy!"
Both of them disappeared into the night leaving only grief behind. Sora's husband entered the bed chambers with his blade ready to strike and looked at his dead wife. "Sora!" he screamed as he ran to the bed and held her lifeless body up. He pressed his lips on to her forehead.
"My great love." He looked at saw the cradle empty. "My daughter both taken from Two of his students entered the room. "Master?" Every small village was burned to the ground. Bodies piled in dozen, male children were captured and thrown into an underground prison. The female children were given black clothing to wear. The Master of the shadow men search through every line of girls. Looking for any sign of his daughter. He found none with his wife's eyes. Days passed as village after village was covered with the red flames of revenge. One male child escape, his face was scarred, his spine pricing from his skin. He suffered third degree burns on his arms and legs. He endured pain until i consumed him making him bare it. The master found the child lying on the ash filled ground, no tears were in his eyes only fury. The master nodded. "Then I have a need for you." The scarred boy pointed to a blanket lying on the ground. The master walked over to the blanket and pulled it off to reveal a short haired child. She opened her blue eyes. "Father?" The daughter of Sora grew up into a fine woman with her mother's beauty and father's strength. She traveled across the world as a spy for her father. That was all her life was, honoring her father and doing everything he told her. The scarred boy grew up into a hulking man following her When the daughter arrived back to the mountains from her travels in Switzerland she found that he father had someone else on his mind instead of her. A man of American decent with silver hazel green eyes and sharp features He was full of bruises and cuts from his training. His body was in top shape while his face was little bulky. To the daughter he looked like a man that endured so much pain in his life. She could see his anger, and the rage that course through his veins. To her he was a mystery waiting to be unmasked. But her father instructed her never to speak with him. "Daughter, stay away from the American." One night she entered the bed chambers of her father's students and crouched down beside the young Americans bed. She gazed at his lips with a burning desire to kiss them. The daughter moved in closer and whispered in his ear. "No matter what my father says, you'll always be my beloved." As she returned to her bed chambers her father was in the room with a displeasing look on his face."Father?" When the daughter arrived to the mountains she found her home destroyed, bodies of her father's students covered with ashes. Nothing was left, only a small rare blue flower was in the snow. She picked it up with her hand and looked at it. Standing behind her was the scarred bald headed man. "Mistress what happens next?" A beard man was walking up the mountain past when he saw her and the bald headed man. His leg was wounded but he survived because one of his greatest students, the one he loved like his own blood saved him from falling to his death. But the truth was the bearded man warned him about compassion. The dark haired woman turned around and saw the man walked towards them. "Father," she said with relief as she ran to him. "Father you're alive." The woman watched her father's expression change. "He is the one who did this to us." She back away and shook her head. After the daughter found out that he father was killed by a man dressed as a bat. She took her own actions to find the bats' weakness. For years she fought hard to rebuild her army, trained a young street girl whose past was just as dark as hers. The street girl became a thief for her, invading homes of the rich from around the world and taking everything away while the daughter of the master kidnapped the sons of rich from America and locked them away treating them like caged animals while only one little bat was on her mind. If the fathers of the kidnapped sons refused to do their instructions that will be destroyed by the hands of bald headed bodyguard. One night as she stood by the balcony of her Paris apartment the street girl entered the room. The dark haired woman smiled. "I know. When we go to America, I want you to find this Prince of Gotham , pretend to have his heart and then when the storm hits ripped it out and leave him with his own pain that he is cursed with. You will have all the riches your heart desires." The young street girl looked at her with a look of confusion. "Why do you hate him so much my mistress?"
me." He placed his wife on the bed. "I will have my revenge!"
"You're training is done."
They looked at the dead body on the bed. "Master who did this?"
"Take every female child. Burn every village."
The two men bowed. "As you're command master."
"I will not rest until I see the fire rising as the blood boils."
"Can you talk?" the master asked.
The boy shook his head.
"Does it hurt?"
The boy nodded.
"Do you think you can live?"
"I live through pain." The child answered with his accent.
"There's another one with me."
"Who? Another boy?"
The boy shook his head.
"A girl. Show me ."
The master knelt down and lifted her into his arms. "Yes daughter." He looked at the boy. "As payment for saving my daughter I will train you to work through your pain. Come let's go in the mountains we much to prepare for."
and protecting her.
"Yes father."
"I warned you daughter to stay away from the American,"
She crossed her arms."Why?"
"He's ..."
"Father I love him."
"You don't know who he is? How can you love a man who hides his pain away by using his pain like cloak. I want you to leave daughter. I will send for you when I need you."
"Yes father." she paused ." What will happen to the American?"
" If he survives the test . He will become one of us daughter. And you will conceive my hire with him."
The master kissed his daughter on the forehead. "We will see each other again daughter. I know you'll never desert me."
"We find my father. Then he find the man who did this and stab him in the heart."She crouched down and placed the flower in the snow as honor of all the souls who died. In the back of her mind she was thinking about the American, her beloved. Was he in the ashes or was he alive in America?
"Yes daughter. Though I can't not speak for the others."
"What about the American?"
"No. It can't be true."
"It is the truth daughter. Accepted it."
"Where is he?"
"Back home to America, to his beloved city that will be covered with the blood of the innocent. We will let him try and fix his city for awhile, while we rebuild our army. When the storm comes daughter he will suffer from his sins against us. His blood will cover the streets that he so loves and we will have our vengeance daughter."
"Mistress,"
"What is it kitten?"
"Everything is set. The plane leaves for American in 3 hours."
"You've done well for me. I knew you were worthy to fight at my side. But I have special assignment for you kitten."
"I will do anything for you my mistress."
"What about the Prince of Gotham?"
"He'll join the others. That is his punishment to rot in a cell and watch his beloved city come crumbling down."
"Why? He took everything from me. My home, my life and my father. This man murdered my father and destroyed the very foundations of my father's dream for a better world. Now he will pay for his sins. Back your bags kitten we're heading to a city that has to be punished for its sins and crimes."
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When Alfred Pennyworth carried the tray of toast and coffee into the master bedroom he saw the bed was empty and unmade. He did a deep sigh and then left the room.
In an empty room of the manor, Bruce Wayne was on performing a balance exercise using his good leg as support and his wounded leg was lifted high above his lower part of his abs. As his body was starting to loss balance and winced and then took a deep breath in and released.
During his youthful days he achieved lessons that would help him ignore pain. In India he learnt how to control his physical pain by letting it work them him but instead letting work through pain. His teacher an old Indian man also trained him to become immune to poisons and toxins by inhaling and drinking them. There were some nights when he would feel like his breath was going to run out, sweating and swelling up in the face but after a few days he overcame the effects and became strong when taking the second or third dose of the toxin. But when he versed the Scarecrow for the first time he never felt the effects so strong and so painful for his emotions and his mind. Without the help of his loyal friends Alfred and Fox, his mind would have been lost forever.
Bruce looked at the cane leaning against the coffee table, he sighed and then slowly bent down to get in a crouching position just like what he would do when he was Batman overseeing on the roof tops letting the evening rain wash away his pain. Inside he missed the trill, the freedom he had on the rooftops. Sometimes he would think to him 'will I ever come back?'
Alfred entered the room with the tray in his hands and noticed a few dark bruises on Bruce's arms. "Master Wayne did you fall? Are you alright sir," he asked with worry in his tired blue eyes. Bruce smiled.
"I'm fine Alfred."
"Care to explain what you're doing?"
"I'm building my strength back up Alfred. It's been a while."
Alfred placed the tray on the table and handed him the cane.
Bruce shook his head. "No. I don't need that anymore."
"But sir, you're leg."
"The leg is fine."
Bruce walked over to the window and put his hands behind his back. "I think that cane was an excuse for me to lock myself up from the responsibility I vowed to do."
"Master Wayne, you're not saying that ..."
Bruce turned around. "I let myself be consumed with grief and denial. Like you said old friend my parents gave me life so I could live." He looked down on his bullet wound. "So the Batman can live."
Alfred crossed his arms with a displeasing look. "Batman, you're going to become your symbol and risk your own life again for a city that treats you as an outcast?"
"I'll stick the shadows."
"Sir, with all due respect you're older now and your body."
"My body is fine. Alfred I can't spend my life locked away in this prison. I need to be free."
Alfred took a good long look at his master, he was still the same little boy that he raised, although he was more stubborn and careless with his actions, Bruce was still the innocent boy inside. That would never change.
Alfred sighed. "Do what you want Master Wayne. Although I don't approve of your choice sir, I will stand by your side no matter what happens."
"Thank you Alfred."
Bruce walked over to the table and grabbed the cup of coffee.
"So what are we doing today?"
"Cleaning out the Bat-cave and preparing it for the Batman to use again."
"Oh,"
"What?"
"It's just that I have places to run to. I won't be long."
Bruce nodded. "Take your time." he paused. "In fact I'm going to Wayne Enterprise to ask Mister Fox for some for equipment."
"I reckon that you'll be seeing Miss Tate along the way."
"You know me to well." Bruce smirked with his curved inviting lips as he thought about Miranda. "Alfred?"
"Yes master Wayne?"
"Do you think she's the one?"
"Only time will tell."
Bruce gently nodded.
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"Bruce Wayne," Holly Robinson said. "You made out with Bruce Wayne?"
Selina who was sitting on the stairwell turned and looked at her teenage friend. "We kissed,"
"Kissed, then what happened?" Holly asked with excitement. "Come on spill it Selina, it's not everyone that an avenge woman takes to kiss the billionaire prince of Gotham."
"You sound amazed by this, Holly," Selina smirked. "It was just a kiss."
"Yes, but like my mother told me once, a kiss is a first stage of winning a man's heart."
Selina resting her chin on her knee. "Still, I wish it was Batman."
Holly rolled her eyes. "Batman again , come off it Selina , you and I both know that he's never going to resurface after the crimes he caused and the murder of the district attorney Harvey Dent. It's time to stop thinking about a myth and start …."
The young dark haired woman gave the teen a glare that was familiar to a cat's soulless gaze. 'I still he's hiding somewhere in the city and I'm going to be the one that will lure him out of the shadows."
Holly crossed her arms. "How are you going to do this plan?"
"Simple Holly, to lure a bat you need to give him an invitation."
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Miranda Tate was in the board room sitting on the long table alone will looking at a folder when Bruce entered wearing a tailor made suit.
"Still waiting for the answer?" He asked.
She looked up and smiled. "Oh, no I was just in here relaxing." Her blue eyes stared him down. "What are you doing here Mr. Wayne?"
"I just came to check up on how my company has been holding out without me." He looked at her and noticed that she was frowning. "And also I wanted to ask a certain woman out for lunch if she is not too busy"
Miranda closed the folder and pulled her chair away from the table. "Not, at all."
"Then come on, I'll show you the town Miss Tate." He said holding out his hand as she grasped it firmly.
"You didn't come here, for the annual stocks, Bruce you came here for me didn't you?"
Bruce gave her a dumbfounded look and then smirked. "You caught me, guilty as charged."
"Was it because of the kiss we did last night?" Miranda asked.
"Maybe,"
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Rain was pouring down outside as Bruce holding Miranda's hands walked up the steps of Wayne Manor and headed to the upper level. His hair was drench along with his clothes; Miranda had water dripping from the ends making her thick brown locks become curly at the bottom. They entered the master bed room; Bruce pulled his suit jacket off and threw it onto the unmade bed.
Miranda wrapped her hands around his drenched white dress shirt and they moved to the opened window as their lips touched. The only light that was in the room was a lamp on the nightstand. Both of them became locked into a kiss as lightning flickered through the window.
Bruce pulled away and placed his hand on her forehead.
"Bruce," Miranda said. "Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine, I'm just not use to all this."
"What do you mean beloved?" She asked.
The billionaire arched an eye brow. "What did you just call me?" He asked.
"Beloved."