Answers to reviews:
thermalsnipern7: How brutal? because I can have Spawn go as far as to rip someone's spine out.
Guest: Some will agree with his methods, mostly those that are Anti-Heroes as well like Huntress.
nicholascaldwell959: Same.
Guest 2: Thanks.
Johnathan-Mandrake: I'll see what I can do. And I'll try to make the deaths more gruesome as I can.
Jason Chandler: Read on and find out.
Nights like these were not unusual for Commissioner James Gordon.
Half an hour ago, he received a call from his office at the precinct about an attempted rape in an alleyway south of Gotham. At first, he thought Batman already had it under control once it was said there was an intervention, until the mention of two dead bodies got him springing into action, bringing a group of his best officers and forensics group to the scene of the attack.
"Any thoughts on the bodies?" he asked Detective Harvey Bullock, who stood next to the bags containing the bodies of the would-be rapists.
"Del Isaacs and Mason North. Thirteen counts of rape, seven of which ended with murder, and the other six left traumatized. Guess the girls will be happy when this makes it on TV." he said.
"You sure it's them?" Gordon asked.
"Yep." Bullock nodded. "Issacs had his head ripped off and one of his eyes ripped out followed with a broken, hanging jaw. North on the other hand had his wrist snapped back, broken ankle, and a bullet in his head."
"Damn." Gordon muttered. "Any thoughts on who or what did this?"
"Spawn."
The commissioner and the detective turned their heads to the woman sitting in the ambulance with a blanket around her shoulders as she looked at them shakily.
"Come again?" Gordon asked.
"Spawn. That was his name." the woman clarified. "He said it before he had the second one shoot himself in the head."
Gordon and Bullock shared a look. In fact, when they first heard the word "Spawn", the first thing that came to mind was that it was the name of a vigilante based in New York that kills criminals instead of jailing them. Gordon and Bullock have seen the reports from the NYPD, the state of the bodies Spawn left...it would make even Zzazz throw up.
"Well, that explains it." says Bullock, after a moment of silence. "So what now?"
"Keep collecting evidence," says Gordon as he walked into the alley, "I'm going to check further, see if the punks tried to take any escape routes once they had their fun before Spawn showed up and ruined it for them."
He turned a corner in the deeper parts of the alley, ignoring any scurrying rats that dug for scraps of trash. Looking up to see any open windows from any tenants who were disturbed from their beauty rest. Guessing that they went back to sleep once the "disturbance" was over, he waited, his eyes and ears open for anyone still awake at this time, especially for what was to come.
"He's here, isn't he?" asks a raspy voice in the darkness.
"The name was all we needed. There's only one Spawn in the world." he answered, not really surprised by the sudden presence behind him, a routine he had gotten used to but was slowly getting tired of. Turning around, he was met with the imposing figure of the Dark Knight himself, the Batman.
"If Spawn is here, then he must've gotten tired of the lack of criminal activity in New York. He's probably trying to send a message to the criminal underworld here in Gotham." Batman deduced.
"Now that you mention it, New York has been pretty quiet since he started showing up. Only thing close to actual crime in that city now is either a purse-snatching, reckless driving, or a wild fraternity party that's usually handled by the police based there." Gordon agreed.
"Still, if you or any of the GCPD see him, don't engage. He may not be hostile towards cops, mostly the ones based in New York, but others may not be as welcoming, and they don't have the equipment or manpower to take him down. This is something me and the Justice League have to handle." Batman said grimly.
Gordon was skeptical though. "You sure he should be brought in? A lot of people support what he's doing, everyone in New York says they can sleep safely and don't have to fear for their kids being murdered. Even the NYPD favour him, and there's been no civilian casualties. Not to mention there was that...incident when you and the League went to New York to confront him."
Batman's usual glare deepened at the reminder of how that incident went down a few weeks back when the Justice League went to New York to take in the 'Grim Reaper' for a large string of murders, which… didn't go so well to say the least, and resulted in them being kicked out and banned from entering New York.
"Just because he has people supporting him doesn't mean he can keep doing as he pleases. He needs to be stopped before more people get hurt." Batman said sternly, taking note of Gordon's dejected expression as the commissioner sighed in defeat. "For now, Spawn may be laying low, so tell your men to keep their eyes and ears open. And remember, don't engage."
"Alright, we'll see what we can do," Gordon says as he checks the corner of the alley to see if anyone was watching their conversation, "and what will you be…" but when he looks back, Batman is gone, " … doing," he finishes to the empty alley before making his way back with an annoyed sigh.
While Batman watched him walk out of the alleyway on a rooftop, his mind still on the topic of Spawn suddenly being in Gotham. Even though he was a little livid from having the fiasco in New York being brought up, it still got him wondering: Maybe this was some form of payback from Spawn for entering his city unannounced. He'll have to speak with the rest of the League soon.
Now begs the question: What was Spawn planning now?
'Damn sun...' Nathan Nolan thought to himself as he woke up in his bed, turning to get the sunlight off his face but he was already awake now. With a groan, he got out of bed dressed in just a pair of knee-length shorts. He sat on the bed, running his hand down his face.
It had been nearly a year since he became a Hellspawn, and it had been about three months since he killed Malebolgia. After he destroyed his enemies from Hell, Nathan turned to crime-fighting, and New York was filled with scum who have a place in Hell waiting for them. Three month since he began this kind of work, and he enjoyed it, he enjoyed hunting down criminals and putting them down for good.
Of course he left the worst scum of New York in...very brutal conditions. Some were left with broken bones, dislocated limbs, broken jaws, among other things while some were left with their insides ripped out or left in broken, mangled conditions that would make even the likes of Scarecrow throw up and run in terror.
Still, despite his methods of dispatching the worst of the worst, the people of New York saw Spawn as a hero, their first one, even. The police department was divided; most of the force approved of his actions, seeing it as a way of making their jobs easier, while the other few thought he was trying to assert dominance over the criminal element, though they eventually came around. Overall, crime in New York had dropped to fifty percent, with most of the criminals going into hiding or even handing themselves over to avoid getting their heads bitten off.
Of course, his methods of dealing with criminals got him on the Justice League's shit list, not that Nathan cared what they think. For all the power they have, none of them had the guts to finish the job properly. Their enemies would always come back to threaten the people, even the same ones that escaped their grasp, and find new ways to rack up a higher body count than last time. That, and the JL always whine about how the law should be handled even when it always ended in the favor of many crime lords and psychopaths.
Nathan was an ex Black Ops soldier, he knew how corrupt and unfair the world was and that someone had to purge that corruption permantly, not lock it up so it can break free and continue to spread.
Nathan went into the bathroom, took a shower before getting out and turned the TV on as he got a pair of clothes on. The channel he was on was Gotham News, which was showing Gotham's top reporter Vickie Vale in front of an alley.
"This is Vicki Vale reporting live outside an alley south of Gotham City where a disturbance was reported nine hours ago. A young woman, whose name remains undisclosed, stated to have been walking home from work when she was suddenly dragged into this alley behind me by two men, identified as Del Isaacs and Mason North, wanted for thirteen rapes and seven murders, who planned to make her their next victim, until someone, or something, stepped in and killed the assailants in violent ways; Isaacs was killed instantly from a decapitation and had an eye gouged out along with a broken jaw, and North was left with his wrist snapped and a bullet in his forehead. The woman described her savior as a tall black figure with glowing green eyes and a red cape, before revealing her savior's name as Spawn, the Grim Reaper from New York who first appeared three months ago and started fighting crime in New York."
"According to reports in New York, his targets are mostly violent criminals with murder, rape, or terrorism in their records, those who have avoided justice due to insufficient evidence or personal connections. In spite of such horrific methods, he has garnered overwhelming support from the citizens of New York, as well as credibility from the NY police force for putting an end to several investigations that have been put on hold."
"However, in spite of saving a young woman from sexual assault, as well as having a sheer amount of supporters in New York, we are hesitant to label him a hero due to his 'take no prisoners' attitude, which is a marked difference from what we are used to from our heroes. Additionally, he seems to be entirely-"
Nathan turned the TV off with a roll of his eyes and tossed the remote onto the bed. "You call them heroes when all they do is let their criminals run free and enjoy putting them away like a child taking toys from a toy box every day."
Of course there would be divided reactions to Spawn's arrival. New Yorkers had gotten used to the Grim Reaper keeping them safe, even if his methods were a little messy, but with other cities that had their own "heroes", they'd be having a hard time adjusting to someone like Spawn.
'Shame I can't go after the Joker.' Nathan thought with anger at that ass clown not being dead yet. 'Asshole's been hiding since breaking out of Arkham a couple of weeks back. Nothing from him since then...fucking hate clowns.'
Violator was enough, but Joker? Him and Violator would get along great if they ever met. The fact that the Joker had not been killed yet made Nathan's blood burn with rage. He tortured and murdered hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent people, abused his self-proclaimed girlfriend, and caused property damage, all because he found everything involving death and violence to be funny. Yet, despite all the blood he had spilled, Batman still chose to throw him back into the shithole called Arkham Asylum, just so he can break out and do it all again.
After he finished packing, he picked his duffel bag up and left to check out of the hotel, he was heading to Metropolis next.
Metropolis City Bank
The quick police cars flipped off their sirens and lights as they gracefully stopped in front of the large bank. Eight police officers showed up in total to scope the banks, as the group slowly walked up the bank's large marble steps.
A strong cop kicked the door open as the group rushed in, guns out in defence as the whole bank had scared civilians on the ground at the mercy of over ten masked gunmen.
"Hahaha! Look, it's the police!" A mercenary holding a rocket propelled gun cackled with a cocky demeanour as he aimed his missile straight at the cops who had just entered into the bank through its entrance.
"Give 'em hell, Randy!" the mercenary in front of him shouted with glee.
The only response he got was a weapon dropping to the ground.
"Randy?" The mercenary looked to where Randy had been only to see his gun on the floor. "Randy? Come on man! You can't just bolt like that! This is our big payday for fuck's sake!"
He reached to pick up the gun when a chain wrapped around his neck and yanked him into the dark ceiling, screaming as he did so. This of course brought everyone's attention as they looked up to the screaming thug, he was suddenly dropped down from the ceiling by the chain, letting him fall to the floor with a loud thud.
"What the fuck?!" A mercenary with a rifle shouted as he aimed his weapon at the police officers and began to fire off several rounds. The officers took cover as the loud bursts caused civilians outside to scream and run in terror.
A half a minute later the man smirked and stopped firing his weapon, "How many of ya survived that?!" As soon as those words left the criminal's mouth, another chain shot from a darker corner of the room as it hit the man's gun so hard the gun smashed to pieces, the mercenary panicking with his weapon, "W-What was that?!"
A mercenary holding a pistol shrugged his shoulders as he guarded several bankers, "I don't know what the hell is going on here!"
The questions of the confused mercenaries and cops about what was going on were quickly answered, as a black black jumped from out of a dark corner in the ceiling, and landed in between the cops and mercenaries.
A shocked elderly woman keeping herself calm and unmoving on the ground looked up at the person who landed before her, taking notice of the red cape but it wasn't Superman...Superman didn't wear a black suit after all.
"Hello gentlemen." Spawn growled.
"Shit!" one of the mercs yelled, pointing his gun at the Lethal Vigilante who sent a chain at the man and it smacked him hard in the jaw, causing him to cry in pain. Spawn leaped and dropkicked the merc in the chest, sending him flying into a wall hard.
The other thugs opened fire on the vigilante, but the cape spread out and protected him, absorbing the bullets before two chains lashed out and struck the mercs, wrapping around two and slamming them into the floor hard then tossing them aside like nothing. Spawn blocked a punch and twisted the man's arm hard enough to break it, causing the merc to scream in pain before Spawn punched him in the throat hard, causing him to gurgle up blood then Spawn punched him hard in the jaw.
Spawn dodged a punch, picked the man up and brought his stomach down into his knee before wrapping his chains around the thug, before he begun spinning around and threw him into several more thugs, knocking them out before throwing him into a corner across the bank.
Spawn then dodged an over the head attack from another attacker with a stun baton and quickly grabbed the wrist holding the weapon and shoved it into the man's chest, making him scream as the volts of electricity coursed through him before Spawn tossed him out into the open.
The two remaining mercenaries charged at Spawn from both sides, when two chains shot out from Spawn's sides and grabbed two thugs by the ankles before hoisting them in the air, before Spawn slammed them into the ground multiple times then threw one into the vault door while the other was thrown out a window and onto the streets.
The thug attempted to regain his footing when a strong hand pinned him back down before hoisting him up, and soon he was met with the glowing green eyes of Spawn.
"Your turn to meet the Devil." Spawn growled as he prepared to end the man;s life.
"Spawn!"
Spawn rolled his eyes and looked up at the last person he wanted to see.
"Superman." Spawn growled as the Man of Steel descended from the sky with a glare.
"Put him down." Superman ordered.
Spawn looked at him for a moment and then back to the thug before giving his answer.
"Okay."
With that said, he slammed the thug into the ground hard and a crack could be heard. Spawn stood up and glared at the Man of Steel.
"What do you want? I have things to do." He said with an annoyed growl.
Superman, recovering from the shock of seeing the sheer amount of force Spawn inflicted on the thug, used his X-Ray vision to see the man's current condition. Unconscious, but paralyzed for maybe a few months. He then turned his attention to Spawn with a glare. "Why are you here?" Superman demanded with a hint of anger.
"That your thanks for me doing your job by being here and stopping a crime? But to answer your question, I'm giving these assholes a lesson in life and nobody's died...yet." Spawn said as Superman glared.
Noticing a gun out the corner of his eye, Spawn's cape reached out and picked it up, bringing it over to him. He held it in his hands and hummed as he looked it over, recongizing a custom made gun before he saw a label on the side.
LexCorp.
Tossing the gun to one of the cops, he said. "You should pay Lex Luthor a visit and ask why these idiots have his toys...before I decide to pay him a visit myself." That said, Spawn turned to leave when Superman stopped him.
"Hold it." the Man of Steel said in an authoritative tone. "You better have a reason for coming here. Especially after what you did last night in Gotham."
Spawn narrowed his eyes. "First off, asshole, we are both doing this outside the law so don't get all high and mighty with me. Secondly, what are you gonna do about it? From what I see, there's no warrant for my arrest, no demands to have me arrested or killed by the police or Government. What are you gonna do? Beat me up and lock me away? That action will get you hurt and believe me...I'm pissed off enough at you and your little boy band. The people actually like what i'm doing, can't say the same for you and the rest of you soft assholes."
"It doesn't matter what the public's opinion is. This isn't New York, you know." Superman argued.
"And New York wasn't Metropolis or Gotham either." Spawn growled as he faced the Man of Steel and got in his face. "Yet I remember you and your band coming into my city unannounced and uninvited just to tell me to stop what I'm doing or be jailed for it. How did that end? Oh yeah, your asses got booted out and banned from stepping into New York again. So consider this visit payback and us even for that visit. You come onto my city and cause trouble...I'll come onto yours and cause trouble. So don't fuck with me."
Superman only grit his teeth in response, mainly from being reminded of that incident and how it turned out, and things would've gotten ugly had a crowd of reporters not barged in to ask the Lethal Vigilante various questions, while the cops tried their best to clear them out, and Superman could only stand in silent frustration, lest he start another uproar like he and the rest of the Justice League did in New York.
"Spawn! How can you justify killing criminals?"
"Are you with the Justice League?"
"Are you planning to kill the criminals of Gotham and Metropolis like you've been doing in New York?"
"Is it true that you ripped someone's spine out?!"
As the clamoring reporters continued their barrage of questions, a young woman with black hair, a purple shirt and white skirt pushed her way through the crowd to be the last to ask her own question, pulling out her tape recorder as a young man holding a camera followed behind.
"Excuse me! Lois Lane; Daily Planet! I have a question." Lois insisted as Spawn grunted in annoyance, gesturing her to ask away. "Spawn, why do you play judge, jury and executioner? Is it because you get some sort of thrill out of it or because you believe you're in the right?"
Spawn turned his green eyes to her and Lois felt a chill go down her spine at the gaze, like he was staring into her very soul. "I get no thrill from what I do like some drug addict who gets high from a needle. I ain't like the Joker, Scarecrow, or Victor Zzazz who enjoy killing the innocent. I don't kill every criminal that comes across my path, only rapists, murderers, terrorists, child predators, that kind of scum. The Justice are too blinded by their egos to give the people what they want, so someone else has to do their work for them."
Spawn made his way past the crowd and was ready to make his leave, until Superman put his hand on his shoulder.
"You're not going anywhere." he said sternly. "Just because you stopped these men doesn't mean you're off the hook."
"You want this to go down like last time, Man of Steel?" Spawn warned with a low growl. "You made the first move last time. You and the League made a mess in my city that time and I had to fix it while you were more focused on catching me. So you owe me. Do yourself a favour, piss off or else..."
Superman's eyes glowed red at the insult and threat, while the reporters, cops and bystanders backed up in case things get messy.
Spawn gestured to the mercs he knocked out. "Put those guys in jail if you want, I'm gonna be taking a stroll in this city and enjoy the sights. Stay out of my way, Superman...I will fight back if you push me."
With that said, Spawn disappeared through teleportation. Superman glared at where Spawn stood before he flew off into the air, the League will need to have a meeting about this...
And that's it for this chapter. The rest of the League will be in the next chapter by the way. And yes, it seems Spawn and the League don't have a great history after an incident when the League came to New York to tell him off.
I may be planning on doing more stories set in the Marvel universe because I seem to be doing DC than Marvel lately, but when I do Spawn...the DC Universe seems to fit him, especially the dark tones and atmospheres the DC Universe uses most of the time. I don't think Marvel's ever gone dark before.
Let me know what you think in the reviews.