The True Fear of Bruce Wayne

Chapter 3: The Nightmare

Bruce didnt sleep as much as he should since the death of Talia. Although Bruce seems to stay emotion free, that was one person he truly loved. And ever since she died, Bruce's life had been changed.

Talia had died 6 months ago due to a poison given by Victor Zsazz. Although it would seem unlikely, Victor had slipped the drug in a drink of hers while she was at Arkham, trying to study the Scarecrow and his fear toxin for her father. The drug killed her by stopping each bodily function one-by-one. First movement, then bodily functions, and then Talia's heart stopped. Victor had no motive, only to lower the count of Batman's "enemies" so he could kill Bruce himself. But it did not end well for Victor. Ra's Al Ghul, her father, used his league of assassins to hunt down and kill Zsazz.

Still, months after her death, Bruce could not get her off his mind. She filled his mind in almost everything he did. She even infiltrated his dreams. But this was more of a nightmare.

He was walking by himself, in a gloomy long alley way on a stormy night. Lights were turning off and on, and the wind was howling like a wolf in the wild. All of a sudden, a figure appeared in the distance, and Talia's voice flooded his head.

"Why did you let me die Bruce? You could have saved me darling?" Talia's halucination spoke. "Why..?"

But Bruce couldn't respond. He wanted to respond, to tell Talia he was sorry, but no words came out of his mouth. Bruce had been walking towards this mysterious figure for what seemed as minutes now, but it seemed to get no closer to him, nor farther away. It wasnt a tall figure, it was shorter than Bruce from the looks of it. It was skinny too.

In a blink of eye, the surroundings around Bruce changed to not just an alley, but Crime Alley. Where his parents had been shot and killed many years ago. This was the true birthplace of the Batman. He looked down to see his parents, his father partially laying on his mother. Blood filled the area around them, and their faces were a light purple-ish blue color, like they had drowned. Their eyes opened up to reveal bright red eyes, and as they stared at Bruce, they screamed, "Help us Bruce! Dont leave us!"

But then it happened. The world around him shuttered and the building around him crumbled. The sky became a lightish yellow, and both the figure and Bruce's parents were gone. And at that moment he knew.

Scarecrow.

Was this his fear toxin? Or just a nightmare? Bruce tried waking himself up, but the world around him spun, and he couldn't balance himself. He fell to a knee and an enlarged version of Scarecrowfilled the sky.

"I see you little bat!" The Scarecrow yelled. But as Bruce went to get cover, Scarecrow slammed his hand down on him, waking him up. He woke up to smoke and he jumped out of bed.

His lungs filled with both air and fire smoke. His first reaction was to check on Alfred. He had always checked on him when he woke up during the night, and it was definitely not going to be different this time. He opened his bedroom door to see his hallway on fire. He quickly ran through the scorched hallway, but not before a piece of wood fell from the ceiling barely grazing his arm, both cutting it and burning it.

He shrugged it off quickly and ran to Alfred's room. He opened his butlers door to see it untouched. He quickly opened the door, and on the bed, was Alfred Pennyworth. He laid still, no movement at all. There was a note laying on Alfred's chest. The note read: "Fear will break you Batman."

Scarecrow found out his secret. He didn't know how. But that wasn't his problem right now. He moved closer to Alfred and looked at his face. Yellow veins ran through his cheeks and forehead. His eyes were bloodshot, but the veins had a small tint of yellow to them. Scarecrow's fear toxin had filled his body, and Bruce feared the worst. He felt his neck, desperately checking for a pulse. 

Nothing.

Bruce stood there over his dead butler's body. He closed Alfred's eyelids. As he looked at his loyal friend,  and he vowed to never let anyone in his life ever get hurt again. And with that thought, he cried.