"I think I could make a gift to you on their behalf, but I don't really have anything worthy to offer. But I I can infer your true intent- it was for to collect the fragnts, complete the Dark Heart, and then you would take it away. It's here now. It's yours."
For at least three minutes, Gabriel stood there stunned. He shook his head, saying, "No, Batman, don't think I would trust you. What have you put on the Dark Heart?"
"Can't you discern truth from lies?"
Once again, Gabriel stood still for five minutes, then incredulously muttered to himself, "Is he telling the truth? No, no, no, it's impossible! This must be a deception by Batman, beyond the world's comprehension. How could it be...why, do you..?"
After stumbling over his words for what felt like an eternity, Gabriel confronted Bruce with doubtful eyes.
Instead of hearing a long explanation as he expected, Bruce stepped forward, saying, "Nobody has ever truly chosen you, have they? Neither your master, nor your brothers, not even your believers. You were never their first choice."
"But now, I have chosen you firmly. No matter what you do with the Spirit of Revenge, or even if I could guess what it is you want to do, I don't care. I just want to give it to you."
Slowly, the tension on Gabriel's face eased. He stared coldly at Bruce for a while before finally speaking.
"You are the most terrifying Batman I've ever encountered."
"My pleasure. So, will you accept this gift?"
Gabriel dropped his gaze, and his wings flared out behind him. He spoke slowly, "I know the Spirit of Wrath is as furious as I am. God has betrayed us."
"He did not tell us when creating us that we were never his first choice. He always has sothing better, and we are just disposable backups."
"No one in heaven can understand . They think I want too much, even as I suffer in plain sight. They all turn a blind eye. I think only the Spirit of Wrath can understand , because he was also abandoned by God."
"I will return to heaven with him - " Gabriel's voice rose, "destroy the hypocritical Sanctum and let those who can't understand , who can't feel my pain, scurry away in panic. Let them cry out in despair for help, and truly see what a cold and heartless God looks like!"
Gabriel slowly raised his eyes to look at the ground before him and spoke, "Angels are born pure. Every second I go against my instincts of righteousness and benevolence tornts . But I must make them understand , because the one who should understand the most does not love ."
"But I understand you at this mont," Bruce looked at him and said, " I know what causes your pain and still I chose you over a thousand better choices."
"That's why I said, you're more terrifying than any other Batman," Gabriel drew a deep breath, his teeth chattering, even the feathers on his wings trembling, "This is the first gift I've received, you know I can't, I can't... "
Relief spread over Gabriel's physique as he surrendered, "I have nothing to give back to you. You wouldn't accept my gift anyway."
"Do you know that in human society, people usually start to return a favour after accepting a gift? If you've already started thinking about returning a gift, it ans you want to accept this one."
"Shut up, don't tempt , you damned devil!"
Bruce started to walk in circles around Gabriel, his voice soft as he spoke, "Think about it. When you return to Heaven with the Spirit of Wrath, they'll be surprised where you managed to retrieve him."
"And you can tell them, it was a gift from a friend. It would definitely surprise them to know you have friends outside of Heaven."
"While other angels generously and kindly respond to human prayers, you abandon your duties and wreak havoc on Earth, yet you receive a sincere gift from mankind."
Placing his hand on Gabriel's shoulder, Bruce whispered in his ear, "Do Lucifer and Michael have such honour?"
All of a sudden, Gabriel was rigid. After a while, he took a deep breath, swallowed, and walked with stiff steps towards the Dark Heart.
The radiance surrounding Gabriel enveloped the Dark Heart, and after being shrouded in holy light, the figures of the angel and the Dark Heart in the room disappeared.
"I've heard your inner wrath... Gabriel, since you ca for , why don't you set free...I can help you release your inner fury..."
Gabriel's hand montarily paused, but he didn't look at the Dark Heart, instead he said, "I've changed my mind, Batman was right, instead of using you to destroy Heaven, I'll just bring you in front of Michael. His reaction would be priceless."
Gabriel humd in a buoyant tone, apparently imagining the look on the other angels' faces. But as he walked out of the Guide Palace through the door of Heaven, not the familiar Guide Guardian appeared before him, but a beam of light.
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