Blüdhaven
Nighttime

"Police are still unsure on what ensued inside one of the warehouses behind me—"
"—illegal smuggling operation was disrupted by an unknown assailant or group of assailants—"
"—… possible crime syndicates participated in a deadly shooting tonight—"
"—… witnesses reported that the Moon turned into a blood red color for a few minutes, inciting a possible lunar eclipse—"
"The Justice League has sent two of their heroes to investigate—"

Three hours have passed since the massacre in the harbor of the Narrows took place as well as the crimson red moon phenomenon. The scene of the crime was filled with dozens of police officers patrolling the perimeter while crime scene investigators scoured the area for evidence. Outside the warehouse, several news reporters were standing outside the yellow as they reported the few details they received regarding the massacre while helicopters flew around in a circling pattern.

In the midst of the area, the Super Sons duo stood on top of the warehouse's ceiling, looking down at the group of bystanders that was slowly increasing by the minute. They arrived at the scene as soon as they could since they were patrolling outside of the city when they picked up Nightwing's distress call. The reason for their delay was that a robbery, led by Two-Face and The Riddle, took place in the Blüdhaven Natural History Museum, prompting Robin and Superboy to stop the supervillains in their tracks. The battle dragged on for almost two hours, with both heroes alternating their focus on both supervillains, their henchmen, any traps present in the building and avoiding damaging all national treasures currently in display.

Once the hectic battle came to an end, and the police took away the criminals in cuffs, they proceeded towards their destination. To reach the harbor faster, Superboy carried Robin in his arms and used superspeed to fly faster while Robin protested vehemently. When they reached the place, they could see that the police had already reached and began processing the warehouse. After standing around for some time in the ceiling, both heroes landed on the ground and immediately began to look around for Nightwing while helping in the investigation.

"What do you think happened here?" Superboy asked Robin.

"No idea, Corncob," Robin responded as he leaned down near one of the corpses, "But this bloodbath was not the product of a gang war nor of a clandestine crime syndicate."

"Yeah," Superboy inspected the beheaded corpse near him, "You think that dead creature caused all of this?"

"Well, seeing that all these dead bodies show signs of mauling and mutilation, I think it's safe to assume it did."

Superboy hummed softly at his partner's remark, acknowledging his terrible sense of sarcasm. He then looked at him with a worried face and asked hesitantly, "Do you think… Nightwing got out unharmed?"

Hearing his partner ask that question, Robin inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm himself. In truth, he was actually fearing the worst-case scenario as his oldest brother never sends out a distress signal unless he was in serious danger. He tried his best to remain calm at the situation as he didn't want Superboy to worry any more than he was; but after witnessing the corpses, the blood spatter, the bullet holes and the dead creature, it was getting harder to put a strong front. Superboy knew what his partner was trying to do but chose not to say anything.

Robin turned around and looked at his partner, his voice quivering a bit as he answered, "I… I don't know. I'm hoping that he did."

Superboy walked towards Robin and placed a hand on one of his shoulders, telling that he's not alone in this. He would've hugged him right then and there but knew it was inappropriate since they were in a crime scene. Robin acknowledged what his partner attempted to do and continued processing the scene. He took out various blood samples from the bodies and the pools of blood that were present while Superboy helped lift the container that laid on top of the creature's corpse so they could retrieve without issue. Robin informed the nearest S.T.A.R. Labs facility about the creature while taking some samples of his own from its claws, pelt and jaws.

"Right, I think we got enough samples to analyze," Robin said, tucking away his tools in his belt, "We should get back and start—"

One of the officers interrupted him and spoke to some of his colleagues, "Hey, are any of the bodies missing an arm?"

"Uh, no. All of them have their arms attached. Why?" another one responded.

"Well, I found one inside the creature's mouth. I think there was a third person or party involved as well."

Robin's heartbeat dropped cold when heard this and Superboy immediately moved towards his partner to calm him down. He reminded Robin to breath normally and to not lose focus on finding Nightwing. Robin managed to calm down and thanked Superboy before walking towards the officers, steeling his nerves for the ensuing conversation.

"Hey. My partner and I believe that arm could belong to Nightwing," Robin spoke with a stern demeanor.

"Nightwing? You sure about that?" responded the first officer.

The second officer chimed in, "Why would he be here all by himself? Doesn't make sense for him to take these folks down without proper backup."

"We're not sure about it ourselves," Robin replied, "We were supposed to be here when he sent out a distress signal but were delayed by the robbery at BNHM. We believe he's gone missing, and that arm could shed light on what happened here tonight."

The officers and investigators shared a look before a female investigator spoke, "Well… seeing as how backed up we are at the lab, I guess it's alright to give you the arm. Especially if it's about your missing friend."

Robin nodded at her as he received the arm inside the evidence bag. He looked back at them and said, "We thank you for your cooperation. We'll send you any information we get from it."

"The sooner the better," said another female investigator before everyone resumed their duties.

Robin walked back towards Superboy and both heroes left the area. Superboy flew slowly as Robin swung from one building to another, clutching the evidence tightly to his chest as he mentally prepared for the worst. All he could only think about was Dick's safety, something that he always cared about but never displayed to anyone except to Superboy. As they reached the outskirts, Robin landed near the river with Superboy gliding down slowly next to him. He looked at the arm intently before exhaling a quivering breath.

"Hey," Superboy spoke, breaking the silence as he hugged his partner, "I'm sure he's fine. He's gotten through worse before and pulled himself together, and he'll do it again. Have a bit of faith."

Robin didn't respond. He returned the hug and rested his head on Superboy's shoulder, taking deep breaths to calm down and not cry in public. When his breathing leveled, he stepped back and nodded at Superboy, letting him know he was right. He looked at the arm once more and sighed.

'Allah… please don't take him from me as well…' he prayed with sorrow as they left the city.

Location unknown
Time unknown

Darkness. Emptiness. Worthlessness. Coldness. Fear.

These are the feelings Dick felt when the creature engulfed him inside its appendage-like head and the light overwhelmed him. For a moment, he could sense the creature's grip on him lessen up gradually until he could not feel it. Following that, all of his senses began diminishing as well. He could no longer see, hear, taste or touch; he could no longer smell despite being able to draw a breath.

Then, suddenly, his senses returned slowly. First came touch, and with it, he could sense his body. He felt a flat surface resting on his back, smooth and sturdy. Then came sound and taste. He licked his lips and grimaced at the taste of his own blood as his hands pounced softly on the surface, giving a slight but noticeable metallic thump. Smell followed, and the sensation overwhelmed him. His nose perceived the stench of blood all over him yet his experience as a police officer told him that the smell was rotten, probably of months or years of not being cleaned up. Aside from blood, he could also breathe traces of alcohol, ammonia and other substances he couldn't identify, as well as decaying mold added to the mixture. Finally, sight came last to him; however, it wouldn't help him much as he found himself drifting in and out of consciousness constantly.

When Dick opened his eyes momentarily, he looked at where he was and learned that he was in some sort of abandoned room. He saw pieces of tattered cloth hanging on ropes in the ceiling; the walls were worn out, with parts of concrete missing in some areas and exposed either a collection of bricks, wooden wall supports or even a hole. Dozens of shelves were adjoined in the wall with countless jars and pots occupying the racks. He could not make out what was inside the jars as they were covered in dust and spider webs. To his right, he could see an IV pole standing next to what he now knew was his operation table with other medical equipment in trays. This led him to believe that the building he was in was some sort of clinic, yet he couldn't remember how he got there.

Turning on his left, Dick immediately spotted Beast Boy and tried to reach him to no avail. He then proceeded to call his name but found his voice failed him. He could see he was unconscious but breathing softly. He then looked on his arm and saw his left arm was reattached, much to his shock. Dick moved his right arm slowly to touch the area where the other one was ripped apart and felt no bite marks or surgical stitches in his skin.

Instead, he felt something wet and viscous in his hand, and he saw that it was blood. He quickly tried to wipe it out of his hand but part of it still remained dripping. He looked at the blood closely and saw that it had a light pigmentation, much different than what his blood normally looked.

"Pale… blood…?" Dick managed to voice out to himself.

"Oh, yes... Paleblood," a voice spoke, catching Dick by surprise. He spun his head around and saw a figure in front of him. He looked carefully at the figure and learned that it was an elderly man in a wheelchair. He wore a top hat and an eccentric dark garb with a cape, all of them being worn down while the cape showed further tearing in the fabric. The wheelchair had cushions and a lamp hanging on the left side. But what caught Dick's attention was that the man had cloth covering his eyes, something that struck him as an odd behavior.

"W… Where…" Dick tried to speak to the man, his voice rasping sorely as he struggled to ask him where he was. The man seemed to pick up on his question and he hummed softly, "Well, you've come to the right place. Yharnam is the home of Blood Ministration. You need only unravel its mystery."

The man's response clarified Dick's question of his whereabouts. He now knew the name of the city hew was in, assuming it is even a city at all; however, more questions came to his mind. What did he mean by 'Blood Ministration'? And what mystery did he had to solve? Dick tried to ask the old man about what he said but he continued his speech, "But, where's an outsider like yourself to begin? Easy, with a bit of Yharnam blood of your own... But first, you'll need a contract."

The man moved closer to Dick and pulled out a talisman from his right pocket. The talisman itself bore a rune that seemed to be dangling upside-down, unlike anything Dick had seen before. As the man pulled it closer to his face, Dick felt a sense of dizziness as images of the rune appeared etched in his mind over and over again along with the roar and screeches of a dangerous beast. A few seconds later, the man retracts the talisman away from him and puts it back on his pocket as Dick tried to stay awake.

"Good. All signed and sealed. Now let's begin the transfusion," the man spoke as he moved towards the IV pole, inserting some red liquid into the primary vial. He then looked at Dick, who was about to pass out, and assured him with a chuckle, "Oh, don't you worry. Whatever happens... You may think it all a mere bad dream..."

The old man let out low laugh, its nature being akin to a sinister intent. Dick looked at Beast Boy one more time before falling back into a deep slumber.

[. . . . . . .]

A few hours have passed by since the old man injected Dick the blood transfusion. The hero felt groggy as he came to his senses once more, looking around the room and seeing that it was dark, indicating that nightfall came. He rested his head in the stretcher for a second before turning to his left side, feeling at ease to see his friend still there, resting peacefully as he breathed calmly in the night. If there was something Dick felt grateful at the moment it was that Beast Boy was still alive and that he wasn't alone right now. Dick tried to reach his friend again, but his body still felt tired and aching in lots of places, leaving him only to remain still and watch over him.

He continued to look at his friend until something caught his eye. A pool of blood had begun to form on the floor between their beds, increasing ever so slightly until it reached both beds. Dick immediately began to search for the source of the blood but found no spilt flasks on the floor nor leaks in the ceiling. He pondered as to where the blood came when, suddenly, a claw rose up from the pool. Dick watched closely as the claw expanded to an arm followed by another one until moments later, a creature emerged covered in blood. Upon closer inspection, Dick realized that the creature resembled a werewolf in all aspects, making his blood run cold at the situation. The werewolf-like creature began to growl as it approached Dick, snarling as it lifted a claw towards his face menacingly. Dick closed his eyes and braced for the pain that was about to come.

Or at least he thought so, until something unexpected happened.

When the creature prepared itself to kill Dick, flames erupted all over his body, forcing it to step away from the hero. Dick opened his eyes and saw the creature thrashing wildly in the air as the fire burned through its skin. A few seconds later, the creature falls limp on the floor, its body charred and lifeless. Dick wondered what produced the fire, but his attention was averted to his legs when he felt something touch him. He looked down and saw a small hand resting on his left thigh. The hand displayed little to no tissue and shimmered softly, a speck of light in the heavy void of the darkness. Then a head appeared and, this time, Dick saw that it was a small skeleton climbing onto his body. Soon enough, more skeletons appeared and started to shroud his body. Dick attempted to move once more, failing to lift himself as the small skeletons pinned his arms and legs with just their bodies.

Feeling hopeless at his current situation, Dick breathed heavily in fear as the skeletons shrouded his sight. The darkness engulfed him for a third time, this time knocking him out slowly into unconsciousness. He then heard another voice; a woman's voice spoke in the room. Her words, smooth but intrigued, resonated in the room as if she were speaking to someone there. Before he fell dormant for the last time, Dick caught the following words from the woman:

"Ahh, you found yourself some hunters…"