THE BATCAVE

The Batmobile returns to the Batcave. The vehicle parks in its usual spot and Batman climbs out and walks over to the Batcomputer. Batman takes a seat in front of the massive computer system. He reaches into his utility belt and pulls out the small vial of vampire blood that he harvested from Nicole back at Arkham. Batman removes his cowl and plops his ass into his computer chair. Bruce holds his hand to his face and exhales in exhaustion.

"Fuck", he says.

Then, the computer is switched on and the image of Barbara Gordon, AKA: Oracle is seen. She is a red-haired lady with glasses and sitting in a wheelchair. Oracle asks, "Bruce, are you all right"?

Bruce says, "I'm fine, Oracle".

"Bruce, I think you owe me an explanation. I hacked into Arkham's surveillance and I saw footage of inmates being killed by something that doesn't appear on film", Oracle says.

Bruce looks up at the screen and replies, "Those inmates were slaughtered by vampires"!

Oracle is silent for only a few moments. Oracle says, "Are you kidding me, Bruce"?

Bruce turns to the Batcomputer's monitor and glares at it and says, "Do I look like I'm kidding you"?!

Oracle takes a good look at Bruce's expression and she knows that Bruce isn't full of shit on the matter.

"No, I guess you're not", Oracle says.

Bruce types a few keys on his keyboard and says, "Barbara, I'm forwarding you a few things for you to look over. When you've reviewed them, you'll know what we're up against".

Oracle then says, "All right, Bruce, I'll do that".

Then she looks at Bruce and takes notice of his present condition: tired and drained, especially after going toe-to-toe with two vampires.

"Bruce, might I suggest that you take some time away from the cape and cowl? You look like you could use it", Oracle says.

Bruce says, "And what exactly do you suggest I do, Oracle?! I have to find the fucker that is responsible for all these killings".

"Bruce, I know you have to, but right now, you are in no condition to do so. Just go out and have fun! Maybe take that Chelsea Morton girl out again, like you did a few night ago. Do anything, except being Batman", Oracle says.

Oracle cuts off communication with the Batcave. Bruce is left by himself in the cave. He then exits from the Batsuit and leaves the cave.

WAYNE MANOR- MASTER BEDROOM

Bruce makes his way into the master bedroom and plops his ass into bed. He pulls the covers over himself and tries to sleep. It takes him some time, but Bruce finally goes to sleep and hopefully, he will dream well.

NIGHTMARE TIME

There is absolute darkness. Bruce's voice is heard, "Where am I"?

Suddenly, a bright red light is seen in the middle and it quickly expands into a new scene. Bruce is found standing before Castle Dracula as it was seven centuries ago, during the reign of Vlad III and the invasion of the Ottoman Empire. Bruce is in nothing but his pajama bottoms and his bare feet. The skies are red as blood and so are the clouds. Red lightning is seen crashing from the skies to the ground below. It is an unsettling sight to see. Bruce looks upon the castle itself. Suddenly, he is pulled mysteriously away from the castle and over a cliff. WHOOSH! Bruce falls straight down to the bottom and lands feet first. At the bottom, Bruce finds a forest of some kind standing in front of him. This forest is not like any forest you may have seen. This is a whole forest of impaled bodies. Many of these poor suckers are still alive and in horrible pain, as they slowly bleed to death. These men are Muslim Turks from the Ottoman Empire; the empire that invaded Eastern Europe after the siege of Constantinople. Wallachia was on the empire's list of countries that were ready to be conquered. So, Bruce is horrified by the very sight of the impaled bodies. He turns to his left and sees something else. Sitting at a gold banquet table, is Dracula or Prince Vlad III; Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler. He is seen sitting at his table watching the bodies slowly die of impalement. Two of his guards are seen preparing to impale another Turk. The poor bastard is tied to the ground, while the two guards are preparing the eight foot long stake. They position it right where it needs to go; the Turk's ass. WHAM! The stake is shoved right up there and the Turk is screaming in pain. Another soldier is seen approaching the Turk and he uses his sword and cuts the bounds from his wrist and ankles. Finally, the three soldiers work together and hoist the stake upward, so that gravity will do the rest upon the unfortunate Turk. Vlad is seen admiring the action, while eating a piece of bread. He takes that piece of bread and dunks into a bowl of what looks like gravy, but it is actually human blood. Vlad puts the bread piece to his mouth and eats it. That's disgusting. Bruce is shocked to see what lies before him. Then, he turns back to the forest of impaled bodies. Then, Bruce sees a horrific sight: the bodies have changed from the Turks to many of Batman's allies. You can see Alfred, Barbara and Jim Gordon. There are also some new faces that you haven't seen including Dick Grayson, the original Robin, but now he is Nightwing. There is also Tim Drake, the current Robin, Chief Rojas and his own parents; Thomas and Martha Wayne. They all plead to Bruce for help. Bruce is beyond horrified by the very sight he sees. He turns away and then comes face to face with Dracula.

Dracula grins at Bruce and with those blazing red eyes, he says, "Welcome to my world, Batman...You're in good company".

Dracula suddenly evaporates into dark red smog. Bruce is left beside himself. Under his feet, the ground begins to quake and zombie-like hands peer out and begin grabbing Bruce's legs. They grab him and begin dragging him down to the ground. Bruce struggles to get free, but it is too late. He is pulled completely down into the ground.

Bruce then finds himself falling out of the crimson skies and landing feet first into an old cemetery. Bruce looks around and sees many headstones, which have no names on them. They are all blank. Suddenly, the sky begins to show thunder and lightning. Rain then follows in its wake. Bruce becomes soaked in the rain and then feels the rain coming upon his body and he wipes his hand across his chest and feels what it really is.

"Blood", Bruce says.

Bruce walks slowly down the path through the cemetery. Bruce continues to walk, until he is met by a familiar face. It's mob boss Reinhardt. He still has the end of the rebar poking out of his shoulder; the same rebar that Dracula used to impale him earlier.

Reinhardt is bleeding from the mouth as he begins to talk to Bruce, "What can you do now, Batman? It is over for you. Dracula has already won this fight. It won't be long. He will cripple you: body and soul. And when it is all over, you will beg for death".

The figure of Reinhardt suddenly evaporates into thin air. Bruce continues to walk down the path. Suddenly, he is met by another familiar face: Victor Zsasz. His whole throat is ripped open and he is still able to talk, "Take a good look, Batman. There was only one way to stop me from killing anymore piggies in Gotham. Dracula had the guts, as well as the balls to do what you refuse to do".

Zsasz laughs as he too dissolves into thin air. Suddenly, Bruce is met by another apparition in the form of Nicole, the vampire hooker that Batman defeated. Nicole's whole body is burnt to a crisp, due to the UV device that Batman used on her at Arkham. She glares into Bruce's eyes and says, "You've been known to never kill your enemies, Batman and yet tonight, you did exactly that. You broke your golden rule: You killed. Now, you're no better than the countless criminals that have done the same thing".

Bruce looks pissed off and swings his fists at the apparition. The apparition suddenly disappears, just like the other ones. Bruce looks around for any more apparitions, but so far, none arrive. Then, Bruce hears a voice saying, "Bruce".

Bruce turns around and standing in front of him is the figure of Chelsea Morton, dressed in a long black dress and looking into Bruce's eyes.

"Chelsea", Bruce says.

Chelsea approaches him and presses her body against Bruce's.

"Kiss me, Bruce. Kiss me", she says.

Bruce kisses Chelsea on the lips passionately. They stop and suddenly, Chelsea bares her teeth and reveals vampire fangs. Suddenly, Chelsea moves in and bites into Bruce's shoulder. She rips a bit out of his shoulder and Bruce pushes away. Chelsea then disappears into thin air. Bruce holds onto his wounded shoulder and runs through the cemetery. He runs to the top of a hill and stumbles upon a rather large gravestone. The blood rain has ceased and Bruce stands before the massive gravestone and noticing only one thing carved into the stone. That word happens to be only one name: "Batman". Bruce sees the name on the headstone and appears to be horrified. He still has his hand clutched to his wounded shoulder, preventing any more blood coming out. Before Bruce can even walk away, the ground underneath the gravestone begins to quake and the soil starts to get loosened. Then, a skeleton hand bursts out from the ground, wearing the same finned gauntlet that Batman wears. The skeleton rises up from the ground and starts regenerating its skin rapidly. Bruce watches in horror as the skeleton rises from the grave. The skeleton is also wearing a long black cape. Bruce looks at the skeleton and is horrified. The creature is Batman. Batman glares at Bruce with those crimson red eyes. Batman growls like a hungry lion and then he opens his mouth and reveals his vampire fangs. Batman lunges at Bruce. Just as the Batman beast gets close…

WAYNE MANOR- MASTER BEDROOM

…Bruce suddenly wakes up from his nightmare. He is covered in sweat and breathing heavily. The rays of the sun can be seen outside. Bruce slows his breathing and looks at the window and sees the morning sun rising. Then, Bruce gets himself out of bed and into his bathroom.

WAYNE MANOR- LIVING ROOM

Some time later, Bruce is found in the living room, watching TV. Unfortunately, he is watching the morning news with Vicki Vale.

Vicki is reporting from Arkham Asylum, "In what police are calling the most gruesome crime in Gotham history, an unidentified perpetrator seized control of Arkham Asylum and forced all working personnel out of the building. When GCPD entered the asylum, with the aid of Batman, they found, what Chief Ramirez described as a literal slaughterhouse".

Footage of dead bodies being hauled out of the asylum, by coroners can be seen on TV. Vicki Vale continues her report, "Almost every inmate inside Arkham was found horribly butchered and drained completely of blood. Among these victims was notorious serial killer Victor Zsasz. Fortunately, there was a good portion of survivors in the lower containment levels of Arkham. Among those survivors are notorious criminals Killer Croc and the Mad Hatter. Police are still investigating for a motive to this horrible crime. Police Commissioner Gordon and Chief Ramirez have declined to comment on the matter".

Bruce switches off the TV and just sits in his recliner in silence. Then, Bruce pulls out his cell phone and dials a number. Bruce hears the four dial tones but no answer, until it goes right to Chelsea's answering machine. It says, "Hi, this is Chelsea and I can't come to the phone now, so leave a message and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can".

Bruce grunts a bit and then the beep is heard on the other line and Bruce gives his message, "Hey, Chelsea, it's Bruce. I'm sorry I haven't called you back. I've had a ton of things to handle at Wayne Enterprises and at the mayor's office. Anyway, I wanted to see if you're free tonight. Call me back. Thanks".

Bruce hangs up his phone. Now what is Bruce to do, since he promised Oracle not to put on the Batsuit and fight crime tonight?