Gotham Nightmare.

Chapter Three

*This story is set after Terry graduates from high school, but before he starts college. Yes, it is a crossover. All characters copyright 2001 DC comics and/or Warner Bros. I don't own Terry McGinnis or Bruce Wayne. I do, however, own all characters I created which are mentioned in this story. *

Damn it. DAMN IT. Anthony Satin unconsciously vamped out and smashed his fist through the nearest thing he could find. The crate nearly exploded, and sent wood shards flying. He thought he had finally lost that pathetic halfling Nightmare when he jumped ship and headed to Gotham.

He suddenly looked up, as another presence entered the room.

"I'm hungry…" the former hooker named Claire purred as she wrapped her arms around Satin's waist from behind. Satin's demonic visage faded as he glanced at Claire.

"Feeding time will come soon, sweet," He whispered to her as he inhaled deeply, catching a fowl scent he knew well on the air. "But first… we have business to attend to…"



*



Batman perched himself atop Wayne Tower once again, listening to the wind howling. Nightmare was nowhere to be seen.

"So. You gonna fill me in on our new friend, or do I get to play guessing games all night," Batman rasped into his com link.

Wayne grunted, and after a long minute replied, "I trained him a few years back. Said he didn't want a thing to do with crime fighting, just wanted to learn the martial arts…"

"That's it," Batman asked, his impatience growing. "How long did he train with you?"

Wayne snorted. "Two and a half years." Beneath his cowl, Terry's brow knitted.

"What is he exactly?"

"I know as much as you do on that subject."

Terry grunted. A sound drifted up to him, and caught his attention. A scream. "Something's up. I'm checking it out," the Batman stated as he leapt into the air and began to plummet downward. At the last possible instant, Batman snapped his wings up, and tackled a small group surrounding a young woman. The woman screamed and backed her self against a wall, as Batman rose to his feet.

The five men stood, and Batman's stomach sank to his ankles. Vampires. All five of them were vampires. Batman slid into a defensive crouch, and flipped a batarang into his hand.

"You alright," Terry asked the young woman against the wall. He was answered with a chuckle. "Great," he moaned as she joined her companions.

As a unit, the pack of Vampires leapt at Terry. On pure gut instinct, Terry hurled the batarang before he jumped into the air. The sharp edge sliced completely through the neck of the female vamp, and with a choked sound, she crumbled to dust. Terry allowed himself a small smile as he somersaulted and landed behind the remaining vamps. He landed in a squatting position, and readied himself as the vamps did a 180 and ran back towards him. Batman then spun around with one leg outstretched, and swept the vamps off their feet.

Batman stood, and surveyed his surroundings for a possible weapon.

"Look for something wooden," Wayne supplied, a slight bit of pride in his voice. Terry smiled as his eyes fell upon an old wooden chair at the other end of the alley.

"Gotcha." Batman sprinted forward, and grabbed one of the chair's legs. With a violent jerk, he broke off the leg and spun to face the vamps. Like mindless animals, they charged him again, and Batman stood his ground. One vampire leapt forward, ready to sink his teeth into the Tomorrow Knight's neck.

A quick kick to the sternum sent the vampire flying. Another of the vamps sent a wild punch at Batman's face, which he easily dodged. The bat brought the stake up and rammed it through the vampire's chest. As the vamp crumbled into dust, the remaining four attacked at once. Batman fired off four batarang in quick succession, knocking the vamps back for a moment.

This time, Batman took the offensive and charged the vampires. A quick knee to the gut sent the first one doubling over onto the tip of the make shift stake. As it crumbled to ashes, Batman spun around, connecting his foot with the temple of another vampire. He staked it before it fell, leaving only one vampire left to deal with.

Batman smirked, and casually tossed the stake from one hand to another before motioning the vamp to come on.

A look of shear terror clouded the vamps face, and he quickly ran from the Batman.

As the vamp ran away, Terry leaned his back against a wall and slid down into a sitting position, his breath coming as ragged gasps. He looked down at the jagged stake and promptly dropped it like it was a poisonous snake.

With a shaking hand he slid his cowl back to wipe the sweat off his worry- creased brow. "... ok... that was weird."

He slid he cowl slowly back on as something shifted in the alley way and an old trash can toppled over. He grabbed his stake and stood ready, as a stray cat poked his head around a corner.

Terry shook his head as the cat silently padded the rest of the way into the alley.

"Nicely executed," Wayne said with a hint of a smile in his voice.

"Very funny," Terry responded as the cat meowed curiously. Suddenly he stiffened, as the atmosphere in the alley shift, and he was greeted with the soft sound of leather-clad hands clapping. Terry turned, and wasn't surprised to see Nightmare leaning against a wall clapping lightly.

"I'll give you this much, you did a hell of a lot better then I did my first time against vampires," Nightmare chuckled in his demonic voice.

Batman unknowingly cringed, and dropped his stake. "What took you so long?"

Nightmare shrugged. "I had to make sure you could handle yourself against vampire. You passed."

Batman quirked a single eyebrow.

The stray cat hissed at something and then bolted from the alley.

Then came the inhuman growls.

Batman groaned and resumed his defense crouch. "Do these things always travel in packs?" Nightmare doesn't bother to respond as the alley became cold. Twenty some vampires rounded the corner of the alley, nostrils flared with the rich scent of blood.

"Divide and conquer," Nightmare suddenly whispered into Batman's ear.

Nightmare charged straight into the pack of vampire, his arms fading into long black slices of shadow. He lunged forward, decapitating two vampires with a single swipe of his shadow blade. He spun around, his arms returning to normal as three more vampire charged at him.

A patch of blackness ripped from the wall and flew to his hand. With a flick of his wrist the patch of shadow sprang out of his hand as a fist full of razor sharp ninja stars. The stars flew straight and true, slicing off the heads of Nightmare's opponents.

Batman held his ground as six vampires slowly advance toward him. He remembered the stake in his fist, a cocky smiled formed on his face. He suddenly bolted forward, taking the lead vampire completely by surprise. The stake penetrated the demon's heart, and it was no more.

The second vampire charged him, and the Batman leapt straight up. The bat- like protrusions on his forearms extended, and he let him self fall back to the ground, spinning 360 degrees and decapitating two more of the undead.

Nightmare grunted as one of the vampire's talon clawed hands dug into his side. The alley grew deathly silent as ten pairs of golden eyes turned toward him. Nightmare's black lips curled back to reveal sharp canine teeth as a demonic snarl escaped his throat . The vampire with his talons in Nightmare's side quickly removed them and took two steps back.

"Not far enough," Nightmare hissed mentally as the fingers on both hands extended in four inch long black claws. With a deafening roar, Nightmare lunged to his side, savagely ripping out the offending vampire's throat. A gurgle escaped the vampire's deformed lips, as he shattered into a cloud of ash.

The ten sets of golden eyes glossed over with terror as Nightmare slowly turned toward them, the throat of the other vampire still dripping gore off his fingers.

"C'mon," he hissed and took a single step forward, the vampires taking a step back. A full-fledged laugh came from his throat, and the vampires froze in there tracks. Nightmare's eyes suddenly began to glow the crimson of blood, he charged forward, shoving the spiked toe of his boot straight through the jaw of the first vampire he came to. He spun his leg around slinging the crumbling vampire into a nearby wall. He landed, letting his momentum carry him around, bringing the blade of his red gauntlet through the throat of another vampire. Meanwhile, he lashed out with his left hand and literally sliced a vampire in half with his claws.

Letting the two dead vampires drop and crumble, he pounced forward, extending his already deadly fingers to an impossible length, sending them straight through five of the vampire's hearts. He pulled up, ripping the impaled hearts completely out of the vampire's bodies. Nightmare smiled at the last one, and the vampire backed himself into a wall.

As The Batman landed in a crouch, the last five vampires pounced at once. Instinctively, Batman shot off five razor sharp batarangs, decapitating one of the vamps. The other four didn't falter in their attack, and still came at Batman.

With stake in hand, The Tomorrow Knight bolted forward, staking the closest vampire to him. Two of the undead creatures attack at once, nearly over powering the Bat. Batman let the claws built into his glove extend, and he jabbed them mercilessly into one of the vampire's eyes. The vampire screeched in pain, allowing Batman enough time to stake him. The Tomorrow Knight shoved the other vampire off of him and stood to his full height.

"Had enough," He smirked as the vampire regained his footing. It lunged at him once again. "Guess not." Batman waited until the vampire was right on top of him before shoving the stake through his heart. A smirk formed on the Batman's face.

"Batman! Duck," Nightmare suddenly shouted in a voice the one did not disobey. As soon as Batman hit the ground, a black shard of shadow flew over him, followed by a disturbing gurgle and the sound of a vampire turning to dust. Batman hastily got to his feet and looked at the pile of dust behind him.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"I'll take a rain check," Nightmare half chuckled, half grunted.