At the Gotham Grand Hotel in downtown, Prof. Harker has settled into his hotel suite, courtesy of Gotham University. He sits by himself on his chair, watching something on his flat screen television. The old professor is also sipping on a nice glass of Scotch on the rocks. Everything is absolutely quiet, until the knocking at the door.
Outside, a voice is heard saying, "Housekeeping, Senor".
The voice sounds to be a bad imitation of a Mexican woman. Prof. Harker turns to his door and looks a bit confused at the idea of housekeeping making a call this late in the night. He sets his glass down and walks to the door.
He gets close to the door and speaks to whoever outside, "Isn't it a little late in the evening to make a housekeeping call, madam"?
Harker opens the door, and we see Marcos Rosado standing in front of him and he speaks in the bad Mexican woman's voice, "Not at all, Senor".
Suddenly, Marcos throws a fist right into the Professor's face. Harker falls to the floor. Marcos and his brother Jorge quickly run into the suite and look around for what they can find.
Marcos says, "Spread out and look for it! The boss said it's here somewhere".
Marcos looks into the closet, while Jorge looks into the suitcase on Harker's bed. He rips it open and throws all the clothes out. Suddenly, he pulls out a gold urn from inside the suitcase. The urn is decorated with priceless gems, and it's all covered in engraved Latin letters.
Jorge shouts, "I found it, bro"!
Jorge hauls ass out of the room, with the urn. Marcos follows, but suddenly, Marcos is punched in the face, and he spits out blood. He is then tackled to the ground, by Harker. He begins wrestling around the floor with the Latino man, until Harker is the first to get back on his feet. Harker grabs Marcos by the throat and pins him to the wall. Harker glares into Marcos' eyes. Suddenly, Marcos kicks the old man in the knee, which then causes Harker to lose his grip on Marcos. Then, Marcos pulls out a Stiletto knife from his pocket and lunges at the professor with it. The blade pierces through the old man's stomach. Undeterred by the bladed weapon, Harker continues to fight. Harker is not going down easily, so Marcos stabs him over and over again until finally Harker falls to the ground, bleeding out. Marcos withdraws his knife into his pocket. Suddenly, Jorge runs back in and immediately spots the dying professor.
Jorge looks absolutely shocked, and he turns to Marcos and says, "That wasn't part of the plan, motherfucker"!
Marcos replies, "I had no choice. He was putting up a fight"!
Jorge looks down to the professor and shakes his head and responds, "Whatever, man. The boss is not going to like it. Let's get out of here"!
Marcos and Jorge haul ass out of the suite, with the urn in their possession. Thomas Harker is lying still on the floor, with blood slowly pouring out from every wound in his belly. The TV continues to play whatever it is that it is showing, but dead men don't watch TV.
Back at police headquarters, Giordano finishes up his interview with Keith Noonan. He comes out of the interrogation room and joins up with Chief Ramirez and Commissioner Gordon.
Gordon says, "What did you find out, Scott"?
Giordano says, "Batman really scared this kid shitless, Commissioner".
Ramirez replies, "Tell us something we don't know, detective".
Giordano then chimes in, "Collins is double dealing weapons".
Ramirez and Gordon turn to look at Giordano. They are shocked.
Giordano says, "Noonan told me that Collins has been selling shipments of IRA guns to both Reinhardt and Sionis".
"Holy Christ", Ramirez says.
Gordon hears the telephone in his office ringing and Gordon goes to answer it. Ramirez and Giordano continue to speak.
Giordano says, "This is a fucking turf war waiting to happen".
"Yeah, no shit", Ramirez replies.
Suddenly, Gordon quickly comes out of his office and says, "Boys, let's go. There's been a murder at the Gotham Grand"!
Less than an hour later, police and crime scene investigators have gathered inside Prof. Harker's suite. The body of the deceased professor is being hauled out by coroners in a body bag. On the scene, you will find Police Commissioner Gordon and Chief Ramirez. The Medical Examiner, Dr. Emily Casper approaches Gordon and Ramirez with her clipboard.
Gordon asks, "What have we got, doc"?
"The victim's name is Thomas Vincent Harker, professor of anthropology from Oxford University. He was invited to Gotham University to lecture. The poor man just arrived tonight, too", Dr. Casper explains.
"Someone must've wanted him dead", Ramirez says.
"Yes, but from the condition of his luggage, it seems that whoever killed him, wanted something from him. They knew exactly where to find it", Dr. Casper says.
Gordon shakes his head and says, "Alright, thank you, doctor. We're going to have to inform the president of Gotham University that Prof. Harker is dead".
Ramirez asks, "Alright, boss, but who's going to do the honors"?
Gordon looks at Ramirez and says, "Don't be a wise-ass, Miguel".
Outside the Gotham Grand, Gordon is found standing by himself, smoking a cigarette. He then says, "I take it that you know what's happened".
You would expect nobody to answer the Commissioner's statement, but you do.
A voice says, "Yes, I do".
Coming out of a dark alley next to the Grand, is Batman. Batman approaches Gordon.
"This is some nasty business, Batman. That poor man had just arrived in Gotham and then he gets killed. And I just got off the phone with the president of Gotham University", Gordon explains.
Batman asks, "Any idea who killed the professor"?
Gordon says, "The desk clerk told us that two Latino men came in asking for Prof. Harker's suite. We're checking the surveillance footage to see who these men are".
Batman then says, "I'll do what I can on my end, Jim".
Before Batman leaves, Gordon speaks, "By the way: It looks like our fears about Collins are true. He is dealing weapons to the Mob and to Black Mask".
Batman disappears back into the shadows, while Gordon finishes his cigarette.
An hour later, everything seems to be calm at the Gotham Grand Hotel, specifically in the suite where Thomas Harker stayed in and where he was murdered in. A crime scene has been set up in the room. It's like you're watching an episode of CSI. Then, the window of the suite opens and Batman climbs into the room. Through his night-vision lenses that are built within his cowl, Batman scans the room. He walks to the door and finds the fingerprints of Thomas Harker on the knob.
"The Professor walked to the door and opened it. The perpetrators must've come in, knocked him down and then rushed into the room", Batman says in his head.
Batman walks over to the bed, where one of the Professor's suitcases had been ripped open. There are clothes strung out everywhere. Batman notices a sign that there was something heavy inside the suitcase.
"Whoever came in, went straight for the suitcase and found whatever it was that the Professor had", Batman says to himself.
Then, Batman goes straight to the spot where Harker was killed. He takes notices that the lamp has been knocked down and the foot stool.
"Obviously, the Professor fought his attacker. They struggled all over the place", Batman continues.
He looks at the wall and finds a small splatter of blood. Batman analyzes it and gets a positive ID.
"The blood is not the Professor's; possibly one of the perpetrators", Batman says.
Then, he goes up to the wall, where Prof. Harker had his attacker pinned. Batman spots the blood splatters on the floor.
"The Professor must've pinned his attacker to the wall. The perpetrator must've broken away from Harker's grasp, which gave him the chance to stab the Professor in the stomach", Batman says to himself.
Batman comes to the very spot where Prof. Harker bled out and died. It was right next to his chair, where he was watching TV.
Batman asks himself, "What was taken? What could someone possibly want from a man like Thomas Harker"?
Batman answers that by going to a desk where there is a dossier lying on top of it. The Caped Crusader opens it and finds many written notes and scanned copies of certain relics. He suddenly picks up a paper that bares a picture of the urn that was stolen from the Professor.
Batman reads the Professor's notes that are written on this particular piece of paper, "Inside this very urn are the mortal remains of Vlad III; Prince of Wallachia, second son of the House of Basarab; also known as Vlad Tepes; Vlad the Impaler; Dracula".
The mere mention of the name "Dracula" should send a shiver down the spines of even the bravest of men, but not Batman.
"You've got to be kidding me", Batman says to himself.
Batman looks around for anything that might be of interest. Suddenly, Batman stares down at the bottom of the desk, where he sees a medium sized lockbox, sitting against the wall. Batman reaches down and picks it up from the floor. Batman looks for a way to open it, but he finds no other way. He then pulls a pick from his utility belt and proceeds to pick the lock. Batman is successful in picking the lock and he pulls open the lockbox and he finds five books. Batman pulls out the first book which is titled, The Journal of Jonathan Harker.
Batman looks at it in shock and says to himself, "What the hell"?
He then looks into the box and pulls out the other four books. The other four belong to the following people: Mina Murray, Jack Seward, Lucy Westenra and Abraham Van Helsing. As you may recall from your literature, these particular characters are from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Batman cannot comprehend what he is holding in his hands. They are the five main sources that told Stoker's tale. Batman gathers the five journals and the dossier containing all of Prof. Harker's research and then he leaves the suite, via the window. WHOOSH! Batman jumps off the ledge and falls down from the sky. He quickly pulls his grappling gun and fires it at another ledge. WHOOSH! He is pulled to another building. Batman starts running across the rooftop and jumps off the edge and falls straight down to the ground below. The Batmobile parks directly beneath Batman as he descends from the hotel tower. Batman uses his cape as a parachute and gently lands into the Batmobile. He sets the books and the dossier on the passenger seat and drives off.
Batman is now back at the Batcave, analyzing all five books, as well as analyzing the crime scene at the Professor's hotel suite. Alfred walks into the cave, dressed in his pajamas and robe.
Alfred asks, "Might I inquire what you're doing now, Master Bruce"?
Batman answers, "Prof. Harker was murdered this evening in his hotel suite".
"Oh, dear", Alfred says.
Batman removes his cowl and becomes Bruce again. He is analyzing the small splatter of blood on the wall, belonging to one of the perpetrators who killed Prof. Harker.
"Okay, I've got a positive ID on who this blood belongs to", Bruce says.
Then, a digital profile of Marcos Rosado is seen on the Batcomputer.
"It belongs to one Marcos Enrique Rosado. He's been in and out of jail in both Mexico and here in Gotham on drug possession, aggravated assault and armed robbery. We can add first degree murder to that list, now", Bruce says.
Then, another digital profile is brought up onto the Batcomputer; Jorge Rosado.
"He's got a younger brother who's just as dirty as he is: Jorge Tomas Rosado", Bruce says.
Alfred looks at the screen and says, "Well, it seems that you've knocked it out of the park, again, Master Bruce".
Bruce pauses for a moment and says, "That's not all I found on the scene, Alfred. I found the Professor's research as well as these five books".
Bruce pulls out the deceased Professor's research dossier and the five journals he recovered. Alfred takes one of the journals and reads it. The journal he has taken belongs to Jonathan Harker.
Alfred reads a passage, "25th May; Budapest: Left Budapest early this morning. The impression I had was that we were leaving the west and entering the east. The district I am to enter is in the extreme east of the country, just on the borders between three states: Transylvania, Moldavia and Bukovina; in the midst of the Carpathian Mountains; one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe".
Alfred looks up from the journal in disbelief and says, "It cannot be, Master Bruce. You cannot seriously believe that this is the journal of the Jonathan Harker from Bram Stoker's Dracula".
"I don't want to believe it either, Alfred, but I've run the scanner on all five journals; five times for each one and they are all one hundred percent authentic", Bruce says.
Bruce also pulls out a certain page from the deceased professor's research dossier; the paper talking about the contents of the gold urn that was stolen from the professor.
"This is what I first found when I went into the suite. It's obviously part of Prof. Harker's research and possibly what he was going to lecture about. According to these notes, this urn contains the mortal remains of Vlad III or as he's known as Vlad the Impaler; Dracula", Bruce continues.
Alfred inquires what is so important about the urn, to which Bruce explains, "I found no trace of it in the professor's hotel room. I noticed that one of his suitcases was ripped open. I can only assume that the Rosados have taken it".
Alfred then asks, "For what purpose, sir"?
Bruce just shakes his head and says, "I don't know, Alfred. I wish I knew. But if that urn does indeed contain the remains of Vlad III, it would be worth thousands or millions on the Black Market".
Alfred takes a sip of his tea and says, "Yes, well, I must retire for the evening. I have to catch my flight tomorrow at 10am".
Bruce then asks, "Are you going somewhere"?
Alfred says, "Surely, you haven't forgotten about my birthday present: my month-long vacation to Hawaii, Master Bruce".
Bruce face-palms himself and says, "Oh, shit. Sorry, Alfred, I forgot".
"I understand, sir", Alfred says.
He walks away from the Batcomputer and walks up the stairs that lead into stately Wayne Manor. Bruce continues to rummage through Prof. Harker's research notes. He stumbles upon a personal note, written by the professor, himself.
We are treated to the following in Harker's notes:
"I have kept this urn, for more than fifty years, since my father died. Inside this urn are the remains of one Vlad III; Prince of Wallachia. He is known by other names such as Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler, but to the world, he is Dracula. I was but a lad who graduated from high school and joined the British Army, during the last years of WWII, when my father gave ownership of the urn to me. My grandfather: Jonathan Harker had kept lordship over the urn, since it was passed down by his old friend Abraham Van Helsing. I had read the Bram Stoker tale and never believed any of it, until my father passed down both the urn and five journals: all belonging to Lucy Westenra, Abraham Van Helsing, and Doctor Jack Seward and my grandmother and grandfather, Mina & Jonathan Harker. Everything in Bram Stoker's tale was for real and my grandmother and grandfather's journal verified that it was all true".
Bruce sets down the paper and leaves the Batcave.
Next morning, at the Gotham International Airport, there is a Corvette that is being driven to the front entrance. Bruce comes out of the driver's seat, while Alfred comes out of the passenger's seat. Bruce goes to the trunk of the car and grabs Alfred's luggage. As Bruce gets the last suitcase out, Alfred asks, "Are you quite sure you can survive a month without me, Master Bruce"?
Bruce nods and replies, "I'll do my best, Alfred. Besides, you earned this, so I shouldn't get in the way of that".
Bruce still seems a bit shaken by what he discovered last night. Alfred takes notice of Bruce's mood and asks, "Are you all right, sir? You look as if you had seen a ghost".
Bruce smiles and says, "Oh, uh, I'm quite all right, Alfred. It was a rough night and I probably need to catch some zees when I get back home".
Alfred smiles and says, "Of that, I'm sure. So many nights you've…been out and about having fun and I think you might want to sleep".
Bruce nods and continues, "Yeah. Now, Alfred, give me a call when you make it to Hawaii, please".
"I will do so, sir. You keep out of trouble, in the meantime", Alfred says.
Bruce smiles and gives Alfred a hug goodbye. They break from the hug and Alfred walks into the airport, while Bruce gets back into the Corvette, but then Alfred shouts, "Wait a moment, sir"! Bruce looks back to Alfred and listens.
"I forgot to remind you that John Daggett's holding a gala tonight at his home to celebrate Daggett Corp's 40th anniversary", Alfred says.
Bruce groans a bit and then replies, "Thanks, Alfred! Have a good time in Hawaii".
Bruce then starts up his Corvette and drives off. While Alfred enjoys rest and relaxation on the beaches of Hawaii, Bruce will resume his nightly duties as the Caped Crusader.
Later that afternoon, Bruce is seen arriving at the penthouse of one John Daggett, the CEO of Daggett Corp, Wayne Enterprises' chief business rival in Gotham. Daggett Corp is known for its work in the field of construction and real estate and known for its horrible record of employee abuse by Mr. Daggett himself. Today, Daggett Corp is celebrating forty years of being in business, which is the very reason why John Daggett is holding this gala. Plus, Daggett likes to hit on some of the single ladies at the party, too, despite the fact that the pig of a man is married. Well, he will soon be divorced in about one month. Bruce is not very happy to be at such a gala like this, but he is getting some hot looks from the ladies, though.
One woman says to him, "Hello, Mr. Wayne".
Another lady walks by Bruce and gives him a wink and at the same time, licks her lips, very seductively. Suddenly, Bruce crosses paths with John Daggett himself.
"Awe, Bruce, old buddy, thank you for coming", Daggett greets.
Bruce replies, "Nice to be here, John".
"I know that you're at a loss for words. You still can't believe that my family's company has lasted this long? But the fact is that it has", Daggett says.
Bruce says, "That's not what I was going to say".
Before Bruce could finish, Daggett quickly interrupts, "Well, I'd love to stay and chat with you, Bruce, but I have other guests to attend to. Enjoy yourself, tonight".
Daggett walks away, with a few girls by both his sides. Bruce is just in utter disbelief that Daggett would be that rude. "Asshole", he says.
Then, he is joined by a young lady, wearing a silk black dress and hair colored brown. Her eyes are a beautiful green-brown color. "Tell me about it", she says to Bruce.
Bruce looks at the woman and says, "Excuse me"?
The woman smiles at him and says, "Oh, come on, you're not fooling me with that excuse. John Daggett is the whole definition of asshole. Hell, I guarantee you that in the dictionary, there's a photo of Daggett next to the word asshole".
Bruce smiles at the woman's comment and continues, "Yeah, that's right. Oh, uh, the name's Bruce Wayne".
He shakes hands with the woman, and she introduces herself, "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne. Chelsea Morton".
Bruce is so taken by Chelsea Morton's angelic face, as well as her voluptuous body.
Bruce then asks, "So, are you here with someone"?
Chelsea replies, "Well, I was with Mr. Daggett himself, but he's too busy hitting on other women at this party, so I was thinking of just leaving this fucking party and going to a different one instead".
Bruce looks around and realizes that he won't be having a lovely time. So, he asks Chelsea, "Hey, do you mind if I join you"?
Chelsea smiles and says, "Absolutely, but you may want to get a change of clothes". Bruce nods and follows Chelsea out of the party.
Just as they approach the exit, Bruce says to Chelsea, "I might need to stop somewhere for a change of clothes".
"There's a Walmart in San Juarez, Bruce. You can grab some clothes there", Chelsea says as she pushes Bruce out the exit. She follows, of course.
As Bruce Wayne joins the company of a rather beautiful young lady, something's going on at a penthouse in downtown Gotham. In the master bedroom, Aaron Wilhelm Reinhardt is sitting on the bed, drinking a Heineken beer and relaxing. There is also the sound of slurping being heard. Reinhardt looks down at his crotch and says, "They told me you're pretty good with your mouth".
The slurping sound stops and a red-haired woman in the nude crawls up to Reinhardt's face. "My reputation precedes me", she says, as she licks Reinhardt's lips very sexually.
She goes back down to the man's crotch. Let's give some back story on Herr Reinhardt, shall we? A long time ago, Reinhardt was one of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone's best enforcers. After the arrest of Falcone and his son Vincent, the burden of leadership had fallen to Reinhardt, who remained in exile for several years, until recently returning to Gotham City. Now, under Reinhardt's leadership, the Falcone Crime Family has now flourished greatly, making tons of money both in the drug trade and casino skimming. Reinhardt uses that success to indulge in fast cars, booze and hot women, like the one that's got her lips wrapped around his cock, right now. Suddenly, there is knocking at the door.
Reinhardt shouts, "Who is it"?!
The voice outside says, "Its Nick, boss"!
Reinhardt looks agitated and replies, "Now's not a good time, Nicky. I'm quite busy"!
Then, the door opens and in comes Reinhardt's second in command, Nick Hinds. He sees Reinhardt with the woman still going to town on his package. The woman stops and looks at Nick. Reinhardt is not pleased with Nick barging into the room.
"I'm sorry, boss, but it can't wait. Collins and his boys just secured you a location to get the party started", Nick says.
Reinhardt's expression changes from agitated to surprised. There is a smile on his face. "Good to hear. Now get out", Reinhardt says.
Nick does what he is told and exits the room.
Reinhardt takes a big gulp of his beer and looks back at the woman and says, "We've got a half hour, sweetheart. Let's have some fun". The woman gets what he means, and she resumes her duties.
In town, specifically in the section of Gotham called San Juarez, also called Little Mexico, there is a lot of rowdy fun happening at the local watering hole called Hector's Cantina and Grill. The architecture of the establishment looks like an authentic Mexican cantina, as you would find in Mexico. Inside, there are folks playing pool, shooting darts, drinking beers and margaritas and singing karaoke, while also enjoying the delicious tacos, enchiladas and other authentic Mexican dishes, personally made by the head chef and owner of the establishment: Hector Montez. Meanwhile at the bar, Chelsea and Bruce are seen sitting together having a few drinks and something to eat. Chelsea has changed from her tight black dress into a sleeveless Aerosmith T-shirt and a pair of cut-off jeans, which are also called Daisy Dukes. She is also wearing a pair of cowboy boots. You can tell this girl is from the South; not the kind of woman that Bruce has ever hung around with before. Bruce on the other hand is dressed in a different kind of wardrobe. He is dressed in denim jeans, steel toe boots and a sleeveless black button-up shirt, with a bit of his chest peeking out. He is also wearing a Gotham Rogues football hat.
Bruce looks around and says, "This is cool, Chelsea. I've been used to going to fancy nightclubs and never been in a good old bar like this".
And Bruce notes his new look, "And I never thought I'd ever be dressing like this on nights when I go out".
Chelsea admires Bruce's look and says, "Come on, Bruce. It's a good look for you. Seriously, you'd be having people in this bar giving you weird looks, if you came in your nice clothes".
Bruce smiles at Chelsea's comment.
"So, tell me something about yourself, Miss Morton", Bruce begins.
Chelsea takes a sip of her beer and begins to talk, "Well, there's not much to say. I mean, I'm from Louisiana and I'm here going to school and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life".
Bruce smiles and says, "Are you serious? You don't know what you want to do"?
Chelsea says, "Well, right now, I enjoy having a good time, like right now".
Chelsea gives Bruce a flirtatious look and says, "Come on, Bruce, tell me about you".
Bruce shakes his head and says, "There's not much to talk about, either. I run my family's company and try to help the city as much as I can, especially with the charities that I've done over the years".
Chelsea says, "Those charities have been generous, Bruce. And you're a far better citizen than that scumbag John Daggett".
"Well, honestly, I try to be and sometimes I succeed in that and sometimes I don't", Bruce says with such honesty.
Then, the host of the karaoke machine gets on the microphone and asks for anyone to step up and do a song. Chelsea sets her beer down and runs to the karaoke area. The man gives Chelsea the microphone and she starts singing the song "I'm Not an Angel" by Halestorm. But instead of singing it as a rock song, Chelsea sings it as if it were a country song. Bruce stays at the bar; eating some quesadillas by him and watching Chelsea perform. She does a kick-ass job singing the entire song. Chelsea sings the entire song, word for word. She finishes singing and everyone cheers for her, even Bruce. Chelsea comes back to the bar and finishes up her beer.
"You should definitely be a country singer", Bruce says.
Chelsea gives Bruce a smile and says, "If I'm going to do that, I want to be in the same category as Reba, Tricia Yearwood, Faith Hill and Shania; not fucking Taylor Swift. But honestly, I'd rather go for hard rock, if I can. I want to be a mix of The Runaways, Skynyrd and Pantera".
Bruce is impressed with the kind of music she actually digs.
At least a few hours later, a Corvette is seen driving through town and it stops in front of this apartment building. Chelsea and Bruce exit from the car. Bruce and Chelsea get close to each other. Chelsea says, "Thank you, for joining me, tonight, Bruce. I had a great time".
Bruce says, "I'm honored, Chelsea. I'm just happy you got me out of Daggett's party. I really don't care for the man, anyway".
"We probably wouldn't have had as much fun as we did at Hector's tonight, Bruce", Chelsea says.
Chelsea then gives Bruce a kiss on the lips and walks towards her apartment. She walks up the steps to the front door. Bruce watches her leave.
He returns to the driver's seat. Bruce looks to the passenger's seat next to him and sees a piece of paper. He picks it up and finds Chelsea's phone number. Bruce puts it in his pocket, puts his car in drive and rides away.
En route back to Wayne Manor, Bruce is driving his Corvette, when he is contacted by an unknown voice, coming from his Corvette's radio.
It's a female voice and she says, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Bruce".
Bruce says, "What is it, Oracle"?
The voice known as Oracle speaks, "I thought you might want to know something interesting about the Rosado Brothers".
Bruce pays attention and asks, "What do you got"?
"I've come across some surveillance footage from the old Falcone Shipping Yard, a few days ago. I've identified the Rosado Brothers among the thugs that are known associates of one Aaron Reinhardt", Oracle explains.
Bruce hears Oracle's words and simply says, "Reinhardt"?!