At the Sionis Steel Mill in the Old Gotham Harbor, Reinhardt and his men have gathered with some of the street gangs that are in alliance with the Mob, including the Mandarins, the Gold Dawgs and of course, Peter Collins, the ex-president of the Celts MC. He is without his vest. Obviously, his VP and the rest of club voted Collins out of office and out of the club, for his recent dealings with Reinhardt and Sionis. Marcos and Jorge have joined the gang, too. Marcos takes notice about Peter's presence.
"Hey, Collins, the last I heard is that you got jumped by the Bat", Marcos says.
Collins replies, "Yeah, no shit, lad. I actually made my bail, but unfortunately, I've been excommunicated from the MC, thanks to my traitorous VP".
Reinhardt himself joins the group. Marco immediately gives Reinhardt the urn. Reinhardt looks at Marcos with disdain.
"Killing the professor wasn't part of the plan, Marcos", Reinhardt says.
"Sorry, boss, but the old fuck put up a fight. I had no choice", Marcos replies.
"Nevertheless, you've accomplished your task", Reinhardt says as he stares at the urn.
Jorge asks, "Excuse me for asking, Mr. Reinhardt, but what exactly is in that urn"?
Reinhardt looks upon Jorge and everyone else and explains the contents of the urn, "Inside this urn, gentlemen, are the mortal remains of Vlad III; Prince of Wallachia; second son of the House of Basarab. He is also known by other names like Vlad Tepes and Vlad the Impaler, but you all might know him better by his real name: Vlad...Dracula".
There is absolute silence among the gangsters.
Peter Collins is the first to speak, "Are you out of your fucking mind? Did you seriously tell us that Dracula is in that urn? Dracula is a fucking myth, Reinhardt. He is nothing more than a fairytale; a monster meant to scare little children; a product that was dreamt up by some mad novelist in dear old Dublin".
Reinhardt glares at Collins and says, "Bite your tongue, Collins. Do not forget that there was indeed a Dracula, centuries ago. What we have in our hands, gentlemen, is the solution to our greatest problem of all, Batman. Just imagine what kind of chaos we can unleash on Batman, with Prince Dracula on our side. We will finally send the Batman back to the fiery depths of Hell, from whence he came".
Marcos asks, "How can you be sure that Dracula's ashes are actually in that thing"?
Reinhardt answers, "I was once a student of Prof. Harker's, back in England. He shared with me some of his family's secrets and inside this urn is the crown jewel of those secrets. Oh, yes, it is truly his remains, my friend".
Peter then says, "Yeah, well, that's all well and good, but I think I'm going to exclude myself from the fucked-up party". Before Peter could even walk, he is stopped at gunpoint by a few of Reinhardt's men.
"I'm sorry, Collins, but I'm going to need everyone, tonight, even you", Reinhardt says.
Reinhardt leads everyone into the front entrance of the Sionis Steel Mill. The massive doors of the front entrance open up and all of the men enter the main garage, which is right below the old manager's office. The entire room is gussied up with black shrouds, candles and banners baring the pentagram. At the end of the room, there is a big ass crate, covered by a black shroud. The entire room would give everyone a sick-ass vibe, especially that it's basically an altar to worship Satan or some shit like that. Everyone gathers into the room and from the beginning, everyone in the group begins to feel uneasy, especially with all the satanic imagery they are seeing. Reinhardt takes the urn to the front of the group and sets it upon the crate. The men gather in front of the makeshift altar. Reinhardt pulls out a bowie knife from his belt and sets it upon the crate, right next to the urn. Reinhardt begins chanting some spells in his native language and then, what sounds like some sort of satanic language. Reinhardt takes the urn and opens the lid. He picks it up and pours out the contents onto the crate top. Ashes are seen pouring from the urn and piling up onto the crate. Reinhardt places the urn back on the crate top and goes right for the bowie knife. As he brings the knife to his right hand, he continues to chant words in the weird satanic language. The blade is placed upon Reinhardt's right hand, and it slowly cuts the skin. Blood begins to come out of the wound. Reinhardt withdraws his knife and holds out his blood-soaked hand right over the pile of ash. Drips of blood fall from Reinhardt's hand and hit the ash pile. After about an ounce of blood, the ashes are soaked up. Reinhardt continues his chanting in the satanic language. He stops and looks upon the ashes. There is nothing happening. Perhaps Reinhardt's plan ended up being a dud.
Suddenly, Peter shouts, "So where's your savior, now, Reinhardt"!?
Reinhardt looks up at Collins in shock. Collins and the others are looking at Reinhardt in absolute disdain. Most of them start to leave, but suddenly, it stops when Jorge shouts, "Look"!
Everyone stops and they all turn back to the crate. The ash pile is seen, with red vapor coming out of it. Okay, something is definitely going on. Slowly, the ashes transform into a full skeleton. The skull's teeth appear to have two sharp fangs. Once the skeleton is restored, it begins to regenerate blood vessels and then muscle tissue. Everyone in the group is horrified by what they are witnessing. Reinhardt is looking very pleased by what he has accomplished. Finally, the corpse regenerates its skin. However, the skin is as white as a ghost. The head rapidly grows long white hair. It almost looks like a White Walker from Game of Thrones. The creature opens its eyes, and they are as red as crimson. The creature growls softly like a hungry beast and sits up in his spot. He turns to the spectators. Marcos looks to be scared out of his wits. Suddenly, Marcos grabs Jorge and tries to get out, but Jorge is paralyzed with fear. Marcos then runs away without Jorge.
Reinhardt looks at the creature and says, "Welcome back to the realm of the living, your grace".
The creature turns to Reinhardt and glares into his eyes. The creature climbs off the crate top, bare-ass and approaches Reinhardt. Suddenly, the creature back hands Reinhardt across the room. The men looking on, quickly move to action, pull out their guns and open fire on the creature. Bullets are flying everywhere, but none of them hit the creature's body. The creature swiftly slaughters every single gangster in his path. Peter Collins and Jorge Rosado are firing their guns at the creature. WHOOSH! A flash of white swiftly moves pass Peter and Jorge. Suddenly, we see both men with their throats torn out and blood spurting out. One by one, all of Reinhardt's men fall to the creature's fury.
The creature is finally seen feasting on the blood of one of Reinhardt's goons. Then, the creature tosses the poor bastard's corpse aside. As he stands in place, the creature's skin begins to rejuvenate. The hair of the creature's transforms from ghostly white to dark brown. His body goes from looking so skeletal to somewhere between lean and muscular. His skin is light tan. He looks strong, cruel and handsome. He is Vlad III; Prince of Wallachia; also known as Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler; Dracula. There is blood still smeared on Dracula's mouth. He wipes it off and looks around. Then, the weak voice of Reinhardt can be heard from behind Dracula. It asks, "Why"?
Dracula turns around and spots Reinhardt crawling his way to Dracula. His left arm is up to his chest, and we can see its bent backwards, badly. His mouth is bleeding badly.
Reinhardt looks up and asks, "Why, my prince"?
Dracula grabs Reinhardt by the throat and throws him right onto the crate that was used as a slab for the satanic ceremony. Dracula holds him down by the throat and glares right into his eyes, as if he were the very Devil himself.
"Your foul blood has shown me your true intentions, Aaron Wilhelm Reinhardt", Dracula says furiously.
"Please, I can explain", Reinhardt continues to speak, weakly.
Dracula says, "You don't have to, for I know already what you planned to use me for: you wish to use me as a tool to bring your precious criminal empire back to greatness. No man uses Prince Vlad III, Son of the Dragon as their puppet. No man"!
Reinhardt looks absolutely weak, and he slowly speaks, "Please, my prince, let me serve you".
Dracula growls like a hungry lion and replies, "I don't require any servants"!
Gotham PD arrives onsite and find the horribly mutilated bodies of Reinhardt's men. Gordon and Ramirez are onsite, along with Sgt. Denham and Det. Giordano. Giordano examines one of the bodies, which is being placed in a body bag, by coroners. The officers try their best to not step in the big-ass puddle of blood in the middle of the room. Gordon, Ramirez and Giordano are staring up at something. It's Reinhardt, impaled on a long piece of rebar and put on display like a grisly trophy. The rebar is shoved right up his ass and it is protruding from his left shoulder. Ramirez speaks the Lord's Prayer in Latin and makes the Sign of the Cross. It takes the coroners some time, but they get the lifeless body of Reinhardt down. Once more, Dr. Emily Casper is onsite and immediately begins her initial examination of the body.
Gordon approaches Dr. Casper and asks, "What can you tell us, Doctor"?
Casper looks up at Gordon and says, "Obviously, there are no other injuries done to him, with the exception of a fractured left arm. The only thing that I can conclude is that he died of impalement".
Gordon looks a shaken up and says, "Well, he must've been knocked out when it happened".
Dr. Casper shakes her head and says, "No, Gordon, he was alive and conscious when he was impaled".
Gordon and Ramirez are shocked to hear Casper's words.
"I spotted bruising on his wrists, which means he was fastened down on the ground by rope. He struggled, even as the rebar was shoved up his ass. Whoever did this then hoisted the rebar up and slammed it into the ground and letting gravity do the rest of the work on Reinhardt. As his body slowly fell down the rebar, his internal organs were ripped apart and he died a slow and painful death. I can only assume that he died an hour before we arrived", Dr. Casper says.
Gordon is in disbelief on Dr. Casper's initial report.
Dr. Casper asks, "Who called this in"?
"We don't know, doctor. It was an anonymous call", Ramirez replies.
"I'll take the bodies and have my team do full examinations on all of them", Dr. Casper says.
She then walks away. The Forensics Team is analyzing the satanic altar where Reinhardt performed the ceremony that resurrected Dracula. Giordano recovers the urn that contained Dracula's ashes. It's pretty much useless now, because the Prince of Darkness is walking about.
Outside in the back of the Steel Mill, Marcos Rosado is seen hiding behind a dumpster. He is looking in the window. Suddenly, he is yanked away from the window and thrown to the ground. Marcos is pinned to the ground, by a boot and that boot belongs to Batman.
Batman glares at Marcos and demands, "What are you doing here"!?
Marcos is frightened and quickly answers Batman's question, "I came back to get my brother, senor"!
Batman looks down on Marcos and says, "It looks like you're too late. Everyone not moving in there is in a body bag"!
Marcos is shaken by Batman's words that he starts crying and shouting out in Spanish.
Batman shouts at Marcos, "I know you killed Prof. Harker, Marcos. Now tell me! Why did Reinhardt want that urn"?!
Marcos squeals, "He wanted to resurrect some fucking thing called the Impaler".
Before Marcos could continue, the voice of a police officer can be heard. Batman disappears, just as Police Sergeant Denham comes to the back of the mill and finds Marcos on the ground.
Denham pulls his gun and says, "What are you doing back here, boy"?!
Marcos is still in tears and looks up at Denham and says, "It was me, senor. I killed that British professor. Mob boss Reinhardt wanted me to steal some fucking urn from the professor".
It didn't take long for Marcos to be escorted to a patrol car, by Sgt. Denham.
Chief Ramirez approaches and demands, "Where did you find this guy, Sergeant"?!
"He was in the back of the mill, Chief. Apparently, he's Prof. Thomas Harker's killer", Sgt. Denham says.
Marcos is speaking in Spanish, while he is still in tears.
"Take him to the MCU, Sergeant", Ramirez says.
Back inside, Gordon is seen looking upon the mass murder scene. There is still blood on the floor and the satanic shrouds are still hanging. Then, he is joined by Batman.
Gordon asks, "What do you suppose happened"?
Batman says, "I'm not sure, Jim".
"It could've been a wild animal or something", Gordon continues.
"I don't think so, Jim. There are a lot of bullet casings on the floor. If there was an animal in here, the men would've killed it before it killed any more of them", Batman says.
Gordon takes a cigarette from his pocket and sticks it in his mouth and says, "I'll leave you to it, Batman".
Gordon leaves the room. Batman stands above the mass murder scene.
Batman asks himself, "What could've happened here"?
Through the night vision lenses that are built in his cowl, Batman scans the entire area. He sees empty bullet casings and just too much blood on the floors.
"I can't find anything that can tell me who or what killed Reinhardt and his men. It's as if they were killed by a damn ghost or something", Batman says.
The look on his face says it all. Though he is seeing the evidence in front of him as clear as day, he does not want to believe it one bit. Has Batman's rational mind been severely compromised by the events of tonight? We shall see.
Back at Reinhardt's penthouse, Nicole, the whore who was seen sucking Reinhardt's cock earlier, is seen lying on the bed, asleep. There's a half empty bottle of Smirnoff vodka on the night stand next to her, plus a glass full of vodka as well. Nicole squirms around in the bed, slowly. Then, Nicole starts moaning softly. It goes on for a few moments until she stops moaning and catches her breath. Suddenly, the blanket covering Nicole starts moving and the face of Dracula peeks out and stares at the sleeping whore. One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why Nicole was moaning. While still under the covers, Dracula shoves his cock right into Nicole's pussy and starts fucking her fast and hard. Nicole is moaning louder and harder, with every thrust of Dracula's cock inside her clit. Nicole still has her eyes closed as she is being fucked by Dracula.
"Oh, that's it, baby, give it to me", Nicole says in her sleep.
Dracula really gives it to Nicole, until he finally explodes inside her. Nicole screams with passion as she climaxes, as well. Nicole catches her breath again. Then, without warning, Dracula moves down to Nicole's neck and sinks his teeth into her jugular vein. Nicole feels the pain of Dracula's bite. She opens her eyes and sees Dracula on top of her and with his mouth on her neck. She struggles, but it is useless. She suddenly expires in the bed and Dracula withdraws his mouth from her neck. Blood is seen dripping from Dracula's lips. He looks down upon the now dead whore.
Later, Dracula is seen in the living room of Reinhardt's penthouse, dressed in black slacks and a long leather jacket that almost looks like a cape. Dracula takes a moment to adapt to his new surroundings. He looks at the flat screen LED television that is hung on the wall, as well as the entertainment center that is underneath it. There is a DVD/ Blu-Ray player and an assortment of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, ranging from John Carpenter's Halloween to the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The furniture in the living room is black leather. It looks pretty fancy. Dracula approaches the recliner in front of him and takes a seat in it. He looks to the table sitting next to him and spots the TV remote. Accessing the memories of Reinhardt in his own brain, Dracula finds out how to operate the device. Dracula presses the power button and TV is switched on. The TV is showing the late-night news, with the meteorologist reporting the weather for the entire week for Gotham.
He says, "Get ready, Gotham City, because we'll be entering a great big heat wave, starting tomorrow, with temperatures in the upper 90s at around 8am. We're halfway through the month of July and we're already looking at temperatures in the upper 90s for all of Gotham and after Sunday, we'll be looking at temperatures return to the mid and upper 70s". Dracula appears to be enjoying the television.
"So, I'm no longer in Transylvania. I'm here in this Gotham", he says to himself. Dracula smiles and says, "I must know more about this city".
Just as he watches the TV, the front door of the penthouse is heard opening and a voice speaks, "Aaron, are you home"?
Dracula diverts his eyes to the entrance of the penthouse. Coming into the living room, is a young blonde woman, wearing a slick black skirt, high heels, a leather jacket and nothing but a black bra.
She spots Dracula and asks, "Where is Aaron"?
Dracula rises up from his chair and gazes upon the young woman. You can see Dracula's eyes transform into a crimson red color, as if he's prepared to attack. Then, he bares his fangs and growls like a hungry lion. The woman is horrified by what she sees and screams.
Next morning, at Wayne Manor, Bruce is seen sitting at the foot of his bed, not in his pajamas, but in his gym shorts and tank top. He is reading through the journal of Abraham Van Helsing. Let us read through a passage:
Abraham Van Helsing's Journal
November 6th, 1893
"Our task of ridding the world of Prince Dracula's evil is complete. Thanks to our friend Quincy Morris, Dracula will never live again. But I fear that his very soul is still sleeping within his ashes, awaiting the splash of human blood to bring him back from oblivion and back to the land of the living. But he must never be allowed to do so. With God as my witness, I pledge to keep guard over Dracula's remains, until the day I die. For the safety of my friends and family, I must do so, alone".
May 12, 1899
"Today, young Jonathan Harker discovered that I'm keeping the ashes of Dracula in my care. I explained my intentions to him and surprisingly, he understood. So, once I pass on, the task of guarding Dracula's ashes will be given to Harker and Harker alone. He is strong and he must be strong to take on such a task. He must not fail".
Bruce sets the journal down on the floor next to him and just sits still, not saying a word. He appears to still be in disbelief over the events of last night, which resulted in the resurrection of Dracula, himself, though a part of Bruce still doesn't want to believe any of it, for he is Batman and Batman does not believe in superstition.
Later, Bruce is seen sitting in the living room, by himself watching the television. On TV, Vicki Vale is seen reporting for Gotham TV News, on the massacre at the Sionis Steel Mill.
"Police were called to the Sionis Steel Mill, where they stumbled upon, what Police Chief Ramirez described as a literal slaughterhouse. Twenty to thirty men were found brutally murdered, with severe wounds upon their necks. But we've learned that one of the victims is Aaron Reinhardt, the supposed new head of the Falcone Crime Family. Police believe this crime to be gang retaliation against Reinhardt. No further updates on the crime, at this time. Back to you in the studio", Vicki reports.
The TV is switched off. Bruce is sitting by himself, thinking to himself. Then, Bruce reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. He opens it and pulls out a piece of paper. It's the same piece of paper that had Chelsea Morton's phone number. Bruce looks at the number and begins thinking hard. Could he actually put off his time as the Caped Crusader and seek another date with the beautiful southern gal that has been on his mind since the moment, he locked eyes with her?
Bruce Wayne is found in this local coffee shop, Gotham Espresso. He is sitting at a table, having coffee with Chelsea Morton, who is off from either her job or college.
Bruce asks, "So I never got the chance to ask you this. What do you do for a living"?
Chelsea replies, "Well, right now, I don't work. I'm just trying to focus on my studies, just like my mom told me to, before I moved up here, from New Orleans".
Bruce says, "You know, I've always wanted to visit New Orleans".
Chelsea says, "Oh, it's a beautiful city, Bruce. Not only is there Bourbon Street, but there's also a lot of spirituality and superstition within that city. Chief among them is vampires".
Bruce asks, "Vampires"?
Chelsea explains, "Yeah. Nobody knows how vampires became infatuated with New Orleans, but they have. Of course, I've always been a fan of Anne Rice's vampire novels. Have you ever read any of her books"?
Bruce replies, "Not really. Give me an example".
Chelsea elaborates, "Well, you've got "Interview with the Vampire", "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned". But I'm guessing it was "Interview with the Vampire" that really established New Orleans as a city of vampires, because most of the book takes place in New Orleans, during the 1700s".
Bruce says, "Wow. Now that you mention it, wasn't there a movie based on that book"?
Chelsea says, "Yes, Bruce. It starred Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt was the vampire being interviewed by a reporter, played by Christian Slater".
Bruce says, "I must confess, Chelsea. I've only read one vampire book in my whole life and that was Bram Stoker's".
Before Bruce could say it, Chelsea says it, "Dracula? I thought you would say that".
Bruce nods to her and allows Chelsea to go on another lecture on vampires. "Well, since its publication, there have been hundreds of stage adaptations and movie adaptations of Dracula", Chelsea says.
Bruce says, "Is that right? As I recall, it started in 1922 in Germany with a movie called Nosferatu".
Chelsea says, "Actually, it was in 1921, in Hungary, with a movie called "Dracula's Death". The entire plot of that movie had nothing to do with Stoker's story. Now, Nosferatu was an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker's novel. The director and movie studio were sued by Bram Stoker's widow and that movie was pulled from the market".
Bruce asks, "What about the one movie with Bela Lugosi? That's one of my favorites".
Chelsea explains, "Bela Lugosi had started playing Dracula in 1927 on Broadway. He got the movie part of Dracula, after Lon Chaney, Sr. died of lung cancer".
Bruce asks, "Lon Chaney, Sr.? Wasn't he known back in the days as The Man of A Thousand Faces"?
Chelsea responds, "That's absolutely correct, Bruce. Anyways, Lugosi starred in the 1931 Dracula movie and didn't play him again, until 1948 in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein".
Bruce says, "I'm impressed, Chelsea. You're a big vampire and Dracula fan".
Chelsea replies, "Yeah, well, my dad's a big nerd when it comes to Dracula. But what shocked me about Dracula, when I was a young kid, was the fact he was an actual person in real life".
There is a look of surprise on Bruce's face, as Chelsea mentioned Vlad the Impaler. Bruce says, "You're talking about Prince Vlad III"?
Chelsea says, "That's right. Vlad III was famous for impaling hundreds of thousands of enemy Turks, in the fifteenth century. The name Dracula is translated as either Son of the Dragon or Son of the Devil".
Bruce says, "Well, who hasn't heard of Vlad Dracula? I learned about him, during my high school years".
Chelsea continues, "You know, all this talk about vampires and Dracula must be boring you, Bruce".
But Bruce shakes his head and assures her that he wasn't bored at what she was talking about. They keep this conversation up, while they drink their coffee.
Once their coffee and conversations ran dry, Bruce and Chelsea leave the coffee shop together. They both have motorcycle helmets in their hands, and they approach a motorcycle chopper. It looks almost like an exact replica of Peter Fonda's motorcycle from Easy Rider, but instead of the American flag, the gas tank is painted a monochromatic black with some bluish-green flames on the sides.
Before jumping on the bike, Bruce turns to Chelsea and asks, "Hey, what are you doing, tomorrow night"?
Chelsea says, "Nothing at all. Why do you ask"?
"I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming with me to the Gotham Opera House. Maybe we can grab some dinner after the show, too", Bruce answers.
Chelsea gives Bruce a smile and says, "I would love that".
He asks, "So, it's a date"?
"You got a date", Chelsea answers.
Both Bruce and Chelsea put their helmets on and board the chopper. Bruce drives, while Chelsea is riding bitch. VROOM! The two characters ride off from the coffee shop and into Gotham.