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 does not answer Oracle immediately, which agitates her a little bit.
She asks, "Bruce, do you know what happened at Arkham"?
"I'll tell you exactly what went down at Arkham. A trio of vampires broke in and slaughtered almost every patient inside. That's it. Plain and simple", Bruce answers.
Oracle looks a bit confused as to what she heard from Bruce's mouth.
"Now, Oracle, I don't want to hear you say there's no such thing as vampires, because guess what?! I don't fucking believe in vampires. But I believe in what I saw with my own two eyes and unfortunately, what I saw in Arkham Asylum was fucking vampires", Bruce unloads to Oracle.
Oracle takes a moment to take in what she was told and answers, "I don't believe in vampires either, Bruce, but seeing those inmates in Arkham get killed by something that I couldn't see, I'm not going to deny it".
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 nights 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.
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.
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 scenery. Bruce finds himself 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 that anyone has 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 Ramirez 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 that almost looks to be see-through. Bruce could almost see Chelsea's well-formed body through that dress.
"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…
…Bruce suddenly wakes up from his nightmare. He is covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Slivers of the morning sun are peaking through the drapes that covering the bedroom window. Bruce slows his breathing and looks at the window and sees the morning sun. Bruce gets himself out of bed and into his bathroom, to freshen himself up for the day.
After a nice spot of breakfast, Bruce sits 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 Waylon Jones and Jervis Tetch, AKA: 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?
It's noon and after a casual ride around on his motorcycle, Bruce Wayne sits in the same coffee shop that he and Chelsea went to; the same coffee shop where he asked Chelsea to go to the opera with him on their date. Instead of his usual businessman attire, Bruce is instead wearing denim jeans, a plaid shirt that could make him look like a lumberjack and a black leather biker vest. Basically, he's shooting for the EZ Reyes look, without being as tough and sexy as EZ Reyes. He is also drinking his usual coffee beverage and suddenly he is approached by an unexpected visitor, Police Sergeant Willy Denham.
"Bruce Wayne", Denham greets.
Bruce turns to the police sergeant and says, "Can you say my name any louder, sergeant? I don't think the manager heard you".
"I'm sorry, but I just didn't expect to see you here", Denham replies.
Bruce then asks, "Are you on a coffee break, sergeant"?
"Chief Ramirez sent me on a coffee run. We've been having a pretty fucked-up week, especially with all these unexplained murders in the city", Denham says.
"Yeah, I heard what happened last night at Arkham. Almost a hundred inmates were killed", Bruce says.
Denham replies, "Wow, Mr. Wayne, you really do keep up on the news".
Bruce just says, "I watch the news just like everybody else. I mean, it's not like I'm cooped up in that 19th century hacienda 24 hours a day with no television".
Denham chuckles and asks, "So what else you got planned for your day, Mr. Wayne"?
Bruce shrugs his shoulders and says, "I really don't know. I've been taking the motorcycle out for a ride across the city; something that I've been neglecting to do for a while".
Denham nods and then pulls out his wallet. "I think I might know something you might be interested in checking out, Mr. Wayne", Denham says.
He digs through his wallet and grabs a small card. He hands it over to Bruce and says, "The next time I see you, let me know what you think of it".
Denham then walks pass Bruce and right up to the counter to place his order.
Bruce looks at the card that was given to him. It says the following: "Gotham Erotica; Gotham's #1 Gentlemen's Club".
At Gotham Police Headquarters, Gordon is sound asleep at his desk. There's a half-eaten donut on his desk, right next to a cup of coffee that appears to have not been touched by Gordon. After all the madness that has taken place in Gotham over the last few weeks, Gordon's energy is nearly depleted, so a nap on his desk would be exactly what his body needs the most. Lying on Gordon's chest is a book, titled, "Nosferatu; The Undead". Nosferatu is the Romanian term for "Vampire". The word itself comes from a book written by Emily Gerard called The Land Beyond the Forest. The book tells of the land known as Transylvania, where it's believed to be the land where supernatural beings such as vampires were driven to by the wand of science. Anyway, back to Gordon. Gordon is sound asleep still. Then, his office door opens and in comes Ramirez with two coffees in his possession. Ramirez sets the cups on the desk and taps Gordon on the shoulder and wakes him up.
Gordon asks, "What is it, Miguel"?
"I think you better get on home, Jim. You definitely need the rest", Ramirez says as he gives one cup of coffee to Gordon. Gordon takes the cup and takes a big swig.
Gordon shakes his head and says, "No, I can't. I still got work to do".
"Jim, your wife has been calling the station too many times to ask you to come home. So and I do not mean any disrespect, Commissioner...I'm not asking you to go home. I'm telling you", Ramirez explains.
Gordon shakes his head and takes another swig of his coffee. He looks at Ramirez and says, "Alright, Miguel. I'll head back home, but the moment we get something, let me know immediately".
Gordon rises up from his desk and goes to get his coat. Ramirez looks at the book and asks, "Where did you get the book, Jim"?
"I checked it out at the Gotham Library, this morning", Gordon answers.
Ramirez picks it up and reads the title. He asks, "Nosferatu"?
"It's the Romanian word for vampire or undead. You'd be interested on some of the shit that I've found in there", Gordon says.
"I just cannot believe this shit is real, Jim. We've been up against gangsters, assassins and freaks dressed like clowns, but now we're going up against something that shouldn't exist in this world", Ramirez confesses.
Jim shakes his head and says, "I agree. This shit shouldn't be happening...but it is".