I'mmmmm back! And with the exciting first chapter of this gruesome, yet totally action-packed chapter. So read on and be warned: This is only the beginning...

Batman Beyond

The Resurrection of Count Ravenback

Ch. 1- A Fear that Returns

One night in Gotham City, twenty years into the future, there was a seemingly normal peace and quietness in the air when all too soon an explosion erupted the silence. Down below, six shadows were beginning to appear through the brightness of the fire. As they became more visible, the face paint and costumes clearly displayed them as the Jokerz, or certain followers of clown prince of crime of old who saw him as the great "figurehead" of crime. While they were hauling out the stolen loot, something came out of nowhere and took out two of the gang members. The others stopped what they were doing, looked around, then looked at each other, wondering what happened.

"Hey, what happened to Smitty and Ace?," one Joker asked.

"I haven't got a clue," another replied. "Do you think that maybe...he...got 'em?"

"I don't know. You tell us," a voice said off to the side.

All of the Jokerz turned to the source and gasped. There, standing with the tow knocked-out hoodlums was the protector of the city: the Batman, and along with him, Ghostgirl, another hero that protected Gotham with the former Batman, Bruce Wayne.

"So you guys are at it again tonight? Don't you ever take a break?," the young hero taunted, knowing that would fight whenever they were provoked by the simplest of taunts.

"Who do you think you are, anyways?," the head Joker asked, starting to get ticked off.

"All we want is to look in peace, but you always have to get in the way. Boys, get 'em!"

Two Jokerz then rushed Batman, who easily jumped up and over and began to fight the two goons. Meanwhile, as the other two were taking off with as much loot as they could carry, they were cut off as Ghostgirl slid up out of the ground.

"Thought you could sneak away, huh? The only person who can sneak away around here is me."

She then created a forcefield around them, and one, being the idiot that he was, tried ramming it and nearly went unconscious from the jolting shock of pure lightning that passed through his system.

"Did I forget to mention that it's an electrified forcefield? Must have slipped my mind," the ghostly heroine added, turning and leaving.

After walking around the forcefield, Batman was finishing dispatching the other two goons when she said, "Well, looks like we both finished at the same time."

"Didn't know that there was even a competition," he replied, smirking.

"I'm just saying that we're getting better with taking the clowns down," she defended, smiling back. "Besides, it also means that we can focus more of our energy on taking down the bigger-,"

Suddenly, she stopped what she was saying and began sensing something disturbing.

"Is something wrong?," the dark knight asked, instantly recognizing what she was doing.

"Yes, there is. There's death nearby. In other words, there's something dead that shouldn't be," the ghost replied, her senses drawing her to a nearby alley.

As she drew further in, Batman followed behind as the firetrucks, EMTs, and police arrived on the scene. A few feet in, Ghostgirl stopped and said, "It's here. Whatever's dead is here in this area."

Quickly thinking, Batman used an ultraviolet scanner option in his optics viewer, scanned the area, and replied, "There's a lot of stuff here, so I can't tell what's dead and what garbage."

"Hang on, I've got it" she replied, quickly creating a ball of glowing plasmic light energy.

"It's going to get really bright really quick. Shield your eyes, and I'll tell you when it's okay."

The young detective nodded in agreement and quickly guarded his vision with his arm to prevent any unwanted light to blind him, which cued his partner to toss the light and expand it. As soon as she did, she let out a horrified gasp and when he heard her utter it, the dark knight immediately lowered his arm from his eyes and was shocked as well. What they saw were at least ten bodies scattered everywhere, graying from being dead for at least a couple of days at best. They quickly began examining one body near them, and instantly, Batman said, "There's something on the neck here, some sort of wound or deformity."

Ghostgirl quickly moved over and wiped a bit of the dried blood, dirt, and debris out of the way. Two puncture marks in a precise measurement of where a pair of fangs would be located in the gumline. A pair of vampire fangs. Just then, a voice asked above them, "What's going on back here?"

Both heroes looked up and saw Commissioner Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl.

"Something on our scale, that's for sure: weird, creepy, and hard to explain," Batman replied. "All we know that whoever did this killed these people did it at their necks, probably twisting their necks after making some sort of incision to create some blood loss."

"The neck isn't broken, but the blood-all of it-was extracted by drinking it from two puncture marks made by a pair of fangs. Vampire fangs. We're dealing with something more than just weird and creepy. It's more monstrous and and not of this earth. Get some EMTs to get these people out of here before the decomposition process gets out of hand,"

the ghostly girl told them, a mix of hardened emotion and a bit of fear coming out with her voice.

Gordon nodded in reply, then walked out. A minute later, several EMTs with gurneys rushed in to collect the corpses along with the forensic scientists that examined the crime scene. As they came in, Batman had already flown up to the roof to get out of the way, but Ghostgirl stayed behind to ask one scientist for a DNA sample swab of the wound, mainly the puncture itself and the area around it, and after sealing it up and giving it to her, he turned his back to grab another swab for himself and was about to ask her why she wanted it as he turned back around he discovered that she had disappeared. She was already following her partner to the Batmobile. After getting in and taking off, he asked her, "So, why do you need that, anyways?"

"I just want to make sure that an old memory is put to rest once more," she replied, starting to revel in a long, forgotten moment in her past that she wished would stay forgotten for good.

Alright everyone, there's ch. 1. Stay tuned in this horrifying epic tale for more chapters. See you around when I update. Plz review and don't flame me. If you do, that's one Batarang sent your way. Okay, Bye!