A new plague hits Gotham.

Making his way through the streets and alleys of Gotham, the lone punk with the green mohawk impatiently went from street to street, sniffing the air and getting more anxious by the hour. He was told to bring back the whores of the Narrows back to the boss, and so far, he hadn’t found ANY at all. Not that it was easy to begin with, what with the city cut off from the rest of the world with a fiery circle and the plague of deaths and werewolf attacks over the last few months, it would have been surprising to find anyone out in the middle of the night. Standing alone in the street with no pedestrians or traffic, the punk shook and whimpered. If there was anything he feared more than what was going on in Gotham, it was his boss.

“Come ON! There’s gotta be some hookers out here…” Frantically looking from one street to the next, he worried that he would return empty handed… Until he saw someone. Just outside of the darkness of a poorly lit alley, the man found what was in his mind the most stunningly beautiful woman he had ever seen holding herself gently wrapped in a sheer white tattered blanket. Silky night black hair flowed down her shoulders and back, matching the creamy olive of her skin, and her eyes were like emeralds. By the looks of her long legs, bare arms and the way she held the fabric at her chest made him realise she was wearing nothing at all. Licking his chipped yellow teeth lustfully, the man noticed she made eye contact with him and disappeared into the alley. Chasing after her, the excitement had made him lose his concentration now that he was desperate, his cloths growing tight to bursting when brown fur spread over his arms and down his chest. Falling to all fours and growling with lust the large 9 foot tall werewolf sniffed the air and licked his chops of drool. Looking from one end of the alley to the next, the wolf with the green mohawk whimpered when he lost sight of the woman, but why could he still SMELL her?!

“Are you lost?” Asked a lilting voice, seemingly from all around. “Are you alone?”

Standing up to his full height, the beast looked around and still could not see her, even with his newfound ability to see in the dark. “Y-yes, the master is looking for lovers, I was sent to find some.”

“Is he nice?”

“S-so long as you keep him happy…” The wolf answered, almost trying to choose his words carefully.

“What about YOU? Are you nice?” The voice seemed closer now, like she was right next to him, but why couldn’t he see her? Back tracking, the werewolf stumbled when his foot stepped on something sticky. Looking down he found what looked like bones, bundled up in silk strands and twine, now that he could see it, he found the entire alley glistening with cobwebs, massive cobwebs that enveloped everything. Turning back around, his ears perked back when he found himself face to face with the woman, only now realising she had been above him the entire time, hanging upside down. “I like you MORE, you seem nice, nicer than the last man I knew…”

The skittering clicks of chitinous limbs filled his ears when she slowly turned herself around to face him normally. At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks, her face remained beautiful… But all he could see were legs behind and around her. “Will you be nice with me?” Pressing him back against the wall it surprised the massive wolf how strong she was, her many legs surrounding him as she had him pressed against the wall. “Will you… Kiss me?”

“S-sure… Anything…”

With an almost innocent smile that would have made any heart melt to see it, it was quickly replaced when her lower jaw separated into a pair of mandibles, her upper lip pulling back to reveal a pair of fangs as long as his fingers that extended out and rattled. “Then give ussss a kiss!”

He never had a chance to scream, or fight back, just like the others who’s bones littered the floor beneath his feet.

*

A ring of energy opened like an eyelid over a hill on the solemn fields of the Gotham cemetery, scaring away a murder of crows roosting on the branches of a nearby tree in the process and filling the night sky with their caws and calls. Stepping out of the portal, Zatanna breathed in the night scent of the large landscape, taking in the late autumn fog that overtook the fields of tombstones and bare trees, the ground moist and soft with dry leaves fluttering in the night wind. Making her way down the cobblestone path through the field she found several wandering spirits, lost and aimlessly floating by their tombstones, some appeared elderly, others young, for the most part she knew what they were. Lost souls too shocked by their deaths to accept it and too terrified to enter the light. Chuckling to herself, Zatanna continued, she would NEVER become one of them, she was eternal now, for as long as there was blood, she would know eternal life.

Moving past one lot over the next, the vampires stopped at an empty lot overlooking a tree. Despite its branches being bare, they loomed over the open lot, hinting that if it were spring or summer, they would offer a shelter from the sun’s rays.

“Under a tree, just like in the photograph…” Zatanna whispered, reciting the instructions Dracula had given her. Raising her hands, she closed her red eyes and began her magic. Opening two portals above her where the broken, ruined body of Victor Freeze came out of one and the still cold body of Nora Fries came out the other, both floating above the ground while she brought her hands to aim at the ground. “Sevarg owt etaerc.” The Earth gave way to form two open graves, with a flick of her wrists a pair of coffins were conjured, and both bodies were lowered. Reburied with a shared tombstone that read ‘Victor and Nora Fries’

Turning to leave, Zatanna held the rim of her top hat with her gloved hand, the cold autumn wind breezed by and allowed some stray spirits to drift past her. Lost, angry, confused… Lethal. An idea crept into her mind, making her smirk. Thinking back to how her love had dealt with Black Mask and used the ghosts of his past to kill him, she had to wonder.

“For every success… How many failures haunt the Batman?”

Waving her hands in front of her and tracing sigils into the air, Zatanna recited a spell that awoke the restless spirits of Gotham, all throughout the graveyard and across the city itself, several spirits left their haunting grounds to join several others overhead the magician that summoned them. With a cruel smile, the undead magician found a storm of hundreds of ghosts and spirits, the souls of those Batman failed to rescue or help in his vow to protect the city.

She couldn’t wait to use them.

*

In the Greenhouse lair of Umbra and his pack of werecats, Basset gasped and collapsed to the ground, holding herself tightly and shivering even after Umbra had come to her side and hoisted her up to sit.

“What is it Basset, what has befallen you?”

Gripping his shoulder with intensity and staring up at him with wild eyes, the spiritual werecat gasped and breathed sharply as the vision still went through her.

“SHE BROUGHT HIM BACK! CHAOS! MADNESS! Pointless death that will sweep through the city like a plague, she has brought him back!”

“Who?”

Looking around herself for answers, a name, anything, she returned her gaze to Umbra… And began to laugh, lightly at first but then she fell into hysterics, tears tracing down her furry cheeks as her smile widened and her laughter became uncontrollable. Despite her mad laughter, the look in her eyes were still wide with terror, until they closed, and she passed out.

“What new devilry is this?” Wondered Umbra fearfully, the rest of his pack looking just as shaken.

Staring down at her daughter, Catwoman held herself tightly. She knew that effect all too well, had seen it on men, women, children in the droves, a calling card for all his atrocities. Looking back at Umbra, Selina muttered a single word.

“The Joker…”