The Riddler deals with a new houseguest.

Typing away at his keyboard, Edward Nygma wiped sweat off his brow, going over security footage and news sites over the last 12 hours after his ‘master’ returned with a guest from the Gotham zoo. He already knew who she was, anyone worth knowing, he had data on… Just in case they made good cogs in his puzzles. Dr. Eva Mendez was a beautiful woman, a respected member of the scientific community and a charitable supporter for animal aid not just through the city but in the natural world as well. But the monster bearing her face and name, draining the life blood out of her seventh victim in the last hour was NOTHING like that woman!

Looking over the screen that showed Dr. Mendez pinning a screaming woman against the glass wall of her cell and biting down on her neck like a tiger, the Riddler felt a cold numbness slowly spread down his legs watching the woman feed. With Dracula there was a sense of control, a patient creature that knew what to take in necessity and when. But her? She was like a drunk teenager, revelling in a wild ride after stealing the keys to her daddy’s Porsche. When she had reduced her victim to mummified flesh and bone, the vampire woman laughed out loud and tore the mummified thing apart like a paper doll. Snapping her attention to the camera looking back at her, the Riddler gulped when he realised she was really looking back at HIM and licked her lips clean. Returning his attention to his work, the cold sensation in his legs became more pronounced when he heard her gracefully step out of the hall of prison cells and saunter into his work room.

“So…” She purred, closing her eyes and combing her hands through her long luxurious hair, her locks still floating through the air even after she put her hands at her hips with a pose, almost as if she were submerged in water. “Been enjoying the show?”

Slowly turning around, Edward licked his dry lips and fidgeted at his seat. The woman standing two meters in front of him was a tan skinned beauty, her skin an almost polished bronze with a mane of midnight black hair that wisped and flowed behind her like it had a will of its own. Flowing and coiling like a cloud, it almost distracted from her predatory looking eyes and sharp statuesque features. No scars or blemishes marred her body, not a single wrinkle could be found. Granted she was far from old, but now after her transition into undeath she seemed timeless. Tall and curvaceous, she wore a jet black strapless dress, the type that showed off her generous cleavage and exposed her left leg up to her thigh. The tail ends of her dress seemed to keep going down until it overflowed down to the floor, and yet she never tripped on the excess material, almost as if it were just as much a part of her as her own feet.

“My M-m-master is usually more… Clean when he eats.”

Cocking a thin eyebrow at the comment, Dr. Mendez smirked and sashayed towards the man, her hand lazily at her hip as her dress flowed with her every movement, flowing not unlike the tentacles of an octopus over the floor. Realising she was approaching, Edward quickly spun around and returned to his work, a cold sweat beading over his forehead when he felt her hands gracefully and gently lay on his shoulders. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that the little green rat in front of me were jealous.” Playfully drawing circles around his shoulders with her fingers, Dr. Mendez giggled when she felt him flinch. “You know… He’s not the ONLY one who can make others a vampire, I could turn you.” Suddenly, the Riddler stopped typing. Slowly turned around in his chair with a single delicate hand, Edward found himself looking up face to face with the woman, the smirk never leaving her lips, but now the look in her eyes seemed more playful. “Oh yes, you know it too, you’re not stupid.” Mesmerized by the look in her eyes, and the slow, almost hypnotic flow of her hair, Edward grew numb. “Do you want that Eddie? To be ever young? To feed off the weak and be strong? Forever?” Nodding slowly, Edward mumbled “What time is it when you can’t read a clock?”

Leaning forward and gently raising Edward’s chin with a single finger, Dr. Mendez used her other hand to gently close his eyes. “Shh, just keep your eyes closed, this won’t hurt a bit…” Waiting and holding his breath, the Riddler didn’t know what to do, the anxiety of it all was making his heart boom in his chest and the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Then the full handed slap across his face sent Edward reeling to the floor, his eyes now wide from shock and rubbing his chin after it felt like he had been struck with a right hook.

“Pff, did you REALLY think I’d make you one of us?!”

Still reeling from the slap, Edward yelped when he was grabbed by the scruff of his green jacket and easily lifted like a toddler in the woman’s grip. Slammed against a steel wall and held high enough that his green leather shoes dangled inches from the ground. Dr. Mendez’s smirk grew until sharp fangs poked between her black lips. “You’re food at best and vermin at worse! Believe me, if I drained you dry and tossed your withered corpse at the front steps of the police station I’d be branded a damn hero.” Squirming uselessly in her iron grip, Edward whimpered and babbled as the woman’s teeth grew and lengthened into a maw of razor fangs and teeth.

“W-what did the tooth fairy use to fix her wand? What’s the difference between a person with a toothache and a rainy day? WHY ARE FALSE TEETH LIKE STARS?”

Leaning in to strike, Dr. Mendez opened her fanged mouth to feed on the screaming man, when a hand pulled at her shoulder with enough **** to keep her from even starting. Snapping back with a growl that sounded like it came from a starving tiger, the woman’s eyes glowed yellow with her teeth bared. “WHAT?!” With a stoic look, Dracula slowly pulled Eva away from the Riddler, the man dropping to the ground and curling up in terror at what would have been his end. “I need him alive, unspoiled.”

“WHY?” Roared the vampires, her hair and dress snapping like snakes while still in the steely grip of the man. “He’s filth! A sewer rat that DESERVES to be eaten by a cat!”

Breathing slowly and looking down at the cowering **** in his possession, Dracula agreed. “Yes… He is a rat.” Letting her go, Dracula stood between the two and crouched down to observe the Riddler cower in his presence. “But even YOU know that rats can find good hiding places cats cannot, and I need a rat that knows the darkest hiding places my prey are using in this city… He lives.” Sneering with barely contained rage, Eva looked between Dracula and Riddler and huffed, tossing her flowing hair and stepped out of the room and out of sight.

“what do you have for me servant?”

Quickly picking himself up and smoothing down his green suit and bowler hat, the Riddler moved back to his computer desk and typed a few commands to bring up a collection of camera captures. “Y-you wanted to find w-wolves, right? Well, here they are.” Pointing at the images to get the Vampire’s attention, the Riddler continued. “These were taken by security cameras, they’re set up at street comers to keep an eye on drivers that exceed the speed limit… THIS not so little doggy set one off running across the street at 80 miles per hour!” Looking closely, Dracula saw the image of a white she-wolf, her shaggy mane was split red on one side and black on the other as a strange contrast along with a grin that looked better suited on a hyena. “That one was running around the red-light district of Gotham the same night you burned that warehouse down, OH! And then there’s this one.” Typing more commands into his keyboard, additional pictures added to the floating pile on the screen. “Bigger than the she-wolf, the pitch-black silhouette was almost invisible in the picture until Edward cleared it up with a green outline and removing the background from the photo. “THIS one was tough to spot, for a wolf the size of a car, he hid pretty well, lost sight of him around the same time I lost track of Batman.”

Standing up with a raised eyebrow, the name peaked Dracula’s interest.

“Who or what is this… Batman?”