Sunrise... War needs to wait till Sunrise... both sides Prepare for the next Step

As soon as the first rays of the sun came over the city, the last defenders of the castle retreated, but just as Bruce was planning his next rocket launch, he could feel a strange energy. There was a tingling sensation on his skin and then with one blow the castle was just gone. No sound, no sign, no nothing. It was just gone. Where it had stood before was just an empty space. If Batman hadn't been such a hardened veteran, this demonstration of power would have impressed him. But it was something else that caught his attention now. Now that the castle was gone, and the sun slowly rose between the towers of the city, he could see the battlefield more clearly. His wolves slowly gathered around his position again and the wolves he had used to keep the humans away came back. But there were less than 60 who survived the attack. Looking at the wolves one by one he could see Ivy and Harley who were both unharmed. But it was clearly visible that Ivy was completely out of breath. She could hardly stand on her legs and was supported by another wolf. Barbara and Huntress seemed to be exhausted as well but showed no wounds that could be seen. However, he couldn't see the Snakes or Superman or Power Girl. They were not on the battlefield either, which was disturbing.

Then he saw Jason lying in the middle of some werewolves. Even after the transformation, he was still bleeding badly. Apparently, he had taken quite a beating in the fight against Talia and as expected Talia had used silver weapons. And then the scales fell from his eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" he yelled as Jason reared up. His stomach started to bloat before he was blown apart by a bomb. The men and women standing directly around him were hit by the force of the explosion and thrown away. Even though it was only a small bomb, Bruce was astonished by the explosive force. But even as a human being his pack was very tough. But then he saw how the innumerable small wounds in his protégés threw blisters and they cried out in pain. It was horrible to watch how one after the other was killed by the silver bullets in his body. Aloe Vera tried everything she could, but it was just too late. Talia had proven once again that she was a terrible threat to every werewolf. Barbara apathetically fell to her knees and stared at the torn body of Jason. Huntress, on the other hand, just clenched her fist and stared sinisterly in front of her.

The fact that even Harley kept his mouth shut was a good sign that everyone in the audience understood what was going on. And now that the castle was gone his whole plan didn't work out anymore. Growling he had to admit that Dracula didn't deserve his reputation for nothing. He had calculated the whole thing exactly and it would take far too long to find the castle. Besides his possibilities were limited during the day and he had already lost one of his strongest weapons. It hurt him that he had to call Karen a weapon, but now he couldn't take it into account.

"Back into the cave!" he growled and his troops all retreated. No sooner had they reached the cave than there was a sign of hope. Apparently, Lamia and her two children had brought the unconscious bodies of Karen and Clark into the cave. Both were still completely out of action which should mean a lot for both. Both were incredibly tough, but so far there had only been one known fight between two Kryptonian women where they had fought to the death. Back when Superman fought General Zod. . . He was not seen for a week after that.

"What happened to them?" asked Barbara, who had only partially recovered. But she knew she had to concentrate now. She had put the question to Candy and Tracy but when they didn't answer Barbara growled angrily. But the two women just looked at her emotionlessly and then stepped aside. They made room for Lamia. The original mother of the Wer-Snake slowly stepped out of the shadows and wore only a simple black robe she had cut from an old cape of Batman. The whole apparition looked Greek and reminded strongly of the legend of Lamia. But what was most amazing were the eyes of Lamia. These had not changed back and were still the eyes of a snake. And these eyes showed a clarity that pointed to a completely healed mind. Bruce looked at the situation thoughtfully and held himself back for now. He was disturbed by the fact that Lamia had stabilized mentally so much in just a few days. Furthermore, her facial expressions and gestures seemed very self-confident. The shy and confused young woman was gone and, in her place, stood a self-confident woman who was not intimidated by Barbara or anyone else.

"They're asleep!" she said in a voice with an irresistible undertone. It was just a deep, smoky voice and yet she had this strange undertone. "We took her off the field. They saved us." Said Lamia and to Barbara.

"What do you mean they saved you?" Barbara asked angrily.

"What we said. She saved our lives by serving as a shield. We took her away from the battlefield because her powers are exhausted," Lamia said calmly and went back to her cave. She just ignored the angry Barbara. Candy and Tracy just turned around and followed her without saying a word.

"What the hell was that?" Huntress asked angrily as Ivy sat down with the two unconscious bodies and put on a hand.

"I fear Lamia is right. Superman is badly hurt, but stable."

"But shouldn't Karen be healing by now?" Bruce asked skeptically.

"She should, but I fear that her healing power is proportional to her exposure to sunlight. And apparently they've worn themselves out." Said Ivy insecurely.

"This is ridiculous. Superman beat up Darkseid, and he looked a lot worse than that. And he was fit again hours later!" Barbara shouted to her, but Bruce shook his head.

"He was not. I was! In his close. The World needed to see that he was okay. A picture of a comatose Superman would have been fatal at that Moment."

Now everyone looked at Bruce who sighed. "Superman was in a coma for over a week after the fight. All his solar energy was used up in the fight, so I jumped in and pretended to be Superman."

"Oh!" everyone was now amazed and looked anxiously at the two bodies on the floor. It wasn't good news, but Bruce still seemed too confident to let them drag themselves down.

"Debriefing in 3 hours! Get some rest! That's an order!" he said calmly and looked at Ivy in front of everyone. "That goes especially for you. You must rest and meditate!"

It surprised even Bruce that Ivy gave in without resistance and went into her small chamber.

Paradise Island

The queen of the Amazons sat on her steed in full battle armor and looked at the sea. Behind her stood 100 of her most capable warriors and waited for her order. Far above the beach, on the cliffs, stood the remaining Amazons, ready to defend the island. But what attacked the island was something completely new. No Amazon had ever seen anything like it before. It was a huge dark fortress that had appeared on a small island just off the coast. This fortress was ridiculously large and even without any special knowledge of architecture the queen knew that such a construction could not work.

"My queen! Who is our enemy?" asked one of the Amazons but the queen only shook her head when the train gate of the fortress opened, and a single man came towards the coast. He just walked across the water as if it was solid ground. He wore a bronze breastplate like the Spartans wore in those days. On his shoulder he wore a long red cloak, blowing in the wind, which was fastened with a golden clasp in front of his chest.

"This... is impossible?!" the queen marveled as the man stopped right in front of the beach. He was still standing on the water and had not set foot on the mainland. Slowly he got down on his knees and lowered his head.

"Queen Hippolyta. I salute you." Said the warrior in ancient Greek and dared not look up.

"King Khaine?" asked Hippolyta and got off her horse. "Please rise."

"Slowly, Dracula rose and straightened up. It was unusual that he was addressed by that name. It had been biblical at that time and in those times, it was much worse. He smiled when he saw that the Queen of the Amazons was still as beautiful as ever.

"May I tell you that you still challenge the beauty of the gods?" he smiled.

"I see that even three millennia have not taught you humility before the gods, King Khaine." She smiled but could not prevent her cheeks from reddening slightly. "I never expected to see you again." Then she turned to her Amazons and called out in a loud voice.

"Greet the hero of the battle of Alexandria!"

The Amazons on the beach and on the cliffs let out a thunderous and far-reaching roar and Dracula nodded contentedly. In this battle he had fought on Zeus' side for the only time in his life. In this battle he had stood by the Amazons in their fight against the god Ares. He had fought less for Zeus than much more to protect the noble Amazons. Even with his power it had been his first fight against a god and moreover Ares had been powerful at that time. It was a trial of strength that he had won only through the intervention of the gods and the Amazons. But this had earned him the respect of the queen. At that time, he could not imagine that he ever had to claim this gratitude.

"Great and mighty Queen of the Amazons. I request an audience." He said calmly, and the queen smiled and then nodded.

"In honors of our old warrior's covenant, I allow you to enter this island! But know that this honor is bestowed on only a few men. On this land you are no king, no hero. You are just my guest!"

"I think being your guest means more than being a king." Nodded Dracula and followed her.

Only hours later Wonder Woman's Javelin landed right in front of her mother's castle and with quick steps she walked up the steps to the throne room. But as soon as she had entered it, she stopped like rooted to the ground.

"Dracula!" she was amazed when she saw her mother talking to the King of the Undead.

"DAUGHTER!" the queen drove at her. "Show respect for one of the Amazon heroes. This is King Khaine who helped us in our greatest battle!"

"What?!" it snatched Diana as she stared at the man at her mother's side. As a child she had often heard stories of the unknown king who had fought at the side of the Amazons against Ares and it had always been him who made her believe that not all men could be bad. That Dracula of all men should be this hero was just unbelievable. However, he could be trusted to do it. After all, he possessed the power and the longevity that was necessary for it.

"Princess Diana... I am delighted to see you again." Dracula smiled and stood up. "Forgive me for not revealing that part of my past to you. However, I felt it was important that your approval of my fight in Gotham be based on my actions, not my past lives. I hope you will forgive my deception."

"Mother! I must speak to you in private. It is very important!"

"Forgive me Khaine." The queen smiled and left the room with her daughter. ...where she was informed of the events unfolding in Gotham. After some time, the queen and the princess came back and confronted Dracula. Dracula told the queen the same thing he had told the League. But he did not have to go quite so far, because the queen was very well informed about werewolves. But when she learned that Bruce, one of Diana's closest friends, had become a werewolf, she gave her a pitiful smile. The Queen knew very well what this man meant to her. But her daughter also had to understand that Batman no longer existed. There was only the beast.

Diana had come here to ask her mother for the army to help her against this very enemy who was now talking to her mother. She could forget that now. If she had known before that Dracula was the same hero from the past of the Amazons, she would never have come here. All this made Dracula appear in a new light. The deeds he was about to do seemed much more noble. The mere fact that he asked the queen to finish his work if he should fail made it clear how important the extermination of the werewolves was. It was impossible for her mother to win against him and to be honest she didn't want to do it anymore. Batman would have been the first to put the good of the world above his own life. He would have been the first to say that certain hard decisions had to be made. She would honor his memory and kill him herself! But there was a second task that brought her to Gotham. At least that task would end her.

The flight back to Gotham would take several hours. Even with the Javelin, she could not arrive before sundown. This could only mean she would have little time.

Back to Gotham.

Bruce had discussed his plans with the wolves and made sure they were ready. There were only two nights left in which they had their full strength and after that they were no match for Dracula.

Now all he had to do was check on the others. Ivy was still in a deep trance in her room while Harley was polishing her baseball bat. In the next room Superman and Karen lay peacefully sleeping on some mats. Karen was surrounded by her children who were eager to annoy her sleeping mother. They may have sensed that she was unwell, but they weren't worried either. I wonder if they sensed that she just needed rest.

Then she went into the chamber that Arachne had chosen, but the chamber was completely empty. Then he went into the chamber of Lamia where he found the three spiders as well as Lamia with her 2 children. The 6 seemed to be engrossed in a conversation, but Lamia left the group and walked directly towards him.

"We should talk, Mr. Wayne!" she said calmly and gently as her reptilian eyes drilled deep into his.