Commissioner James Gordon stood on the roof of Gotham City's police plaza, the Bat-Signal by his side and shining brightly in the night sky. He desperately hoped the Dark Knight would arrive tonight. He sometimes didn't, being too busy stopping the crime in the streets. But tonight, it was of the upmost importance that he did. He was the only option the commissioner had left. Thankfully, his prayers were answered as he felt that familiar vibe from the sudden and mysterious arrival he always had to make. Gordon turned to see the Batman standing with him on the roof.

"Thank God" he sighed.

"Is everything ok? I haven't seen you look this desperate in twenty years" The Bat said in his infamously deep voice, walking up to the commissioner.

"Yea, well, I haven't had a case this complicated in twenty years either, and that's saying a lot right there" he replied as he walked up to the bat, carrying a casefile.

"What's the problem?"

Gordon handed him the file and Batman began to examine it.

"There's been a string of killings in the past week. Kids in their mid to late teens have been getting murdered in their sleep. Each one butchered to death, but we can't figure out how. There's nothing to indicate breaking and entering and there's no murder weapon left at any of the scenes. And each night, someone else gets taken"

Batman examined the crime scene photos and details as he spoke. To say they were horrific would've been an understatement. Whoever killed these kids was a true psycho. He likely didn't have any real reason for the acts he committed, just had a sick appetite for killing. It was his way of obtaining power, bringing joy to his life. A pure monster that Batman was used to facing.

"The parents?"

"Don't have the slightest clue. None of them are the type to have any enemies, at least of this magnitude, and there's nothing to indicate a cult of some sort. Maybe this is one of the Joker's new antics?"

"No, if this was the Joker, we would know" he assured, knowing that better than anyone.

"Well, whoever it is, I hope you find them, cos we're all out of options" The desperation could not be clearer in Gordon's voice.

Batman closed the file and held it at his side.

"I always do"

X

After the meeting, the Bat returned to his cave with the file in hand. Just like always, his butler, partner, and loyal friend, Alfred Pennyworth, was there waiting for him. He carried a tray that held a towel and a drink for the billionaire as usual. After that, it was the usual chitchat about how everything went and what Gordon wanted. Bruce gave him all the details with the file before heading to change.

"I must say, Master Wayne, we've seen many strange things together, but this is new even for me" Alfred stated as Bruce stepped out of the changing room, now in a regular suit. "I honestly don't see how this could've happened unless the parents did this"

"It wasn't them" Bruce assured as he walked to the table Alfred sat at. "This is too big and too random for it to be a group of fanatical parents"

"Well, none of this gives us anything to go on. These murders are done almost too perfectly" Alfred set the file down on the table. "You said they died as they slept?" he asked with a curious look.

"That's what Gordon said, why?"

Alfred thought for a moment before responding.

"It sounds familiar, but I'm not sure why"

There was silence for a moment, except for the sound of the nearby waterfall, as the two tried to think of what could have caused this.

"Another thing to consider, this may not be a normal killer" Alfred broke the silence. "This could be one of the more stranger things we've ever had to deal with. Possibly even something we've never dealt with before"

"Whatever it is, we need to find it and put a stop to it. Cos every night the killer roams free, somebody else loses a child. Odds are, someone already has" he stated with importance and Alfred nodded.

Their attention was stolen by a small alarm. It was signaled by the mansion's front doorbell. Alfred looked at the security monitor that showed the live footage from the front door.

"It's the mayor and his wife. I almost forgot about the dinner party tonight" Alfred said.

"I didn't" Bruce smirked.

"Don't be smug Master Wayne" Alfred couldn't help but smirk back. "I'm afraid we will need to continue this tomorrow"

"Alright, you go ahead. I'll be up in a minute" he replaced the seat that Alfred stood from.

"I've heard that before. Don't you fall asleep down here again"

"I won't" he smirked again as the butler left him.

"And, I'm sorry to inform you that Master Drake won't be dining with us. He's still feeling a bit under the weather" he informed as he got to the stairs.

"That's ok, I'll bring him something before I join the party"

"Alright!" he heard Alfred call from the stairs.

Although, Bruce had to admit, he felt tired. He really should start taking Alfred's advice about not pushing himself so hard. These matters just felt so constant and never ending at times. He looked at the file one more time, only adding to the overwhelming fatigue. He couldn't help but prop his head up on the table, his eyes closed and his fingers in his hair. He really could pass out now, for the one-hundredth time at that. He heard footsteps coming from the stairs. He knew it had to be Alfred.

"I'm not falling asleep, Alfred, I'm just resting a little. It'll be just a min- "

He turned to see not Alfred, but his own mother. She was alive and standing here. Bruce was beyond speechless from the sight of her.

"Bruce" she whispered.

"Mom?" he gasped.

Bruce could only sit there and watch as she turned and walked away. She entered the chamber that held all the suits and that's what brought Bruce out of his shock. He nearly jumped from his seat and rushed after his mother, shock and confusion dancing like a tornado in his head. He wanted to call after her, but was unable to form any words. He just followed her into the chamber. But once there, there was no sign of her, she was gone. However, each of the suits hanging in the chamber, Bruce's, Dick's, Barbara's, Jason's, even Tim's, all had their owners wearing them. But they weren't alive. Each one appeared to be slashed to death. Each one also had blood dripping from their bodies, already creating puddles beneath their feet. There aren't many things that can leave the Batman wide eyed and panting, but this was definitely one of them. It was everything he dreaded within this one room. He panted as he glanced around the horrific room. He stopped when he saw his own suit with himself in it. He was in the exact same shape as the others, if not worse. What made his worse was that his mouth was carved to look like the Joker's smile. That, and he had the blood-covered knife in his hands. Bruce just stood there with nothing but shock and horror in his eyes, not understanding what was happening.

"Bruce!" he heard his mother's voice echo.

He spun around to suddenly find himself in an alleyway. Not just any alleyway, THE alleyway. He found himself back at the same age he was of that treacherous night, helplessly watching as his parents die in an undeserving matter once again. However, this time was different. It wasn't some desperate man with a gun that was killing them, it was some creep in a hat stabbing them to death. Bruce couldn't quite make out the figure due to the dark, but the use of the knife was obvious. He saw as he yanked the weapon out of his mother's gut, blood pouring out as she dropped to the ground. Lying next to her was his father, adjoined with her in a pile of blood. Bruce watched on in horror as the figure began to approach him. His eyes fell on the murder weapon, seeing that it was not one but multiple knives that were attached to the killer's hand, blood dripping from them. As he stepped closer, his appearance became clearer and Bruce's fear grew more rampant. The killer had black pants, a dark hat, a dirty red and green striped Christmas sweater, and a glove that carried all the attached knives. Plus, every inch of his skin was scarred by what must've been severe burns. It didn't even look like skin anymore, just molded clay covering his whole body. Topped with that sick twisted grin, the sight of him was a true nightmare.

"Welcome to my nightmare, little Bruce-y" he said while showing off his knives, followed by a sadistic laugh.

Bruce was frozen as he continued staring at the creep, moving only as he shook in fear. That was, until the freak slashed at him.

Bruce jumped awake, suddenly back at the desk in the cave, with his heart pounding and his thoughts racing on what just happened.

"Master Bruce! Master Bruce, are you alright?" Alfred came rushing to his aid.

"What happened?" he panted.

"You fell asleep, sir. Must've had quite the dream. I could hear you from all the way upstairs"

"What do you mean you could hear me?"

"You were screaming, sir"

Bruce just panted and thought about what just occurred. All of that was just a dream? It seemed so real. Bruce was no stranger to nightmares, having been used to them for most of his life now. But that was something else. No nightmare had ever made him scream before, nor had it ever seemed that real, that intense. Just what kind of a nightmare was that? And more importantly, who was that man?

X

It was in the middle of that same night when Bruce woke up again. Only it wasn't him that was screaming, it was Tim. He could hear him from all the way down the hall. Tim didn't ever wake up screaming, so Bruce knew this had to be something bad happening. He jumped out of his bed and sped down the hall at a speed no other non-superpowered man could beat. The door to Tim's room busted in half as Bruce came crashing through it. His eyes landed on the current boy wonder, sitting up on his bed, covered in a thin layer of sweat, and panting in relief.

"Tim, Tim, are you ok?" he rushed over to the side of his bed.

It took Tim a moment to regain his composure.

"Yea, I'm fine" he sighed. "It was just a nightmare Bruce"

"A nightmare?"

"Yea" he scoffed. "At least... I think it was only a nightmare. You know, with me being sick and everything"

Being the world's greatest detective, Bruce was not one to believe in coincidences anyway. But whatever was happening here, it was just too obvious to ignore. But it was also strange, almost too strange for him to believe. But not enough.

Something was going on here, and he needed to find out what.