Dracula, in his mist
form and bearing a cross, pursues the Dark Ones across the Transylvanian
countryside to their burial ground. There, they resume their human forms and
tell Dracula that they no longer recognize his authority since he lost his
powers. They have a new lord and master, Torgo. Several of them denounce
Dracula for his sins against his kind, noting that he is still holding the
cross. Dracula, surprised, glances at the cross and it bursts into flame and he
hurls it away. Janus watches from a distance. The vampire attack Dracula but
Torgo appears, rising from the ground and commands them to stop. Torgo orders
Dracula to kneel and, against his will, the former Lord of the Undead does so.
Torgo kicks him in the face, twice, so Dracula challenges him to a duel to the
death….
The vampire hunters,
Rachel van Helsing, Frank Drake, Quincy Harker, Harold H. Harold, know
something is going on with Dracula and decide to take advantage of it and
defeat him….
Dracula faces Torgo
with disdain because he is a peasant while Dracula is of the nobility. Torgo
relates his story: he was a commoner who rose to the rank of general in the war
against Atilla the Hun (making him older than Dracula). He was severely wounded
in battle and, mistaken for dead, buried. An old witch dug him up and feasted
on his blood, rendering Torgo one of the undead. And now Torgo has risen as the
new aggressive leader that vampires need to conquer the world, a goal Dracula
had explicitly abandoned. The two combatants are then tied to one another at
the wrists and armed with wooden stakes. The fight begins and Torgo produces a
dagger since he doesn’t have to fight fairly. The two taunt one another while
they fight and Dracula is able to seize his foe’s knife hand and twist it so
that it drives the knife into Torgo’s own heart. As Torgo crumbles into dust,
Dracula declares himself victor. The vampires start fawning over him and he
promises retribution later but for now he’s going home. He stands atop the
highest tower, bemoaning the fact that he is Lord of the Undead but they are
all worthless vermin. Quincy Harker reveals himself, announcing that the time
has come for Dracula to die. He forces himself to his feet, wielding a long
needle of silver, and sets a timer on his wheelchair for thirty seconds. Quincy
lists all those whom he loved that were slain by Dracula and he lunges,
spearing the vampire in the chest. He takes out a knife to sever Dracula’s head
and the bomb in his wheelchair goes off, obliterating the castle….
Rachel and Frank
hear the explosion and hurry into the street where a peasant woman tells them
they are finally free. The head to the castle and realize what Quincy has done.
Rachel sinks into a bitter funk and Frank takes her home….
At Harker Manor,
Frank and Rachel learn that the estate is about to be sold off. Rachel wonders
why she can’t cry for Quincy who raised her like a father. She then receives a
letter mailed by Quincy the day he died. In it he reveals that he is dying from
his heart condition and he senses that Dracula is also weakening so he is
planning to make a last effort to kill his longtime foe. But Quincy does not
want to see Rachel consumed by bitterness but encourages her to experience the
joys of life with Frank. She cries, they embrace….
At the church,
Domini meditates on the death of her husband which she knows about intuitively.
Janus appears beside her to assure her she is not alone but Janus belongs to
another. His golden angel form ascends into Heaven, leaving his infant form in
his mother’s arms….
The issue ends with
an elegy for Count Dracula, ruler, war hero, vampire….