I believe you. But tonight...I'm the nightmare. 
- — Batman
Batman #517 is an issue of the series Batman (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1995.
Synopsis for "Sleeper, Part Two: Darkness in the Dream Chamber"
Under the influence of the Sleeper's gas, Batman struggles to handle the nightmarish hallucinations and ends up falling from the roof. The Sleeper assumes the fall killed Batman and leaves, hoping the two deaths appease the goddess even though she has failed to bring her a heart.
Batman saves himself, managing to hang from an old statue a few inches above the ground. He lands in Gotham Park and decides he has to be better prepared for the next time he faces the Sleeper. He'll call in Dr. Shane's murder and wait for the GCPD before returning to Wayne Manor.
At her hideout, the Sleeper begs her goddess for forgiveness. Remmy Sturgis tells her the goddess forgives her, and when the Sleeper asks how he could know, he thinks to himself that he knows because he invented the goddess.
In the GCPD Headquarters, Mackenzie Bock reports the murder to Commissioner Gordon. Bock notes that Dr. Shane's heart wasn't removed and that the window was broken, suggesting the killer was interrupted. He thinks Batman interrupted them and called in the murder.
Bruce hastily arranges a dinner party at Wayne Manor that night, which is difficult without Alfred. Among the guests are Dr. Gnossos, an expert on sleep disorders. Bruce asks him questions to better understand the process of sleep deprivation and who might be working on similar projects. Dr. Gnossos reveals that he was once asked to join a group seeking answers to questions like those Bruce is now asking, but he refused because he suspected they were government-affiliated. Bruce has all the information he needs before dessert, but the dinner party doesn't break up for hours.
One guest refuses to leave. Madolyn Corbett asks Bruce first to join her for a cup of coffee, then a glass of wine, and when Bruce refuses both offers, she says they'll have to do it another time.
Bruce starts to track the killer using the information he obtained from the previous victims. All their address books contain the same phone number, which belongs to a man calling himself Remmy Sturgis, but there is no address for him. Batman hacks the phone company to find the address attached to the phone number, which is in Chinatown.
Remmy was a member of an agency that worked on hypnosis, making human weapons by interfering with the minds of the test subjects; the same agency that Mekros had belonged to. Remmy receives a phone call telling him that the "Sleeper Project" is out of control and that the agency will bring him down.
Remmy knows he has to flee, but he wants to save the Sleeper as well because he's fallen in love with her. He explains to the Sleeper that they had to leave, but she refuses to leave her "dream chamber" and stabs Remmy in the chest. He knocks her across the room in self-defense, rendering her unconscious, but he didn't meant to harm her.
Batman arrives and confronts Remmy over his crimes in Gotham and across the world. As they fight, a government agent appears to shoot Remmy, killing him instantly. Batman knocks out the agent and leaves him there for the police to handle.
In the end, Batman watches the Sleeper from the distance. Her injury left her in coma. She is now, ironically, in a permanent state of sleep.
Appearing in "Sleeper, Part Two: Darkness in the Dream Chamber"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Dr. Gnossos
Antagonists:
- The Sleeper
- Remmy Sturgis
Other Characters:
- Madolyn Corbett (First appearance)
- Commissioner Gordon
- Mackenzie Bock
- Alfred Pennyworth (Mentioned only)
- Mekros (Mentioned only)
- Robin (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Gotham City
- GCPD Headquarters
- Wayne Manor
- Gotham City Chinatown
- 979 Compton St.
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in Batman by Doug Moench & Kelley Jones Volume 1.
Trivia
- Batman mentions the political figures The Shah of Iran, Patrice Lumumba, and Pinochet.
See Also