Personal Log, Dr. Mindbender:

I suppose I must face the facts, that the responsibility for our current situation rests solely on my shoulders. It was I who decided to include the DNA of Vlad Tepes into the genetic matrix which produced Serpentor. The more superstitious members of my team balked, but I would have none of their foolishness. I am a man of science, after all, and I had no time for folklore and legends about vampires and Count Dracula. Vlad Tepes was a brutal conqueror, same as all of the others we used in Serpentor's creation; nothing more. Or so I thought. It took some time to manifest, the bloodlust which now consumes Cobra's emperor. It started with the occasional missing Viper, and then some whispers of ritualistic blood consumption. Then prisoners were ordered to be brought before Serpentor for interrogation, never to be seen again. Now, it seems that Tepes'--or, to drop ceremony, Dracula's--DNA has fully taken over. Serpentor craves human blood day and night, and is displaying powers and mutations never seen in any medical textbook. He can transform himself into a bat, a wolf, or even a cloud of mist, and is capable of incredible feats of strength. His hunger for blood consumes him, and it is that, not conquest, which drives his ambition. I would destroy him, but he is too well protected. Every day, another member of the Cobra high command falls under his thrall. I fear it will not be long before I, myself, am but one of his enslaved minions.