Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 08:27:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Return of a Real Dark Knight 32

Disclaimer: This story is fiction.  There are two celebrities who will
appear from time-to-time.  The other characters are fictitious.  Any
similarities to persons living or dead are completely coincidental.

In this story, I have continued the adventures of Batman, my Batman, which
his story first began in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight" in the Boy Band
section of this archive.  It spanned 250 chapters.  You will find many
universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal.  I hope you all enjoy
this.

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss
Whedon.  Copyright 20th Century Fox.

Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics
and Warner Bros.

X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel
Comics and 20th Century Fox.

The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice.
Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.

I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in
case, I have myself covered.

I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give.  I do hope that you
enjoy it!!!

Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are
commenting on.  Thanks.

authorjames2002@yahoo.com

I also have several online messenger services.  If you want to chat with me
in real time, email me and tell me the services you use and I will tell you
my screen name.

Chapter 32 Questions

	The following day, I boarded a charter plane to Columbus, Ohio.  In
a short time, the plane was in the air, and, after an hour and a half of
airtime, the plane landed safely.  I disembarked and grabbed my luggage
from Luggage Return and found my contact in Columbus.
	"It's been a long time, Blade," I said.
	"It has, Eric.  Now, pray tell me, what in the hell are you
attempting to do again?"
	"Can we go someplace a little less conspicuous?"
	Blade nodded and we left the airport terminal and headed to the
parking lot.
	"Is your boy cool with you coming here?"
	"As cool as he can be.  Things have been happening, personal
things.  I don't want to get into that right now, though.
	"The reason I'm here is because Lance and I were telepathically
linked to an alien trapped in Hangar 13."
	"And you want to what?"
	"Go in and rescue the alien."
	"You do some crazy shit," the Daywalker stated.
	"That I do," I replied.

	We arrived at the mansion given to him by Abraham Whistler, the
Watcher in charge of the Slayer who had lived in this area.  They had since
died, leaving Blade the only one guarding the city.  Ever since the Council
had been destroyed and rebuilt, there had been a noticeable decline in
Slayers.  Less and less were being born.  It was as if the lineage of
Slayers was disappearing.  That didn't bode well for those counting on
Slayers to keep a watch on the vampire population.  Without some form of
control, the vampires, who had gained some status and recognition by
national governments, may decide that humans are a thing of the past.
	"Tell me what you are planning," Blade said as we entered the
library.
	"Tonight, I plan on sneaking onto the base and making my way down
to where the Martian is and free him."
	"I think you're going to need a little bit more planning than
that," Blade replied as he walked over to the Intercom system.  He pressed
a button and spoke into it, telling whoever was on the other end to come to
the library.  "You're going to need someone who knows the government's
weaknesses and can get you inside."
	I heard footsteps outside in the hallway.  Turning toward them, I
saw two people, one man and one woman, entering the doorway.  The woman, a
blonde, had a sleek gray outfit on with black gloves and black boots.  The
man wore sleek black, and his apparel resembled that of a uniform.  He had
white hair on the sides and an eye patch.  A cigar hung out of his mouth.
	"You called," the woman said with a thick Russian accent.
	"Eric, I would like you to meet Yelena Belova, codename Black
Widow, and Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."
	"Shield?" I asked questioningly.
	"Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate,"
Fury clarified.  "We're a special group designed to..."
	"Intervene when there's a hazard?" I interrupted.
	"Precisely," he said raising his eyebrow.
	"What are they for?" I asked Blade as I turned to him.
	"They both have intelligence on military installations.  They've
been gathering it for some time."
	"Why?" I asked as my curiosity became piqued.
	"It seems there is some trouble brewing."
	I watched Fury's and Belova's reactions.  They looked reluctant for
Blade to share this information.
	"What kind of trouble?  What's going on?"
	"There might be some trouble in the government, especially ours.
Not all the vampires are as benevolent as Maharet and Mekare."
	"I know.  I've had first-hand experience.  Go on."
	"S.H.I.E.L.D. believes the vampires wish to use their power to take
over and enslave humanity."
	"Why wait ten years to do it?"
	"Simple," Fury stated as he entered and joined us.  Belova entered
as well, but she decided to keep her distance.  "They studied us, our
processes and our laws.  They know what they need to do to make what they
want to do legal.  They will take over subtly.  Humanity won't know what
happened."
	"Coup," I said.
	"Precisely.  And, it seems you've gathered the attention of the CIA
and FBI, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D."
	"What do you mean?"
	"We've been watching your Center with great concern.  The
government thinks you are doing what Xavier did, gathering teenage
meta-humans so that you can create your own army."
	"Xavier didn't do it to make an army, and neither am I.  I'm trying
to save these teens from a life of torment because of their powers.  Some
don't understand what they are and what they can do.  Others have been
treated so horribly because of their uniqueness that they have nowhere else
to go.  And their uniqueness isn't just their abilities."
	"Calm down.  We have no wish of attacking you or any nonsense like
that."
	"Yeah, right, like I'm supposed to believe an espionage agent."
	"The potential vampire threat is more pressing, Dr. McCoy.  What
you do with teenagers is your own business," he stopped and looked at me,
then added, "to a point."
	"I'm no pedophile, if that's what you are referring to."
	"That's enough, you two," Blade said.  "We aren't here to bitch at
each other.  Eric has a job to do.  And you two are going to help him do
it.  Is there a problem?"
	Neither said a word.

	For the rest of the day, Blade, Fury, Belova and I planned what
would transpire after the sun set.  They came to the table with a solid
working knowledge of how the base was set up, for which I was eternally
grateful.  Fury gave me security codes to bypass all their security doors.
Black Widow gave me some non-lethal gadgets that would help me get passed
guards as well as equipment to hack into communications.  And Blade offered
to drive me to Dayton.  Black Widow offered to go, but Blade told her to
remain behind to patrol the city.  Fury opted to stay behind, as well.  He
would assist Black Widow with the patrolling.  Granted vampires and other
creatures were given legal status, that didn't mean that all vampires were
law abiding.  And the demonic ones were still demonic.

	The sun set and Blade and I took off in his car heading south on
Route 71.  My suit was packed in the backpack on my back and everything
else was placed in the duffel bag I would strap to me once I entered the
facility.  Blade said he would provide a distraction, although I did not
need him to.
	"If something is going on outside, they will lock everything down.
I can't afford them to increase any security measures.  The point is to
make them think all is normal.  The only thing I need you to do is be at
the rendezvous point with the engine ready."
	"I got you," he replied a little reluctantly.
	Ever since the treaty, Blade had been pressured to reduce his
vampire hunting.  Even the Watchers' Council was being pressured, and
Europe wasn't quite as quick to rush into legalizing of supernatural beings
as the United States was.  Part of me understood it.  It seemed too good to
be true.  Finally, after years of battling with demons, they were given the
same legal status as human beings.  Now, I'm the least prejudice person I
know.  I've fought along side vampires who were good, true, and noble:
Marius, Armand, and Blake just to name a few.  And they should have the
same rights as everyone else.  Being a vampire does not necessarily equate
one with being evil.  But can some take this too far?  Isn't it just as
possible for vampires and lycanthropes take over?  I knew many gay men and
lesbians who would have had no problem subjugating heterosexuals because of
the second-class citizenship they gave us.  They would have had no problem
removing their rights simply because of their sexual orientation.
	But we have the Vampire Slayer lineage to consider, as well.
Slayers were created to hunt demons.  If demons have citizenship and legal
rights, do Slayers then become stigmatized and dehumanized because of their
own genetic make up?  For so long, Slayers have had to keep quiet about
their existence, protecting humanity against the forces of darkness.
They've had no support, no appreciation, nothing from humans, yet vampires
start a war, become recognized, and now they could be on the verge of
overthrowing the world, that is if what Fury said is true.
	I looked up to the night sky and prayed, `God, why do I seem to
find myself in the middle of these things?  I don't want to be involved.  I
don't want to have this type of responsibility.  All I want is to retire to
a nice, secluded home, make love to Lance every day of my life and die.  Of
course I want the children to be happy, but I don't want to be responsible
for the safety of the world and being an activist to get equal rights for
everyone.  As soon as one group is protected, another group is formed that
isn't protected.  It's like a vicious cycle that never ends.  No matter
what progress humanity makes, there will always be a group that the rest of
the world will not like and will discriminate against.  Why can't people
see that and accept diversity?  Why?'
	"Are you okay?" Blade asked me.
	"I'm fine.  Why do you ask?"
	"You haven't said a word the entire trip.  I figured you would have
wanted to talk about what's happening or, at the least, try to analyze me
and all that's happened to me."
	"I'm tired of talking about all the shit that has happened to me.
It seems the longer I live, the less I really care about humanity.  Nobody
learns, Blade.  Nobody learns to be open and celebrate diversity.  People
only care about themselves and what is best for them, nobody else.  And
they like to impose their own will on others.  If you don't fit in their
box, then something is wrong with you and you are made to conform.
	"And let's not forget about breaking promises.  One day, you're
committed to something, and the next, who knows what, could happen?  You
think all is safe and right in the world and you end up finding out that
not all is right with the world.  Something you've said or didn't say,
something you've done or didn't do has caused problems."
	"Are you still talking about the same thing?" Blade asked,
interrupting me.
	"Sorry, I switched subjects on you."
	"Did something happen between you and your boy?"
	"Yeah," I answered.  "I caught him having sex with a bunch of other
guys."
	"Oh, shit.  That must have hurt.  You didn't go crazy and turn
evil, did you?"
	"God, how do you know about me turning evil?  Was there a memo or
something?"
	"Whistler told me about it.  We were briefed on it when we went
after Apocalypse.  We figured if anything happened to Lance, you might go
on an evil avenging spree.  Not that we would blame you for wiping out
Apocalypse or anything.  But we weren't sure you would stop with just him."
	"I know I have a problem controlling my emotions when super serious
stuff happens, but I'm not that horrible.  I know when to stop."
	"That's what we all thought about Punisher.  And you know what
happened to him."
	"Yeah," I whispered remembering.

	We arrived at the base in Dayton and Blade let me out along side
the road.  I quickly changed into my costume and tossed my regular clothes
into the duffel bag, and headed toward the high fence.  All seemed quiet.
I turned on my night vision lenses and saw guards patrolling near the
warehouse, which was a good 100 yards away.  I switched to infrared lenses
to see if there were any lasers activated.  It wouldn't due for me to set
off the alarm thirty seconds into my mission.  I didn't want to let J'onn
down.
	There were no lasers activated, so that meant I only had to be
careful of the guards.  Unless....
	I picked up a twig on the ground and tossed it against the bottom
of the fence.  The twig disintegrated with contact.
	`Grabbing that thing would not have been good,' I thought.
	There was nothing around me that was high enough for me to ascend
and jump over the fence.  That meant me attempting to use my powers.  And
of late, using my powers was not a good idea.  Something had been happening
with me over the last decade in which I would lose control at a whim.
Anything could happen.  But if I did nothing, J'onn Jonnz would never be
free.  It was a chance I was willing to take.
	I stepped back and relaxed, focusing as hard as I could on floating
over the fence.  I cleared all thoughts out of my head accept the one of
floating gently above the fence and landing on the other side.  Other
thoughts tried to crowd in, but I pushed them away.  It wasn't time to do
that.  It was only time to float.
	Opening my eyes, I found myself on the other side of the fence.
`It worked,' I thought.  `At least I didn't trip any alarms or blow
anything up.  That would have been dangerous.'
	Silently I moved across the field toward my target.

To Be Continued...

What do you think of Eric meeting up with Blade, the new Black Widow, and
Nick Fury?  What do you think of the concept of a conspiracy in the
government with the vampires?  What do you think of vampires having legal
protection, as created by the author of "Tales of the New Phoenix"?  We'd
love to hear your thoughts on these things!

FYI: I have created a Yahoo Group where the pictures of the stories are
being hosted.  We've had discussions going on about certain events in the
story and have a poll going concerning the future of Lance and Eric.  I
encourage all of you to join.  Here is the link below to the homepage:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RDK_MK/