Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 08:13:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Return of a Real Dark Knight 08

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 8 Identity

	I smiled at Dinah's enthusiasm.
	"There are some things that you need to be versed in, first, before
you go out and fight vampires," I said.  "You need to know what harms
them."
	"Wooden stake, sunlight, decapitation, holy water," Preston listed.
	"True, but not all vampires are the same."
	"Oh, I know," he said.  "I could go through the list of all the
species of vampire that have appeared on screen or in book.  I wonder how
many of them are actually real, though."
	"Several of them," I answered.  "If you want to get on Oracle and
go through my database concerning vampires, you are more than welcome."
	Preston grinned and went over to the computer, sitting down at the
keyboard and began to type.  I smiled at his enthusiasm and Lance went over
to help him along leaving me with Sarah and Dinah.
	"The list Preston gave works on vampires that are demonic in
nature.  Those are easy to recognize only when they are about to feed.
Their foreheads get bumpy and their eyes are yellow."
	"Like the vampire from the other night," Sarah stated.
	"Exactly."
	"Why was he there?"
	"I'm not sure yet.  I'm still waiting for Oracle, although she
should be finished soon with leads.  Until then, we wait, and patrol."
	"I'm game for that," Dinah said.  "Give me a wooden stake and let
me go."
	"You have to hide your identity, though.  Well, you don't have to,
but it protects your loved ones."
	I looked over at the bat suit.  The mask has kept Lance from a lot
of danger over the past fifteen years.  When I first started, however, it
was different.  It wasn't Batman's fault.  It was mine.  Lots of things
happened to me to put him in harms way: Turic and Two-Face just to name
two.
	"Do you have any spare masks?" Dinah asked.
	"I can look and see," I answered.  "But you will have to change."
	"Yeah, right," Dinah replied.  "This outfit will just draw the
bloodsuckers to me.  It did at the bar."
	I couldn't help but laugh at that statement.  "It's rather late.
Everyone needs their rest.  Don't worry, though, tomorrow night we can go
out and do some patrolling."
	"Where do I stay?  I don't have anywhere, really."
	"You can stay at the Center.  One of its purposes is to give
adolescents a place to go when they have nowhere to go."
	Dinah nodded.
	"Let's go get you settled in," I said.  "Come on, everyone.  Let's
head up."
	"Aw, dad," Preston said.
	"Don't worry.  You can get more time with Oracle tomorrow."
	We went upstairs and I took Dinah to April.
	"Set up a file for her," I asked April.  "And get her a room.  She
doesn't have anywhere to go."
	"Will do," April said.  She led Dinah down a hallway to a room
where she could set everything up for Dinah.
	Lance, Sarah and Preston came out of my room and closed the door
behind them.  As we headed toward the doors, a youth showed up at the door.
At first I was concerned for her as she looked like she was in need of
help.  However, when she pulled the gun from her jacket, I knew we were the
ones in trouble.
	"Get back!" I called and pushed the others back through the door.
	Everyone ran and the girl took aim.  I tackled Preston, who was
right behind me.  Lance knocked Sarah down as the girl fired.  The bullet
hit the fountain and a piece of concrete flew off.
	The receptionist hit the button that alerted the police.  It also
locked down all dormitory rooms to keep the teens already here safe.  April
and Dinah were probably locked in a room together at the moment.  Good for
April.  She had someone who could protect her.
	The four of us scurried down the corridor as another bullet hit the
wall.
	"Don't anyone move!" the girl called out as she took aim at the
receptionist.  "Get away from there!"
	The receptionist slid through the door into a back room that was
kept locked.  It would keep her safe for a while.  The girl was left in the
foyer alone.
	We got in our room and I went down the trapdoor telling the others
to stay in the room and away from the door.

	Within a few minutes, I was in my costume and out the street
entrance to the cave making my way across the field toward the Center.
When I got there, help had already arrived in the form of Anarky.
	I showed up as he was shocking the girl causing her to drop her
gun.
	'He works fast,' I thought.
	Then he swung his staff and hit her in the face, causing her to
spin around and into the fountain.  She brought her head up to get out but
he pushed it back into the water.
	"You could have killed the residents in this place," he said to
her.
	I highly doubted she could hear him, what with her head being under
water and all.
	"Those here are victims of a capitalist society.  They have been
tossed to the side like trash and you come here searching for violence."
	I threw a bat at him and hit him in the leg.  His knee gave way
causing him to release the pressure on the girl's neck.  She pulled her
head out of the water and gasped for breath.
	"Where am I?" she asked.
	Anarky looked over at me as I entered the door.  He swung his staff
back and knocked her into the water.  Then I saw the electrical discharge
of his staff and he moved it toward the water.  It would have killed her
had I not intervened.
	I jumped at him tackling him.  His staff skidded away from the
fountain.  He swung his leg up and kicked me in the face knocking me clear
of him.  He stood up and ran to the girl who was pulling her head out of
the water for the second time.  He pushed it under the water.
	"Let her go!" I ordered.
	"Didn't you see what she did?" he asked.  "She brought a gun here
with the intent to kill."
	"She's lost just like the others," I stated.  "She's a victim of
this society.  She has no control over what she's doing.  Didn't you notice
her reaction when she first came out of the water?  She has no idea where
she is."
	"She's faking, like all the others.  Temporary insanity pleas just
to get off the criminal charges.  I don't know how many low-life scums used
that plea just so they wouldn't be held responsible for their crimes."
	I pulled out a bat from a pouch behind my back and let the wings
extend.  In a quick motion, I hurled the bat.  It wrapped around Anarky's
arms and I pulled on the cable.  Anarky fell forward releasing his grip on
the girl.  I ran up to him to tie him.  He swung his legs around and got up
on his haunches.  Then he kicked me in the stomach.  The relaxing of my
grip loosened the hold of the cable and he slipped free.
	I got up as he ran toward the door.  Using the electric pulse from
his staff, the doors unlocked.  "You have made a grave mistake, Batman.  I
thought you would have accepted me.  I believed us to be on the same side,
but I see I was wrong.  Today, you have made an enemy."  With that, Anarky
fled the Center.
	I checked the girl's pulse to see she was breathing.  She was
breathing okay but still seemed a bit out of it.
	"Can you remember anything?" I asked her.
	The young girl focused her eyes on me and they widened.  "Where am
I?  What am I doing here?"
	"I was hoping you could tell me that.  You came in here with a
gun."
	"But I don't own a gun."
	I looked over at it and she followed my gaze.  "That's the weapon
you came in with.  Does it look familiar?  Maybe a family member's or a
friend's?"
	"I don't have any family," she muttered.  "And I know a lot of
people that have guns.  Most of them are illegally owned, though."
	I got up and went over to the gun, examining it for the serial
number.  I communicated with Oracle through my two-way radio to do a search
for the weapons owner.  Then I checked back on the girl, who by now was
sitting up.
	"Stay here.  You're safe.  Let the police help."
	She nodded and I exited the Center.

	When I got into the cave, Oracle relayed to me the search results.
It was reported stolen a few months ago.  It was obviously an illegal
weapon.  And without having any spent bullet casings, I couldn't have
Oracle search for other crimes it could have been used in.
	I changed and went back upstairs just as the police knocked on the
door.  I opened it and he explained to me all that happened.  I told the
officer I wanted the girl to get help.  She was too young to be involved in
the Criminal Justice System.  He said he would do what he could and took
her away.
	After being sure all was safe and secure, we headed back to the
vehicles and Preston rode with me while Sarah rode with Lance on the trip
home.
	"When we get there, no one says anything to Randy.  We don't want
him in on this.  He will just get hurt.  Aunt Jessica and Uncle Justin have
gone to great lengths to keep him away from this life.  It is too dangerous
for him."
	Lance and I both gave them this speech.  Preston and Sarah found it
funny that it turned out the person Randy had a crush on most of his
teenage life was me, his uncle.

	When we got in, Justin met us at the door.  "Ssh," he said holding
his finger to his lips.  "Randy's asleep on the couch.  He wanted to stay
up to find out what was going on, but he couldn't keep his eyes open.  Too
much excitement, you know."
	We filtered into the living room and made our way to the den when
Justin asked how everything went.
	"Well," I answered.  "Both Sarah and Dinah are Vampire Slayers.
The Council gave us permission to train them here."
	"I don't want Randy in on it," Justin stated.  "Remember Turic?
Apocalypse?  The Chaos demon?  I don't want him exposed to any of that."
	"Neither do I," Jessica added.  "But how do we keep such a secret
from him?"
	"We just don't tell him.  When you come to visit, Sarah won't go
out and patrol.  It's as simple as that.  I think there are enough of us
here to keep the secret from him."
	"What about the other Slayer?"
	"It went well, sort of.  Once she recognized her powers, and I do
mean powers.  It turns out she's a mutant as well."
	"Really?" Jessica replied sounding intrigued.
	"I'd love to stay down here and talk Slayers with you two, but I'm
exhausted," Lance said.
	I went over and kissed him goodnight.  "I'll be up in a little
while."
	"What should we do about Randy?" Justin asked.
	"Why don't you three just stay here tonight?" Lance offered.  "It's
late and we have the spare bedroom available."
	Both agreed and Justin left with Lance to get a blanket and pillow
for Randy.  Once the door shut, I continued telling Jessica about Dinah.
	"Yeah, she's a mutant.  Her power is powerful, but strange.  She
opened her mouth and this loud, piercing noise came from her.  And it
cracked concrete, shattered a shotgun and erupted motorcycle gas tanks.
It's like a sonic cry.  Funny thing about it is she's a singer, and she has
a good voice."
	"I remember reading about a Slayer in Columbus, Ohio fifteen years
ago who was also a mutant.  It's rare that you find both in one girl."
	"Well this girl has both.  I'm wondering how her mutation can help
her slaying."
	Jessica and I decided to call it a night and we headed off to bed.
	I found Lance coming out of the bathroom as I closed the door
behind me.  He walked over to me and I hugged him.  It was nice feeling his
warm skin.
	I noticed he was distracted and asked him about it.
	"Sarah being a Vampire Slayer.  That bothers me.  I don't want her
to be a Vampire Slayer."
	"I don't, either, Lance, but we can't change it for her.  The more
she knows..."
	"The more danger she is put in."
	"Maybe, but maybe not.  Being a Slayer automatically makes one a
target for supernatural forces.  The underworld hears things.  She won't be
safe, no matter if we try to hide it or ignore it or focus her in another
direction.  But by training her, she has a fighting chance against demons
and vampires."
	"I know," Lance replied.
	I held him a bit longer and kissed him.  He climbed into the bed
and I undressed.  After putting my clothes away, washing my face and
brushing my teeth, I climbed in with him and cuddled up close.
	"I won't let anything happen to her," I promised.

To Be Continued...