Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 04:52:27 -0800 (PST) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Tales of a Real Dark Knight Chapter 7 Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!! 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. Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry. Copyright Paramount Studios. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!! jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 7 Revelation I awoke the next morning rather late. It wasn't so bad since I did not have to be at work. I dressed in sweats and a tee shirt, deciding to go extra casual for the day. I decided to watch one of my favorite movies, one of my MANY favorite movies, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I didn't get too far into it when the phone rang. It was Josh. "Good morning, Josh." "Good morning. So how did last night go?" "It went okay." "Okay? Did your secret admirer reveal himself?" "No." "No? That little shit said he was going to. Oh well, never mind. Listen, do you have any thoughts on who it is?" "Sure do." "Care to share?" "Sure don't." "You're no fun. Are you planning to do anything tonight?" Just then a knock came at my door. I walked over and looked out the peephole. It was Jessica. "I'm not sure. Can I call you back? I have company." "Sure, no problem." I hung up the phone and opened the door. "Can I help you?" "Yeah, you can. Can I come in?" "Sure unless you are a vampire." "No." Jessica stepped in and closed the door behind her. "Listen, I've got some proof of something going on tonight that Justin's boyfriend is involved with. Want to come with me?" "Are you sure? Last time you and I met, a vampire had me by the throat ready to dine." "Cheap shot. Besides, you got away." "Would this involve me wearing my Bat-suit?" "Sure would." "I guess so. I don't have any plans tonight." "Great. I'll see you down the street at 10?" "That's fine." "Good." With that Jessica left. Not even up a full two hours and already I have two people wondering my plans for the evening. I guess this is "having a life". Not too sure I'm keen on the idea. I sat back down to finish watching my movie when the phone rang again. "My, God! Who could it be now?" I walked over to the phone and, reluctantly, picked it up. "Hello?" "Hi, Eric? This is JC." These guys are great. But I can't believe how much they want to contact me. "Hi. How are you?" "I'm great. Listen, someone wanted to know if you had a great time last night. They were too embarrassed to call you so they asked me to call." "Yes. I had a marvelous time." It took JC a few moments to respond. He must have been relaying my answer. "That's great. That someone wants to know if you want to join us tonight for a night in." Oh, great! What a dilemma! Do I go and help stop a vampire who is dating the guy I've had a crush on for the past few years? Or do I go and spend the evening in the company of the guy I've had a crush on for the past two years? Decisions, decisions. "JC, what time?" "Oh, about 10." Damn, I thought. But out loud I said, "How about midnight? Would that be too late? I have plans to be somewhere at 10." Again, JC was rather quiet. "No, that would be fine," he finally responded. "Great. Where should I go?" JC gave me the directions to their hotel and told them what floor. They had the whole floor to themselves. I guess when you're part of a famous singing group, nothing is too difficult to arrange. At around 10 that night, I got suited up and went out my bedroom window and up to the rooftop. I had packed a change of clothes to change on route to the hotel. I looked around to see if the Huntress was close. She wasn't so I headed in the direction she indicated earlier in the morning. After about ten minutes of journeying, I met up with her. "Did you come prepared?" "No, I don't have spare wooden stakes lying around the house." She shook her head. "I thought Batman was supposed to be prepared." "He is if he's the rich one who doesn't have to worry about money. I, on the other hand, do not have his fortune at my disposal, so I make due with what I have." The Huntress pulled out a wooden stake and handed it to me. I slipped it inside my boot and followed her from rooftop to rooftop. "So, what's going down?" I asked. "At the docks tonight. Something is supposed to be arriving. I'm not sure what, but I have my theories." "Really? Would you care to share them with me?" "From what my Watcher has learned, there is a demon arriving at the docks tonight." "A demon by boat? This job gets more interesting by the minute." "According to legend, this demon can only be killed by beheading." "Did you bring a sword or an ax?" "Don't worry. I'll take care of the demon." "Good. Make it quick. I have to be somewhere at midnight tonight." The Huntress looked at me and we continued the rest of the way in silence. When we arrived at the docks, the Huntress pulled out a pair of binoculars and began looking about trying to find Turic. After fifteen minutes, I thought for sure her information was wrong. But soon I was mistaken. Something grabbed me from behind and pulled me backwards. I found myself flying through the air as some unknown assailant threw me back. When I got to my senses and looked up, I saw the Huntress engaged in a fight with a very familiar person, Turic. He was dressed all in leather with those same sunglasses on. "So, Slayer, you've found me." "Who are you working for, Turic?" "That's none of your concern." "Yeah, right. What about your boyfriend? Is this going to get him killed?" "My boyfriend?" I stood up. "Justin Timberlake. We saw you at the night club dancing with him." "Oh, him. He's just for sex. I feel nothing for him." Anger welled up in me like never before. Someone I cared about was being used, treated like garbage to be tossed when through. But how long will this go on? The only answer I could think of was "how long will I let this go on?" I couldn't very well tell Justin. He would think I was jealous, only thinking of myself. And how could I explain that I heard it? "Oh, by the way, Justin, I'm Batman." Yeah, that would go down real well with him. "You are going to tell him," I replied. Turic just looked at me and laughed. "Yeah, right. He's good at what he does. Both on the stage and in the bedroom." I lunged at Turic. He grabbed me and spun, tossing me over the edge of the building. I opened my cape, hoping that it would be enough to slow my fall. Thankfully it was. I landed on my feet and looked up to see Turic frowning. He turned away from me, and, seconds later, I saw him tumble off the roof. Huntress must have gotten him. He landed with a thud next to me. I turned preparing to fight him. Huntress landed next to me and we both waited for Turic to attack us. He got to his feet, but just smiled. "You don't have me, yet, Slayer." He looked around and grinned. We followed his gaze to see several vampires surrounding us. "Oh, great," I replied. "It will be fine," the Huntress whispered to me. "Just let your anger give you strength. Control it, though, or you could get yourself hurt." I prepared myself, looking into each of the eyes of the demons. "See you two later. I've got an appointment in someone's bedroom." With that, Turic left us to face his minions. "Do you want a stake?" the Huntress asked. "No, thanks. I don't do well with weapons." "Suit yourself. Let me know when you're ready to stake one of them." "Don't worry. There's one I already want to stake." The corner of the Huntress's mouth curled up. "You ready?" "Let's do it." I watched the Huntress do a cartwheel forward and land between two vampires. With lightning speed, she kicked one and punched the other. Two attacked me, as well. I ducked at the first punch and hit the vampire in his side. Then swung my hand out for a back hand and hit him in the back of the neck. The other vampire, however, grabbed me from behind and held her arm around my neck. "You're not so tough as your comic book counterpart." "Yeah, but this isn't the comic books. This is reality." I pushed back with all my strength and forced her into the wall. Then, as quick as possible, I jumped backward, ramming her into the wall. I succeeded in knocking the wind out of her, but she did not let go. I swung my head back and hit her face. That got her attention. I took a quick glance over at the Huntress. She had just staked one of her vampire attackers and was fighting the other one. I didn't want her to have to save me, or be one up on me, so I went on the offensive. I grabbed the arm of the vampire, lifted it off my neck and spun around. I kicked her as hard as I could in the stomach and spun her around, tossing her into a stack of wooden pallets. The force of the impact splintered and shattered some of the wood. I grabbed her and, smiling at her, rammed her into one of the jagged edges. I was lucky on the first shot and got her in her heart. She immediately turned to dust. The second vampire tackled me and pushed me into the wall. He kept ramming himself into me, knocking me more and more into the wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a vampire hiding behind another stack of pallets. He was watching the Huntress, preparing to pounce when she wasn't ready. Worse still, she didn't see him. I couldn't let her get caught unawares and I didn't want my element of surprise on him to be lost. I took a chance and when the vampire went to ram me again, I forced myself out from between him and the wall. He rammed his head into the wall and actually caused some of the brick to crack. I grabbed a piece of wood and threw it at the vampire. My throw was sure as it hit the vampire in the heart, turning him to dust. The Huntress looked at me and smiled. But the victory was cut short as the vampire who rammed his head into the wall shook off the pain and snarled at me. He ran and me and I sidestepped. Turning, he ran at me again, only this time, when I sidestepped, I pushed on him, running him into the same piece of jagged wood that I pushed the other vampire onto. Again a vampire was dusted. I turned in time to see the Huntress stake her second vampire. "Well done," she said. "That's what, three for you?" "Yep." "You're becoming a demon hunter." "Hmm, Batman the Demon Hunter. Don't know if I like that sound. Sounds kind of corny." "Come on, we've got to check for that demon." "If he's not gone already." We sprinted off toward the warehouse, but when we arrived it was all locked up. "Great. How do we get in?" "Leave that to me," I replied. I went around the building looking for some stacked crates. I found some and climbed. Then, I jumped to the roof and went to the top. I found what I was looking for, a skylight. "If Michael Keaton can do it in the movies, why can't I in real life?" I jumped feet first into the glass, opening my cape as I descended. It helped me land a bit more softly, but it still jarred me. As I walked to the door the Huntress was waiting at, I noticed a large crate sitting in the middle of the warehouse empty. Tire marks traveled toward the door. Turic obviously made his escape with his demon friend. I opened the door and walked right past her. "Where are you going?" she asked. I could hear the concern in her voice. "They are gone. There's nothing we can do here." "We could track them. Find out where they are going." "I've an appointment to meet." "Where at?" "Someone's bedroom." "You're not seriously going to face Turic now. He would not think twice about mutilating those guys." "I'm not going to face him, not like this. Eric was requested to go to their hotel tonight. I'm not going to cancel simply because I know some selfish, bastard vampire is screwing the man I love just for the sheer hell of it. I'm going to be there to keep an eye on things." "This really bugs you, doesn't it?" "All my life I've looked upon Justin and imagined what it would be like to be with him, to date him. I'm not talking about having a night full of sex. Sex is not a relationship; it should be a fruit of a relationship. I dreamed of nights lying next to him, in each other's arms. I dreamed of waking up and seeing the sunlight on his face. I've imagined getting phone calls from him while he's rehearsing just to hear him say how much he loves me and misses me and wishes I were with him. "It hurt when all the stuff about him and Britney Spears came to the forefront of the news. I realized that it could never happen. Now that I know he's gay, I have a fighting chance to be with him. And, even though it hurts to know the guy he's involved with is a blood-sucking vampire with his own interests at heart, well, let's just say the psychologist in me wants to build a friendship with him for when Turic breaks his heart. I won't be the one to reveal it. But, by God, I will be the one to be there when it happens so that I can help pick up the pieces." With that I walked ahead of the Huntress and disappeared down an alley. A half hour later, it was almost midnight and I was strolling into the hotel JC told me they were staying at. The night manager looked at me concerned about my presence. I tried to alleviate his fears by smiling really big and talking to him. "Nice night." "Yes, it is," he replied. "Can I help you, sir?" "Yes. I'm here to meet with the members of NSYNC at their request." The guy looked at me rather strangely. I could almost tell what he was thinking. "Why would they want anything to do with you?" But he remained silent as he picked up the phone and called their floor. "Yes, a mister..." "Eric McCoy," I helped. "Eric McCoy is here. He says you requested his presence...Yes, sir...I apologize, I will send him straight up." He hung up the phone and looked at me with a grimace. "He says to go on up. They are on the 20th floor." "Thank you," I answered with a smile. The lobby was dead so using the elevators was easy. I had no traffic to worry about. The trip to their floor was quiet. The elevator music actually soothed me some from my earlier excitement. That is until the doors opened and I heard the music playing. "A party?" I thought. "They invited me to a party? Great, just great." I stepped in and looked around to try and find where the music was coming from. It didn't take long. There was a door open five feet from the elevator. I walked over and looked in. Chris and Joey were playing video games. Lance and JC were talking. Justin was nowhere to be found. I instantly became apprehensive thinking about where he could be with Turic. Were they out? Or were they in his bedroom? I was quickly brought back to the moment at hand. "Eric!" JC said. "Good to see you! Come on in!" I stepped in to be greeted by the profuse hand-shaking JC was giving me. Maybe it was him who likes me. I couldn't figure it out. I never could figure that stuff out. "Hi, JC. How are you?" "I'm great! How are you?" "I'm tired." "You should have come here earlier then. Late nights are a thing of the norm for us." "I would have but I had some errands to do, places to go, people to meet." "Oh. Well it was fine that you came over at this time. Come on in and rest yourself." I followed JC over to the large couch and sat down. "Can I get you something to drink?" "Water would be fine right now. I'm dying of thirst." "Sure thing. Be right back." Joey, without taking his eyes off his game playing, asked, "So what's up with you, Eric? Did you have a nice time last night?" "It was nice. I don't normally dance, but I had a nice time anyway last night." "You are a great dancer," Lance said for the first time opening his mouth since I arrived. "That's only because I was with you, Lance. It would have been disastrous if I had danced with anyone not so talented at dancing." Lance just smiled at me. "Where's Justin?" I asked trying to sound not so concerned. "He's in his room with Turic." I didn't want to even think about what was going on, let alone ask. "Where did he and Turic meet?" "It was a few months ago, wasn't it JC?" Chris asked as JC entered the room. "Yeah, I think." JC handed me my water and sat down in the chair. "It was weird how it happened, too." "Really?" I wondered. "Tell me." "Well," Joey said, "at one of our concerts, we noticed Turic standing close to the front. But all he was doing was standing there. He wasn't dancing, singing along, nothing. We couldn't tell who he was looking at because he always has those sunglasses on. Anyway, he ended up meeting us at a nightclub later that night. There he and Justin talked for hours. They would talk on the telephone at night and sometimes he would come over." "It was weird, too," Lance chimed in, "because Justin had been talking with Britney a lot. They were even planning on a trip together. I was waiting for them to announce a wedding. But, right after he met Turic, he came out to us and broke up with Britney. It was like he did a complete turn around. Like he woke up one morning gay all of a sudden." That statement puzzled me. I had always known I was gay. I just tried to repress it and hide it and change it most of my life. No wonder I was so tired and didn't want to do anything. I was wasting so much energy on something that I could never change. "We didn't have a problem with him being gay. We were actually used to being around other gay people. It was just the fact that Justin, of all of us, saying he is gay is what surprised us." "You're used to being around gay people?" I asked. "Well, yeah," Chris replied, "with..." Justin and Turic coming into the room interrupted him. "Hi, guys," I greeted. "Hi, Eric," just replied. "Hello," Turic said. Then he looked in my eyes. A slight smile flashed across his face. "My God," I thought. "He knows." I began praying over my water, blessing it just in case Turic decided to make trouble with me. Justin sat on the couch next to me. The closeness of him sent waves of joy and happiness through me. It was horrendous! Here I was with his body so close to me, yet I could not reach out and touch him, hold him. "Excuse me, please," I said, standing up. I sat my water on the table. "Do you have a bathroom in here?" "Sure. Right through there," JC pointed. "Thanks." I headed to the bathroom, almost in tears but covering up nicely. I splashed some water on my face and looked in the mirror. "Why does this happen to you?" I asked myself. "You always seem to get to know the greatest guys, yet you never can have them. They usually live too far away. Or they are close but have someone else." A crash of glass got my attention. I dried my face off and opened the door slowly. In the middle of the room the Huntress stood. "Hello, Turic. Didn't think I would follow you, did you?" "What are you talking about?" he said trying to be coy. "Batman and I easily dealt with your minions. So easily he thought I could take you all by myself." "I think you are mistaken. I don't know what you are talking about." "You're a vampire." The guys looked from Turic to the Huntress and back. Justin seemed to be the most effected. "It's impossible," he said. "Vampires aren't real." "Justin, you saw what happened last night at the club," Huntress replied. "They do exist. And Turic is one of them." "Prove it." "Where's a mirror?" she asked. "In the bathroom," JC replied. "But Eric is in there right now." The Huntress walked toward the bathroom. The moment her back was turned, however, Turic grabbed her. "We're through playing these games with masked psychos. Justin, love, call the police." I came out trying to act like I had no idea what's going on. "Did I miss something?" "Just stay back," JC replied. "We're calling the police." I looked at each face in the room. JC, Chris and Joey looked freaked. Justin looked concerned for Turic, simply by the way he stared at him while heading to the phone. Turic looked determined to stop the Huntress. The Huntress looked at me. I could tell she was trying to figure out some way to get out of this without implicating me. But when I looked at Lance, there was a look of concern, but not for whom I figured it would be for. I didn't have time to figure out whom. I had to act quickly if I was going to aid her without blowing my cover. I decided to act faint of heart. "I need to sit down," I said. I went over to the couch and bent down to get my water. As I walked around the table to the couch, I "tripped" and spilled my water on Turic and the Huntress. What happened next surprised everyone and convinced everyone of Turic's nature. Where the water had landed smoke began to billow. The prayer over the water did indeed make it holy water. He released the Huntress and grabbed a blanket trying to wipe it off. "You little shit! What did you do to me?" "I prayed over my water like I do everything else I consume. It always helps to have God's blessings upon it." The Huntress smiled at me then turned her attention to Turic. "As for you..." But Justin quickly interrupted her. "You lied to me! How could you lie to me? You're a demon and you saw fit not to tell me. What else have you been lying about? Did you lie when you said you loved me?" The Huntress looked at Turic. Turic looked up at Justin speechless. This only confirmed Justin's fears. "Get out! I don't want to see you ever again!" Turic snarled and ran to the balcony. He leapt off and, not surprisingly, flew away. "I'm sorry for this," the Huntress replied. "I didn't mean for it to happen this way. I thought you guys might be in danger." She looked at me and went to the balcony and climbed on a rope that had been hanging there, probably the one she used to swing through the glass. "My God, what am I going to do?" Justin said collapsing onto the couch. I reacted the way I wanted to react, as a friend there to comfort him, hoping that, maybe, just maybe, he would trust me. I sat down next to him and placed my hand on his back. "I'm sorry, Justin. I'm sure this hurts." "Hurts? It's tearing me apart! I never felt like this for anyone before! And to find out he lied to me!" Justin cried hard. "I think I better go," I said. "You guys have a lot to deal with. If any of you want or need to talk, you have my number." "Thanks, Eric," JC said. I left the hotel and went home, feeling bad for Justin. I didn't want it to turn out like this. Finding out someone you care so much about has lied to you ruins everything. You second-guess everything you've ever come to know and trust, even your own heart. I wanted all of them to come to grips with this truth, this revelation, on their own terms, in their own time, and in their own way. I would be available in case they needed me to talk to. To be continued... Now things are getting very interesting. There are secrets here, secrets I wonder if you guys picked up on. I hope you did. More will be revealed in subsequent chapters. What do you think? I would love to hear from you all! I've heard from a few people so far! Thank you!