Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 16:02:37 -0800 (PST) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Judgments of a Real Dark Knight 4 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. 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. Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. 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 4 Damage Control Part 2 We pulled into the lower level of the Institute where Jean and Hank were waiting for us. I had radioed ahead and told them what happened. They took the Professor from the SUV and into a room off the side, probably a sort of medical bay. I climbed out of the SUV and headed into another nearby room. Josh, the young man I helped in L.A. last year, met me. "Eric," he said coming over to me. I took him into my arms and held him. "What happened to the Professor?" "Magneto used a Sentinel and crushed his exo-skeleton suit. Jean and Hank have him in the medical bay." The door opened and I turned to see Wolverine snarling at me. "Get away from him!" he howled as he tackled me. As he reached me, I planted my foot in his abdomen and flipped him over me. We stood looking at each other. "Stop it! Both of you!" Josh yelled. "We don't need this!" "You were supposed to protect him," Logan said. "I did what I knew to do. I wasn't prepared for the jolly green mutant hunter to be there. I knew nothing about the Sentinels." Wolverine just snarled at me. He retracted his claws and walked past me nudging me in the shoulder. I wiped a tear from my eye, knowing how I failed someone again. I walked out the door and headed up to the gardens. I looked up at the starlight and my mind went over all that had happened to me since donning the bat-suit, all that transpired since I took an active role in making my own decisions. "Are you okay?" a voice said. I turned and saw Jessica. "When did you get here?" I asked. "Just a short while ago. Garrett found something that needed to be shared with the X-MEN." "Did Blake see you?" "Yeah. I talked with him a bit. He told me about the clean-up today and the baby they found." I nodded at her, remembering what transpired earlier today. "So, what's going on with you?" she asked. "Too much," was my answer. "Want to talk about it?" "If I don't, I'll just end up feeling worse. Did you talk to Hank or Jean?" "No," she replied. "What happened?" "Magneto happened. I went with the Professor to talk with Magneto about what happened. Magneto had a huge robot called a Sentinel under his control and it crushed the Professor. I never knew he couldn't walk. But now, he might be damaged so much that any chance of walking is gone." "Oh, Eric," Jessica said coming up to me and placing her hand on my shoulder. "When does it end, Jess? When are all the villains gone? When will all the hate disappear from the planet?" "I don't know if it ever will. People have a right to choose what kind of person they will be. Things in life happen that shape and define us, and those definitions give us meaning, direct our paths, and affirm who we are." "But the hatred and anger," I began. I stopped myself for a moment, organizing my thoughts and getting both my thoughts and feelings under control. "The World Trade Center today, look at what happened. Anger and hatred flew the planes into the buildings. Look at what Apocalypse did. Anger and hatred did that." "Or a superiority complex," Jessica added. "Or that." I looked up at the stars again. "I've heard the song 'This is My Father's World' and I look and see what goes on, and I can't help wondering did God intend this? Did God mean for such violent acts of hatred and cruelty to happen?" "You are the strong believer," Jessica said to me. "Ask God. I'm going to check on the Professor. You have a conversation with the Almighty." Jessica left me alone with the night sky. I looked up at the stars and my gaze wandered past the stars into the vastness of space. "God," I began. "Why did this happen? Did you plan for this to happen? I can't believe that. I've always been taught that you are love. You even sent help to me to guide and direct me, to lift me up when I needed it. But why just me? Don't you help others?" A soft, clear voice whispered in my ear, "yes." "How?" "In my own way," the voice said again. I knew it was God whispering in my heart. Since I had the attention of God, I continued with my questions. "Where do people get the right to inflict such pain and death?" "They believe they are right when they inflict pain. Because they believe it right, does not mean it is." "Is there no one who cares?" I asked. "Yes." "Who?" "There are many. Just look." The door opened up and Hank came out to the garden. "The Professor is asking for you," Hank said. "Thank you." I looked up and offered a silent 'Thank You' to God, and followed the mutant inside. Outside in the front of the mansion, Ty noticed Dylan from the group Ocean Whispers looking up at the night sky. He seemed distracted, less focused than he was in Columbus. "Are you okay?" Ty asked as he approached the Kindred. "What do you care, wizard?" Dylan spat. "You seem sad," Ty replied. "Look, I know we have our differences. I don't know if we will ever agree that we are both fine. You have your reasons for distrusting wizards. All I can say is we are not all bad. "But putting that aside, there is a lot of bad going on. Maybe we can fix that if we work together and put our differences aside. We will have to trust each other. Is possible for us to trust each other?" "We'll see," Dylan said simply. "I'm not in the mood for trusting and generosity right now. I apologize if that's not what you want to hear, but that's all I'm offering." He quickly turned and walked away. Punisher noticed Melvin, one of the Kindred, staring at him. They were sitting in the lobby with the television down low on CNN. The newscaster was discussing the events that just transpired. After a few more minutes, the Punisher turned to Melvin. "Why are you looking at me?" "I was wondering what was going through your mind, all those deaths and what not. I didn't know what you thought about it." "What do you mean?" "I didn't know if you pictured yourself doing that to the Friends of Humanity or not. Such destruction in a short amount of time could make your job a whole lot easier, not to mention give you some satisfaction, since you don't have a problem killing people. "Tell me, what brings you here? You want to punish the people that did this, don't you?" Punisher became angry at what Melvin and stood up, walking over to him. Melvin stood up as well and stood face-to-face with the human being. "Listen up, boy. I've been trained by this government to kill. I don't care who you are or what you can do. So I don't have a problem taking you on. "As for my reasons here, my boyfriend was taken by some mutant ass wipes that sent the missiles crashing into schools across the world. He is the only person I want to see punished right now. "So you can take whatever problems you have with me and shove them up your ass." The two stepped closer ready to fight. Suddenly, two flashed of light caused them to fall over paralyzed, and they experienced an odd sensation. They could almost see each other's point of view. Tandy walked in and looked at both of them. "Look at you two!" she said making herself comfortable between the two men. "You want to argue and fight over how you think of each other. If you two are done with your pissing contest, I would like to point out that your opinion of each other is the same kind of thing that brought us here." After a moment's thought, Tandy continued. "Actually, we are here for different reasons, the missile-thingies blowing up schools. But the reason for the World Trade Center attacks and the Pentagon attacks, and don't forget the Pennsylvania crash, are because of what you two are fighting over. You look at yourselves as being right and the other as being wrong. That isn't the case any more. Each of you does what you can with the talents you have. "Granted, Punisher shoots people and kills them. That can be wrong in many different ways. But he was trained to do that. I was born and raised to be a Vampire Slayer. Well, not raised to be one. I'm naturally one. But anyway, that's what I am. "You, Mister...oh, whatever your name is, you have special powers and you use it to do good stuff. That's what we are all doing. Whatever amount of force we use will be judged by a Higher Being, whomever or whatever that may be." The paralysis from Tandy's light daggers faded and the two stirred. "So don't judge anyone. Just be nice and do good. Okay?" The two pulled themselves sluggishly off the floor and looked narrowly at each other. Melvin's feelings about the Punisher came back to him, as he felt Punisher was morally in the wrong. Punisher knew what Melvin was feeling simply by looking at him. He tensed up ready to fight if necessary. Tandy noticed this and her hands started to glow. "Do I need to paralyze you two and give you another lecture? I don't think I can remember all I said before." "No," Melvin said. Tandy turned to Punisher. "Michael?" "No." "Good, because I don't think..." Punisher stood up and walked away from the two ignoring whatever Tandy was saying. "You know, for someone who tells us to be nice and do good, you're rather mean and forceful," Melvin pointed out. "You don't know the half of it," Tandy replied. "Hello, Eric," Professor Xavier said to me as I entered his room. "Hello, Professor. How are you feeling?" "A little weak but I will recover. I wanted to ask you if you sensed anything from Magneto." "No deception. He didn't act like he was lying." Professor Xavier nodded. "You know, Professor. It is weird a psychic asking a non-psychic if they sensed anything." Professor Xavier chuckled. "Magneto senses my presence. He has learned to keep secrets from me. But he has never faced off with a psychologist." "Psychologist-in-training," I replied. The Professor nodded again. "Could you call a meeting of everyone? I heard Garrett and Jessica are here and they have some new information for us. I'll be along in awhile." "Sure thing," I replied, and I went out to get the others together. Everyone gathered into the room. I kept my seat from the night before. Professor X may have asked me to call the meeting, but I wasn't in charge. Blake sat to my right and Lance sat to my left. Jessica and Garrett sat next to Lance and Blade and his team, who I learned called themselves the Marvel Knights, sat beside Blake. Jean, Scott, Hank and Emma finished out the table and Logan stood in the doorway. "Thanks for gathering again," I opened. "I spoke with the Professor. He's doing better, as many of you know, and will be along to join us in a little while. He asked that we listen to Garrett and Jessica, as they have some new information to report." "Thank you, Eric," Garrett replied standing up. "As many of you know, I'm a Watcher. The Watchers' Council is an organization created for the sole purpose of fighting the supernatural forces of darkness. We have many volumes of ancient texts giving us information on demons, spirits, and so forth. Some even prophesy the future. "Right after the attacks yesterday, I was reminded of a passage I read in one of Nostradamus' acolyte's notebooks. There were many prophecies that came after Nostradamus passed from this world but were written with his name attached to it. Many dismiss them as hoaxes, however, those who are more familiar with such practices know that pupils often place their teacher's name to a document in recognition of how they received the information. A teacher is credited with the student's access to the spiritual world, and therefore, given the recognition of finding the answer. "Back to my point. There are several verses found that seem to predict the events that happened yesterday." Garrett reached down to his file folder and pulled out several slips of paper. He cleared his throat and read them out loud. 'In the City of God there will be great thunder, Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb.' Nostradamus 1654. 'Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the Metropolis. The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude. Fire approaches the great new city Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up. Within months, rivers will flow with blood. The undead will roam earth for little time.' 'In the year of the new century and nine months, From the sky will come a great King of Terror... The sky will burn at forty-five degrees. Fire approaches the great new city...' 'In the city of york there will be a great collapse, 2 twin brothers torn apart by chaos while the fortress falls the great leader will succumb third big war will begin when the big city is burning.' "So you see, there may be more than meets the eye," Garrett concluded. "You may very well be right," Professor Xavier said as he hovered in on a chair. "Let's take a look at several of the verses you've read to us. Some have said the exact same thing yet adding new words later." "I can only assume that the prophets were getting more information through visions as time went one." "Prophecies can be very tricky," Professor Xavier stated. "Is there anyone here who has a background in interpreting prophecies?" I raised my hand. Two and a half years of Bible College gave me the privilege of having several semesters of Prophecy class. "I have some experience in interpreting," Dylan said, raising his hand, "but not much. I can get my brother Ryan to help, since it's his forte. But we are not perfect, and sometimes mistakes are made." Ryan's misinterpretation of an old prophecy concerning the vampire Baile had cost Scott, Dylan's fiancé, his life. "Eddie and I also had messages imparted to us recently, both with the exact words, that concern Apocalypse, but not words of Nostradamus. More a warning than a prophecy." "He feeds on fear, he feeds on pain, he rules again. With his right hand, he will command their faith again," Eddie recited. "No hesitation he'll make, poisons the truth to lead the way to a world of decay." "If the rest of you would leave," Professor X asked, "we can get to work on interpreting what these are saying." Everyone cleared the room except for Professor Xavier, Garrett, Eddie, Dylan and me. When we were finally alone, Garrett spoke up. "Let's look at the first stanza, shall we. 'In the City of God there will be great thunder, Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb.' "The beginning of this one seems self explanatory. 'The great thunder' is obviously the noise of the planes flying into the buildings." "Why the city of God, though?" I asked. "Why describe it as 'the City of God'? Wouldn't that describe it as being chosen or holy according to God? It is just a city, like any other." "I don't understand that, either," Dylan said. "Maybe you could check up on the history of New York and find something out? Either way, I don't think it makes a difference, considering we already know its New York that was hit." "The Twin Towers are the two brothers and chaos is what ensued when the planes hit," I said, "however, what can the fortress that endures be? And who is the great leader that will succumb?" "Could it be Visser One?" Eddie asked Dylan. "She's the leader of the Yeerk invasion, and she resisted the call at first, then allied with the Caller. But they don't know his name." "It could be Apocalypse, the one Juffrey's working for," Dylan said. "The last line of the second stanza," I pointed out, "says 'Within months, rivers will flow with blood. The undead will roam earth for little time.' That sounds a lot like the vampire war that has been declared. There must be much blood shed during this time." "It's kind of obvious, isn't it?" Dylan said, "A super-powerful mutant, alien invasions, mass vampire armies, and the attacks on the WTC. I'd say that pretty much everyone is going to war." I nodded in understanding. It was true. If the entire world was going to war, one group against another, at the same time, there would be much death before anything was settled. Garrett continued the discussion further. "'In the year of the new century and nine months, From the sky will come a great King of Terror...The sky will burn at forty-five degrees. Fire approaches the great new city...' The King of Terror could be the vampire behind the vampire war. I don't see how it could be about Apocalypse, but, then again, I'm not an expert in mutant lore. I am hardly an authority." Professor Xavier gave Garrett a smile. "In a short time, I will share with you what information we have on Apocalypse. It could very well be the one in charge of the vampires that the 'King of Terror' references." "What about the fire approaching the great new city?" I asked ever the one to get people to think as well as discuss prophecy. Even though the subject was a vital one, part of me thrilled to the discussion. "The airplanes were not on fire when they approached the 'great new city'." "That sounds more like reference to the missile attacks on the campuses," Garrett explained. "We've all seen what missiles look like when they are in flight. "The final stanza is a repeat of the first stanza with the exception of the last line. 'Third big war will begin when the big city is burning.' Could this be a reference to the impending war we are sure the United States will declare on the coordinator of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks?" "If it was only the attacks on the World Trade Center, it might not be so big," Dylan said. "The terrorists don't have the technology to make such missiles. They had to use your own American airplanes to destroy three buildings." "What about the missiles?" Eddie added. "Their goal was to create more mutants. Apocalypse may be just trying to shift the balance back to equality." "But his ultimate goal is to conquer," Professor Xavier added. "The city burning is the beginning of the third big war." "Eddie, I seriously doubt Apocalypse is one of our Druid-kin to be thinking about the balance," Dylan said. Eddie shrugged and mouthed, "Well, you never know." "We cannot forget the name of the man behind the missiles," Garrett stated. "Apocalypse, a term often used to refer to the third, and possibly final, war on this planet. A war that will leave the Earth in ruins." "That remains to be seen," Professor Xavier stated. He turned his attention to Dylan and Eddie. "Do you have understanding of the warning given to you?" "All I know is that it's talking about what we know as the Deceiver," Eddie said. "And that he has some people under his command, some willing, and some not." "Some are probably brainwashed or taken control of by the yeerks," Dylan added. "And with those methods, he tricks them into being on his side 'willingly' despite their initial resistance." "But no light in the darkness is too small to see," Edwin recited another part of the song. "There's always a sparkle of hope if you just believe. We have a chance of winning this if we continue to have faith, but dark times are ahead, and that faith will be hard to come by." To Be Continued...