Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 13:01:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Return of a Real Dark Knight 5 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 5 Test The next day, I went to the Center to see how things were going. I decided to use the computer in the cave to find out who the vampire was that attacked us the night before. Preston had dropped me off and went to the library where he said there was research he wanted to do. When I asked what it was about, he just said he was interested in something and dropped it. I didn't press the matter. They were out for summer vacation, but he was always curious. It wasn't anything new to us for him to be researching something or other. He was very inquisitive and always wanted to know more. He was like a sponge just absorbing the knowledge. I told him I would call him when I was read to come home and he said it was fine. "Good morning, Dr. McCoy," Mitchell greeted me. "Good morning." "That was some party last night. Do you plan on anyone else crashing?" "No," I replied with a grin. "That was unexpected." "Maybe it will increase the donations to the Center." "That would be nice. Do I have anything scheduled for today?" "Nothing," he answered. "Good. Hold all my calls. I have some things I need to look up for the Center." "Certainly." I entered my office and closed the door. Sitting down at the computer, I typed in my password. Then I found the link that would connect my terminal with Oracle in the cave underneath the Center. Soon, I had Oracle up and running. "Oracle, access security camera poolside from Bass home, time index 10:45 pm. Scan figure coming over the wall and compare face to database." The scanning begun and I sat back waiting. After a short amount of time, nothing happened. "Access databases all over city and run scan to compare image with photos." The scanning started again, only this time it would take a much longer time. It had hundreds if not thousands of systems to hack and search. So, I sat back and relaxed. The computer beeped and I saw that it was an incoming message from Jayce. After clicking it, his image appeared on the screen. "Hello, Eric." "Hi, Jayce. I'm surprised to see you. You normally don't contact me." "We've been busy, extremely busy. I see you are at work." "Yep." "Then I'll make this quick. Recently we've detected Slayer signatures in Orlando." "Signatures? How many?" "Two." "Makes sense. We think one of them is my daughter." "Really?" "Yeah. Last night we had a pool party for sponsors and a vampire attacked. We're not sure why, though. I'm having Oracle look that information up." "That makes sense. One signature was in your area. We can't pinpoint exactly, but we did have a three mile radius." "What about the other?" "That's why I'm contacting you. I wanted to know if you and Jessica would be willing to make the first contact with these Slayers. Get them up to speed on who they are, their destiny, and so forth. Jessica left word with the Slayer in L.A. that she was heading out there to visit you." "Of course I would be willing to make the contact with the other Slayer." "Excellent. I'm sending you the coordinates of the detection last night. It might be possible for you to find her in the same area. Also, the mystics detected another strange signature within her. They believe here to be a mutant as well." "Jayce, I was wondering. If it turns out that Sarah is a Slayer, would it be okay if Jessica and I trained her?" "Of course. We are running low on Watchers. We don't have nearly enough to keep up with training. We've been utilizing Slayers that have lots of experience, like Buffy, Faith, and Jessica, to train the young ladies." "Thanks. I appreciate it." "Of course. I appreciate your help as well. Notify me as soon as you've made the contact." "I will. Tell Bekah I said hi." "Will do," Jayce replied. I sat back and thought, 'Two Slayers in one city. What are the odds? Of course, after what Buffy did in Sunnydale, I can see why.' A few hours later, Oracle beeped and I checked out the profile. It apparently was a student from Sarah and Preston's High School that was missing from a few days ago, approximately the same night that Jessica and Justin arrived to Orlando. "He must have been turned some time that night or the night before. But why come to our house? I wonder if Sarah or Preston knew him well enough that he would know of our address. I don't remember him ever coming over." Suddenly a knock came at the door. "Come in," I called and minimized the screen on the computer. Preston came in. "Hey, how went the research?" "It went well." "Did you find what you were looking for?" "Yeah." "And that would be...?" "Don't worry. As soon as I get all the answers, I'll let you know." "Okay," I said smiling at him. "You know you don't have to keep any secrets from me. I'm your father. You can tell me anything." "I appreciate that," Preston replied. "Are you ready to go?" "Sure." After grabbing my things, we went out to the SUV and climbed in. Preston said nothing about the vampire attack last night. He must have put two and two together last night to come up with the conclusion it was a vampire attacking us. I wasn't going to press the issue with him yet. I figured if Sarah did prove to be the Slayer, then I could tell everyone what happened and disclose that she was, indeed, a Vampire Slayer. If not, I would come up with some that would shield them from the truth. They didn't need to know. When we arrived home, I was greeted with a kiss from Lance and a hug from Sarah. I took Jessica and Lance aside and told them Jayce contacted me about the other Slayer. "That explains why I couldn't reach him. He has been in conference most of the day. Do you still want me to take her out and test her?" "Yes," I said. "We need to be absolutely sure. I'll check on the other potential Slayer. I'm sure you and Justin can take the guys out for awhile." "Sure," Lance replied. "We've been meaning to spend some one on one time with the guys." "Then that's what we'll do." After dinner, Jessica invited Sarah to go with her. Jessica told Sarah she wanted to talk with her about what happened the night before. Sarah was reluctant but because it was her Aunt Jessica, she felt a little safer. "That was the first time that happened," Sarah replied. "I'm not a violent person. Hip and trendy, yes. Sarcastic, often. But violent. Never. Unless you count that one time in the fourth grade with Jeremy, but we won't go there. Suffice it to say, he deserved it." Jessica laughed and pulled her car up to the side of the road. She turned off the engine and climbed out. "What are we doing here at Baldwin-Fairchild Cemetery?" "I just wanted to go for a walk here." "In a cemetery? Does Uncle Justin know you are this weird?" "Sometimes, Sarah, going to a spooky place helps put things in perspective. We can look at all those who have gone on before us and appreciate what we have." "I don't have a problem with appreciating, Aunt Jess. Is this my punishment for not wanting to talk about Jeremy and the fourth grade?" "No, not at all. The cemetery can be a quiet place, a place for reflection. It is just as much about life as it is about death." The two walked into the dark cemetery. Fog had formed over the ground and created an eeriness to the place. "And it's about getting the heebie-jeebies," Sarah stated. Jessica smiled and the two walked a little further. "We're going deeper into the cemetery, Aunt Jess. Why?" "I wanted to test a theory." "What do you mean?" Suddenly the ground in front of them exploded as a corpse jumped out of the grave. Sarah let out a scream and jumped back. Jessica jumped back as well but not out of fear. She pulled a wooden stake from her jacket. Sarah looked over at her aunt wondering what was going on. "What are you going to do with that?" "Do you know what that is?" Jessica asked, not in a fearful voice, but one of true curiosity. "I don't know. It looks weird." The creature growled and lunged at the two ladies. They both stepped sideways and the creature went between them, hit the ground at a roll and stood to its feet. "What a second," Sarah said as she began to piece the mystery together. "Corpse rising from the grave, really bad skin, yellow eyes, and teeth that could tear uncooked meat...that's a vampire! And you have a wooden stake, which only confirms what I think that is. The question is, how is this possible?" "No," Jessica said. "I think the question is, can you kill it?" Jessica tossed the stake to Sarah. Sarah looked at the stake in shock and then back up at Jessica. "What are you doing? It's going to kill me!" "Not if you kill it first." Sarah turned to the vampire. "I don't know how to do this." "Concentrate, Sarah. Let instinct guide you. Relax and focus on the moment." Sarah took a few breathes and calmed down. The vampire looked from Jessica to Sarah. Then it lunged. Sarah stepped to the side and brought her leg up connecting with the vampire's mid-section. It slumped to the ground clutching its stomach. Then the creature swung it's leg out and tripped Sarah. She fell backwards and the vampire climbed on top of her fighting her to get its first meal. "No," she said struggling. She placed her hands on the creature's chest and pushed not thinking it would do anything. To the contrary, it did something. The creature flew off Sarah and slammed into a tree. Sarah looked at her own hands surprised at what she was able to do. Jessica smiled and thought, 'Yep, she's a Slayer.' Sarah climbed to her feet as the vampire came running at her. She ducked an attempted grab and swung the stake upwards. It found the demon's heart and it screamed and turned to dust. Sarah stood for a moment not moving. Finally she remembered to breathe and relaxed. She looked at her hands, at the wooden stake and then up at Jessica. "Did you see that?" she asked. "Yes, I did." "What? How? What?" "Your fathers and I had some suspicions. It turns out we were right." "What are you talking about?" "You, my dear sweet Sarah, are a Vampire Slayer." "I'm what?" "'In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.' That's you." "I'm the...Slayer?" Sarah dropped the stake and walked passed Jessica. "This isn't real. I don't believe it. This can't be true." "Oh, it's real, all right," Jessica said. "Because I'm a Slayer, too." Sarah stopped in mid-step. Slowly she turned to face Jessica. "You're a Slayer?" "Yes." "Does Uncle Justin know?" "Oh, yeah. He knows. And so do your fathers." "How do they know?" "I'll leave that up to them to explain to you. One thing that I ask is that you don't tell anyone, none of your friends, and don't tell your brother or Randy. We'll let your dads decide if and when they should know. Come on, let's go home." Jessica walked up to Sarah and put her arm around Sarah's neck. "That was totally weird," Sarah said. "Oh, it's going to get a whole lot weirder." To Be Continued... What do you think of Sarah becoming a Slayer? This was what I had in mind when I was writing a while ago. She is the Slayer the costume contest was for. In the next chapter: Eric meets the other Slayer.