Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 16:44:32 -0800 (PST) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Tales of a Real Dark Knight Chapter 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. 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!!! By the way, my name is James. jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 4 Animal Investigation I went to work on Monday feeling rather chipper. The Saturday with Joshua at the Fundraiser was very enjoyable. It is the first time I've been out in a long time. On Sunday I just rested and went grocery shopping. When I arrived at work, I met Debbie and the other assistants who worked for the various psychologists on the floor. "How was your weekend?" Debbie asked me. "It was fun. I really enjoyed it." "What did you do?" "Joshua invited me to a fundraiser Saturday. It was nice." "Oh, that is fun. I went with him last year." "Really?" "Yep. I got to meet the Backstreet Boys. Were they there this year?" "Yeah. I didn't get the chance to meet them, though. I did meet NSYNC." "They are great, too." I sat down at my desk and thought about what Debbie said, that Joshua took her last year. That was kind of disappointing. I thought maybe Joshua had some interest in me. Maybe he was just trying to show off his staff to others or something. Maybe it was just a platonic outing. In either case, I tried to push the bad feelings aside and delved into my work. The first appointment was a little girl who had been abused by a babysitter. I checked on the file and discovered the babysitter was doing time. "Good," I thought to myself. "Anyone who would hurt a child needs to be incarcerated." The little girl came in and I greeted her mom and her with a pleasant smile. I went back to get Joshua and he came out. "Hi, Alyssa. This is Eric. He is helping me now." "Nice to meet you, Alyssa," I greeted. I held out my hand to shake hers but she refused it. It was to be expected. The poor little thing had been hurt. She didn't trust any stranger. Joshua took her back and I went ahead to get the next case ready, which would be here in 20 minutes. Joshua scheduled his sessions to be a half hour to an hour long, depending on the seriousness of the case. The next one was a little boy having a hard time with his parents divorce. Divorce is such a touchy subject with everyone. So many circumstances make it a difficult decision, whether it's a right decision or wrong decision. I greeted the little boy, Zachary, with a smile. He seemed a bit more open than Alyssa. The third case was a teenage boy who was caught breaking and entering. It was discovered that he had lots of anger to deal with that released itself in crime. I felt so bad for him. He felt he had to be tough and treat me like dirt. I just let it blow over and still treated him with kindness. The rest of the day went like clockwork. I finished up work and went back home. After a quick dinner and showered, I felt ready to patrol, so I suited up and went out into the night. This time, I headed towards downtown to see what went on there. Things were rather quiet for the first hour, which was welcome since I had not been downtown at night, with the exception of Saturday night. And then, I was on the street, not jumping from rooftop to rooftop. I got the chance to learn my way around in the dark. It got easy after a bit. A scream interrupted my familiarization of the streets and I quickly ran to where it came from. It ended up being outside a rather nice hotel, in the back alley. A young girl lay on the ground. I descended the fire escape to her to find her body very cold. "This must be what a dead body looks and feels like," I said to myself. I examined the body as well as I could. The young woman had two puncture marks on her neck, as if she had been bitten. "Some wild animal must be on the loose." Sirens rang out in the background. Not wanting to be seen by the police, I ascended the fire escape quickly to the roof and watched from the shadows as an ambulance and police car pulled into the alley. After watching them investigate the crime scene and take the body away, I looked up into one of the windows of the hotel. I can't say whether it was good timing or bad timing. The suite happened to belong to Justin Timberlake from NSYNC. And the two windows were his bedroom and bathroom. And what's worse (or best) was that he had just entered into his bedroom. He flicked the lights on and began to undress. I had to clutch the side of the building for support at this sight. Justin took off his shirt, revealing his very smooth chest and dark nipples. Then, he moved down to his shoes and, sitting on the bed, took them off. He pulled off his socks immediately afterwards. Then, he moved to his pants and unsnapped them, only to be interrupted by a knock on his door. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but not so long after, a man with a mustache that descended to his jaw line and went up to his sideburns entered. He walked over to Justin and kissed him. "Oh, my," I thought. "Justin is gay! But I don't have a chance against that guy. He's much more muscular than me, much tougher and much cooler." I watched their love play for a few minutes until the mustached man left the room. Moments later, Justin continued his undressing. As much as I wanted to stand there and enjoy the body of a man I loved, I couldn't. I just couldn't. I turned and left the side of the building, deciding to look around for clues to what killed the girl. To my surprise, I turned up nothing so I returned home to bed. The next day was the same. I went to work and met some more children and young adults who, in some form or another, were hurt mentally, physically, or emotionally by someone whom they cared about. It made me so angry to see them in that condition. How could anyone treat anyone, let alone a young person, so horribly? But that is another reason why I became the real life Batman. I patrolled that night still thinking about the kids and the young woman I found the night before. I paid closer attention to every little detail on the streets. What I found was rather disturbing. As I patrolled one particular street, 73rd I believe, I came across a young man running from a street gang. I decided to investigate. "Get back here, chicken shit! We ain't finished with you!" one of the gang boys yelled out. They cornered the youth in a small alley. And slowly, like wild animals, closed in on the boy. "You faggot! You're going to get what you deserve!" At that I became infuriated. This was a hate gang. My investigating soon became interference. Without thinking about the numbers I was against, I jumped down to the fire escape. In moments, I was low enough to leap off and onto two of the bigots. Needless to say, I surprised everyone, including myself. Quickly, I stood and kicked one of the guys I tackled in the face. The other guy began to stand up, but I quickly remedied the situation. Kicking him in the stomach as hard as I could, the man doubled over in pain. He wasn't going anywhere for a while. The other three looked at me...and laughed. "Who the hell are you supposed to be? Batman?" one said. Then they laughed again. "Leave him alone." "Why? He's a little homo faggot. He needs to be punished." "You bigoted son of a bitch," I said, no longer in control of my anger. "I'll show you punishment." With that I ran toward him. In mid stride I flipped forward and kicked the speaker in the face. Then, kicking sideways, I caught the guy on my right in the stomach and knocked him back into the wall. The guy on my left swung at me, but I was ready. Being angry all of my senses were heightened. I could almost tell what they were going to do before they did it. And my strength seemed magnified one hundred percent. I blocked the guy's punch and rammed my other fist into his nose, making sure it was good and broken. He immediately clutched his nose in pain. Swinging my leg and body around, I kicked him in the head, knocking him down. Then I turned to face their leader, the guy I flip kicked. "Crazy ass," he said to me pulling out a gun. "Let's see how tough you are against bullets." "Damn," I thought to myself, "I should have made me a boomerang or something to through at this guy." I stood watching him, and he watching me, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Sirens were heard in the distance and I smiled under my mask. Of course he couldn't tell. "Here come the cops. You want to go to jail for being an asshole, that's fine with me." The gang leader began to get nervous. His eyes kept darting to the mouth of the alley. I knew that I could take him if I timed it right so I just stood there watching. The next time he looked away I went into action. I dived at him and tackled him. With one hand, I kept the gun pointing away from anyone. "Get out of here," I said to the young victim. He looked at me rather shocked but complied and ran off. "You idiot! You let him get away!" "No, I saved his life. And yours." With that I head-butted him. He dropped the gun. Then, I stood up, dragging him with me. I pushed him into the wall behind him, and then kicked him in the stomach. Down he went. I turned and jumped to the fire escape as the cops came into the alley. "Close call, Eric. You need to time it better," I said to myself. I decided to look for the young man to see if he was okay. I wasn't prepared for what I would find. A few blocks away I found him, laying face down in a pile of garbage. "There must have been more members of the gang waiting outside the alley." I descended to the alley to investigate. What I found was rather shocking. He was the second victim to die with puncture wounds to his neck. "Something is loose out here. And I have to find out what." Hearing some movement above me, I looked up to see a shadowy figure disappear on the roof of a building. I pursued, believing it to be the perpetrator of this heinous crime. When I got to the roof, I found nothing. "Spooky." I returned home for the night. The rest of the week went the same. I met Joshua's clients, patrolled and found more victims with puncture wounds, one each night. On Friday, I went to work as usual. Only something was waiting for me at the office. An envelope sat at my desk. I looked at it and checked the return address. Nothing. Just then Joshua came out of his office. "Good morning, Eric." "Good morning, Joshua. How are you today?" "I'm doing well. How are you?" "I'm okay. Do you know who this is from?" "My lips are sealed." Joshua gave me that innocent smile he has that makes ANYONE fall in love with him. I opened the letter to find it was from NSYNC. No one in particular signed it so I couldn't pinpoint who wrote it. It said: "We're looking forward to tonight. Here is your ticket and pass. NSYNC" "Hmm" was all I said. "One of them is really taken with you. Though he promised me to keep my lips sealed." "You are such a great boss," I replied with extra sarcasm. "Thank you. Now get to work before I fire you." I smiled and sat down to the computer. The day went rather quickly as I got to meet more clients. Plus, I was getting more and more familiar with the system after each passing day. The day ended and I went home and showered for the concert. As I sorted through what I was going to wear, something inside told me to put my suit on underneath. I did. I was a bit warm, but not too warm. I settled on a long-sleeved black and white shirt and black pants with my black suspenders. Black socks and my black casual shoes ended the ensemble. The phone rang. "Hello." "Hi, Eric?" "Yeah. Who is this?" "This is JC. I hope you don't mind Joshua gave us your number." "That's fine. Is something wrong with tonight?" "No, not at all. I was just calling to tell you not to worry about bringing a cab. We sent a limo out for you." "A what?" "A limo. Trying to get a cab through downtown tonight will be murder. And one of us, though I'm not allowed to say who, wanted to guarantee you getting here." "Well, tell whoever it is, thank you for being so concerned about me." "I will. See you tonight." We hung up and all I could think about was who wanted me there so bad. Justin? He's gay, but he already has a boyfriend. Lance? That would be cool. But is he gay? Is it JC himself and he's trying to be coy? I couldn't figure it out by the time the limo came. A car horn honked and I looked out. It was the limo. I grabbed my apartment keys and locked the door. "How did they know where I lived?" I thought. "I'll have to ask them tonight." The driver opened the door and closed it behind me. Off I was to my first concert. To be continued... Is it getting intriguing yet? Is suspense killing you? I would like to know what you think.