Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 16:14:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Trials of a Real Dark Knight 21 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. This story has taken on a life of its own. From its inception a year ago, I had only thought it would last ten chapters maximum. As you can see, it has grown tremendously. Mostly due to readers emailing me and telling me they've enjoyed it or have received help due to certain issues addressed. I've enjoyed writing this story but it would not have been written without men and women reading it and telling me they've enjoyed it. I do hope that you continue to enjoy each new chapter as our hero lives and grows. 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, one of which is this yahoo email address. Some of you know them; however, in the recent weeks I've changed my screen name. 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. Author's Note: The Boy Band Story Awards is coming up. If any of you would like to nominate my story for anything, I believe the nominations begin October 1st. I got into writing because I wanted to create these characters and tell their stories. I didn't expect the story to grow like it has. If I didn't have readers, it probably would not have lasted as long as it has. Thank you for your support. Chapter 21 The Cave The next morning I awoke to find Lance gone. When I looked around I heard the shower running. He was in the bathroom. I got up, went into the bathroom and relieved myself. "Eric?" he said. "Yep, it's me. Come to flush the toilet and reign down hot water on you." Lance chuckled. "Want to get in with me?" "I'd love to." I climbed into the shower with Lance. He leaned up to kiss me but I stopped him. "Be wary of morning breath," I said. "Goof," he answered with a chuckle and a kiss on the lips. "How did you sleep last night?" "Okay, I guess." "You seemed restless. I could feel you tossing and turning." "My body must have had a hard time relaxing." Lance took the bar of soap and started massaging my chest with it, building up a lather. "Maybe I can do something about that tonight." "Like what?" I asked with a grin. "We could give each other full body massages." "That sounds nice," I replied. Lance moved lower to my stomach and lathered it up. "What do you have going on today?" I asked. I saw a second bar of soap sitting in a dish, picked it up, and lathered up Lance's chest and stomach. "Meetings at the studio. The guys are thinking of doing one more quick tour and then ending NSYNC. We have to discuss it further, though." "Understandable." Lance moved around to my back and pressed his front into me. "What do you plan on doing after the group is over?" I asked. "I've been thinking of going back to school and getting a degree in Business Management." "Sounds like a plan." "Yeah. I think I might take a year off before hand, though. There are some things I want to do, fun stuff, before I get all businessy again." "Anything particular you want to do?" I moved to his back. "I was thinking of something adventurous, extreme. I even did some research while you were gone." "And?" I asked. Lance moved down to my butt and looked squarely at my dick. Then he looked up and smiled and said, "I thought about a trip to the international space station." "You what?" I responded rather surprised. I didn't want to squelch any of his dreams, but what he suggested was rather extreme. "I have to go through a battery of tests and training. And it will cost a lot of money. But it is something I want to do." Lance lathered up my legs and feet as he talked. "I can understand and appreciate that," I answered. "I won't tell you I'm not concerned, but if this is something you really want to do, I'm behind you." "Thanks." Lance looked up at me. "What are your plans for today?" Right after he said that, to my shock, he enveloped my cock and began sucking. My eyes widened in surprise. "I was thinking of hanging out at the center site today. Maybe look around the area and get a feel for the land." "Mm, hmm," Lance muttered. I took some shampoo in my hand and ran my fingers through Lance's hair lathering up the shampoo and washing his hair as he performed oral sex on me. After several minutes of this washing, rinsing, and conditioning, I climaxed in Lance's mouth. He massaged me to a flaccid state with his tongue, and then stood up. "There you are," I said as I caught my breath. "All clean." Lance smiled at me and kissed me. "Thanks," he replied. "My turn," I said. I knelt down and lathered up his legs and feet. Then I did the same to him, took him into my mouth and pleasured him. He couldn't return the favor of washing my hair since I didn't have any hair to wash, but he rubbed the top of my head and caressed my face. Soon he climaxed and I massaged him to a flaccid state. Standing up, we rinsed our bodies off and got out, taking turns drying each other off. As we dressed, I asked him if I could drive the SUV. He smiled at me and said 'yes' then he headed out. I, on the other hand, went back into the bathroom. Ten minutes later I came out shaved. My head was nearly completely hairless now. I finished dressing and headed out to the construction site. Once I parked the SUV, I was met by the foreman of the crew. "Hello Mr. McCoy," he said as he approached me. "Hello." "What can I do for you?" "Nothing really. I want to look around a bit, if that is okay." "Sure." I walked over to the actual building and watched as the crew began work putting up more walls. They would probably have the entire outside walled up today and be able to start on the brick outside and the interior. With two crews working on things, it wouldn't be too long before the entire building was completed. I headed into the building plotting out rooms and such. I remembered from yesterday the rooms that were already definite and so I didn't' have a whole lot left to work out. There were some larger rooms on the second floor which would work out as dorm rooms in case teens were kicked out of their house or in need of drug rehab or whatever crisis would come up. Lance had shown me the rooms that he thought would be good for offices so I headed in that direction. I could almost see me sitting at a desk in the back room with Lance's office next to mine. There was a decent sized room clear in the back corner of the corridor that wasn't assigned any specific task. I went to that spot and looked around it. A construction worker came in and to get some tools and saw me. "Hello," I greeted. "Hey, what's up?" "Not much," I replied. "How are you doing?" "Keeping busy. This place is taking a lot of work to do, but it is worth it. We all know what this building is for and most of us are supportive of that. Kids need all the help they can get." "Yep," I answered. "What do you think this room would be good for?" "Hm, well, according to the blue prints there seems to be every available room already laid out in this building. With the size you can't do too much. It's about as big as a small bedroom." 'Bedroom,' I thought. 'Perfect. If Lance and I need an all-nighter here, this could be our bedroom.' "Good idea," I said. The construction worker nodded and smiled. "Thanks." Then he left with his tools to get back to his job. I looked around the room a little more then sat down. I would work on my mutation again. There was nothing going on in this area at the moment and I wasn't going to do anything major, just reach out my molecules to feel the molecular structure of the different materials around me. The wood felt normal, as I felt it before, although there was a slight difference. This lumber was treated to keep it from rotting. My molecules went further down to the basement. There was a small room underneath here that served no purpose really. The stone and concrete felt interesting mixed together. It was cold and rough. Further down was dirt, about twenty feet of dirt. The organisms crawling around were fascinating to feel, to sense. They could tell what I was doing and were afraid, for obvious reasons. I decided to be less intrusive. Then I felt something odd. The ground was loose again. I could feel the molecules of oxygen. Why would there be oxygen noticeable at this level? I went a little further and it seemed the ground gave way to a large cavern. 'A cave underneath the center?' I moved my molecules around quickly throughout the cavern. There were nooks and crannies but for the most part it was one large cave. Then, I found a tunnel. I followed it out and it came to a nearby road. I wanted to see this with my own eyes, so I came back to myself and got up. It was disorienting at first. I had never gone so far before. As I moved toward the would-be corridor, I stumbled. My hand went up to catch myself but to my surprise, my hand went through the wood. I didn't make it happen, it just did! I jerked my hand back in total surprise and examined it. It didn't look any different. I touched it with my other hand and it was solid. 'Maybe it is the wood,' I thought. Slowly I reached out with my hand and it found solid wood. "What's going on?" I muttered. I shook it off and headed out to the SUV. It didn't take me too long to find the location of the tunnel leading into the cave. I pulled off to the side of the road and climbed out. There were mostly fields and trees on this lonely road. Not much traffic, either. A large amount of trees were clustered together with bushes in front along the roadside. It was there that I found the entrance to the tunnel. In I plunged to the darkness. The dampness surrounded me and the coldness of the earth enveloped me. The tunnel floor was smooth for the most part and after a few moments of walking, it opened to the cave. I looked around at the vastness of the cave. Not overwhelmingly large, but large enough to accommodate several tractor-trailers. "Or a motorcycle and bat-suit," I said out loud. "This could work to our advantage. This could be a secret hideout for Batman. With it being directly under the center, I could install some way to get down here from there, perhaps a ladder or elevator or something. An elevator would mean others would know about the caves existence. Still..." I headed back through the tunnel with this exciting news. I couldn't wait to tell Lance about what I had found. This cave would give Batman his own space, and he wouldn't intrude upon ours. As I came out of the tunnel, I saw a tour bus go up the road and turn toward the construction site. 'What's that all about?' I thought. Climbing in the SUV, I started the motor and drove back to the site. The tour bus had pulled into the site and was parked. The doors opened and the five young men Batman helped last night climbed out. Had I been a teenager again, any one of them would be someone I would want to get to know better. Putting on my game face, I pulled into the dirt and cut the ignition. As I climbed out, the foreman of the construction crew was approaching the young men. "You guys can't be here," the foreman said. "It isn't safe." "We're looking for Eric McCoy," the one with black hair and blonde highlights said. "We heard he was the dreamer of this building." "What can I help you guys with?" I asked as I neared. "You really shouldn't be here. It isn't safe." "Who are you?" a young man with spiky hair asked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Eric McCoy." "You?" one blurted out. "You don't look that young." The obviously youngest of the group slapped the dark-haired cocky kid in the arm. Then he stepped forward. "You're Eric McCoy?" "Yes. What can I do for you?" "We need to talk. Do you have any place more private than this?" I turned to the foreman. "Can I use your trailer?" I could tell by the look on his face he wasn't happy with the idea of young people in his trailer. "It's okay," the young one said, obviously seeing the look on the foreman's face. "I think we can use the tour bus." I nodded and followed them inside. It was like a little apartment as I climbed the small set of stairs inside. There was a small kitchen area right in front with a doorway to the back. "Would you like something to drink?" Highlights asked. "No, I'm fine." The young men continued on through the doorway and I followed. We passed several built-in beds and into a TV room. "Have a seat," the youngest offered. I found a chair and sat down. The others sat on the couches and looked at me, obviously distressed. "I don't know if you recognize us," he continued. "We were..." "Are..." Spiky interjected. "Are...the boy band 'Dream Street'." Suddenly it all fell into place why they sounded slightly familiar. I had their album that was released earlier this year. They were cute kids and had cute voices, not to mention catchy songs. "Nice to meet you," I replied. "I listen to your music. You are very talented." "Thanks. I think we should introduce ourselves," the youngest said. "I'm Jesse McCartney." "I'm Greg Raposo," Highlights said. "Frank Galasso," the dark-haired youth said. "But most call me Frankie." "I'm Matt Ballinger," a young blonde, fair-skinned man said. "And I'm Chris Trousdale," Spiky hair introduced. I smiled at them and nodded. "You obviously figured out we're not here for socializing," Jesse continued. "We've got some problems. Frankie and I, well, we're sort of..." "Oh just blurt it out," Chris said. "You two like each other! They are gay!" "You didn't have to be so crude about it," Frankie said. "Like what you guys are doing isn't crude!" "Guys!" Matt said. "Stop it! You don't have to act like a bunch of juveniles!" It was all I could do not to laugh at Matt's statement. Technically, they were juveniles. "Yeah, we think we're gay," Jesse said. "Once upper management found out, they did their best to keep Frankie and I away from each other in promotional pictures. They don't want anyone to find out. Their group 'Dream Street' would go up in flames at least as far as we are concerned as performing members. I would be okay since I have an acting career, too. But the other guys..." "Don't patronize us," Matt replied. "Oh, yeah, don't worry about us losing our jobs and causing our dreams to crumble before us." "I do worry about it," Jesse said. "You guys don't deserve to have your dreams crushed." Jesse turned to me. "Bottom line, Mr. McCoy is that you received an award last Christmas for your drive to help teens like us. We want you to help us." "Sure," I replied. "What exactly do you need?" The entire room quieted down with everyone anticipating what was about to come forth. Jesse took a deep breath as if what he was about to say were the most important words of his life. "Mr. McCoy. We don't want to be gay. As much as we love each other, whatever our hearts may tell us, other facts, other variables are just as relevant, if not more relevant. Frankie and I want to be straight, and we want you to make us straight. We want you to cure us of homosexuality." To Be Continued... Has anyone heard of "Dream Street"? They are very talented young men. I enjoy listening to their music. What about the request to be made straight? How do you think Eric will respond to that? Questions and comments are always welcome. More to come!