Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 17:32:00 -0800 (PST) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Trials of a Real Dark Knight 36 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. 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 36 Strange Links My new husband's jaw dropped about as far as mine did. Kai-El looked at us with concern. "Surely you have heard of us," she said. "Twenty years ago a Jedi hopeful had been accidentally abandoned on your planet and interacted with some of our people." I couldn't believe my ears. "In fact, that looks much like the transport ship." Kai-El walked over to the videos again and picked up a box. Turning it over, she confirmed her suspicions. "Yes, this is the Jedi." I walked over behind her and saw she was holding up the video "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial". I had always thought if fascinating that in Episode One: The Phantom Menace a race that had delegates in the Senate looked just like E.T. "You're looking for Batman?" Lance said to Kai-El. Kai-El turned to face Lance and I. "Yes. Do you know where I can find him?" "Come with us," I said and the three of us left the video store and stealthily headed back to our hotel room. Once inside, I closed and bolted the door. "Where is Batman? I must find him quickly," the Jedi said. "What do you want with him specifically?" Lance asked. "There is a Dark Jedi, a Sith Lord, who is seeking him out. Batman was intimate with Anakin Skywalker who, as you know, became a Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. It is believed that Lord Skywalker shared powerful information with Batman." At the mention of intimacy, Lance became apprehensive. He walked between the Jedi and I and exited to the balcony. "What's wrong with him?" "Stay here." I walked out onto the balcony and put my arms around him. "What is it?" "I think you know. Batman being intimate with Anakin Skywalker. Not the kind of news I want to hear on our honeymoon, especially with you being Batman." "Lance, this isn't the first time I've heard of a Batman from the past. When I battled with Macai, there was a mention of a Batman battling him. It could be the same one Kai-El speaks of." "And that could be you. We don't know." "We don't have the technology to time travel. I know I don't." I put my hand on his shoulders and turned him around. "I love you. No one but you." I moved in and kissed him on the lips. "You have nothing to worry about, no reason to get jealous. We are going to figure out who this Batman is. Okay?" Lance nodded and I took his hands in mine. "I love you." "I love you," he responded. He and I walked hand-in-hand back into the room. "You don't have to look for Batman any more," I said to Kai-El. "I am Batman." The Sith Lord paced across the bridge of her ship that orbited the earth. "Where could they be?" she muttered. "They should have reported back by now." She stood at the window and relaxed, stretching out into the force. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and muttered, "No. Kai-El lives." The Sith Lord turned and walked over to the Bridge Commander. "We must send down another party, a larger party, as the night sets in. The cover of darkness will guarantee our safety. Alert my apprentice. I want him to assist me." The Bridge Commander nodded and left the Bridge to make preparations for the Sith Lord's apprentice to prepare for an evening landing. "You cannot be him," Kai-El said. "He is a bit younger than you, without the physical features you have, and he has red hair." "But I am Batman," I said. "Can you prove this?" "Of course." I entered the bedroom and grabbed my black duffel bag. Taking it into the living room, I sat it on the bed and unzipped it. Reaching inside, I pulled out the black costume the Watcher's gave me and laid it on the couch for Kai-El to examine. The Jedi walked over and looked the costume over thoroughly. "The cape is a similar design as is its attachment to the suit. However, it is not the same design. The mask and belt are completely different as are the gloves. It is too black, like the midnight sky. You are not the one I seek." "There's no other Batman," Lance said. "None that we are aware of." "Perhaps I came at the wrong time. Maybe I am too early in your history, or too late." "I've heard of a Batman that lived many, many years ago. Perhaps it is him you seek," I suggested. "It is possible. But I have no ship at the moment; therefore I cannot travel back to home galaxy and consult the council." "Isn't the council gone?" Lance asked. "According to the movies, Luke Skywalker was the last of the Jedi." "That was many, many years ago. His sister Leia had the Force with her and was trained by her brother. Leia and Han Solo married and had children whom also had the Force with them. As the New Republic was built, more and more Jedi were discovered and brought to Master Skywalker for training. That has happened over the last four centuries. "Anakin appeared to his son one day and told him of the Batman who he met when he was young. That Batman had a short-lived relationship with Anakin as permanent emotional bonds are forbidden by the Jedi Council, or were at the time of the Old Republic. He talked of the energy he felt come from the Batman. A young Jedi had read this in Master Skywalker's journals, a Jedi who was being seduced by the Dark Side, and left the Jedi Order in search of this Batman. We are not sure why, but I have been sent to protect him from the Sith Lord who may very well have discovered the Batman's planet of origin." "But to what end once the Sith Lord finds Batman?" Lance asked. "We do not know. It could be Darth Malice wishes to seduce Batman to the Dark Side, to her side, and attempt to overthrow the Jedi as young Darth Vader did with Darth Sidious." "Does Darth Malice have an apprentice already?" I asked. Thank goodness I had knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Otherwise I would be out of my element and ignorant as to what questions needed asking. "Yes. Darth Grimm, a very powerful Rodian Sith Lord in his own right. They are very powerful together and we have not been able to locate them for some time." "They could have easily traveled back in time or forward in time," Lance said, "already getting to this other Batman." "Impossible. We do not have the ability to travel through time. We are in the same time line as you are right now." "You mean in a galaxy far, far away?" "Yes." "This is too unbelievable." Lance walked over and sat on the bed with his hands folded and his head down. I could only imagine what his mind was going through. I was almost where he was mentally. The only thing that kept me from going completely mad was what I had dealt with in England a few months, and what I deal with on a nightly basis. If vampires and immortal demons existed, and were real according to two very unrelated mediums such as Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, why not Star Wars? Hell, I was a mutant, for goodness sake. "Could it be they are here?" I asked Kai-El. "Yes, it is very possible. The name of your planet is in the journal as is the location in the archives." "Then we are going to have two very pissed off Sith Lord's running across the globe in search of this Batman. And conventional weapons are not going to cut it with them. They would have the ability to deflect bullets and anything I could throw at them." "Do not fret. I do have some things in my bag that I asked you to bring last night." Kai-El walked over to her bag that rested in a chair. I walked over and sat next to Lance placing my hand on his back. "Are you okay?" "I feel like I'm going to throw up. Ever since I met you, my world has been turned upside down by all these things that I once perceived as fiction. To know they are fact, it's..." "I know," I said rubbing his back. "I feel the same way. Ever since I put on the Bat-suit, my world has changed. I guess we can thank Batman for this." "Both," he said with a smile. I kissed him on the cheek and looked up as Kai-El walked over to us. "I have this," she said holding out a small blaster that looked sort of like a pistol. "And this." Kai-El held up what I recognized as a double-bladed Lightsaber hilt. "Take whichever you can use. I do have another blaster in the bag if necessary. I was to bring these weapons to the Batman. Since you are a Batman, not the one I seek, but the only one on this world, you should have them." "Take the blasters," I said to Lance. "I'll take the Lightsaber. Garrett's training with a Bo will come in handy in using it, as will the training I've had with the sword. Thank heaven for Watchers." Lance took the small blaster from Kai-El and aimed it out the window. Kai-El went over to her bag and grabbed the larger blaster and handed it to Lance along with a belt with a holster. "I guess wearing shorts with this stuff is out of the question." I stood up and hefted the Lightsaber, spinning it around and practicing, though I didn't turn it on. That I would save for later when I was in full costume. "What do we do now?" I asked Kai-El. "After all, you are more experienced dealing with these kinds of people than I am." "For now we are safe. They will not attack in broad daylight." "I guess that means you and I get some alone time after all," Lance said. "Have any ideas what to do?" "I will go back to my ship and see what I can salvage. Perhaps the communications network still works and I can send a message to Coruscant," Kai-El interrupted. "You do that," Lance said to her. I could sense the tension in his voice. Our honeymoon was interrupted. We should have been spending time loving each other without trouble knocking on our door. Kai-El nodded and left heading back to the crash site. Lance walked over to me and put his arms around my waist, leaning in to kiss me. "I'm sorry," I said putting my arms around his neck. "I didn't plan on anything like this happening." "It wouldn't be normal if it didn't." "When I was gone, your life was relatively normal." "Normal, maybe. But it was a living hell. I don't know what I would do without you by my side." "I'm here now," I said running my fingers through his hair. "What would you like to do?" Lance kissed me passionately. We made our way over to the bed and laid down kissing each other. We rolled over so that Lance was on top of me and my legs wrapped around his legs. "Being with you like this is perfect," Lance replied with a grin on his face. "We have a lot of time to make up for when you were gone." I flashed him a big smile and kissed him. "Lord Malice," the Bridge Commander said to his master. "We have a large landing party readied for sunset." "The Stormtroopers?" "Yes, my lord." "Too easily seen. Ready a squad of Darktroopers for a reconnaissance mission. I don't want Kai-El to know we are coming until it is too late." "Yes, my lord." The Bridge Commander turned and left to make preparations for the mission. "Soon, Kai-El, I will have whatever this power is that affected Lord Vader so long ago that helped drive him to the Dark Side. I can use it to turn many to the Dark Side and build an army of Sith Lords to battle the new Jedi Order. The Dark Side will reign again in our galaxy." After our third round of sex, Lance and I got dressed again and went out for lunch. A few blocks away we found a restaurant that had a patio where they served lunch. Music was softly playing in the background creating a relaxing atmosphere. The waitress seated us and took our beverage orders. "It seems like a dream," I said to Lance. "What?" "That we are together again. I always hoped and dreamed this day would come. It is so unreal that it's happened." "I know. I would go to sleep at night and hope that when I woke up, you would be laying beside me. It was a nightmare believing you to be dead." A song from the young group Dream Street began to play. I reached my hand out to Lance. "Can I have this dance?" Lance smiled and took it. We walked to the patio and began to dance as the song played. Can you hear the music playing? Can you feel the rhythm swaying? This is the sound of dreams come true And I can promise you That you are the one and only And I'm the lost and lonely We are the perfect dream come true And I can promise you That I hear a silly love song in my heart It happens every time When I see you It happens every time When I think of you It happens every time Oh, it's magic when we meet Baby, down on Dream Street Let me take you by the hand and Walk you down the Milky Way cause You make me feel I'm so alive Oh, I promise, baby I hear a silly love song in my heart It happens every time When I see you It happens every time When I think of you It happens every time Oh, it's magic when we meet Baby, down on Dream Street It happens every time It happens every time It happens every time Oh, it's magic when we meet Down on Dream Street When I close my eyes There's angels all around Singing a love song You know it happens every time It happens every time It happens every time When I see you It happens every time When I think of you It happens every time Oh, it's magic when we meet Baby, down on Dream Street It happens every time It happens every time It happens every time Oh, it's magic when we meet Down on Dream Street We leaned into each other and kissed, becoming lost in the moment. All that mattered was Lance. To Be Continued...