Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 17:36:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Marvel Knights 7

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction.  It has no intentions of
resembling any real persons dead or alive.  This is entirely from my
imagination, with a little help from already established sources.  This
story is based loosely on the comic book character "The Punisher" from
Marvel Comics.  Other characters may appear from Marvel comics as well as
DC Comics.

Punisher and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.

Blade and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel copyright Joss Whedon, United Paramount
Network and Warner Bros. Respectively.

The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice.
Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.

I have written another story on nifty entitled "Tales of a Real Dark
Knight".  It is in the Celebrity/Boy Bands section.  Batman may appear in
this story once or twice, as the Punisher may appear in "Tales of a Real
Dark Knight".  Any comments may be sent to authorjames2002@yahoo.com

Thank you and enjoy.

Chapter 7 Relationships

	Tandy looked through the woods searching for any sign of vampires.
Ahriman stood several feet behind her watching her.
	"You are not hunting," Ahriman said.
	"I'm looking.  I don't have ears like a dog or eyes like a bat.  If
I did, can you imagine the pictures I would take?  God, talk about barf
bag."
	Ahriman looked at her confused.  Instead of wasting the energy
trying to figure out what was going through Tandy's head, he continued with
his instruction.  "A Slayer does not see with her eyes alone.  A Slayer
relies on the darkness that is in her and feels her way through the maze to
her reward.  Let your feelings guide you.  Run."
	Tandy turned around and Ahriman bared his teeth at her.  "Okay,
okay, okay, you don't have to get all bitey on me.  I'll run for goodness
sake.  Gosh."
	Tandy started off at a trot.  'Use your feelings.  Reach deep
inside to the primal beast within,' Ahriman thought to her.  She relaxed
her hold on the immediate area and suddenly everything slammed down on her
with more intensity.  She could actually sense the creatures that resided
in this wood.
	To her surprise, the primal Slayer within seemed to take over.  She
took off running at full speed through the woods.  She neared a tree with a
low-hanging branch and leapt.  She caught the branch and spun up to perch
on it.
	'This is amazing,' she thought.  'How did I get this power?'
	'You always had it,' Ahriman answered in her mind.  'Your humanity
kept you from using it even though it is a weapon in your quest to rid the
world of demonic creatures.
	'When you come upon the vampires, unleash the primal Slayer
within.'
	Tandy looked around and found where a group of vampires were
gathered ready to eat.  She leapt in the air, grabbed a nearby branch and
swung down landing on her feet at a run.  As she neared the group she leapt
at the closest vampire and tackled it.
	Tandy stood up and faced the other four vampires.  One came at her
and she grabbed its wrist with her left hand.  Tandy plowed her right hand
into the chest of the vampire and felt the bones in its chest break under
her strength.  She flipped the vampire over her head and slammed it to the
ground.
	The third vampire, a rather tall one, ran at her.  She jumped in
the air, spun around and kicked the demon.  Its head came clean off and it
turned to dust.
	The remaining two vampires grabbed Tandy's wrists attempting to
restrain her.  She smiled and formed two light daggers, one in each hand
and severed off the grasping hands of the vampires.  The demons grabbed
their handless wrists with their remaining hands and screamed in pain
falling to their knees.  Tandy kicked one in the stomach and she felt its
bones break.  The other looked up at her.  She backhanded it with her left
hand.  It flew into a nearby tree and slid down the bark unconscious.
	Ahriman appeared in front of her and she looked at him.
	"You're right," she replied.  "There is power here."
	"You're not finished with them.  Slay them.  Painfully."
	Tandy walked over and grabbed the first vampire she hit.  She took
him over near a pile of sticks and leaves.  She placed the demon's hand in
the leaves and with a light dagger ignited the flammable material.  The
flame hit the vampire's hand and burned it to a crisp.  Then it journeyed
up his arm and within seconds, the demon's clothing was enflamed.  It
screamed in pain and turned to dust.
	Tandy threw two more light daggers and ignited two more vampires.
They turned to ash amongst the flame.  She threw a third light dagger and
decapitated one of the vampire's that was handless.  Picking up a stick,
she hurled it across the distance between her and the vampire she knocked
into the tree.  The stick embedded into the vampire's chest and it turned
to dust.
	"Excellent," Ahriman said clapping.  "You've tapped into the
darkness that makes you unique, that makes you special.  You are well on
your way to understanding your power.
	"Come, you have much to think about."
	Ahriman wrapped Tandy in his arms and flew her into the night sky.
He took her into his bedroom and she lay down on the bed falling asleep.

	Weatherby awoke lying next to Johnny in the bed.  At first he could
not remember where he was.  But as the surroundings soaked in, he
remembered, and his thoughts went to last night.  It had been the most
erotic night he had ever experienced in his life.  The pleasure he felt was
overwhelming.  He couldn't believe what he and Johnny shared together.  It
was too terrific to describe. He never remembered ever sleeping so well,
either.  Their all-night activities surely were the contributing factors of
his peaceful rest.
	He looked over and saw Johnny fast asleep.  Johnny looked so
relaxed as well, even though his red hair was messed up.  Weatherby reached
over and caressed Johnny's face softly, tenderly.
	'Could this be real?  Could this be love?'  Weatherby thought.
'I've never experienced it before so it could be.  But how can two people
who have just met fall in love?
	'I think it was the desperateness of the situation.  I mean, I was
in pain and feeling a bit lonely.  And Johnny had just left his wife and
didn't want to be alone.  Maybe what happened shouldn't have?'
	Johnny stirred and rolled over.  Slowly his eyes opened and he
looked at Weatherby.  "Good morning, Michael."
	"Good morning," Weatherby replied.  "Did you sleep okay last
night?"
	"Yes.  I slept really well.  I owe it to you."
	Weatherby smiled.
	"How did you sleep?"
	"I slept okay.  It was the first decent sleep I had in a while."
	Johnny smiled.  "I have a coffee pot in one of the boxes in the
kitchen.  I'll get it out and clean it up and make us some coffee."
	Johnny climbed out of bed not bothering to slip any clothes on and
left the room.
	Weatherby got up and followed Johnny into the kitchen, both in the
nude.
	Johnny kneeled down and rummaged through a box.  "There it is."  He
pulled out the coffee pot and rinsed it out real good at the sink.  Then he
found his coffee and filters and prepared the pot for brewing.  Once the
coffee was going, he turned his attention back to Weatherby.
	"Michael, something tells me this is the start of a beautiful
relationship."

	When she awoke, breakfast had been waiting for her.  She dressed
and ate listening to Ahriman who was talking about her reaching the primal
side of a Vampire Slayer.  Ahriman said she was well on her way to becoming
very powerful.  With him as her teacher, she would become the most powerful
Slayer ever.  His conclusion was that they had begun a beautiful
relationship.
	"What do you mean 'a beautiful relationship'?" Tandy asked Ahriman.
"What kind of relationship could you and I have?  You're a vampire.  I'm a
Vampire Slayer.  I'm supposed to send creatures like you to hell."
	"Are you sure all vampires are bad?  After all, the cross, a holy
object, has no power over me.  Holy water does not burn me.  If I were such
a creature of darkness, these things would harm me as they do the creatures
you nightly hunt."
	Tandy contemplated this.  She walked around the darkened penthouse
room.  "You are a creature of darkness.  I'm a creature of light.  We could
never have a 'beautiful relationship' as you put it.  We are mortal
enemies."

	"Mortal enemy, Davey!" Charlie is saying to Davey.  "Why on earth
would you want to date that ugly, fat thing?  Don't tell me you're a
chubby-chaser.  'Cause if you are, man, that's just disgusting!"
	Davey could have easily punched Charlie and broken his nose or jaw
or any other body part he wanted.  As a mutant, he was very strong, very
fast and very agile.  And he did want to hurt Charlie.  It would be easy
for the teen in him to simply react violently to being attacked the way
Charlie was attacking him.  But because of his 'other' friends, because of
Blade and Ty and Tandy, Davey knew he had to be different.  He had to rise
above simple human reacting.
	"As a matter of fact, Charlie, Harris's weight means little to me.
I've gotten to see part of him that none of you ever will.  I know what he
thinks and feels.  I know what his personality is like.  And I love that.
	"You, on the other hand, are just shallow, superficial and
insensitive.  If you want to know why I never did anything with you, that's
why.  Yes, you may have a nice body and cute face.  But you are a poor
excuse for a human being.  And I don't want to have anything to do with you
ever again."
	Davey turned and walked away from Charlie and the rest of the guys.
He had dealt with them, the only part of his life that would not accept his
feelings for Harris.  Now he had to make things right with Harris.  And he
had an idea on how to do that.  All he needed was practice and help from
someone musically inclined.
	'Too bad Tandy isn't here,' Davey thought.  'I could really use her
help.'

	"Let me help you with that," Michael said to Johnny.
	Johnny had begun unpacking, placing shelves on the wall, lamps on
tabled, and moving the rest of the furniture into place.  Michael took a
sip of his hot coffee, sat it on the counter and moved over to help put the
small cabinet in the corner.
	"What do you have in here?" Michael asked as he heard the rattling
inside.
	"Supplies," Johnny answered.
	"What kind of supplies?"
	Johnny just looked at Michael.  Michael got the hint and let it
drop.  Johnny didn't want Michael to know he was dabbling in magic.  He was
interested in the spiritual concepts and powers and beliefs.  But he didn't
get deep into it like most television shows depict.
	The two men pushed the cabinet against the wall and continued
unpacking.

	Whistler walked into his study to find Blade looking through one of
his many books.  The book happened to be "The Vampire Armand" by Anne Rice.
Blade, hearing Whistler walk in, closed the book and looked up at him.
	"You like to read fiction, Whistler?  Where does the fiction end
and reality begin for a Watcher?"
	"It ain't fiction, Blade."
	"What?"
	"I told you about those types of vampires.  They are real.  Anne
Rice is an operative for the Talamasca recording the stories of these
vampires.
	"And since we are on the subject of vampires..."
	"When aren't we?"
	"...Ahriman is like the vampires found in Anne Rice's books.  I
told you of that species' powers.  Now I'm going to tell you specifically
of Ahriman.
	"It seems several thousand years ago, Ahriman was a humble young
boy with a twin sister.  Those at the Council are still trying to discover
her name.  But Ahriman loved her and adored her.  He did all he could do to
protect her.  They played together and grew together experiencing life.
	"One day, they were taken to Egypt at the request of King Enkil and
Queen Akasha.  In all the land, never had such beauty been found in youth
and the King and Queen wanted to behold it.  This was shortly before the
King and Queen were turned into vampires by the spell of Maharet and her
sister Mekare.  After the royal couple was changed, they fell in love with
the two, who were now in their early twenties.  Not wanting their beauty to
ever fade, Akasha and Enkil fed on Ahriman and his sister then gave the
siblings their immortal blood changing them into immortal creatures.
	"At first Ahriman and his sister didn't know what to think of their
newfound thirst.  They believed themselves to be cursed.  The two ran off
into the jungle trying to flee from the King and Queen of the Damned.  They
came across a band of pirates and were split up.  Ahriman was knocked
unconscious and his sister taken captive by the pirates.  There was an
earthquake and Ahriman was swallowed up by the earth buried deep in the
ground.
	"It was only a few weeks ago that he rose and began his search for
his sister.  Through television, he was able to learn of the rest of the
world and how technology had advanced.  That's why he's here."
	"But why come to Columbus of all places.  This is the biggest city
in Ohio, but there are plenty other cities throughout the country, even
more throughout the world, that are bigger."
	"The only guess I can have to that is Ohio is referred to as the
heart of America, mostly because of its shape.  He may have interpreted
that saying as literal and came here to set up his 'kingdom'.  The heart is
usually the source of life.  He may think it is the source of all the
technology or the source of communicating with the rest of the world.  In
either case, he believed it will give him access to resources that will
help him find his sister."
	"He needs to be stopped.  Is there any way to reason with him?"
Blade asked.
	"I don't know.  This particular species of vampire usually listens
to reason.  However, if one has a goal and wants that goal to be completed,
he will do whatever he can to accomplish it.  Some of them think of us only
as food."
	"Then I guess I will have to force him to listen to reason."

	"Listen to reason," Tandy said to Ahriman.  "What you are proposing
is horrible.  How can you possibly subjugate an entire city to find your
sister?  It's wrong!"
	"Slavery is wrong?  Living for thousands of years without my
sister, that is wrong!  Being buried for thousands of years and being
conscious for every minute of that span, every second of those lifetimes,
that is wrong!  I will find my sister.  And I will be happy again."
	"I know people who might be able to locate her.  If you release me
and let me return to my friends, I'm sure we can find out where she is."
	"I've told you I know what I Slayer is.  I also know the resources
of the Slayers.  There is a Council in England that holds records of past
vampires.  They will find the information and bring it to me if they want
you back alive."
	"So you're willing to kill me."
	"If I need to," Ahriman replied walking near Tandy.  "I don't want
to.  Then again, I don't want to live without my sister, either.  We don't
always get what we want."
	Tandy nodded.  "Too true."
	With a quick flash of light from Tandy's hand, Ahriman covered his
eyes, temporarily blinded by Tandy's power.  Tandy turned and jumped
through the door busting through the wood as if it were paper.
	'No time for pleasantries,' Tandy thought.  'Actually, I'm never
pleasant any way, so what's the diff.'
	Tandy ran to the elevator and hit the 'down' button.  She turned
back to see Ahriman come out of his penthouse and head down the hall.
	"You can't escape, Slayer!" he called.
	The doors opened up and Tandy climbed in.  She hit the button to
close the door and watched as Ahriman's face contorted into one of anger.
	The vampire Ahriman couldn't believe this Slayer was getting away.
He refused to believe she was getting away.  He grabbed the doors and
ripped them open, then jumped inside to find the elevator car empty.
	"Where is she?" he said out loud.
	Tandy smiled to herself.  It was good thinking of her to climb on
the roof of the elevator as soon as the doors closed.  Once she was sure
Ahriman was inside, she created a light dagger and cut through the cabling
holding the elevator up.  Down the car plunged past all the floors until
Tandy could no longer see it.  She smiled to herself and jumped through the
ripped doors.
	"There's another set of elevators," she said.  "I'll take a
different one."
	After walking down the hall and around the corner, Tandy found and
elevator and climbed in.  Down it went to the lobby.  The doors opened up
and Tandy found herself face to face with a band of vampires.
	'Not like Ahriman, thank goodness,' she though.  'These guys I can
handle.'
	Tandy jumped in the air and kicked two vampires in the back of
their heads.  They fell forward to the ground.  Tandy landed on her feet
and ran toward the front doors.  Halfway through the lobby she met up with
three more vampires.  She reached up and grabbed those on either side of
her by the throat.  Then she ran up the first one kicking it in the face
and flipped over landing on her feet again.  She smiled as she created two
light daggers, one on each hand and launched them decapitating the two
vampires.  Then she dove forward and slid between the legs of the vampire
she ran up.  Rolling onto her back, she swung her leg up and kicked the
creature in the groin.  It howled, clutched itself and fell forward.
	Tandy flipped up and ran toward the door.  Two more vampires neared
but she wasted no time with them.  She leapt into the air and smashed
through the glass doors.  The sunlight streamed in and caught the two
vampires on fire.
	Tandy stood amongst the glass and onlookers and ran off toward the
nearest bus stop to catch a ride back to the apartment.
	"This is insane!"

	"This is insane!" one of the Friends of Humanity leaders said to
the group sitting around the table.  "We cannot continue to allow one man
attack this organization!  We must hunt him down and kill him!  I'm going
to contact our associates in the Pentagon and see what information we can
dig up on this Punisher.  I want Carlton to contact the office in Columbus.
Maybe they have some records they can send us about him.  He killed
Reverend Exeter.  He stands in the way of our keeping this state safe.  I
will not allow him to continue."
	The rest of the leaders of local F.O.H. headquarters nodded and
left the room each to his or her assigned task.
	"We will stop this man," the leader said.  "We will stop the
Punisher and the Friends of Humanity will come out the victor."

	"Victor, thanks for helping me," Davey said to the young blonde
haired, blue-eyed teen sitting at the piano.  "You've put in a lot of extra
hours to help me."
	"You have a nice voice, Davey.  I don't know why you never sang
before."
	"To be honest, the people I used to hang out with would have made
fun of me."
	"And now?"
	"Now I could care less."
	"It must be awfully important as to why you are doing this.  I
mean, most people wouldn't give up their friends so easily."
	"It is important, Victor.  I would appreciate it if you didn't say
anything to anyone."
	"You got it."
	The door opened and in walked Harris.  Davey looked over and smiled
at him but Harris wouldn't have it.  He looked down, turned around and
walked away.  His heart still hurt over what Davey had done, who Davey hung
out with.
	'It isn't wrong for who he hangs out with,' Harris thought.  'But
it is wrong to not speak up when the people he hangs out with does
something wrong.  I can't believe he acted like he liked me.  It was
probably because he thought he was going to die.  Or maybe that he wouldn't
see his friends again and couldn't bear to be alone.  So he settled on the
last gay person he knew.  That was wrong.'

	The rubble at the bottom of the elevator shaft shook and the
vampire Ahriman shot up the shaft.  "That was wrong," he said.  "How dare
she do that to me?  I will show her!  I will show all of them!  Being
dropped over fifty floors won't stop me!  It will only enrage me!  And they
will feel my wrath!"

	"I was tired of feeling everyone's wrath," Michael said to Johnny.
After they finished unpacking, the two sat on the sofa cuddling and Michael
had told his story of being discharged and his arrival in Columbus.
	"Just because I'm different by whom I'm attracted to does not mean
people can be so vengeful against me.  Or others like me.  We deserve
respect.  The mutants reminded me of this and so I took up the fight
against the Friends of Humanity.  It is wrong for them to be so righteous."
	"I agree," Johnny replied.  "Why do people hate so much?  My wife
is doing the same thing toward me.  She hates all gay people because of me.
I admit it.  I made a mistake.  Had I been more forthcoming about my sexual
orientation, or more hesitant about marrying until I was sure, she would
have been spared the pain of her heart being broken.
	"The only good thing I can say that came of my marriage is my son
Caleb.  I love him with all my heart.  Hopefully, my ex won't turn him
against gays simply because his dad is."
	"If you are in his life, Johnny, he will see that not all gay
people are bad.  You are the deciding factor in this.  Just be honest with
him.  And love him.  Love will win him over."
	Johnny nodded and leaned his head against Michael's shoulder.

To Be Continued...