Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 08:50:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Return of a Real Dark Knight 11 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 below 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. Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston. Copyright DC Comics. 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 11 Super Boy or Super Man? I pulled up to the cafe and climbed out. 'God, help me reason with this boy. If he's as angry as I think he is, he may want to fight. I don't want to do that. Besides, I don't know if I can hold my own against him. From what I've seen, he's very strong. He might even be stronger than a Vampire Slayer.' Entering the cafe, I found Clark sitting at the bar talking with a red-headed waitress. He turned when he heard the door opened. Seeing me, he stood up and said, "What are you doing here?" "I came to talk with you, Clark." "Talk about what? The fact my parents were lying to me?" "Clark, lower your voice," the waitress said. "You're disturbing the other customers." "Clark, please, come outside with me and we'll talk about everything. I understand your anger toward your parents for keeping this secret from you. Let's talk about it, find out why, and let them know how you feel. You have a right to your feelings. Don't walk away from the problem. It will only train you to walk away from all of your problems." "Fine," Clark said as he stood up and walked toward me. I turned to go out when I felt his hands on my back. In the next instant, I was flying out the door into the parking lot, and I mean flying. I flew past the truck and hit the concrete hard. I heard the waitress, who I assume must have been Lana, yell at Clark, and then the door opened again. As I got to my knees, I saw Clark approaching me. "You wanted to talk about feelings. Did you feel that?" I looked him in the eye. "Clark, this isn't you. Your parents told me all about your childhood. You are a loving, caring young man." "Those aren't my parents, remember? I'm a freak from another planet. Didn't you see the things I can do? No normal person can do things like that." "Then I guess I'm not normal, either." "What are you talking about?" I stood and the ground seemed to rock back and forth. Clark's strength was definitely more than I could handle if he were to unleash his full potential. 'Note to self, don't get on Clark's bad side.' I took a deep breath and steadied myself. Once steady and calm, I held up my hand toward the sky. Suddenly the wind started to blow. Clark looked up and then looked at me. "You can make wind?" "Sort of. I can manipulate molecules." I moved my hand toward him and manipulated his skin. He smiled and clutched at himself laughing. "Hey, that tickles." "That's the point." I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. Looking into his eyes, I could see that the walls he built up ever since his powers manifested were coming down. Seeing someone else who was different helped him return to the boy he once was. "There are many things I can do with that ability, Clark. It was scary at first, and it took me a while to get the hang of it, but I was able to, sort of. And now I'm part of society. I know others who have other abilities that are part of society as well. You aren't alone in this world." "Are you...alien?" "No, I'm actually from this planet. But I've met beings from other worlds. They all don't look different from us." "Do you think I could go with you to meet these other people?" "You will have to discuss that with your parents. It's a decision your whole family will need to make." Clark nodded. "I can't believe I acted like I did." "Oh, I can. You were handed something very difficult to deal with. You didn't have time to adjust to this major life event. It's okay. They understand. The best thing to do is be honest with them, and let them explain their reasons." Clark nodded again and we headed back into the cafe. When we entered, Lana had a look of relief on her face. She obviously cared deeply for Clark. With him feeling better, she felt better, too. "I want to tell Lana I'm better," Clark said. "Then we can go back home." "I'll wait outside for you." I stood outside near the truck for five minutes and watched as the sunset. Clark obviously had some thing to say to Lana, so I turned the ignition so I could listen to the radio. A local news broadcast was on and the newswoman spoke about the second victim of a serial killer being found early this morning. "Residents are up in arms over the tragic loss of Kathleen Keller, last seen at the Smallville Truck Stop. The sheriff has asked for citizens of Smallville to keep an eye out for any new faces appearing in Smallville. So far there has been only one suspect. Nathan Ross has the story." "I was investigating the crime scene and asking if anyone noticed any new faces and one guy spoke up. He spoke of a young man that appeared very pale talking with Kathleen the night she disappeared. The young man said that the pale strange left before Kathleen and that Kathleen left alone." "Nathan, does the sheriff think they went someplace to meet?" "Sheriff Sawyer has not ruled out anything at this point. She said further investigation is needed as well as witnesses coming forward to help end this killing spree." "Thanks, Nathan. In other news..." I clicked off the radio station and shook my head. 'Killing knows no boundaries, no regions. I wonder if this pale killer is allergic to sunlight.' I turned back as Clark came out smiling. "I trust things went well?" "Yeah. I told Lana I'll see her tomorrow. We're going to go swimming at the lake." "On a nice summer day, that sounds perfect." We climbed into the truck and headed out of the parking lot. We passed a person wearing a leather jacket, leather chaps, and sunglasses driving a motorcycle. "Nice gear. Isn't it a bit warm out for all that stuff though?" Clark said out loud. "And he's wearing sunglasses," I added. Realization dawned on me and I turned the wheel hard causing the truck to jerk. "What are you doing?" Clark exclaimed. "Why would he wear sunglasses at night?" "I don't know." We watched as the man dismounted his motorcycle and headed into the cafe. "Clark, your girlfriend is in danger. We have to get to this guy fast." "Then go!" I hit the accelerator and headed toward the dinner. "Just one word of warning, this guy many not be human." "What an alien?" "No. A vampire." "Now you're telling me theres vampires? God, this gets weirder and weirder." "You don't know the half of it," I muttered. I pulled the truck into the parking lot and we jumped out. "Lana!" Clark called as we ran into the cafe. "What?" she asked from behind the counter. "A guy just came in here. Where did he go?" I asked. "To the bathroom. He said he would eat when he came out." "Did you get him anything to drink yet?" "Just his water." I ran over and grabbed the cup. "What are you doing?" she asked excitedly. Closing my eyes and bowing my head, I prayed over the water. Then I sat the glass back down. "What are you doing, Dr. McCoy?" Clark asked. "Just sit down and watch. Think of this as a learning moment. You don't always have to power your way through a fight." Clark and I sat down at a booth as the bathroom door came out. The man looked over at us seemingly surprised that he was no longer alone. He went over to his water and sat. "What would you like?" Lana asked him. The man looked down at the water and then over at us. He stuck the tip of his finger and quickly jerked it out. Looking at Lana then at us, he grabbed the cup and threw it across the diner. He turned and vamped out before our eyes. His brow became furrowed and his eyes yellowed. "That's a vampire," I said. Lana began screaming and I jumped up from my seat. The vampire turned and punched me in the stomach knocking me through the glass outside. I looked up as he attempted to punch Clark. The vampire did some damage to Clark, but not much. Clark grabbed the vampire by the throat and squeezed. The vampire laughed. "What's so funny?" "I don't need to breathe, freak." The vampire kicked Clark between the legs and Clark dropped him cupping his genitals. The vampire then kicked Clark in the face and knocked him over. I stood up and saw the vampire go after Lana. I used my powers and jerked the vampire back away from her. Of course, I was still having problems controlling my powers and the vampire came through the window and hit me. 'I need to talk with Xavier about that,' I thought. As I pulled myself up the vampire jumped to his feet and swung a leg at me. I blocked. He swung a fist, and I blocked. Then I swung my fist and hit him in the jaw. His head jerked and he turned back to me and growled. "Lovely," I muttered. The vampire grabbed me and threw me up into the electric sign at the top of the dinner. Stinging shot through my body from the glass cutting me. I fell to the ground and looked up as the vampire came up to me and kicked me. The vampire went to step over me when he screamed out and stumbled backwards. I looked up to see him engulfed in flames. He dropped to the ground and tried to put out the fire but was too late. The flames erupted over him and he turned to dust before my eyes. I stood up and looked inside to see Clark's eyes glowing red. Lana stood behind the counter staring at Clark. "Clark?" I said as I ran inside. "Clark, are you okay?" "He was...he was going to hurt her..." "He's gone now," I said. "You took care of him." He was breathing heavy. The events obviously scared him, which was only logical. He had never experienced anything like this before in his life. I stood up and checked on Lana. "Are you alright, Miss?" I asked. She did not respond. "Lana, are you okay?" I placed my hands on her shoulders and got in her face. Her eyes shifted from Clark to me and then she opened her mouth. At first nothing came out. "Are you alright? Are you injured anywhere?" "How did he...?" Taking a deep breath, I said, "Clark has a secret." "You're telling me." Clark stood up and walked over to us. "Lana, he was going to hurt you. I had no choice." She backed up a bit from him not wanting him to touch her. "Lana, Clark is no different from who you knew before this incident happened. Now you know one more thing about him." "But how...why...what?" "I understand your confusion. We're going to get to the bottom of this, that's why I'm here. But I need you to keep this a secret from everyone. If you need to talk to anyone, talk with the Kents." "Can I have a few minutes alone with her?" I nodded and stepped outside. Going to the truck, I sat inside the driver's seat and waited for Clark to come out. 'In some ways, this is just like coming out to someone. She can't believe he is what he is. The only thing that is different is exactly what I said. Lana now knows one more thing about him than she did before this day started.' Sirens slowly faded in in the distance and I stood up. Clark came out and climbed in the truck. "How is she?" I asked. "Shook up, but she won't tell anyone about this." We climbed in the truck and pulled out of the parking lot heading toward the Kent Farm. "What do we do now?" he asked. "Now comes the fun part," I replied. To Be Continued...