Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2001 15:33:32 -0800 (PST) From: Author James Subject: Tales of a Real Dark Knight Chapter 6 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!!! jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 6 Dancing With a Vampire Two hours later, the concert ended and I went backstage to the room I was in before. I found the guys just coming out of another door sweat pouring off of them. Turic walked passed me and up to Justin, giving him a long, lingering kiss. I was too busy staring at them to notice Lance walking up to me. "Eric, we've got to shower first. You can wait in here or you can come with us to the showers and keep us company." Oh my, I thought. Either wait in an empty room or wait in the showers with five naked men. Hmm, decisions, decisions. "I think I'll wait in here," I replied. "Okay." The six guys went back down the hall from which they came and I entered the lounge. As much as my hormones would have liked the stimulation of looking at those guys naked, I had other things on my mind that were more pressing. I figured out what to do to find out if Turic was a vampire. But now I needed to figure out what to do if it turns out he is a vampire. Feeling a bit thirsty, I grabbed another bottle of water from the frig and sat down. Then it came to me. Holy water! Holy water burns vampires! But how will I get a hold of holy water? Then I remembered my years at Bible College. I can pray over the water and bless it, making it holy water. A plan was coming together nicely. Not too much later, the guys came back in wearing fresh clothes. Jeans never looked so good on anyone as they did at that moment. Each of them wore polo shirts as well, but they were all different colors. Justin, of course, wore baby blue. Lance wore yellow. JC wore red. Joey wore black and Chris wore purple. Turic was still wearing his leather. "Are you ready?" JC asked me. "Sure am. Where are we going?" "There's this restaurant on the other end of town that a bunch of celebrities go to. The media is not allowed in so we can relax and be ourselves. They have great food and dancing." "Sounds nice," I replied, dreading the dancing part of it. I don't dance. I can't dance. We climbed into their limo, with the exception of Justin and Turic, who climbed into his corvette. And soon we were on our way to the restaurant. Once there, we were shown to a booth that could have easily held ten people. The waitress came around and took our orders and we sat and talked. "What do you do for a living?" Turic asked me. "I'm an assistant to a child psychologist downtown." "That must be interesting. It's hard to believe so many young people have so many problems." "I know. It's sad. There are days I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it all go away. Unfortunately, I can't." After a moments pause, I asked, "What do you do?" Before he could answer, the food arrived. I notice that Turic asked for a steak, very rare. That was all he ordered. Dinner went by rather quickly and some of the guys went out on the dance floor. JC, Lance and myself stayed behind. "Look at them dance," Lance said with a smile. "Those guys love it." "They would have to since you do it for a living and now they are doing it even more." They laughed at my little joke. "Well, I'm going out there," Lance replied. "Me, too," answered JC. "Are you coming?" "No, thanks. I don't do fast dancing. But you guys go ahead. I'll just mix and mingle." The two went out to the floor and I got up to walk around. I didn't get too far before I ended up staring face to face with another of my favorite actors. 7th Heaven star David Gallagher. "Uh, hi," I stammered. "Hi." "Excuse me," I said stepping out of his way. "No problem," he replied walking past me. He smiled at me as our bodies rubbed. This was a major turn on for me. Here I was in a restaurant with NSYNC, looking into David Gallagher's eyes and I'm a pathetic, backwards, shy guy. I think I need therapy. Just as I turned back from watching David Gallagher, I was then facing Leonardo DiCaprio. I couldn't even say one word to him. He smiled and slipped on passed, too. I definitely need therapy. I worked my way over to the bar near the bathrooms when, suddenly, three bodies came tumbling through the skylight. I looked as hard as I could and recognized one of them as the Huntress, whom I met a few hours earlier. But who were the other guys? Vampires? Deciding I would help, I slipped into the bathroom and changed again. Coming back out, I noticed a set of stairs that went to the second level, an area set aside for those who wanted a bit more privacy in their dining experience. Knowing that the second level was only a ring around the dance floor guarded by a railing, I decided to take the higher ground and come down from the top. No need blowing my identity in my first week as Batman. I ascended the steps and found most of the tables occupied. And all the eyes were on me. I guess a guy in a Batman suit isn't as commonplace in Hollywood as you would think. I walked over to the railing trying to look confident and not weak-kneed. Looking over the railing I saw the Huntress holding her own against the two vampires. I decided to help. Climbing onto the railing I leapt off into the air. At the last possible minute, I grabbed one of the lights and swung out into the middle of the dance floor. I dropped down beside the Huntress. "Need some help?" "Sure." "Got an extra stake?" "Sorry, no. You'll have to find your own." "No problem." Looking in their eyes, I knew these guys were vampires. Their eye color was too strange, too eerie to be human. Plus, when they opened their mouths I could see their fangs easily. "Have you fought a vampire before?" the Huntress asked me. "No." "Be prepared. They are much stronger than you think." With that the two vampires lunged at us. The Huntress spun out of the way. I, on the other hand, dropped down and, placing my foot in his abdomen, flipped the vampire over my head and into a table, smashing it to splinters. I got up and looked over at the Huntress. "Now I have my wooden stake." She smiled and then fought her vampire attacker. My vampire stood up a little disoriented. He shook it off and snarled at me. He approached me cautiously and, without warning, swung a fist at me. I ducked and punched him in the stomach. It startled him but that was all. He went to grab me and I rolled forward passed him, out of his reach. I grabbed part of the broken table to use as my wooden stake and stood, turning around. I held the stake, ready to plunge it as soon as he was close enough. I couldn't really tell what the Huntress was doing. But I could tell she was winning. The vampire kept getting flopped around. The vampire and I stood there staring at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. "Stake him!" the Huntress yelled. We both turned in her direction, but he looked back before I did, and took advantage of my distraction. He tackled me and pinned my arms down. "Let's see what your blood tastes like, freak." "Freak? I'm not the one with a blood appetite, thank you very much." Good thinking, Eric. Get the vampire more pissed than he is while he's on top of you. Suddenly, someone grabbed the vampire from behind and pulled him back far enough that my hands were free. I took the opportunity to ram the wood into his heart. Just like on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this vampire turned to dust. Then I got a good look of who helped me. It was Nicolas Brendan from Buffy. "Thanks," I replied. He smiled at me and stepped back into the crowd. This was great publicity for him. Unfortunately, the media is not allowed in here, so none of them will ever really know. I stood up and turned to the Huntress as she staked the vampire she was fighting. With that, she to me, "Let's get out of here." I followed her out the door and around the corner. "You handle yourself well," I said. "Thanks. You could've done better, though." "It was my first vampire slaying." "How did you know I needed help?" "I was in the neighborhood." "Really? Doing what?" "Enjoying myself." With that, I climbed the fire escape and onto the rooftop. After looking around, I found a way back in and snuck into the bathroom and changed back into my regular clothes. I went out and back to the seat, only to be joined by Lance a few minutes later. "Did you see that?" "See what?" "The fight! It was awesome!" "I was in the bathroom. I heard something going on but didn't know what." "It was a fight!" replied JC. "It was cool!" The two proceeded to tell me all about it. I took it all in as if I wasn't present. It was neat to hear others tell me about how I did without them knowing it was me. I hope you don't think I have an ego, because I don't. I'm the most critical person of myself. It was a real confidence booster in hearing their praise. It's the suit, really. When one puts on the suit, one can't help but be brave. Without the suit, I'm chicken! A slow song came on, and JC went back to the dance floor and found someone to dance with. Lance and I sat there looking at the others enjoying themselves. Lance looked over at me. "Would you like to dance?" "I don't know," I replied. "Oh, come on. You haven't done anything since you got here. You need to have some fun. I'll dance with you. Come on." Reluctantly I took his hand and went to the dance floor. Don't get me wrong, it was glorious to be surrounded by Lance's body and arms. I felt so safe and secure there. But I kept looking over at Justin and Turic dancing so close. I couldn't figure out how Justin could be in love with that guy, vampire or not. He seemed so cold, so unfeeling, so indifferent. I guess it's true what they say, "You can't help who you fall in love with." Thinking about Justin in someone else's arms made me sad. I placed my head on Lance's shoulder and tried to hide the tears. My body shuddered twice, but Lance never asked me why. He must have known what I was going through. The awkwardness I felt around Justin must have been apparent to everyone. After the song I excused myself to the bathroom to compose myself. When I came out, the group of guys was sitting at the table. I tried to smile as I walked up to them. "Guys, I think I'm going to call it a night. It's been great. We'll have to do this again some time." While in the bathroom, I turned my ring around for when I shook Turic's hand. The time had come. "Turic," I said holding out my hand. "It was nice to meet you." He reached up and took it. I held his hand tight and felt the heat from the burn. I didn't hold it too long. I didn't want him to know I was on to him. He jerked his hand back. "Ouch!" "Oops, sorry. This ring is too big. I need to get it sized again. It does that all the time." The guys seemed to accept it. Turic looked at me, doubtful. I smiled and exited the restaurant. I walked toward home. I had a lot of feelings in me that I needed to walk out of me. I was very tense. Without warning, as I passed an alley, some arms reached out and grabbed me. I was pulled very hard into the alley and tossed to the ground. "Look, guys. Dinner," I heard a voice say. Looking up, I saw three men who did not look human. "Great. Leave it to me to get caught by vampires," I said to myself. "Aren't you going to scream?" one asked me. "No. Why would I? You guys are just vampires." Without warning, a shadowy figure appeared at the mouth of the alley. "What's going on here?" I recognized the voice of that as the Huntress', only not so shadowy and mysterious. The figure stepped into the light to reveal an unmasked woman with long, flowing brown hair. "Who are you?" a vampire asked her. "None of your business," she replied. "Good, we get dessert, too. Grab her." One vampire grabbed her and pulled her into the alley. He threw her up against the wall. She swung her leg up and kicked him in the face, knocking him away from her. "We've got a fighter." The second vampire turned to her, while the third one grabbed me from behind. The Huntress pulled a wooden stake out of her inside coat pocket. "Are you sure you guys are ready for this?" She back-kicked the vampire she kicked earlier, knocking him down. Then she spun and kicked the vampire in front of her. "Let him go," she said to the one holding me. "Yeah, right," the vampire replied. I decided to help out and drop down. My shirt came off, revealing my suit underneath. She looked at me rather surprised but didn't let it faze her too much. She took advantage of the moment and through her stake at the vampire. It landed right in his heart and he turned to dust. I picked up the wooden stake and tossed it back to her and watched as she dusted the other two vamps. "Are you okay?" she asked me. "I'll be fine," I replied putting my shirt back on. "So you are Batman," she said matter-of-factly. "Yep. I sure am, Huntress." She looked at me with wide eyes but dismissed it rather quickly. I guess she figured not many people could handle themselves so easily in dealing with vampires. "The name's Jessica," she introduced. "Eric. Nice to meet you." "Likewise. I guess you are trying to infiltrate the group to get close to the vampire?" "I was already getting close to the group before I even knew there was a vampire." "Really?" I nodded. "And I proved that Turic, Justin's boyfriend, is a vampire." "How did you do that?" I showed her the ring. "I turned it around and shook his hand. It definitely burned him." "Will you be willing to help me find out his agenda? Who he's working for? That kind of stuff?" "I'll help you stop him, but I really don't care who he's working for." "Really? Personal grudge?" "Personal interest." "In slaying a vampire?" "In getting close to his boyfriend." Jessica stopped walking and looked at me, wide-eyed. "You're gay?" "Yeah. Is that a problem?" "No. Not at all. I just never thought...wow, a gay Batman. That's cool." "Good." The two of us walked heading toward my apartment. We talked the whole time about our families, lives, past, present, what brought us to Los Angeles. We ended up at a cross roads where she had to go one way and I had to go the other. "Here's where we depart. It was nice meeting the man behind the mask," she said, sticking her hand up. "Likewise." I took it and shook it. Then we went our separate ways. I got home and showered. It was 2:00 in the morning. I was beat. Lying in bed I fell asleep almost immediately, though it was not very peaceful. To Be Continued...