Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 18:46:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Chronicles of a Real Dark Knight 48 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. The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice. Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and all related characters created by J.K. Rowling. Copyright Scholastic Press, Inc. 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!!! Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks. jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 48 Mad Revenge In moments of time, I arrived in downtown London in my search for the Mad Hatter who had escaped from his prison cell earlier that day. I had waited until nightfall resting up the rest of the day knowing Jervis Tech, or the Mad Hatter as he refers to himself now, would wait until the cover of darkness before making his move. The first place he would hit would be Buckingham Palace. His first attempt at gaining control of the royal family failed thanks to Catwoman and myself. He and his accomplice were sent to jail and tried. His trial I missed due to suffering from amnesia for two months. Now here I was two and a half months later going after a man I had helped put in prison in the first place. The first man I had stopped in my trip to England had turned out to be the last man I would stop before leaving the country. Irony is such a funny thing. I swung over the wall of Buckingham Palace without being seen, which was a rather tricky thing since the guard had been doubled on their already tight security. I ran to the wall and looked up examining the wall. All seemed secure. Using my powers and concentrating hard I floated up to the roof. From there I would get a better look at the palace walls. I made my way across the rooftop to the eastern side of the palace. Looking carefully at the windows, all seemed secure and quiet, a good sign to say the least. Then I headed to the south side. As I looked I saw a door open to a balcony. A vine hung from the side of the balcony. Someone was inside who wasn't supposed to be. I jumped from the roof and opened my cape descending upon the point of entry. Pulling out one of my metal bats, I readied myself for an assault. The room was dark. I couldn't make out anyone inside so I decided to search for emotions in the room that didn't belong. I found something, or rather someone, inside. Before I knew it, the person tackled me nearly pushing me over the edge. I pushed the person off me and stood upright. It was the Mad Hatter. "Couldn't stay in jail could you, Hatter?" I said. "Couldn't stay dead could you, Batman?" he mocked. "You can't win this." "Of course I can't. Not here." The door to the room opened and a security guard came in taking both of us by surprise. The Mad Hatter, however, was the first to use the appearance of the guard as a distraction. Grabbing me by the arm, the Mad Hatter pulled me and threw me into the room. I landed on the floor with a crash. I turned just in time to see the Mad Hatter leap over the balcony. I stood and ran to the balcony, the security guard following me. The Mad Hatter was already running across the grounds to the wall. "Where are the Princes?" I asked. "They went out to a disco tonight." "I hope they have security with them." "They do." "Which club?" I asked. The security guard looked at me weirdly. "Which disco?" "Oh." After the security guard gave me the name of the nightclub the Princes were attending, I head off toward it. The Mad Hatter would most definitely go after the royal brothers there. The club offered many innocent by-standers who could easily be made into henchmen by way of his mind control circuitry cards. I had to keep that in mind so I didn't hurt anyone other than the one who should be hurt. I arrived and all seemed normal. Teens and young adults were lined up outside waiting to get in the building. Loud music could be heard coming through the walls and only got louder when the door opened to let someone out or in. So far, it seemed, the Mad Hatter hadn't gotten inside. I hoped. I shot a line to the roof and swung up. There had to be an entrance I could use that would be inconspicuous. I didn't want to be seen by anyone. Tonight, I was planning on capturing the Mad Hatter. It wouldn't do any good to let him get away. He was my problem and I wanted to leave this country as soon as possible. Too many negative memories were here. Thoroughly searching the rooftop I found a small trapdoor that was, no doubt, a service hatch. It was locked so I used my powers to unlock it and then descended down to the narrow ladder to the top floor. There was no activity on the top floor. Not surprising. All of the supplies were probably kept on the second floor or in the basement while the first floor was reserved for the dance floor. I looked briefly in each room to be sure the Mad Hatter wasn't hiding in one of them. Once all rooms were searched, I headed down to the second floor. To my dismay, the Mad Hatter inhabited none. Either he was on the first floor already making his move or he was not striking tonight. I ran to the end of the hallway to a balcony that overlooked the dance floor. Teens were dancing all around the floor enjoying the music and the "hang out" time. If only they knew the dangers lurking in the shadows. "Ladies and gentlemen!" a voice rang out over the music. Everyone, including me, turned to see the DJ standing completely still and the Mad Hatter with a microphone in his hand. I noticed a circuitry card behind the DJ's ear. He was obviously under the Hatter's control. "I have come searching from Princes William and Harry. Will the two lucky gentlemen come forward?" I watched as the bouncers pushed the Princes to the center of the dance floor. The bouncers had circuitry cards behind their ears, too. The Mad Hatter stepped up to William and Harry with a big smile on his face. "This has to be quick. I don't like interruptions." "What do you want, Tech?" Harry asked. "The throne, of course," the Mad Hatter answered. "And since, sadly, I'm not rich or royalty, I have to do the next best thing. Take control of the minds of royalty." His grin widened even bigger. He reached into his pockets and pulled out two circuitry cards. "Now, if you two will just hold still, this won't hurt a bit." I threw two bats at the cards and they shattered. "What?" the Mad Hatter exclaimed. He turned and looked at me. "No!" "I told you before, Hatter. It's over." The Mad Hatter's furious expression melted into one of joy. "Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?" He bowed and the bouncers came to the dance floor. The Mad Hatter grabbed Harry's arm leaving Will in the midst of the bouncers who were under the Hatter's control. "This way, young Prince." He pulled Harry off the dance floor and bouncers turned on William. They began to pummel him in the face, back of the head, back, chest, stomach, anywhere and everywhere they could reach. William cried out in pain and I went into action. I leapt into the air and descended on the men. They didn't really have control over their body so the first objective was to remove the circuitry cards. However, with the number of bouncers, William could have been beaten to death had I waited to rescue him first. I pushed two bouncers away and, in the process, removed their circuitry cards. I pushed two more away and did the same, fighting my way to William. Once I got to him, he was on the floor bloodied and crying. The bouncers were kicking at him. I knelt down and hunched over him so their kicks would hit me and not the prince. I could feel my power going into action. I stood over William held my arms up in a "V" shape and commanded, "Back!" The bouncers all flew back at least ten feet from the Prince and I. I knelt down and checked William's pulse. He was alive. Just badly injured. "Call an ambulance!" I ordered. Then I went around and removed the circuitry cards from the bouncers. As I pulled out the last one, a man in his mid-twenties came up to me. He had a bruise on his head and a stern look on his face. He pulled out his wallet and showed me his I.D. "I'm Ryan, Prince William's personal bodyguard." "Are you okay?" "Several of the bouncers knocked me out." "They were under control of the Mad Hatter. William is over there and in need of help." I could sense with my mutation he was telling the truth. "Hatter has Harry. I've got to stop him." Ryan nodded and I ran in the direction the Mad Hatter went. The Hatter's trail led up to the third floor. Cautiously I searched each room hoping to find Harry left behind. No such luck. There was only one other place to go. Up to the roof. So that is where I went. Ascending the ladder, I neared the top. My head poked out only to be met by a foot in the face. I fell back down the ladder and landed on the floor. A maniacal laugh echoed down the shaft. The Mad Hatter wasn't going to be victorious. His insanity was ending tonight, one way or another. I mustered up all the strength I could, using my powers to help and I leapt up the shaft and out the hole. "What the..." the Mad Hatter exclaimed, astonished at my abilities. "Now it ends, Hatter," I said as I stood. "Really? Tell me, how fast are you? Fast enough to catch Prince Harry and me? I don't think so." The Mad Hatter turned to Harry and said, "Jump." Harry nodded and walked to the edge of the building. I noticed the circuitry card behind his ear. The Mad Hatter moved away from Harry to the opposite side of the building, smiling all the time. I could tell from Harry's face that he was terrified, yet he had no power over what he was doing. It was madness. I knew what I had to do. I had to save Harry. I ran as Harry jumped off the building and leapt behind him. I reached out with my power and slowed his fall somewhat so I could grab him. Once I had his wrist, I shot a line to the roof of the building we just jumped from. The line pulled taught and we landed on the sidewalk safely. On the ground, Ryan watched as William was being put in an ambulance. Ryan grabbed Harry from me and I pulled the circuitry card from the young Prince. Flipping a switch on the grappling gun, it pulled me up to the roof. I pulled myself over the small ledge on the rooftop and looked around for the Mad Hatter. At first I saw nothing, then a telltale sign gave him away. He was moving across the rooftops trying to get away. I smiled. He was now in my Wonderland. He didn't stand a chance. Taking a deep breath, I ran at full sprint across the disco rooftop and leapt across to the next building. The chase went on for only a minute since I moved a bit faster than the Mad Hatter. I landed on the same roof he was on and ran at him full force. When I was within tackling distance, I jumped and knocked him down. I rolled off him and turned to face him. Slowly the Mad Hatter stood up and looked upon me narrowly. "It's not fair." "Life isn't always fair, Hatter. By now you should have realized that." "But I was doing what I can to get what I want. Everyone says life is what we make it. We can do and be whatever we want." "You should have also realized that what you say isn't entirely true. Life isn't always fair. We don't always get what we want or do what we want to do." "I will make what I want to happen," the Mad Hatter spat at me. He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a gun aiming it right at my head. "And you cannot stop me." "I beg to differ." The gun fired and the bullet came right at my head. I jumped to the side at the last possible second and the bullet whizzed by. The Mad Hatter fired repeatedly at me. I kept jumping and dodging. As I moved, I pulled out a bolo and threw it at the Mad Hatter. The bolo hit his hands and wrapped around his arms. However, he kept firing. I found a place to hide behind and watched as he tried to undo the bolo while keep an eye on me. He was moving awfully close to the edge, too. "Hatter, give up. If you surrender now, things will go much easier." "I'll die before I surrender to you!" he exclaimed. "You may get your wish," I muttered. Loudly I said, "Hatter, you are getting too close to the edge! You just might..." Too late. He tripped over the edge and fell screaming. I ran for the ledge. The screaming stopped just before I reached the ledge and I knew the Mad Hatter had ended his descent. Slowly, I looked over the edge to see the Mad Hatter lying on the ground in a pool of blood. "I hope you find your peace where you are now, Jervis," I muttered. Then I turned and walked back to the other side of the building. I didn't have to call for the bobbies. I could hear them in the distance heading this way. They must have seen which direction I went and followed. It makes my job easier. I headed back to the Watcher's castle to tell them of the defeat of the Mad Hatter. They were saddened by his death but glad that the threat of the throne was finally over. As I sat in a chair looking out the window at the night sky, my mind went over what happened while in England. I thought of the three villains I faced: the Mad Hatter, Lord Marmaduke Fogg and the demon Macai. They were all defeated. Sadly, though, two were now dead through acts of their own greed and power. I was there when it happened and I could not stop it. It just goes to show that sometimes we have no power to change things even if we are in the thick of the activity. I wiped a tear from my eye. What had happened was beyond my control. I was, of course, referring to being away from Lance. It was beyond my control the events that brought me to this moment. But thankfully, my stint here was complete. And I was able to return home soon. That was all that mattered to me now. To Be Continued...