Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 20:14:22 -0800 (PST) From: Author James Subject: Chronicles of a Real Dark Knight 5 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. Talamasca, Lestat, Louis, 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. 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!!! 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. jmsotc@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 5 The Council Calls Christian browsed through the library in London. He did not know exactly what he was looking for. He did know, however, that what he would be looking would most likely be in a mythology section or a section dealing with mystical history or magic. And that all suggested one thing about him: he was nuts! At least, that's the impression he received from the majority of the world. The thing is, most of the world does believe in some higher plain, some other realm, some form of magical or spiritual universe. They just don't wear it on their sleeve for fear of the exact same ridicule that Christian felt at that moment. He found a section on mystical history. There he grabbed a book, any book, with the word "demon" on it. He took it to a private room, opened it and began reading. He read of countless demons that at some point or another in history brought strife, fear and death to mankind. Often times the demons would refer to humans as an infestation or overpopulation of an animal, a pestilence that should be removed off the face of the earth. He kept reading further and once came to a passage referring to the demon Macai. All it said is that he was one of the Counts of Hell. Nothing more was noted; no reference to what a Count of Hell was, what Macai did, nothing. Slamming the book in frustration he left the private room and headed back toward the shelf where he found the book. He replaced it and left the library. "What can I do?" he asked himself. "I have no one to go to. I have no way of fighting this thing. What can I possibly do?" Upon a hill in the outskirts of London, England rests a castle that people barely speak of. It is passed unnoticed by residents as well as passersby. On the outside it appears to be an abandoned, darkened castle. On the inside, however, it is a different matter. Men and women bustle inside gathering information and stay in contact with their workers strung throughout the world. Their workers are known as vampire Slayers. Their contacts are called Watchers. This place, this group, is known as the Council of Watchers. To the average citizen, the Council is only a myth, a legend told to enhance the belief that vampires once walked the face of the earth seeking victims to their blood lust. Today, most people do not believe in such fairy tales. However, not all is at it seems. The Watcher's Council is very much real, very much alive and very much busy documenting and abolishing the evil in the world. One of the heads of the Council, one Quentin Travers, walked to his office. He had several messages from his bosses, the rest of the Council Head, to contact them immediately. He walked into his office and closed the door. Sitting down he picked up the phone. "This is Travers," he said with his British accent. "Yes. We are working on it. We'll contact them immediately." I walked through the crowd surprised that I was invited to something like this. But I guess my ideas were enough to merit attention from people high up in society. I mean, who would have thought a little gay and lesbian center founder would be invited to a gala event concerning Princes William and Henry? Certainly not me. I looked around to see where Lance had gone. Being part of NSYNC made him an easy invitation. They had toured Europe before coming back to the States. It was their tour in Europe that helped them get established. I looked across the room and saw him talking with...did my eyes deceive me? It was Jessica...also known at the Huntress. What in the world was she doing here? Lance nodded in my direction and they both turned and looked. Jessica looked at me and smiled. Beneath the smile I could sense other emotions stirring. I couldn't tell what they were all about, though. I had not perfected my new found ability of empathy, the ability to sense emotions. The two moved towards me through the crowd. I nodded and smiled, not wanting to appear apprehensive. Jessica did not like me very much, not since the incident with Dr. Israel a few months ago in L.A. Was she back for revenge? It is possible...maybe even probable. "Hi, Jessica," I said with a grin. "Long time no see. How have you been?" "Pretty well. I've been thinking of you lately, wondering how you are doing. By the looks of things, it seems like you are doing well." "Yes," I said reaching over and taking Lance's hand. "Very well." "That's great." Jessica turned and looked away for a moment. I tried to see who she was looking for but I couldn't tell. Then she turned back. "I have to go. Perhaps you and I can meet and talk privately, you know, away from this crowd. Maybe we can do some catching up." "That would be great," I said not really intending for her and I to meet. "Take care, Eric...Lance." Lance nodded at her as I did and we watched her walk into the crowd. "It was good to see her," Lance replied. "Yes," I answered. "Yes, it was." "Ladies and gentlemen! We present to you our honored guest for this evening...Princes William and Henry!" The crowd erupted in applause. I joined in. The two Princes always looked like princes in their tuxedos. I turned and looked at Lance and smiled. I loved him so much. I couldn't bare the thought of living without him. Suddenly, I picked up an emotion that scared me. It was one of anger and revenge. But where was it coming from? I looked around and thought I saw a movement of shadow behind the stage. "Excuse me, Lance. This champagne is going through me." "Sure," he said with that grin that could melt any heart. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and headed off toward the bathroom. Once inside, I stripped down my tuxedo. Any more, I was wearing my suit underneath my clothes, especially for events like this when any glory hound would want to get someone's attention by causing chaos. I opened the door slightly and found no one around. I made my way down the hall toward the door leading to the catwalk above the stage. I didn't want to have to contend with royal bodyguards. They would end up being royal pains in my butt. Once I found the door I quickly went up to the next level and over above the stage. I looked around for the shadow I had seen. I felt something behind me and turned around. A black masked figure punched me. I stumbled back but recovered quickly as the next blow came. I was able to block it and counter, punching him in return. Then I followed through with a snap kick knocking him down. "What are you doing here?" "None of your business, Batman. Let me do my job." His voice sounded very familiar. "What is your job?" "Assassination of the good Princes." "I can't let you do that." The masked man kicked his legs out and was immediately upon his feet. He pulled out a dagger and swung at me. I stepped back. He swung again and I caught his wrist and punched him. Then, I pounded his wrist on the railing several times causing him to release his grip on the knife. It fell and, to my slight surprise, the Huntress swung out and grabbed it. All of this happened without others noticing what was going on. Thank Heaven for tall stages and long curtains. I backhanded the man and grabbed his mask pulling it off. My heart nearly stopped when I saw whom it was.... Dr. Joshua Jenkins, the psychologist I worked for when I first moved out to Los Angeles. My surprise caused me to freeze, which was the moment he needed to take control of the situation. He kneed me in the stomach and then in the face, knocking me backward to the catwalk. Then he ran into the shadows. "Great," I thought to myself. I heard footsteps behind me and flipped up, turning to face who was coming. It was the Huntress. Immediately she and I began wailing away at each other exchanging punches and kicks, neither winning nor losing. "Come to finish me off?" I asked. "As much as I could, no. I'm actually here to talk to you." "About what?" "About your help." I stopped. "What?" "I need your help. Meet me tonight upstairs in the hotel...room 1751. And don't wear that. Dress normal." Then she disappeared. Moments later, I came out of the bathroom wearing my tuxedo. I found Lance and went up to him, grabbing his butt as soon as I was within reach. He jumped and turned quickly, smiling when he saw me. "Don't do that again. I was scared it was a fan." "I am a fan." "But you're also my lover. I don't let just anybody grab me there." "You better not. Or I'll have something to say about that." We smiled at each other. The rest of the evening went by without incident. We pulled into the garage and climbed out of the car. Going inside we went up to the bedroom. Lance was tired from all the excitement. I was, too, but I had pressing matters to attend to. I stripped down rather quickly. "Hey, let me give you a hand," Lance said smiling as he sauntered over to me. "I appreciate it. But I don't have time to play right now." "Why?" he asked. "Jessica needs to meet me at the hotel. She said she needs my help." "Damn." "I know. I'd rather be here with you. But duty calls." "Yeah. I know." Lance pecked me on the cheek then went into the bathroom. I took off my clothes and put on jeans, a t-shirt and grabbed my jacket. I drove the SUV to the hotel and took the elevator to the seventeenth floor. I wandered around the corridors until I found room 1751 and rang the doorbell. The door opened a little and I recognized Jessica's eye. "Come in." I stepped in and she bolted the door. Looking around the room I saw Christine, a dark-haired woman, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man, and then, to my surprise, Prince William and Prince Harry walked in. They took a seat at the table. "Ah, Mr. McCoy, I presume?" the blonde said. "Yes." "My name is Jayce Haverhill. I work for a group you probably know: The Council of Watchers." "I've heard of them." "Please, have a seat. We all need to talk with you." Everyone moved to the table and sat. The dark-haired woman was the first to speak. "I still think you should have contacted Batman. I don't see what this guy can do for us." "Serena, please," Jayce said to her. "What makes you the expert on Batman?" I asked. "I've met him a few times. He's good," Serena replied. "You've met him?" "On numerous occasions." My mind wandered to all the women with dark hair like hers I've encountered as Batman. There was only one that I could remember, besides Talia. And that was Catwoman. "Serena," Jessica said, "he is Batman." "What?!" she said looking at me. "Are you serious? He doesn't...he couldn't..." "I am," I said smiling at her. "And now that you mention it, I do remember who you are...Catwoman." A hush fell across the room. Things were turning a bit tense. But Jayce interrupted and continued the conversation. "I'm sure you are wondering why we asked you here, Mr. McCoy." "Please, call me Eric." "All right. Eric. The Council of Watchers has urgent need of your services. For the past few months you've been fighting alongside both Jessica and Christine against vampires and other forces of darkness. We commend your abilities and we thank you for your efforts. "However, something has arisen in England and we need your help. We need you to come right away." "What's going on?" "We've called together three of our best Slayers, Jessica, Christine, and Serena." "Catwoma...I mean, Serena is a Slayer?" "Yes. She worked for us at one time, though she became bored with us and went her own way. She heard of our plight, however, and came to our rescue. We are grateful." Serena smiled and nodded at Jayce. She looked over at Prince William and winked at him. My mind went back to the episode I had with her where she shared with me the intimate moments she had with Prince William. My mind couldn't help but wonder how big he truly was. "We need all of your help. There is a growing darkness in England. The Council has exhausted all it's efforts into discovering what the darkness is only to come up lacking. We need you to help us." "What have you learned?" Christine asked. "So far, there are at least three factions going after the royal family. One has trained fighters wearing black attacking the Princes." Jessica and I turned to each other. "The guy on the stage," Jessica said. "True, he's involved. But I highly doubt he could be doing this willingly," I said. "I beg your pardon," Jayce said. "Really? Like you could not possibly have killed Dr. Israel?" Jessica replied. "That's enough, Jessica. I told you we are not going into that right now. We have urgent business at hand." Jessica quieted, but I could tell she was not calmed. "Was there an attack tonight on the Princes lives?" Jayce asked. "Yes. Up on the stage on the catwalk, a man in black was attempting to kill them. I recognize him as my old boss from Los Angeles." "Do you know of any old beliefs he may have?" "No. But the day he left work, he received a telephone call. From then on he acted rather strangely. I can't pinpoint what it may have been that was in the phone call." "An angle that we will need to pursue. "The second faction is some kind of mutant. We have the mutant group known as Excalibur helping us. A fresh mind in the mix will be most helpful. "The third faction is more sinister. The Council believes that some kind of supernatural being has been released and may want to rise in power. We have been unable to uncover any information that may be of use to us." "No problem," Serena replied. "I have contacts with the Talamasca. They may have something." "The Talamasca?" I asked. "Another group of...for lack of a better term...watchers," Jayce answered. "They document supernatural occurrences. They have a policy of not interfering, even if it means innocent lives die. The Council of Watchers and the Talamasca have been at odds for hundreds of years." "But they may have what we need," Serena said. "True. We may need to contact them." "There may be a possible lead. I was patrolling the other night with a mutant when we came across a break in at a magic shop, a wizard with a bunch of vampire minions. I'm not sure what he took," I said. "I can ask Kara to get a list of materials stolen and send the list to us." "Sounds good. Any questions?" Jayce said. "When do we get underway?" I asked. "Tomorrow, when the Princes leave we will all travel with them, since everyone's duty is two-fold, stop what is going on and protecting the Princes. Anything else?" No one spoke. I sat stupefied. I was being asked by an ancient organization to travel across the world and help them battle some supernatural evil as well as a mutant and a group of assassins. Could things possibly get any worse? Then I remembered...I would have to be separated from Lance. To Be Continued... What do you think? Catwoman is a Slayer. The Talamasca and the Council of Watchers in the same story. I'd like to know what you think! Email me! More excitement to come! Keep reading!