Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 05:41:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Judgments of a Real Dark Knight 33 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. 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. Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. 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. 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. Other stories in this universe written by other authors: "Tales of a Superhero Band" "Tales of the New Phoenix" "Tales of a Young Mutant" Chapter 33 Weights and Measures "I was thinking," Lance said as he and I cleared the dinner table. "I've wanted to start working out. I sit around here and get bored, although it has been anything but boring for the last ten days." I smiled at him. "Do you have a place in mind?" "Yeah, actually. There is this gym that I had looked into a while ago but never got a membership to. They have personal trainers and everything." "Sounds real nice. Personal trainers can keep you on target with your goals and push you to go beyond." "Yeah. I was also thinking that you and I could go together." "That sounds like fun. When did you want to check it out?" "They are open really late. We could go tonight if you want." "I'd love to, but I just got back to school and I have a ton of work to catch up on. I was hoping to use tonight to dig in a bit. How about tomorrow night?" "Sounds good to me," Lance replied as he handed me the last dish. I took it from him and put it in the dishwasher. Then I handed him the dishrag to wipe off the table. The next day at school was grueling, but I was in my glory. I took notes, participated in class, and talked with a few students, though not many. Usually someone else had to make the first move. I'm a very shy and quiet person, very backwards when it comes to social situations. When my classes were over, I headed home to find Lance making dinner. It was a very light dinner, which he intended purposely as we were going to the gym. After we ate, we headed upstairs to change. That took us a little over an hour as we got to playing around and had sex. The sixty-nine position was always a fun position. Then, after showering and getting ready, we headed off to the gym. The guy who greeted us was very enthusiastic, very built, and very heterosexual. The girl at the counter kept looking at Lance and, when he noticed, would look away. She obviously recognized him and was very nervous. The guy, whose name was Jeff, showed us the locker rooms and showers, which was distracting. Think about it. A gay man showering with a bunch of muscle men. That just opens the door to the imagination! Then we headed up to the machines. "Your personal trainer will work with you to help you reach your goals. We have lots of machines here all specifically designed to target specific muscle groups. Some people have stronger upper-body strength and are weaker in the legs, and vice versa. Your personal trainer will help you determine where your strengths and weaknesses are and will design a program to suit your specific needs." The trainer walked with us around the track showing where the classes were held, the cardio machines, and the free weights. "Any questions?" he asked. Lance and I both said no. "Let's head down to my office where I can go over the plans we have." We headed down and I had to stop to go to the bathroom. The only bathrooms available were the ones in the locker room. I told Lance where I was going and said I would catch up. He followed the personal trainer down the hall and I entered. The locker room smelled like an indoor pool, chlorine. It made sense, though, as the pool was adjacent to the locker room. Plus with the showers running, it made for a very humid environment. I used the bathroom and, as I washed my hands, noticed a group of personal trainers standing around chatting. They looked nervous. I dried my hands off and curiosity got the better of me. I headed over to them quietly and listened to their conversation. "That's the fourth one this month," one was saying. "This can't keep up." "But what can we do about it? No one would believe us. And you know what Nick would do if he found out we said anything." "God, this is insane. Don't preachers normally deal with stuff like this?" "I highly doubt any preachers could deal with this thing." I slipped past them back out into the corridor and met up with Lance and Jeff. They were in the process of going over plans and paperwork. "I can set up joint workout sessions if you both want, where you both work with a personal trainer. Does that sound like something you would want to do?" Lance looked over and me, and I smiled nodding. "Sure," Lance answered. "Okay. Let me arrange your payment plan." Jeff typed up on the computer. "Okay. Now, if I could just have your credit card or debit card, I will place your down payment for you." Lance handed him his credit card and Jeff left the office leaving us alone. "There is a problem," I said. "With the club plan?" "Not the plan. While I was in the locker room I heard two trainers talking about someone disappearing. They said it was the fourth one this month and that another trainer is responsible for it." "I know where this is going," Lance said. "What are you going to do?" "I was thinking of coming back after we left to..." Jeff came back in and sat down. "Am I interrupting something?" "No, nothing at all," Lance replied. Jeff smiled. "Here is the contract. If you could just sign there and there," Jeff marked two spaces on two separate sheets of paper. "And initial there, we'll be all set." Once Lance signed and initialed, Jeff took us out front to get our membership cards. They were printed, Lance set up a time to start our personal training sessions, and we left. "Do you want me to take you to the Center?" "Yeah, it's closer." Lance nodded and we headed toward the Center. Once there, we entered and went down to the cave. "Good evening, Eric," Oracle greeted. "Hello, Oracle. Access the blueprints for the following club." I gave Oracle the name and address of the club and, within seconds, the screen displayed all three floors of the club layout. "Display in the 'mobile." I changed into my suit and came out. Lance was sitting at the computer looking through the layout. A small section had several newspaper clippings as well as a database of the club's members. "What's this?" I asked. "While you were changing, I thought it might be a good idea to find out who was missing and what the connection might be. Turns out all of the guys who went missing were trained by the same personal trainer." "Let me guess. His name is Nick." "Yep. Nicholas Falcon." "Sounds like the name of a porn star." Lance chuckled. "He looks like a porn star, too." My husband clicked something and a picture came up. He was right. This guy did look like a porn star. He had a dark Italian complexion, very nice skin, and dark hair. His face was chiseled and his muscles were enormous and defined. "I'm getting neurotic just looking at him," I stated. Lance laughed. "But I love you. You look fantastic." I smiled and rubbed my hand through his hair. "What are Nick's hours?" Lance typed it in and up came Nick's schedule. "So he should be there tonight? Excellent. He's going to be paid a visit." "Be careful. He looks very strong." "That he does," I replied as I went to the 'mobile. I climbed in and started up the engine. Within minutes I was on my way to the gym. "Lance," I said through the two-way radio. "See if Oracle can find this guy's past." "Sure thing." After a moment, Lance read off the guy's history. "He was picked on in school for being skinny and scrawny. Now we know why he has the muscles. He went on to college where he studied in physical training of all kinds. He excelled and received a degree in health and weight training. Since then he's been working at fitness centers." "Check on his past centers and see if there are any similarities." Lance was quiet and then he replied. "There sure have. He's worked at two places previous, all of which experienced disappearances of club members." "I wonder why no one has caught on to this." "Could it be that they don't think about it? Most jocks I've known tended to be a bit slow when it came to common sense, or thinking for that matter." "We can't be too judgmental, Love." "I know." "I'm there. I'll be in touch if anything comes up." "Don't get hurt." I smiled at Lance's concern and turned off the engine. Climbing out I made my way to the back of the building. From there, I used my powers to lift myself up to the roof, which was very strenuous at first. As I neared the top, however, I couldn't stop myself and shot several feet above. I landed on my hands and knees on the concrete and shook the impact off. 'What the hell was that all about?' I thought to myself. After my head cleared, I stood and went to a door in the roof, attempting to open it. When it didn't work, I put my hand where the lock was and tried to use my powers to unlock it. It didn't work, so I tried to melt the lock. That didn't work either. It seemed that my powers were not working after that big jolt. I resigned myself to go the gadget way and found a small welding device in a pouch. I used it to cut through the lock and, after replacing it, descended into the fitness center. I landed in a small room and walked to the door. Through the window, I saw a few people still working out. None was Nick. I slowly opened the door and snuck around the room. Surprisingly no one noticed me. I turned the corner and ran into two personal trainers. Their eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?" one said laughing when my image sunk in. "I'm looking for Nick Falcon. Is he here?" The two looked through the corner of their eyes at a guy working with another guy. "Thanks," I said as I attempted to walk passed them. "You're not going anywhere," they said grabbing my arms. They escorted me down the stairs to the lobby. "We're going to lock you in here until the police arrive." 'Nice,' I thought. 'Then I can crack the missing persons cases wide open.' I was thrown into a small office that had no windows and was locked in. A half hour went by and no one arrived. 'I don't think they are calling the police.' I went to the door and kicked as hard as I could. My mutation kicked back in and the door flew across the corridor into the other office. I stepped out to be met by the two personal trainers, including Nick. "What were you doing messing around our offices?" Nick said stepping forward. "Looking for you, actually. You see, I know about the missing persons. I'm not about to let them go uninvestigated. From what I've seen and heard, you are the guy responsible for it." "Who did you hear it from?" Nick glared at the two guys knowing that only they had knowledge of his activities. "A little bird told me," I replied with a smile. "Take him," Nick said. "We're going for a little walk." Two guys grabbed my arms again and all of them dragged me into the locker rooms. I heard water running in the shower but couldn't figure out why anyone was in the shower when the center closed. Then my answer was given to me. The group took me into the showers were the young man Nick was working with earlier was tied underneath a shower. The hot water poured out onto his skin and I could see the redness of the blisters. They were showering straight hot water on the young man. "What the hell?" I said. "The Carnyss demon likes sweat and muscle," Nick replied. "I supply it with food. It takes care of my problems." "And what would those be? The kids that picked on you in high school?" "What?" Nick said in shock. "That's right. I know all about you, Nick, probably better than you know yourself. You don't have to do this." Nick punched me in the stomach. "I guess it's true. Muscle men tend not to have brains to match their brawn." "Smart ass!" he said as he tossed me into the shower. I fell on the guy and slid down his wet, sweaty body until my face rubbed up against his flaccid cock. 'Evidently he isn't very intelligent,' I thought as I stood up. The young man had tears coming from his eyes but he didn't cry out. The pain had evidently overwhelmed him. "I'll get you out of here," I said to him as I reached for the ropes tying his hands to the shower head. "Useless," he muttered. "It's all useless." "It's never useless," I replied. The water and steam made the rope difficult to untie. I reached into my pouch and pulled out the welding device and cut through the showerhead. The metal popped off and the young man slumped to the wet floor. "It's okay. You're free. We're getting out of here." The room shook with a thump. "It's coming," he said. "Don't worry. It won't get you. I'll make sure of it." I grabbed the young man's arm and lifted it up around my neck. "Let's get out of here." We made our way out of the showers to the door and found it locked. "Oh no," he said. "We can't get out." "Sure we can." I heard the splash of water in the showers. The Carnyss demon was in the showers. The locker room led to the pool and, that's where we were going. I pulled the young man passed the rows of lockers and out into the pool area. It was cool yet humid. "Do you know how to swim?" I asked. "Yes," he replied. "Get in!" I said as I pushed him into the water. The Carnyss demon grabbed me by the back of the neck and lifted me. I felt its breath on my head as he smelled the sweat from the young man. I swung my foot back and connected with its kneecap. It dropped me as its hands grasped its legs. I dropped to the floor and dove into the water. Thankfully it wasn't very deep. I wasn't a good swimmer. I got to the other side where I found the young man looking back wide-eyed and terrified. "I'll get you out of this. But you have to trust me." He nodded in agreement. "I need you to get out, get a chair and throw it through the window. If they've set the alarm, it will alert the police." "What are you going to do?" he asked me. "I'm going to kill that demon." The young man climbed out of the pool and I followed. He went down the poolside and grabbed a chair. With all his might, he threw it at the window. To the owner's credit, it was a reinforced shatterproof material. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't going to break. "Now what do I do?" he asked. "Stay back!" was all I could say as the demon came around the corner of the pool. I was finally able to size up this demon and all I could describe it in one word: BIG! To Be Continued...