Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 14:09:41 -0800 (PST) From: Author James Subject: Tales of a Real Dark Knight, Chapter 2 The First Night 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 it is true. I do hope that you enjoy it!!! By the way, my name is James. jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 2 The First Night As I suspected, I did not sleep well that night. I tossed and turned, too hot to cover up, too cold to stay uncovered. But the temperature and the fact it was a new place were not the only things that disturbed my rest. As I slept, I dreamed of many things that plagued me during my life. I dreamed of my best friend finding out that I'm gay. To this day, he still doesn't know. But that never stops the mind from playing tricks on you and it never stops the devil from battling the mind. In my dream, he found out I was gay and yelled it to the whole church I used to attend. So many people looked at me as such a great model Christian, a true disciple to Christ. I admit I did immerse myself into the Christian lifestyle. Maybe I shouldn't use those words. To this day, the "Christian lifestyle" is nothing more than glorified sinners who condemn others for sin yet believe no one can be free from sin. They have too much of a double standard, rely too much on social taboos to proclaim their beliefs. To me, being a Christian is being Christ-like, loving everyone, living the way of truth, and letting the Spirit of God deal with people as to what they are doing wrong. So many are actually doing okay, just have denied the blood of Christ to make them free. But I digressed. In my dream, my best friend walked out on the platform to the pulpit. When his mouth opened, he did not need a microphone. His words were magnified. "Eric is gay! Eric is gay!" To my left and right people turned to express themselves. Some just sat there with their jaws hanging to their knees. Others looked at me with disdain and hatred. I could almost read their minds. "How dare you proclaim to be a child of God when you are so evil?" "How could you be such a responsible role model and still be gay?" "How could you ruin our faith in you?" I ran from the church through the snow. As the snow fell, my tears fell. So many people had become good friends and now it was all destroyed because someone spoke about something that was not their place to tell. It startled me so that I jumped in my sleep and woke myself up. I looked out the window at the rain coming down. "It was only a dream, Eric," I told myself. "It was only a dream." Of course after that I could not sleep. I tossed and turned, not able to get comfortable. I decided to sit up and read for a while. I went over to my suitcase and pulled out the recent Anne Rice novel Merrick and picked up reading where I left off. "She writes like this stuff is real. I mean, I know demons are real, but she makes them come alive and live in the present. Plus, one of the main characters is gay." Anne Rice's novels also remind me of my favorite TV shows, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel. She takes the characters, the elements, and makes them come to life. It's awesome! After reading a chapter, I still was not tired so I decided to check on my new, untried costume. I went to the black suitcase situated under my bed and pulled it out. Sitting it on my bed, I opened it to stare down at my ridiculous plan. People will laugh at you, Eric. Don't you realize that? Not to mention DC Comics will probably sue you. But, it's what I want to do, what I need to do, not because my parents were murdered, but because... I heard a knock on the door and quickly closed the suitcase. "Who is it?" I asked as I pushed the suitcase under my bed. "UPS," the person on the other side called back. "UPS, this early in the morning?" I looked at the clock and saw that more time had passed than I anticipated. It was early, but not too early. I walked over to the door and opened it. It was early, but not too early for me to notice the attractive UPS Deliveryman. His brown eyes were so dark and rich, and the black hair on his head reminded me of the crispness of summer nights back east. "Thank you," I said taking the box in his hand. "There is more stuff out here. Would you like me to bring it in?" "That would be great." I remembered I had all my stuff sent here by UPS. It was the easiest way for me to travel here. I walked out with the nice gentleman and aided in carrying the boxes back up to my apartment. He smiled at me and wished me 'good day', and off he went on his route. I quickly unpacked the boxes and set up my CD player, CD's and Star Trek novels. My clothes were the hardest part to unpack because I had to figure out a place to put them all. Thankfully the apartment was already furnished so I did not have to worry about dressers. I just had to hang up all my dress pants and dress shirts. That took most of the time. By the time I finished unpacking, I was ready for a nice shower. It was around noon that I got finished. I was feeling a bit hungry, so I showered and went out to find me some food. The nearest fast food restaurant was down the street a block and a block east. It would be a short walk, but an enjoyable one. I was able to see some of the "sights", as it were, and got to see some faces that I would run into often. The restaurant was welcoming. I noticed the young Latino man who rang up my order. He had dark, welcoming eyes. His hair reminded me of rich coffee. And his voice was a solid bass. As always, I ended up skipping over my words and, eventually, got my order placed. He gave me my change and food, and I quickly rushed out. You are so chicken, Eric, I told myself. Unfortunately, it was true. I am a chicken. I get so backwards talking to any stranger. It is kind of humiliating, but scary for me. I honestly get scared! I freeze up! I get all clammy, break into a cold sweat, and get very nauseous. I would laugh if it weren't so pathetic. I went home and ate. Then, since I had nothing else to do, I fell asleep, which was good. Because when I awoke, I went out on my first patrol. I climbed into my suit, but refrained from placing my gloves on. Since I wear glasses, I could not go out in them or without them. Thank God for disposable contact lenses. I normally don't wear contacts. The fact of placing something on my eyeball freaks me out! But, for this, I had to endure it. After placing them on my eyes, which made my eyes a more intense green, I placed my mask and gloves on. Making sure the door was locked; I exited through the fire escape. I could not believe how exhilarated I was entering the night wearing that suit. I felt strong, free, in control. To feel the cape whip about my body as the wind blew it made me feel very powerful. I jumped down to the alley and decided to get a feel for the dark shadows that I would have know intimately. Sweeping up and down the block checking houses out as I went, I became so familiar with shadows and niches that I could easily hide within in case anyone discovered me. "I think I'll check out the fast food place," I said to myself. I highly doubted I will find anything worth investigating, but I almost expect it to be quiet. As I learned from my Law Enforcement class in my hometown, being a law enforcement officer is 90% boredom broken up by only 5 minutes of action. I climbed up on the building across the parking lot and pulled out my small binoculars in my belt. Using them, I could see everything going on inside and at the drive-thru. I noticed the young man that waited on me earlier busily gathering the order for his customer. I was so busy watching him, I didn't notice the two vehicles pull in the parking lot until it was too late. One contained two very familiar faces to me, but at the moment, I could not place them. Soon after the occupants of the two vehicles entered the restaurant, trouble stirred. The two familiar faces stood to the back deciding what they wanted. The other man from the second vehicle walked immediately up to the fast food employee. And, immediately, he pulled a gun. I could tell it was a stick up and the guy was very excited. He could easily have shot someone by accident the way he kept jerking his body around to watch everyone. "Get over here," the robber said to the other two customers, motioning them to approach the counter. Immediately they complied. "Now," he said to the employee, "hand over all the money in the registers. NOW!" The employee got very nervous, but tried to remain calm the whole time. "Poor guy," I said to myself. "Well, it's now or never." I leapt to the parking lot light pole and slid down. In some funny way, Adam West went through my mind. I quickly sneaked up to the building, trying to avoid being seen. I went from window to window hoping that no one saw me. No one did. They had a small piece of metal that could easily take their life on their mind. I got to the door and realized that if I opened one door, the gunman would hear it before I could get through the other door. I would be dead, or one of the others would be dead. I looked through the window to see the gunman's position when I finally recognized the two customers. "Daniel and Darren from Savage Garden! Oh my...." I shook my head to snap out of their enchantment. Just looking into those eyes is enough to take ones attention for hours. "Snap out of it, Eric. You've got a job to do. Not to mention save these three gorgeous guys' lives. Maybe you could get lucky tonight and...no, I'm not doing this to get gorgeous guys to have sex with. However...No, get it together. If something happens, then it happens. If nothing comes of it, just...Oh, don't think about it right now! I've got a job to do! Not worry about if I am going to get a boyfriend out of this! Besides, they can't be allowed to know who you are!" "Come on! Give me the money!" the gunman screamed. It brought me back to the situation at hand. I watched as the cute employee passed the moneybag over to the thief. He snatched it out of the young man's hand and came running for the door. "It looks like he's decided for you where it's going down, Eric." I stepped behind the door opening so he would not see me. The door flew open and the man came flying out. In split-second timing, I grabbed the back of his neck and spun him around. It took him by surprise. I put my leg in front of him and tripped him to the ground. He dropped the money, but not the gun. He turned and went up on his knee to see who it was who grabbed him. I still will never get over the look on his face when he saw that it was a grown man dressed like a bat. His eyes went wide and his draw dropped. As he brought the gun up to fire, I went into action. I kicked out and caught his hand, knocking the aim off. With the other foot, I kicked him in the face. He released the gun and grabbed his nose, which began dripping blood. "You...you broke my nose!" "If you don't give up now, I will break something else," I replied, trying to sound menacing. It only served to anger him. The thief stood up and brought his fists up. I brought my hands up, but kept them open not knowing if I would need to punch him or grab him. He swung a fist at me. I stepped to the side out of his way. He swung again and I stepped aside again, only this time I grabbed his arm. I brought my leg up and kicked him in the stomach. Then I pushed him back. "Give up?" I asked. "Aaaah!" he screamed at me as he charged me. I stepped aside again and swung my fist out, catching him in the chest. He grabbed his chest in pain as his momentum combined with the force I put in my punch caused him great pain. He staggered back, but quickly recovered to attack again. I knew that I had to finish this quick. I couldn't let it drag out, especially if he got a chance to get to his gun. Three very cute men could be shot because of it. He decided to charge me. As if that worked the first time. I decided to change my tactics, though. Instead of hitting him, I used his momentum to toss him into the window of the restaurant. In a big show of dramatics, he flew through the window and landed on a table on his back. A table leg collapsed and tilted the table, causing him to fly off. I thought that took care of him, but, slowly, he stood up. I ran, jumped up, grabbed the edge of the window, and swung myself in feet first, kicking him and knocking him into the planter. I dropped to the floor preparing for him to get up. He didn't. I looked at the three gentlemen staring at me in disbelief. I locked eyes with them and settled on Darren, the dark-haired singer. Taking a deep breath in relief, I caught their scent. It was very intoxicating. I would have loved to spend time in their presence just to enjoy their scent and deepness of their eyes. "Call the police," I ordered. "Do you have any rope to tie him up with until the police arrive?" "Uh...yeah," the cute Latino employee said. He went to the back to retrieve the rope, leaving me with these very stimulating men. I was hoping that their stimulation of me could not be seen through my suit. "So, do you do this often?" Daniel asked me. I wanted to melt into his arms but that would not do for a crime fighter to do. "I'll get the money," was all I said. I went out and grabbed the bag of money and the gun. When I returned, the employee was returning with the rope. "Here's the money and the gun. Don't touch either until the police get here." I took the rope and tied up the thief's hands and feet. As much as I wanted to turn around and kiss them all, I couldn't. I couldn't reveal the real life Batman's sexuality. Though it should not make a difference, I wanted people to fall in love with Batman's cause not his sexual orientation. I jumped through the window out into the night. I ran to the building I was on earlier and climbed up the fire escape. I watched as the police came, took the man away and questioned the three witnesses. "Wow," I thought to myself. "I knew that I would eventually run into some Hollywood stars. But I didn't think I would run into any so soon. This is so cool!" After the police secured the area, I left to continue my first patrol. Nothing else happened that night, but I can say it was the best first night I could have had. To be continued... I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. It will get better, I promise. I have lots of ideas in my head; lots of celebrities that I think are cute! LOL There will be more, I promise. Like NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and some other universes will merge as the main character gets used to his new life. If you have any comments, feel free to email me. jmsotc@yahoo.com