Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 22:06:23 -0800 (PST) From: Author James Subject: Trials of a Real Dark Knight 37 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. This story has taken on a life of its own. From its inception a year ago, I had only thought it would last ten chapters maximum. As you can see, it has grown tremendously. Mostly due to readers emailing me and telling me they've enjoyed it or have received help due to certain issues addressed. I've enjoyed writing this story but it would not have been written without men and women reading it and telling me they've enjoyed it. I do hope that you continue to enjoy each new chapter as our hero lives and grows. 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. Chapter 37 Enter the Dark Side "Get out of here, faggots!" Lance and I broke our kiss and turned. There were several built men sitting at the bar looking at us with disgust on their faces. "We don't want your kind here!" "Unless you want to give us some..." I moved a bowl of fruit from someone's table and hurled it at the man about to offer an indecent proposal. It hit him smack in the mouth. "Son of a bitch," he muttered. The other men looked from him to us. Contempt was readable on their faces. "Let's not do this," Lance whispered to me. "I can't walk away. I refuse to let some homophobic bigots win." "Guys like you need to be punched in their faces." I stepped up to him. "Go ahead. Punch me in the face." The man's lips curled into a smile. "You asked for it." He brought his fist up and slammed it into my face. I felt the impact hit my cheek and down I went. Lance rushed over to me and picked up my head. "Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded and stood up. Wiping the blood from my lip I walked over to the man who assaulted me and looked him in the eyes. "What were you trying to accomplish with that? A sense of power over me? You knocked me down. Good for you. It's easier to destroy than it is to build up. I guess what you just did was proof enough for that." I turned to walk away when the man said, "Get out of here with your pansy-assed boyfriend." I turned around and walked up to him. I reached up quickly and grabbed his throat, lifting him off the ground. "He's not my boyfriend. He's my husband." With all my strength I threw the man across the patio and over the small wall onto the beach. Then I turned back to his friends. "Do any of you have something to say?" "No," one said. "It's cool." I turned back around and went over to Lance. I quickly changed my expression from anger to a smile and said, "We have a lunch to eat." Lance reluctantly nodded and sat back down. He remained quiet for several minutes after the incident. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I don't feel right about what just happened. There are some things you can't help being who you are. But there are some incidents that should be walked away from. I thought the last one was one." "I'm sorry," I said to him. "I just want the world to accept us now." "It's not going to happen with a brawl in a restaurant. It will only happen over time, with education and legislation. Until then, we have to pick and choose our battles." Lance reached over and put his hand on mine. I smiled at him, but I didn't feel right now. I felt I had something to prove with the insulter. When a homophobic insult came, it hit something deep inside of me, something dark and powerful. Perhaps what I went through in England had lasting repercussions on me. I used the darkness that was in me, the darkness put in me by Macai, to draw strength to battle him. Some of it still remained in me. Look at what happened with Paul. I would have killed him in an instant if Lance hadn't have stopped me. At the same time, I felt like I had disappointed Lance, some how I hurt or insulted him by my action. I had done something wrong to bother him. That was something I never wanted to do, especially with me being Batman. I know it had put a strain on our relationship before. He didn't like it. But he loved me and found the good in what I did. Now, as Eric, I was letting trouble build up by going into action. Would I continuously battle this force in me to fight every little injustice? What can one man or woman do against all the injustices in the world? I had to face facts. I wouldn't be able to right every single wrong, nor should I try. It would only prevent me from living a life with the man I loved. I couldn't do that to Lance. Lunch came and we ate. Afterwards, we went for a stroll down the streets checking out all the shops. Spending every moment with Lance was wonderful. It was as if everything melted away and all that mattered was Lance and I. In a sense, that was all that should have mattered. It was our honeymoon we were celebrating. As the evening came, Lance and I went out for a romantic patio dinner at a nearby restaurant. When the meal was done, he and I went for a walk on the beach. It was beautiful watching the sunset. "Hopefully, we won't have anyone or anything else interrupt our walk," Lance said to me. I cuddled up against him as we walked. "It wouldn't matter. Nothing matters. Nothing but you." I looked up and we kissed. Night had come to the island and Lance and I returned to our hotel room. Kai-El had been waiting ten minutes for us. "I tried to salvage the communications array on the shuttle. Unfortunately, I could not. I am going to have to get onboard the ship that followed me here and send out a distress call for someone to come pick me up, after Darth Malice is taken care of, of course," Kai-El said. Lance and I both nodded. I went into the bathroom to change into my Bat-suit, leaving Lance and Kai-El to talk. "I don't like him going out," Lance said, "especially with someone we've just met. Part of me doesn't trust you." "You are cautious. That is good. I am glad to hear it. I will be careful with your lover and do my best to protect him." "I appreciate that." "I have left the guns available to you should you need them." Lance looked over at the gun belt. He pulled one of the blasters out and aimed it at different objects. I came out wearing my Bat-suit and Kai-El looked me up and down. "There is a resemblance to you and the Bat from our past. Too bad I do not have a holocron of him." "It's okay," I said. "Where is my Lightsaber?" Kai-El reached down and handed me the double-bladed saber. I kept a safe distance from them both and the walls and flipped the switch. A purple energy blade emanated from one end. I swung it around a few times checking the weight and refreshing myself of the moves Garrett had taught me a year ago. Lance looked on in amazement. "I can't believe those things exist," he said. "I've seen the movies and I know how they work on screen. But to see it in real life..." Kai-El smiled. "It can be very overwhelming for someone who has never seen it before. I understand your trepidations. It is well known the primitiveness of this galaxy. You are not yet advanced enough for these things. "Come," Kai-El said to me. "We must patrol and hunt for Darth Malice and her troops." I nodded to her and went over to Lance. Pulling my mask down to reveal my mouth, I kissed him full on the lips. "I will be back," I said. "Be careful," he replied. "And I love you." "I love you, too." Replacing the mask, I turned to Kai-El. "Ready when you are." The Jedi nodded to me and we exited the room via the balcony and climbed to the roof of the hotel. I followed her as we climbed along the roof and leapt to the next building. "Tell me about Darth Malice," I said. "What is she like?" "She is a Zabrak. They are red and black in appearance, although other races of their kind have different colors signifying which species they belong. Darth Malice is an opportunist. She wants power and has set her sights on becoming the Empress of our galaxy. Indeed she has modeled after Emperor Palpatine in her quest. Mind what you have learned about him from the documentary footage you have available to you. It could save your life." Suddenly Kai-El stopped. "What is it?" "Ssh," she responded. I stood still looking around quietly trying to get a bead on what she was listening for. Suddenly, she pulled out her Lightsaber and clicked it on. A yellow energy blade sprung to life. Two figures decloaked ten feet from us. They were wearing black armor and wielded red Lightsaber. The two Siths did double takes at me. "They are not true Sith," Kai-El responded. "They are called Shadowtroopers and have been trained to fight with a Lightsaber, nothing more. It should be easy to dispatch them." "Easy for you to say," I muttered. I flicked on an end of my Lightsaber and readied myself for an attack. One ran at me and swung its Lightsaber. I brought mine up and blocked and then pushed it away. It swung back at me again and I ducked and blocked its third attack. To the Shadowtrooper's surprise, I swung my leg up and connected with its chest. It fell backwards off the building. I turned and watched in amazement as the Jedi fought the Shadowtrooper with lightning speed. I don't know how she did it but she kept blocking and swinging holding her own very well with the evil being. She pushed down on the Shadowtrooper's Lightsaber and quickly swung her sword back slicing its head off. Then she turned to me. "Where did the one you were fighting go?" she asked. "I knocked it off the building." Kai-El ran over to where the Shadowtrooper was knocked off and looked down. "Come!" she said and dropped down. I turned off my blade and jumped, slowing my fall as I neared the street so I wouldn't break anything. Then I took off running after Kai-El who had no trouble at all landing and breaking into full stride. The crowd watched in surprise at the three of us running down the street. I think they believed we were some act, which was both good and bad. Bad because they may try to approach one of us hindering Kai-El or I or risk getting killed by the Shadowtrooper. Good because there wasn't a panicked mob trying to run the opposite way. The vampire watched as the three strangely dressed beings ran down the street. Then he turned back to his meal. He drained the blood of the human and smiled to himself. He entered the crowd on the street and headed back to his bosses penthouse where his boss looked down upon his resort. It didn't take long for the vampire to enter the lobby and ride the elevator to the top floor. There his boss waited for him. "Hello, sir," he greeted. "Is he here?" "Yes. I just caught a glimpse of him running down the street." "Good. Send the boys to the hotel room and fetch me Mr. Bass." "Yes, sir." The vampire turned and left the penthouse. The head vampire stood and looked out the window. "You will pay for what you did to me, Mr. McCoy. I will make you pay for sending me to hell for the past hundred years." Kai-El lifted her hand toward the Shadowtrooper and it stumbled. She must have used the Force and impacted the soldier. It ran into a nearby alley and Kai-El followed. As I entered the darkened alcove, there was nothing to be seen except Kai-El standing in the middle. "Kai-El?" I said. "Ssh," she said a second time. The Shadowtrooper must have cloaked and the Jedi was using the Force to locate the trooper. I stayed back near the mouth of the alley in case it tried to get out. Kai-El pointed her hand in a direction and I saw some dust fly that way. In a certain area, a small point fluttered as if heat were emanating. Kai-El turned on her Lightsaber and looked around. Then she turned quickly and threw her Lightsaber in the area of the small shudder and the Shadowtrooper screamed and decloaked. It had been severed in half by the Lightsaber which now flew back to the hands of the Jedi. "That is some trick!" I commented. Kai-El nodded. "This is only the beginning. There are probably more on the island in search of you, or the Bat that visited our past. We must continue." I nodded and followed Kai-El up to the rooftops and we continued our patrol. Lance sat on the bed flipping through a magazine. 'My honeymoon and Eric has to be Batman. It is a good thing I love him or I wouldn't be putting up with this. I know Eric would rather be here with me, but it sometimes seems as if he is out there all the time.' A knock came at the door. "Who is it?" Lance asked. "Room service." "I didn't order anything." "It was ordered by Mr. Eric McCoy." "Hold on," Lance said. He grabbed one of the guns and held it to his side. He walked over to the door and slowly opened it. Without warning, the door was pushed off its hinges and fell on top of the singer. Before Lance realized, several vampires had come in and grabbed him by his wrists and ankles. He managed to slip the gun into his large pocket before they completely retained him and lifted him up. "What the hell is going on?" he screamed. "How did you get in here?" "Public accommodations. We don't need to be invited." Lance called out for help several times before being punched in the face and knocked unconscious. The vampires lifted him and carried him out to their waiting limousine. The dark haired vampire landed on the balcony and entered to find the hotel room in disarray. "I missed them," he whispered. "I must wait for Eric to return. He can explain all that is going on." After patrolling for the rest of the evening and dispatching of several Shadowtroopers, Kai-El and I returned to the hotel room. To my horror I found the room in total disarray. "My God! Where's Lance?" I asked as I looked around. I clicked on the light to see a dark haired, very attractive teenager sitting in a chair. "Who are you and where is Lance?" "So you are Eric McCoy," he said to me with a slight Russian accent. "Who are you and where is Lance?" "The costume is rather theatrical," he said. "I won't ask you again," I said with my anger boiling over. "No need to get so upset. I am a friend and I've been sent by a mutual friend. This island used to be mine several years ago." I noticed his skin was rather pale. If he had been on the island any length of time, he was bound to have some color to his skin. Unless he stayed in all day and only came out at night. Which would indicate one thing. I turned the Lightsaber on and pointed it at the vampire. "Who might this friend be, vampire?" "I see there is no fooling you. The mutual friend I speak of is the same who turned me in a vampire. His name is Marius. I used to be known as Amadeo. But nowadays, I go by the name Armand." Lance slowly awoke on a couch that was unfamiliar to him. He looked around to see green plants sitting in front of red walls. He jumped and looked around remembering the vampires that had broken into the hotel room and kidnapped him. Some stood near the exits looking at him. A few had wicked grins on their faces. "Hello, Lance. Long time no see." Lance turned to the voice and was shocked to see the owner of the voice. "Oh my god," he whispered. The creature smiled at him. "Turic." To Be Continued... As if two Sith Lords weren't enough. Turic returns! And what do you think of Armand showing up? "The Vampire Armand" was the second book of Anne Rice's I've read, and I fell in love with Armand and Marius.