Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 05:19:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Adventures Of A Real Dark Knight 1 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 his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!! This section of chapters is a continuation of my first story "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". 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. Author James Chapter 1 A New Day Begins I awoke with the ring of the alarm in my ear. Reaching over, I tiredly turned it off. I was still pretty tired from the night before. The Huntress, who is a vampire slayer, and I joined up with the mutants known as the X-MEN to stop a wizard-demon named Lord Bortos from unleashing the spirits of Chaos. Had he succeeded the world would have been thrown into turmoil and demons would have taken control. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? It was. But that is just one of the many adventures I've had in L.A. since moving here. You see, I moved here a few months ago to build my own life as a gay man. In the small town I grew up in, I always held back my feelings toward other men. I knew how others would think of me and that scared me. Moving to L.A. was the only way that I could assure I would have a fresh start. And a fresh start I had. I was hired in at a psychological counseling center before I moved. I was an assistant to one of the counselors. He was kind of cute, too. The first week I was there, he invited me to a benefit dinner where I met the boy band NSYNC. I had always thought Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass were very cute. I got the pleasure of meeting them, which was rather difficult because I was so nervous. We hit it off well and became friends. Joshua was called away not too long after I started work at the center and I was asked to take his place as counselor. The center is paying for my schooling to become certified. As counselor I have had the pleasure of working with many young people going through difficult times in their life, one of which is David Gallagher who is dating Michael Cucchione. Michael is not very well and David has been concerned for his health. Michael helped David come to terms with his sexuality and has helped David be more comfortable being him. When I first met them, Justin was gay. His boyfriend proved to be more than what he appeared and it was discovered that he had placed a spell on Justin making Justin gay. After Justin and I fell in love, we discovered the spell and, once it was broken, Justin returned to being heterosexual. It broke my heart, but I moved on. I later dated a man for a short time who ended up believing it was just a hook-up, a one-night stand. I hate those so much. Sex should be something between two people who love each other, not a passing whim with whomever is willing. I was also raped and lost a very good friend to suicide because of a psychologist who believed he could cure homosexuality. The psychologist Dr. Isaiah Israel is still at large because of his involvement with my friend Hunter's suicide. It seems like a lot has happened in my life, but there is yet more. I'm also a mutant and Batman. As a mutant, I came in contact with Professor Xavier and his band of students who are also mutants. I've done some training with them and plan to do more in the future. As Batman, I've come across some rather interesting villains: Mrs. Freeze and her son (who also happens to be a classmate at the college I'm attending) and the Firefly. After all that has transpired the last few months, I can only imagine what this new day will bring. When I arrived at the office, Debbie, my assistant, greeted me. "Good morning, Eric," she said. "Good morning, Debbie. How are you today?" "Very well, thanks." "What's on the agenda for today?" "Tasha is the first client today." "Thanks." I went into my office and pulled her file. I felt so bad for Tasha. She's a seven-year-old little girl and her mother was killed right in front of her a few weeks ago. Tasha has not spoken, has barely eaten, and she refuses to return to her home, where her mother was shot. I don't blame her. A difficult part for her and the rest of the family is that her mother's killer shot his self as well. They can't ask him why he did what he did nor will they be able to have some sense of justice. There is no way to judge a dead man. But he is in a Higher court now, with the Judge of judges. He will have justice in eternity for his crimes. The buzzer rang and Debbie told me Tasha was here. I went out to see her. "Good morning, Tasha," I said as I kneeled down in front of her and took her hand to shake it. "Good morning, Eric." "You want to come in my office and talk and play?" "Yeah." "Come on." I took Tasha in and she sat down at one of the play tables. A box of crayons and blank pieces of paper sat out for her to color on. "Let's color." I sat opposite of her and began to draw. "How are you doing?" I asked. "Okay." "I'm sure you've been thinking about your mommy." "Yeah." "Tell me what you've been thinking." "I keep seeing her over and over in my mind. You know, I picture what happened. No matter what I'm doing I'm always seeing her get shot." "How does that make you feel?" "I get scared all the time and I hurt inside. I always want to cry." Our session went on for almost a solid hour. Tasha did some crying and I did some holding. After the session was over, I could tell she felt much better, though. And that's what my job is all about: helping others feel better about life's situations. Tasha and I walked out hand-in-hand to her waiting aunt. "Thank you, Eric." "You're welcome. Things will get better." "There are days I don't know." "Have you been able to see anyone, Carla?" "Not yet. I've got so much yet to straighten out that I haven't had time." "Feel free to make an appointment with Debbie if you'd like." "Thanks." I watched as Carla and Tasha entered the elevator and disappear behind the closing doors. I turned back to Debbie. "Who's next?" "Justin is." "Okay. Just send him in when he arrives." I went back to my office and thought back on what happened with Justin and I a few months ago. He and I had fallen in love after it was discovered his lover was a vampire. As our relationship grew, Turic his former lover returned. We discovered he had placed a spell on Justin to help control his devotion. When I staked Turic the spell was broken and Justin returned to his former heterosexual state and had forgotten everything that happened with Turic and myself. One day Justin showed up at my office wanting to talk to me about a fellow band member who came out to him: Lance. I started counseling Justin and giving him advice but I hadn't told him what we had together, not until a week or so ago. Justin, with great reason, was angry with me for it. But we've moved on and he has come to see me for help in dealing with his friend's homosexuality. Lance, I discovered, has feelings for me, feelings that I would like to return, but, since I still need to work through the stuff that happened to me, I am reluctant to do so. The door opened and in walked Justin. "Hi, Eric." "Hello, Justin. How are you?" "Fine. How was your Halloween activity the other night?" "It went okay." Justin and the rest of the guys knew I was a mutant. My mutation went into action just before I staked Turic. I have the ability to manipulate atoms. At first it only appeared when I was under great emotional distress. Now I'm learning to control it. However, they do not know I am Batman. "That's good." Justin sat down on the couch as I moved over to my usual chair. "I read those books you suggested I read." "Did they help?" "Yeah, sort of. By reading them I found out that a homosexual relationship is just as normal as a heterosexual relationship. But I can't help wondering about all the things I hear about guys sleeping around with other guys. It just seems so wrong. They are so promiscuous." "Yes, they are, Justin. I don't know why they do that. For some it may be an insecurity issue. For others they look at sex is something fun to do." "It is fun." Justin said. Then he looked at me and cleared his throat. "Sorry." "Don't apologize. Sex feels good because it's supposed to be good. It should be with someone that you care about, though, not someone you pick up at a bar or club or any place like that. The gay community as a whole has a lot of issues to deal with. Many of the stereotypes have a basis in fact. I think it's time the gay community takes a look at where they are and what they are doing and what image they are projecting to the heterosexual community. Perhaps the heterosexual community would take us more seriously if we would take life a bit more seriously than we do." I looked over at Justin who crinkled his eyebrows at me in concern. "Now it's my turn to apologize. I shouldn't be spouting off these platitudes to you." "Uh, it's okay. It kind of helps to see things through the eyes of a gay person." "I'm...glad I could help." We talked for the next half hour about how he feels toward homosexuals in general and Lance in particular. He explained that he was feeling a little awkward around Lance but he was trying not to let his awkwardness get in between his friendship. I assured him it was natural to feel awkward because he had this new issue to deal with. I told him I was proud of him not wanting his feelings to get in the way of his friendship. As we stood up to leave, Justin said, "Lance wants to talk to you tonight. If you want, come on over." "I'll call. I have classes tonight." "Okay." Justin left and the rest of the morning was uneventful. After lunch, I headed to college for a few classes. I found Alan, Hailey, George and Brian at the fountain talking. "Hi, guys," I greeted. "Hi, Eric." We were all feeling a bit distant as we were trying to put our feelings into perspective. A week ago our friend Hunter had committed suicide and we attended his funeral. We were all taking it in stride. "How are you doing?" I asked. "Okay," they all said, all except Brian that is. He was still having a difficult time dealing. He was closer to Hunter than the others. Hunter was his best friend. We went to our classes with no one saying much of anything. We still had much to heal from. After class, I went over to NSYNC's penthouse suite. The manager Okayed me to go up, so I did. When I got to their floor, Lance greeted me. "How are you doing?" he asked. "Good." "What happened last night? You had come over and asked us to not go out. As far as I can remember, we were a bit rude." "That's okay. A wizard was doing a spell to cause chaos. It was in its early stage." "Did you get hurt?" "Nah. I'm okay." "Good." "Justin told me you wanted to see me." "Yeah. I wanted to see how you were. I don't want my friends to be getting hurt." "That's kind of you. I don't want mine getting hurt either." Joey raised his voice from across the room. "Oh would you two just kiss or make out or something? It's getting old!" Lance and I just smiled at Joey. "Come on," Lance said. "Let's go in my room and talk." We went into his room and I sat on the bed. He came over and sat next to me. "Are you doing okay?" he asked again. "I know it's been a week since your friend's funeral. I just want to make sure you are fine." "Yeah. It still hurts but not so much. I will be okay." "Good. Because I hate to see you sad." We sat and talked for over an hour about anything and everything. I felt I could trust him so much. "It's getting late," I commented. "I should go. I have work tomorrow." "Okay." Lance walked me to the elevator. He and I hugged goodbye and the doors closed. "What is taking you so long?" Joey asked Lance. "Why don't you two start dating?" "Eric isn't quite ready for dating. If you remember his last two relationships ended disastrous, not to mention he was raped." "Oh." Joey became silent and looked away. Lance just smiled at him. When I arrived at my apartment I met Matt, my best friend. He was only supposed to be in town for a week and it had been two since I had seen him. I told him that I am gay and he took it like I knew he would. He began reciting Bible verses that supposedly condemned homosexuality and repeatedly said how those who practice gay sex will go to hell for their sins. When I saw him standing at my door, I was in complete shock. "Hi, Matt." "Hi, Eric." "I thought your vacation was only a week long? What are you still doing in L.A.?" "I couldn't leave without talking to you first." "Okay. Come on in." I let us in my apartment. "Where's Ellen?" "She didn't want to come. She's too upset about the whole thing." Matt was quiet for a moment. "I told her." "Oh. Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?" "No. I just want to talk about what you said. I'm a little confused on the whole issue." "Sure." I sat down next to Matt. "What do you want to know?" "When were you gay? When did it happen?" I smiled at Matt. "I've always been this way." "But what about the girls you've dated? What about Melissa and Chritiana? What about them? Were you gay when you dated them?" "Yes. I dated them hoping that it would make me heterosexual. It didn't. The only thing it did do was pour my heart into a relationship that would never work, and I was hurt over it." "Do you think that because you were hurt you turned gay? Because you haven't had much luck or experience with girls that you think you are gay?" "Good questions, Matt. Questions that I went over in my mind. The answer is no. If anything those experiences helped to confirm that I'm gay. It just proved that there was nothing I could do to make me not be gay." "What about God? Did you give Him a chance to perform a miracle?" "Sure did. Most of my life I prayed that He would either make me a woman or make me have heterosexual desires. I wanted to be 'right' so much I was willing to be a woman. And as you can see I would not have made a very attractive woman." I laughed, hoping it would ease Matt's inner turmoil, help him relax a bit. It didn't work. "I prayed that for a long time. Nothing happened. Then when I attended the last church we attended together, you know, where all the miracles happen?" Matt nodded. "I did everything the preacher taught us about getting miracles. And it's funny that I was able to pray for others for things and was able to get miracles for other things yet this one thing I could not get a miracle for. Do you know what that determined for me? It determined that God does not care whom I love, so long as it's love and not lust, and the person truly cares for me. My relationship with Him has not ended. The dynamics has changed." "What do you mean?" "You know how involved I was with church and my relationship with God, teaching in the Sunday school department, volunteering for stuff, all that. I did it because I loved God, but deep inside I believe part of it was because I had a hope that I was earning points with God, that with those points I would either get a miracle or would make it to Heaven despite my 'sinful' desires. "Now I know, as I have always known, that you can't earn points for God's love. He gives it to us freely and without merit. It's nothing we can do to earn it that makes it so wonderful and that others can't claim God loves them more." "How has your relationship changed with God, though?" "I love Him more. I haven't done quite so much for Him. I think it's because I'm still getting used to expressing this part of me. If I were to jump back in doing what I used to, part of me may still be doing it to earn points. I can't do that to God. He deserves more than that." Matt sat quietly for a few moments. He did not say a word. I became apprehensive at this. Was he figuring I was lost and undone without God? Or was he seriously taking in what I said? I had no clues as to either one. Matt looked down at his watch. "Time for me to go. Ellen was finishing packing. We have a flight home in three hours. It was good to see you, Eric. Take care of yourself." Matt stood up and I followed him to the door. "It was good to see you, Matt. I didn't want you to find out about me like this. But part of me is glad you found out. I don't have to worry about hiding from you now." "Eric, you never have to hide anything from me. You're my friend, my best friend. We are like brothers." Matt gave me a hug, one of the biggest he had ever given me. I hugged him back just as hard. "I love you, Matt." "I love you, too, Eric. Take care of yourself. Keep in touch." "You, too." Matt and I released our embrace and I watched him leave. I closed the door and went to my couch. There I cried, and for the first time in a long time, they were tears of joy. My best friend did not reject me, as I feared he would. To Be Continued... Here is the first installment of a new saga of our hero, Eric McCoy, the real Dark Knight. My, how I hope my best friend takes it as well as Eric's did when I tell him. How did your best friend take it when you told him or her? I'd love to hear how your stories went. It may give me hope. More to come, including a change of venue! Eric will be doing some traveling! I'd love to hear what you thought! Email me!