Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 14:00:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Adventures of a Real Dark Knight 24 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!!! 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 Chapter 24 Interruptions Nightwing, Robin and I arrived at the greenhouse rather quickly. Thankfully I was following them, as I had no idea where I was headed. We hid in the trees and examined the area carefully. Who knew what tricks and booby traps she had set up for interlopers? "Seems clear enough," Robin said. "You can't be too sure with her," Nightwing replied. "How do you know?" "I know her intimately." "Listen," I interrupted. "Let's split up. You two get to either end of the greenhouse. I will go to the roof and we will try to get a fix on her location and what she may have inside." The two nodded at me and we split up. As I watched them move closer to the greenhouse, I made my way up the nearby tree. I jumped from branch to branch making my way closer to the greenhouse roof. Gently, I lowered myself down and peered through the glass. The inside was a working greenhouse. Music played softly, that I could hear through the glass. Several floodlights were lit, lighting up patches of the inside. I looked around until I found her, Poison Ivy, at a small table mixing some kind of chemical compound. What it was I did not know. I tried to make eye contact with Robin and Nightwing. I saw Robin at the end of the greenhouse through the glass. He looked up at me. I acknowledged his presence then turned my attention to the other side. Nightwing had already gone in the door and was moving closer to Poison Ivy. "What's he thinking?" I said quietly. I watched as he made his way through the greenery. Nightwing stopped at a tree nearby the small clearing where the chemist's table rested. He pulled out what looked similar to one of my metal Bats; only it was based on the blue markings on his suit. He brought it back and let it fly, hitting one of the chemicals in Poison Ivy's hand. "What?" she screamed. She turned and saw him. "What are you doing here?" "I'm here to stop you!" "Yeah, right. You have always had the lone hero syndrome. Too bad it's going to get you into trouble." Poison Ivy raised her hand and several vines came out of a tree and snaked around Nightwing. "It's amazing the strength in those things!" she laughed. "Here you are, lone hero, about to die. And I get the pleasure of watching you." "But there is one thing you don't know," Nightwing managed to say. "And what's that, love?" "I'm not alone." I took that as my cue and jumped. My feet came in contact with the glass and it shattered under my weight. I opened my cape, hoping the look of my descent would intimidate her. She was shocked to see me. I could tell by the look on her face. I landed several feet in front of her, a Bat already in my hand. "It's over, Ivy. This madness ends." I threw the Bat. I sailed through the air and cute one of the vines. "NO! What have you done to my plant?!" Poison Ivy screamed. Poison Ivy waved her hand and several more vines came out and wrapped themselves around me. They lifted me up and squeezed the air from me. I could not do anything to stop it. "You both are going to die! You both deserve it!" "But...why?" Nightwing asked. "What are you going to do to our son?" Their son? Nightwing is Robby Lakewind? "I'm going to rescue him from those two lesbian bitches and save him from the people in this world who think nothing of the harm they are causing it. People don't care about anything or anyone but themselves. I will raise my son to be my successor. He will provide me with offspring that will declare war on the inhabitants of this planet. Something those lesbians cannot!" "Being gay is not a choice," I replied hoarsely. "Yeah, right. You just love dick as much as I do," Poison Ivy replied to me. "You are wrong. Your kind threatens the existence of humanity." Okay, not only was I dealing with a psycho plant woman, but I was also dealing with a bigot. Not too unfamiliar territory after all. "I will make this society pay for it's lax control." "I'm surprised at you," Nightwing said. "I would think you would rejoice that there are gay people. The population would go down if there were more gays and lesbians. Your precious plants would thrive." "True. But I don't want your kind to corrupt our son. That I cannot allow." Poison Ivy turned and walked over to the wall. She threw a switch and dimmed most of the lights, then left the way Nightwing came in. "Where's Robin?" Nightwing barely whispered as the vines squeezed us tighter. "Who...knows? He should...have come...in al...already." "Great. This is...how it ends...before...it's begun.... Crushed by...one of my...ex's...freaking plants." I noticed some movement in the shadows. "Robin...is that you?" "Yeah." Robin emerged pulling out some hedge clippers. "What are you guys doing?" "Waiting...for you," Nightwing replied. "What kept you?" "Had to find something to use to cut you guys free." Robin moved over to Nightwing and cut him down. Then they came to me and cut me down. I drank in the air that so freely moved into me now. "Where did she go?" Robin asked. "To get our son." "Your son?" I stood up and all three of us ran out of the greenhouse. Nothing mattered at the moment but stopping her from destroying a child's life. We arrived in the neighborhood not too much later. "Does you know what house Jack is in?" Nightwing asked me. "Yes, I do." "How do you know this?" Robin asked me. "Never mind that. We need to make sure Nightwing's son is safe. You two patrol the area. I'll check on the house." I didn't think it would be a good idea for Robby to see Jack, especially wearing what he was wearing. He may give him that fatherly look and freak Jack out. After all, we were here to protect Jack from his evil mother. I arrived at the house and used relaxed my mind. Slowly I lifted off the ground and floated to the second floor. I looked in the window and saw Sheila and Beth in each other's arms. It was refreshing to see love, especially in the midst of the trouble I was involved with. I floated around to the next window and saw an empty room. I moved to the other side of the house and when I looked in I was met with Poison Ivy and her sleepy son. "Boo!" she said to me as a boot came out the window and connected with my chest. I lost concentration and fell to the ground. Poison Ivy grabbed her son and jumped out the window. Doing a summersault, she landed on me and rolled off. "Thanks, Bats." She took Jack by the hand and ran down the street. "Stop!" I heard Robin cry out. The broken glass woke up Beth and Sheila, Jack's mothers. They came into the room. "Jack!" they called out. "Oh my God!" Sheila exclaimed. I looked up and saw them at the window. "Where's our son?" Beth called out. "Where's Jack?" "He's been kidnapped," I called back. I stood up, ignoring the pain that was shooting through my abdomen. I ran in the direction Ivy went and caught up with Robin and Nightwing fighting her. I saw Jack placed in Ivy's car. I ran towards it. Poison Ivy blocked a kick from Robin. She did a back kick and caught Nightwing in the chest, knocking him to the ground. She spun her leg back around and kicked Robin in the stomach. He clutched his chest and fell to his knees. She smiled and turned. I jumped the last few feet between the lady and me and came down at her feet first. She looked up at the last moment and jumped out of the way as I came down. She rolled up to a standing position and turned, ready to fight. I stood from my kneeling position I landed in. "Don't do this to your son," I said to her. "Why not? Look at what the courts did to us! The put him with two strangers! They put me away for loving a minor, for having sex with him! And I loved Robby! And he loved me! Jack is the product of that love!" "A product you are willing to exploit for your own ends. That's not what children are for. They are for loving and raising and teaching. They are to be entrusted with a better future than what we have. What you are planning on doing to him is make him as evil as you." "I'm not evil! I'm doing what's best for my son! I'm giving him a future where he will not have to worry about enough air to breathe or water to drink! People are destroying our world! And Jack will miss out on a good world if this continues! And he will be king over the future! He and his descendants! I will not allow evil humanity to continue!" I wondered if that is what I sounded like toward the heterosexual community when I was so angry with them for their hatred towards homosexuals. If I did, I realized at that moment I did a great in-service to the homosexual community. I was not a good example, but only fueled the perpetual bigotry and hatred that already existed. "And yet you allow your son to be corrupted by your own hatred. You are teaching him to hate. Hatred is learned. Disrespect is learned. Whether it's towards the gay community, straight community or society as a whole. And once it's learned it is difficult to unlearn, especially if you are unwilling to unlearn it." "I'm not going to listen to this. Not anymore." Poison Ivy moved to her car and climbed in. I ran towards it as she started it up. As she pulled away, I prepared to use my mutant ability and lift the car, when suddenly a rain of bullets came towards me. One struck my arm but did not penetrate. "I will have to thank the Huntress for a bulletproof suit," I muttered as I dropped to the ground. I turned, looked up, and saw a black car zooming down the street. The lights glared into my eyes preventing me from seeing the driver. It was headed right toward me. I moved to my knees and as it closed in on me, I jumped. With my added mutant ability, I sailed into the air and flipped over the car. I landed on my feet and turned, watching the car squeal to a halt. The driver's side door opened and a tall, muscular man exited. His black hair was slicked back and wet. He wore dark sunglasses, a black overcoat, black gloves and he hefted an automatic rifle. But the most prominent feature on him was his long pointed nose. I watched as he pointed the gun at me. "Time to die." One of Nightwing's birds, I guess is the word to describe it, flew into his hand and caused him to drop the gun. "Go after Poison Ivy," I called out. "I'll take care of him." Robin and Nightwing headed off in the direction of the car. I stood up as my would-be assailant approached. He pulled off his overcoat to reveal black leather pants, black combat boots, and a black button-up shirt with a white "V" in the middle, and bullets and knives strapped throughout his person. "Why are you trying to kill me?" I asked. "That's what I was hired to do." "Who are you?" "I am the Penguin." "Penguin? An interesting name for someone so tough-looking." "Oh, I assure you. I am tough." The Penguin threw a punch at me. I blocked it and countered. He spun with the impact and backhanded me. "I told you I am tough. The name was one kids used to call me. I used to be overweight and with this nose, I was called penguin boy. Not very nice, would you say? So, I decided to change the way they thought of me. I worked out, became strong and tough." Penguin tried to kick me. I blocked it and ducked as his fist came at me. I drove an uppercut into his stomach, then into his jaw. "I'm pretty tough, too," I replied. "But the question is, tough enough?" The Penguin pulled out a knife. "I must be. You are resorting to weapons." "Use what you got," he replied. "That's my motto." "I'm so glad you said that." I held up my hand. My consciousness stretched out and I felt an electric charge building in my hand. Since the dark-haired woman, I was hoping to get to try this again. "Your eyes. They are glowing white. And it looks like lightning bolts are emanating from them." "Imagine that, bird boy." "Shit!" he called as I threw a ball of electricity at him. The Penguin rolled to the side as the bolt hit the ground. In one fluid motion, he replaced his knife. "No one said you were a mutant. The price is going up." With that he took off toward his car. He grabbed his overcoat in mid-stride and pulled it on. Within moments, his car was driving off into the night. I heard police sirens in the distance. No doubt Sheila or Beth had called the police because of the kidnapping of their son. I ran down the street the way Robin and Nightwing headed, hoping I would catch up with them soon. I found them near downtown Orlando. "Did you find her?" I asked Robin. "No." "Where's Nightwing?" "He should be somewhere around here. We separated but didn't go out of sight for very long." "Okay. Let's split up and look for him, but not too far. I don't want Ivy catching us off guard or separate. Who knows what she is capable of?" To Be Continued... The Penguin has arrived! From his description, perhaps we've met him before, wouldn't you say? Lots of stuff happening here: Poison Ivy kidnapping her son; The Penguin is hired to kill Batman. How would he know where Batman was, though? Hmm, so many questions. The answers are in the chapters ahead! More to come! Keep reading! And email me if you liked this chapter!