Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2003 12:12:05 -0800 (PST) From: Author James Subject: Judgments of a Real Dark Knight 9 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. Chapter 9 Raising Kane Miranda walked into the club wearing a pink dress. She looked around to see Nightwing, Robin, and Mr. Freeze standing at the bar talking. They turned to her and waved hello. She waved at them but continued on. She was searching for someone, but she wasn't sure who it was. She knew she had to find this person, though. It was a matter of life and death. Kara, her Watcher, walked over to her. "Are you sure?" she asked. "W-what?" Miranda asked. But Kara turned and walked away leaving her alone. "You can't beat me, Slayer," a voice said. Miranda turned toward the origin of the voice, but found no one. She turned back around and the club was full of people dancing. The song started and she turned to see Kane standing on the stage singing. He looked down at her and their eyes locked as if the song was a message directly to her. When she heard the words, she knew that was the truth. The systems of life hum accordingly Every day, every year, every century But, everywhere humans go things get worse and worse Can you tell through the smoke of the dirty city? The jungle was once a tranquil hideaway For the king of trees and the mountains themselves But man those things sell a million dollars a pound Cut them up, dry them out, good display for the shelves Why can't we just leave them alone? Who is the animal? Who is that dangerous beast? Why were the other ones made? I know it wasn't just for our feast And now they're down to 250 lone souls They're a breed of a losing generation it seems The killers are ourselves so you know who to blame It was man with his plan and his frightening greed I don't think we'll ever leave them alone. Miranda turned to her friends and saw them writhing on the floor blood squirting out of their necks. "Oh, God," she said running over to Nightwing first. She knelt by him and tried to put pressure on his neck. But the blood kept squirting out passed her fingers. Nightwing reached up and touched her face, leaving a trail of blood on her cheek. And then he went limp. The Vampire Slayer looked over at Robin who was also going limp. Mr. Freeze's helmet was filling up with his blood. In a short amount of time, it was up to his noise and he appeared to be having a hard time breathing. His eyes bulged out of his head and then he went unconscious. Miranda fought to get the helmet off but to no avail. She had no idea how it worked. She attempted to punch the glass but it would not budge, either. She knew his unconsciousness would lead to his drowning in his own blood. The Vampire Slayer turned to Kane who was smiling at her now. The band kept playing the lyrics kept going, but he wasn't singing. He knelt at the stage and looked over at her making eye contact again. "The killers are ourselves so you know who to blame," he said to her. Miranda sat up in bed quickly, her body covered in a cold sweat and her chest heaving. She looked at her clock. It read five o'clock in the morning. Laying back down she tried to go back to sleep, but the images kept haunting her. At five thirty, she got up and showered. Going down to the kitchen, she put a kettle of water on the stove for a cup of tea. She had been taught the pleasure of having loose-leaf tea with boiled water. She still couldn't get over using the microwave to brew tea. The kitchen door opened and Kara came in wearing her bathrobe. "Miranda, you're up early. Is something wrong?" "Bad dream." "Really? What about?" Miranda relayed the dream to Kara. As she finished the water boiled. "Would you like some tea?" "Yes, please." Miranda put some tea in another mug and poured the water. "Do you think it could be a prophetic dream?" Kara asked. "I don't know. I don't know what club it was. And I can't imagine those things happening to Nightwing or Robin." "And Mr. Freeze?" "I don't think that would happen to him, but I don't know him well enough to be sure." "What about what Kane said to you in the dream? 'The killers are ourselves so you know who to blame.' Do you have any idea what that may mean?" "The only thing I can think of is the fact we both have supernatural powers. And Nightwing, Robin and Mr. Freeze do not. Maybe if they get involved, they will get killed. That would mean it's a prophetic dream. They were all in their costumes." Miranda got quiet for a moment, and then asked, "What do you think I should do?" "While it is daylight, perhaps you should check area clubs. First check out all the ones that are closed down and no longer in use. Perhaps one of those might be the place Kane is using as his lair. That could be why he was singing in your dream." Miranda nodded in agreement. "I hadn't thought of that." "Check that out. Then report back to me. I'll do some research on Kane to see if there is any information available, information about his weaknesses and so forth. We do know he isn't a demonic vampire and that he is very old. Age for his species equates power, a great deal of power, as you experienced last night with the battle that introduced you to him." Miranda nodded again thinking of the battle the previous night with Kane. It was intense. She hadn't fought a vampire like that before. She heard of them, and most of those stories told of vampires that cared for humanity, vampires named Marius, Armand, and so forth. "Be careful," Kara said. "I will." Later that morning, Miranda went out with a list of clubs that closed down in the past few months. Her first stop was in the bad part of town, a club by the name of Tech Dance. She dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and jean jacket, with her brown leather boots. In her small purse she carried a wooden stake just in case she met up with a demonic vampire. Granted it was daylight outside, she still could find a vampire in the shadows lingering, waiting for when a meal would walk by. Miranda found the club and tried the door. It was locked tight, along with a yellow "Police Line: Do Not Cross" tape across the door. "A crime must have been committed here," she said out loud. "There was," a familiar voice said. Miranda turned to see Robert Lakewind, also known as Nightwing. "Why are you here?" Miranda asked. "I'm doing a little bit of charity work. A friend of mine is opening a teen center and the center is for troubled teens. I like to keep my eyes out for teens that need help." "How noble of you. Crime fighter by night and rescuer of teens by day. You are building quite the resume." The two laughed. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Robert asked. "I had a dream last night." "So a dream gets you out of the penthouse?" "I dreamed about Kane. You, Robin, and Mr. Freeze were killed by him. The dream took place in a club. Since I don't go to clubs, I have to look for them. Kara suggested I start with ones that have been closed down, in case Kane is using it for a lair." "Why go to all this trouble over a dream?" "Vampire Slayers sometimes have prophetic dreams. They warn us of things to come so that we can prepare." "How do you know which dreams are prophetic and which dreams are just ordinary dreams?" "The ones that tend to be scary for a Vampire Slayer are usually the ones that we should be wary of." "Ah," Robert replied. Miranda pulled the yellow tape down and turned the knob. The door was locked, but with a hard turn, Miranda broke the lock and opened the door. "Ladies first," Robert replied. Miranda smiled. "That's because this lady can kick ass." "Yep." Robert smiled and followed Miranda inside the club. "Watch your step," Miranda warned as they stepped into the darkness. All was quiet and dark inside. Dust lay everywhere. Several chalk outlines of bodies could be seen on the floor, the reason for the yellow tape at the door. They looked around at the set up and tables. Miranda paid close attention comparing it to the club in her dream. After fifteen minutes or so of looking, Miranda knew it wasn't the club in her dream. "We must keep looking," she said. Robert took the rest of the day to look with her. Ryan Brookdale, a.k.a. Robin, walked through the halls of his school toward his algebra class. Things had settled down somewhat since the September 11th attacks and most teachers were anxious to get the students back to normal. Ryan was feeling all was back to normal when he noticed two students sneaking into the backstage area. He crinkled up his eyes and wondered, 'What are they doing?' Ever the investigator, Ryan followed. "Hello?" the youth called out to the strange students. As he looked around, he thought back to when the last time he saw them. He couldn't remember. "Must be new around here," he muttered. A sound came from above and he looked up. Ryan didn't see the students, however, but two creatures that looked like gargoyles, with long muzzles and sharp teeth, and eyes as black as midnight. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed. The creatures looked at him and screeched. They moved their, what could pass as arms, out and their wings stretched to full length, approximately seven feet. "Oh my God," he muttered. "What are those?" The creatures released their clawed grips on the bars and zoomed down toward the youth. Ryan ran toward the front of the stage and dove as a creature neared him. He rolled onto his back and slid off the edge, landing smoothly on the wooden floor. The second gargoyle swooped toward Ryan as he headed toward the door. He jumped to the side at the last minute and, putting a hand on the floor, cart-wheeled out of the way. The creature flew into the door. Ryan thought the hard, solid wooden door would stop the creature. To his surprise, it didn't. The gargoyle went right on through the wood and screams rang from the hallway. "Perfect," he muttered. The first creature, which hovered around the ceiling of the gymnasium, turned and headed downward toward the doorway following the screams and the place its partner went. As it neared the door, Ryan took his book and hurled it at the creature like one of his metallic birds. The book hit the creature, knocking it off course, and it flew into the concrete wall beside the door. This time, the wall had the intended affect. The creature slumped to the hard floor leaving cracks at the impact point. "One down, one to go," Ryan muttered. He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out his Robin suit and changed quickly and headed into the hallways. Robin was met by an empty hallway. Most of the screaming was coming from outside and nearby classrooms. "Where could that damn thing be?" he asked no one in particular. As if hearing him, the creature let out a screech and Robin took off down the hall as fast as his teen legs could carry him. When Robin rounded the corner, he saw the creature chasing a student down the hall in his direction. "Perfect," he said. When the girl neared, he grabbed her and spun her to the side ramming his shoulder into a door. The door opened and Robin pushed the girl inside. Then he pulled the door closed and turned to face the creature as it turned around in the corridor and came back his way. "What the hell is this thing?" Robin asked. The Boy Wonder reached into his utility belt and pulled out some cabling. He looped one end around making a lasso. As the creature came by, he swung it around the creature's neck. He flew passed him down the corridor and drug him along. It hastened its speed and crashed through the exit doors and soared up into the air. Robin couldn't believe the strength in this creature. 'Must be some kind of damned demon,' he thought as it pulled him into the sky. All he could do was hold on for dear life and hope and pray the creature wasn't smart enough to fling him into any buildings. After ten minutes or so of being pulled through the sky, Robin found himself nearing downtown Orlando. "This is so not good," he replied as the large skyscrapers neared. Suddenly a beam of blue energy hit the creature. It didn't last long, but Robin noticed a patch of ice on the creature. "Mr. Freeze," he muttered. "Thank God!" The creature turned toward the direction of the blast intending to find its attacker and stop it. It swooped down toward the buildings and another beam hit it in the face. The creature shook off the ice and slowed down. Robin looked to see Mr. Freeze standing on a rooftop aiming at the creature again. Mr. Freeze glanced at Robin for a second making eye contact. Robin knew he was in safe hands. Mr. Freeze motioned to a nearby building. Robin knew Freeze was going to try and get the creature to fly that way. Hopefully, Robin would be able to disembark this horrible rollercoaster ride and they would both stop the flying demon. Another blast hit the creature and it did exactly as predicted. As it soared over to the building, Robin released the cable and dropped to the rooftop. He landed safely with a minimum of jarring. He looked up to see a steady beam of energy hitting the creature. Robin could feel the cold emanating from the beam. "Freeze must be able to control the concentration of the beam." Ice formed on the wings and the creature fell no longer able to stay in flight. It landed with a crash. Freeze created a bridge of ice across the buildings and showed up beside Robin. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Fine." "How did you find this thing?" "It was a student at school. Do you know what it is?" "Not sure. Let's contact Kara and try to get it back to her." Mr. Freeze pulled out a small communications transmitter and pressed the call button. After a moment, Kara's voice came on. "Yes, Freeze? What can I do for you?" "I'm with Robin on top of one of your skyscrapers. He was being pulled by a flying gargoyle creature that was a student at the high school." "Flying gargoyle?" "Yeah, do you have any idea what it is?" "Snap a picture and send it to me." Mr. Freeze turned his communicator around and aimed the device at the creature. After a brief click, he sent the image. "Receiving," Kara replied. "I guess we'll know what it is in a few seconds." "Download complete," she said. "Opening the image." After a few seconds, Kara gasped. "What?" Freeze asked. "What is it?" "It's a vampire." To Be Continued...