Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 16:46:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Tales of a Real Dark Knight Chapter 32 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!!! Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter you are commenting on. Thanks. jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 32 The Call I awoke with a start. I forgot where I spent the night and was disoriented by waking at a new place. Slowly as I gained conscious awareness, I gained my memory of the night before. It was intense. Aaron was so wild in our lovemaking. He was almost like an animal. I never thought I would do something like that. I was always so strict in my beliefs of being sexual. But last night was intense. I know I sound like a broken record, but it was. There were emotions that were involved, to be sure. You couldn't do what we did and not have any type of reaction. I sat up and looked around for Aaron. He was gone. Perhaps he had to work. I had a few days off left because of my surgery. "Perhaps I should get home. If Jessica calls and I'm not there, she is going to freak out." I dressed, putting my Bat-suit on underneath. Interesting, in the heat of the moment last night, Aaron never asked about my black suit. It was kind of difficult to tell specifics about it when the lights were dim and we were both concentrating on something other than the clothes we wore. When I got back to my apartment, there was a message on my machine. It was Nick. He wanted to meet me for lunch. He was getting out that morning and the first thing he wanted was a decent pizza. He told me where he and the rest of the guys were going and the time they would be there. I showered, changed and left. I arrived at the pizza place just as the guys were going in. "Hey, Eric," Nick greeted. He gave me a hug. I looked over at Derrick to see if it upset him, but it didn't. He seemed fine with it. We went in and sat down. The pizzas were ordered and we sat around drinking soda pop and talking while waiting. "So how does it feel to be out?" I asked Nick. "Great. It was nice being in the hospital when I had a friend to talk to, but other than that, it was so boring. There is only so much TV one can watch before it all starts running together and not making any sense." Everyone laughed. "What about you? What did you do last night?" "I went out and met someone." "Really? What's his name?" "Aaron. He's real nice and sweet." "What did you do last night?" I smiled real big and everyone understood and laughed, everyone except Nick. He looked at me with a confused look on his face. Surely, he understood why I smiled so. "What's he like?" Brian asked. "He's cute and sweet. He helped me last night. Someone nearly hit me with their car." I couldn't afford to tell them the truth. The former boy band that I befriended did not take too well to the fact I'm a mutant. I wasn't going to risk this new group of friends over it. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt me. "What's his last name?" Nick asked abruptly. "Uh, we didn't get to talk about that," I said grasping for words. But my wit took over. "We didn't have time to get into that. We were busy getting into other things." The guys laughed. Again, everyone except Nick. He just took a drink of his soda pop. We had a nice lunch and then went separate ways. Nick was saying he didn't feel very good and needed some rest. I was happy to oblige him. I returned to my apartment only to find another message on the machine. This time, the voice was Jessica's. "Eric, are you there? If so, pick up. I need to talk to you. One of...oh, you're probably sleeping. I'll call back tonight." And the message ended. Unfortunately for her, I was not going to be home. I was going to meet my new boyfriend. I spent the rest of the day lounging around, doing some studying and counting down the hours before going back to Aaron's. After all, he probably worked and I didn't want to disturb him at work. When night fell, I dressed and went to Aaron's. I knocked on the door but there was no answer. Slowly, I opened it and went in. No one was home. "Hmm, I wonder where he could be." I looked around to see if there was any clue to his occupation. There wasn't. As I left the building, I met him on the steps. "Uh, hi," he said. "Hi, Aaron. How are you?" "Okay." Aaron stood there just looking at me. "I hope I'm not bothering you, but I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed last night. It was...very new to me. I liked it." "Good." Silence. "I was wondering...if you're not busy, could we...you know..." "Do it again?" "Well, I was going to say spend some time together. If it led to that, great. But I would be content just spending time talking and cuddling." "Hmm," was his first response, as if he had to think it over. Something inside me was bothering me, but I suppressed it. I used to let every little thing bother me. I couldn't do that any more. I had life to live, pain to get over, vendetta's to deal with. I didn't have time for paranoia and fear. "I have time if you want to have sex." Then he smiled at me. "Anything for you." My heart melted. He went inside and I followed. I closed the door and turned to him finding him undressing himself. "We can go a little slower tonight. We can take our time and enjoy it." "Oh. I don't have time tonight to do that." "Oh," I said, disappointment obviously in my voice. "But we can do it slow some other time, if you want. Maybe tomorrow night or later on tonight when I get done doing what I have to do." "Sure," I said and undressed. Fifteen minutes later, it was over and just as rough as the night before, only not as intense. Aaron was dressing quickly. "How will I know that you are done doing what you have to do?" I asked. "Here." Aaron reached into a drawer and pulled out a cell phone. "My number is programmed in. Just press this and the number 7 and my other cell phone will ring. If I don't get it right away, I'm probably busy. Leave a message and I'll call back when I can. I know the number to your phone so I'll call you when I'm done." "Okay." Aaron finished dressing and left me alone naked in his bed. I felt something wet underneath me and got up and looked. I was bleeding. Aaron must have been too rough. I'm sure he didn't mean to make me bleed. He loved me. He was just into the moment, that's all. I cleaned myself up and, once I stopped bleeding, I looked around and decided I would do something for my new love. I dressed and began straightening up his apartment. Two hours later, everything had been dusted and scrubbed and swept and cleaned. Yet, still no call from Aaron. "He must really be busy." I decided to call and leave a sweet message on his voice mail. "Hi, Aaron. I got your apartment cleaned. I wanted to do something for you. I'll be here when you get back. Would you like to me to make dinner? Give me a call when you get a chance. I love you." I hung up the phone and smiled. I looked around his cupboards and, when I didn't find any food, decided to do some grocery shopping. I bought some spaghetti noodles and tomato sauce, fresh mushrooms, French bread to make garlic bread, and returned to his apartment. I started cooking and set up the table. I found a candle and set it in the middle of the table. I wanted it to be perfect for Aaron. I saw his CD player sitting on the floor and checked his CD collection for some mood music to play. I found several CDs but none that would make it romantic. I search through the radio stations until I found a classical music station. As another hour passed, I figured Aaron would be home soon. I lit the candle and prepared the food. I placed the dishes on the table and placed the spaghetti on a stand beside the table so it wouldn't be so cluttered. Then I sat back on the bed and waited some more. The cell phone rang and I answered it quickly wanting to hear Aaron's voice. "Hello?" "Hi, Eric. Sorry I couldn't return your call right away. I've been...busy." "That's okay." I thought a voice in the background but I wasn't sure. "Are you coming home soon?" "That's why I called. I don't know when I'll be there. Don't worry about making me anything to eat. I'll get something while I'm out. Go ahead and take care of yourself. Go home. I'll call you when we can spend some time together." "Okay," I said trying to hide the disappointment in my voice again. Then I heard the click of the phone. He hung up before I could say goodbye. Tonight wasn't turning out good at all. I went over and put all the food away. I blew out the candle and let everything else sit out. When I got back to my apartment, Jessica was walking away from my building. She looked up at me and ran up to me. "Hey, where have you been?" "Out." "Out where?" "Just out." "Eric, what's going on with you?" "Nothing. I've been cooped up in that hospital for so long, I needed to get out. Would you lay off?" "No, I won't. I'm worried about you. You seem to be so distant. I met Nick today. He seemed upset about something. He told me it was about you but wouldn't say what. He isn't the only one who I saw who is concerned about you..." "Jessica! Let me live my life, okay? I want to do what I want to do! Just leave me alone!" With that I went back home, not wanting to even look at Jessica. I entered my apartment and slammed the door, angry. I turned the radio on and a very familiar song was ending: Listen baby I'm sorry Just want to tell you don't worry I will be late Don't stay up and wait for me Your dropping out my battery is low So you know We're going to a place nearby Got to go It must have been a Backstreet Boys marathon. The next song that came on was another of theirs: Listen I mean it There's nothing that he's worthy of Just another player playing in the name of love I've seen enough Now this must come to an end Get another boyfriend Let's talk about what he's done To become your number one It seemed as if Nick was talking to me. Here me out You must know What it's all about He's just a player in love This must come to an end Get another boyfriend "That went out to Eric, from your good friend, Nick. It sounds like Nick is concerned for you, Eric. I hope if you're listening, you take your friend's words to heart." I clicked off the radio. When I turned around, I saw Jessica standing in my doorway. "What are you doing here?" "I came to see if you wanted to talk." "There's nothing to talk about. Go away." "No. There's something going on with you. I want in. I want to help. I want to talk. I want to know what's going on. You seem so different, Eric, since you were raped. Something has changed inside you and I'm scared." "You have nothing to be afraid of." I walked right past her and out the door. I needed to walk. I could feel my emotions taking on a life of their own and I couldn't control them. "Eric!" Jessica ran up beside me. "Eric, please!" "Do you really want to know what's going on? Look!" I opened my hand palm up and it seemed to glow. I concentrated and a ball of fire formed. "I'm a mutant! This power I have works when I get angry! I've been angry, Jessica, for the past week because of what happened to me! All I've felt on the inside is disgust and anger!" "Then you need to get rid of it! You're a psychologist! You would tell one of your clients the same thing! Find a productive way of getting rid of your anger!" "Believe me. I have." I closed my hand, snuffing out the ball of fire, and walked away from Jessica. I still had tension to get out of me. As I walked, I thought of all the things I've gone through this past week. Before I knew it, I was walking down a street and heard a commotion. Someone was being mugged. I didn't have time to get my Bat-suit, but with as angry as I was, I figured I could handle just about anything anyway. I turned down the side street and saw three bikers standing around laughing as a fourth was beating a young man up. "Serves you right for trespassing this late at night. These blocks belong to us." "I'm sorry," the man coughed out. "Sorry doesn't cut it." The buzz-cut, black-haired biker kicked the man in the stomach. I walked up to one of the bikers standing against the wall. He had blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was too busy watching the assault to take much notice of me. I grabbed him and tossed him into the guy doing the assaulting. The other two guys turned around. One had black hair with two green streaks through it and the other had brown hair and beard. "What do you want?" the bearded one said. "Stop hurting him." "Why? Because you told us to?" the striped one asked. "No. Because I'm going to make you." The guys starting laughing, then brought their fists up to fight. The bearded guy swung a fist at me. I stepped back just in time. He swung his other one and I stepped to the side. Bringing my leg up, I took advantage of the opening and kicked him in the stomach. Then brought my fist down on his back knocking him to the ground. I turned to the guy with the green stripes in his hair and jumped at him tackling him. He fell to the ground and used his leg to flip me over his head. I landed with a crash onto my back. I felt something inside me tear open and my pants became wet with my blood. As uncomfortable as it was, as well as dangerous to be tearing inside, I had a job to do. I stood as the striped-hair guy stood and faced me. "You ain't gonna win, bloke," he said with his English accent. I did not reply. I saw the assaulted man stand. "Go call the police," I replied. The guy took off as the other three bikers got to their feet. "I reckon this will be better," the blonde said. "This one will fight back a bit." "Too bad he won't win," the bearded one said. "No time for games," I replied. I stretched my arms out to either side of my body and a wind began to blow. "What's going on?" said the blonde. "Don't worry about it. Probably just a storm. Get him," said their leader, the one with the buzzed haircut. The green and black haired guy came at me. I moved my hand toward him and he flew backwards, slamming into the brick wall and falling unconscious. The bearded guy grabbed me from behind. "I got him!" he declared victoriously. I swung my head back and connected with his nose, feeling the bones break with the impact. He immediately released me and clutched his nose. I turned and punched him knocking him down. I turned back to the other two. Sirens were in the background. Good. The man being assaulted did call the police. "The police are coming. It's over." "Yeah. For you," their leader said. He pulled a knife out. I stuck up my hand and palms out toward him. Flame seemed to dance from my palm and slowly concentrated, turning into an intense beam of heat. It shot out and hit the knife, throwing it from his hand. The guys freaked and started to run. However, they were too busy making sure they were going away from me they didn't see the police car until they ran right into the hood. The officers jumped out of the car and put them in handcuffs. Another car pulled into the other end of the street and the officers grabbed the other two. Then another one came walking down the alley with the man who was attacked. They walked up to me. As they came toward me, one of the bikers cried out, "He's a freak! He can make wind and fire with his hands!" The officers dismissed it as guys trying to deflect the officers concern toward me. "Thank you," the man said to me. "You're welcome," I replied. I felt much relief. I got out my anger and was productive doing so. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get a statement from you," the escorting officer said. "No problem." The head officer instructed the other officers to get the victim's information and then they left, leaving the head officer and me alone. "So what happened?" "What do you mean?" "I mean is what they said true?" I hesitated. "It's okay. You don't have to fear me if you're a mutant." "I don't?" Before my eyes this person morphed into a blue woman with red hair. She had what appeared to be scales over different parts of her body and her eyes were fiery yellow. "No, you don't." "What's going on here?" I asked. "A friend of mine has been watching you. He...understands your plight for the community of people you represent. He wants to offer our aid." "What do you mean?" "You know, as well as I, that there are certain leaders who are very prejudiced and corrupt. We will get you a list of people in government organizations who are bigoted so that you can do what you wish with them, whether it's legal or illegal is not our concern." "What do I have to do for you?" "We will discuss it later." I considered her for a moment. I admit having someone on the inside to give me information would be a big help. I could go through legal channels to get those people removed. "My friend will meet with you when we are ready to use your services. Deal?" After considering it, I took her outstretched hand. "Deal." "Very well. Meet me back here in a week. I'll have some information for you then." The blue woman walked away and, as she walked, morphed back into the police officer she was before. To Be Continued... Talk about making a deal with the devil. What will this lead to? What do you think Eric will do? And how about him talking the way he did to Jessica? Should she be forgiving of him or should she just let him do what he wants and walk away from their friendship? And just think about his complete change in his ideas and values. He had sex with a stranger! Eric! Can you believe it? What's going through his head? I'd love to know what you think.