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.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and all related characters created by J.K. Rowling. Copyright Scholastic Press, Inc.
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 and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
jmsotc@yahoo.com
Chapter 43 Declaration of War
I dressed and walked downstairs for breakfast early. Jayce and Quentin were the only ones awake. They sat in the lounge sipping tea and discussing the progress of the two wizards. I walked in and sat down on the couch, which rested between the two chairs occupied by the Watchers.
"Good morning, Eric," Jayce greeted. "How did you sleep?"
"Horribly."
"Really? I'm sorry to hear that."
"I'm not. The dreams have gotten me ready to face Macai."
"That's good, though a bit premature, I think."
"Why do you say that?"
"The two wizards, Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Potter, are not quite ready," Quentin interjected. "We need more time to prepare."
"I'm prepared. I think Hyppolyta and Marius are ready. If the two wizards are not ready, get them ready. But we have to start hitting Macai before his plan comes to fruition."
"What do you propose?"
"I saw we suit up tonight and go on the offensive. Not wearing the black outfits to conceal who we are. I'm saying we suit up in what we intend to fight Macai in; my Batman suit, Hyppolyta's warrior outfit, and Marius's...whatever he wears for a fight. Let Macai know who he is dealing with, that what he thought was a major victory was, in all actuality, fruitless."
"Such boldness," Quentin stated. "How do you plan on getting information on Macai? The vampires on the street have not the specifics of Macai's whereabouts. And we need to recover the book to place him in. That may be the reason the wizards cannot complete the spell. Where do you propose we get the book?"
"I'll get it. I think I know who may have it." I stood up. "Contact Marius and tell him to be here tonight. Tell Hyppolyta to get her warrior's outfit ready. Tonight we hunt Macai."
Without another word, I went upstairs to my room to prepare.
Christian smiled at Darren who lay peacefully next to him. Christian felt lucky to have Darren, but at the same time, Darren wasn't Eric. Christian missed Eric and longed for him. But that could never happen. Eric left when he got his memory back. Christian doubted he would ever see Eric again.
Suddenly the glass French doors leading to the balcony smashed. Darren woke with a start and he looked up to see a large black figure silhouetted by the sun rising.
"Oh my god," Christian exclaimed.
"Not quite," I said to Christian. "We need to talk."
"You've...you've gotten darker," Darren said looking me up and down. "I mean, that was you who saved me from the robber last summer at the fast food restaurant in Los Angeles, wasn't it?"
"That was me."
"It's good to see you again."
My eyes went back to Christian. I had no time for pleasantries. "Where's the book?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Christian answered. He stood up and walked toward the door.
Using my powers I slammed the door shut. He turned and looked back at me.
"Where is the book?"
"How should I know?"
"Because you are somehow connected with Macai's rising. Where is it?"
"How do you know I was involved with that?"
"You kept me here, kept me from remembering who I was. I could sense the presence of evil but disregarded it as the uneasiness of amnesia. Now I realized that you have been in contact with the demon. Do you worship him? Are you a devoted follower of him?"
"No," Christian said. The tears welled up in his eyes and I knew something personal was involved with this, something he had not a choice in.
"What is it?"
"One of my family members freed him accidentally. He took them and recruited my help threatening their lives if I did anything to stop him. That is why I kept you in the dark about what was going on. That's why I didn't want you to remember."
"And you had sex with me to keep me complacent, right? You told me you loved me so I wouldn't venture out into the world, or try hard to remember what my life was like, is that it?"
"No," Christian whispered. "I did it because I love you. From the moment I met you, I loved you and wanted you. But I didn't want to lie to you. Macai brought this opportunity before me. I had no choice in the matter as far as my family was concerned. And I had no choice in the matter as far as my heart was concerned. If saving my family gave me the opportunity to love you, it was a win-win situation. I couldn't lose from it."
"Except for the fact that I'm a mutant and my mutation repaired the damage done. That threw a wrench in Macai's schemes. And I intend to use that wrench to seal him up in his book. Where is it?"
"I don't know."
"Where was it last?"
"Last time I saw it was at my apartment in town."
"Then we will go there now. Get dressed."
Within a half hours time, Christian and I arrived at his apartment. He unlocked the door and entered. I followed him in. Looking around, the place was dusty. He obviously hadn't been here in a while, probably since the explosion three months ago. With any luck, Macai never bothered to pick up the book and left it here.
Christian walked over to the table near the bookshelf and found the book. He picked it up and turned several of the pages. "Here it is," he said tossing me the book. "I looked for a way to seal him back up. It's a rather tricky ritual. Are you familiar with the casting of spells?"
"No. But I have two wizards who can assist me."
Christian nodded. I turned to go and he stopped me by saying, "No 'thank you'?"
I turned back. "After what you did to me, you expect a 'thank you'? After lying to me and protecting this demon, which has your family somewhere, you expect me to thank you for giving me his cage?"
Christian just looked at me, not wavering. I looked into his eyes and saw. He was searching for something. He was searching for Eric, the good-natured part of me that he fell in love with. Who was Batman to prevent him from seeing that?
"Thank you," I said in a less dark voice.
"Don't worry," he replied. "Your secret is safe with me. It's the least I could do for you."
I nodded at Christian and left the apartment. We were now one step closer at stopping Macai. We had the book, his cage, in our possession.
When I returned, I handed the book to Jayce. "Get this to Harry and Albus. They will need to start practicing the ritual right away."
Hyppolyta came into the room wearing her warriors outfit. "Batman," she said to me. I turned to her. "You have a codename to keep your identity safe from the rest of the world. Perhaps I should have one as well. Do you have any suggestions?"
I began to wrack my brain with ideas as to what would be a good name for such a powerful woman. Then my mind went to something Jayce said to me when I first met the strong queen. "She is truly a wonder woman."
"Wonder Woman," I said out loud.
Her right eyebrow went up as her left crinkled down. "Wonder Woman?" she repeated. "Wonder Woman." Her lips curled into a slight smile. "I like it. Watch out, Macai. Here comes Wonder Woman and Batman."
I smiled at her enthusiasm.
Harry came running into the room looking for us. "You got the book," he said.
"Yes. Now you and Professor Dumbledore can work on the ritual to put Macai back where he belongs."
Jayce returned with Professor Dumbledore in tow.
"Have you contacted Marius?" I asked.
"Yes. His servants said they would relay the message to him and to expect him two hours after sunset."
"What do you plan on doing after sunset?" Dumbledore asked.
"We're taking this war to Macai."
Two hours after sunset, Marius, Wonder Woman and I went out. We headed directly toward the demon haunts. With any luck, we would stumble upon creatures that had heard of Macai and possibly had connections to Macai. I no longer wanted to sit on the sidelines waiting for Macai to make his move. By that time, he would have built up enough power and enough of an army that the three of us would not be able to fight them. Forget contacting the Slayers. As much as a help they would have been, the rest of the world needed them. What good would it be if they all came to England to fight the demon and his army and demons throughout the rest of the world took control?
Just we three diminishing his army would be enough. Plus, with two wizards at hand, it would be a piece of cake. I hoped.
We entered a vampire bar boldly. With Wonder Woman and I in costume, we looked rather out of place. However with Marius there, such an old vampire was enough to put a halt to any sarcastic comments.
"What do you want?" a vampire asked.
"We are searching for Macai," I replied. "And we want answers. Now."
The creatures began to laugh.
"What is so funny?" Wonder Woman asked.
"You cannot defeat Macai. It takes more than brute strength to subdue him. He has to be weakened from the inside. And you have to get the sword away from him. There is no way that is going to happen."
"Now that we know, we are yet one step closer to stopping him."
The vampires looked at each other. Then they turned and snarled at us. Their snarls quickly turned to pain as their bodies became enveloped in flames.
"What in the world?" Wonder Woman said.
We turned to Marius to see him looking at us with a slight smile. "I've been waiting to do that for a long time."
"But what if we wanted to fight, too?" I asked.
"Don't worry. In a short amount of time, there will be plenty of violence to quench your thirst."
"I hope so," I replied. "I'm ready for Macai."
Marius looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Hm," was his only muttered sound.
We turned and exited the bar heading off to our next destination.
"The last time we went out, some of the vampires said Macai was at his old castle, or fortress, or something like that," I reminded.
"Do either of you know where that may be?" Wonder Woman asked.
"I know," Marius stated. "It is to the south, in the foothills, underground. It will not take too long to get there if we move quickly."
"Do we go tonight?" I asked the other two. As much as I wanted to, there were three of us who had to fight, not to mention Dumbledore and Potter who had to do the ritual to place the demon back in the book.
"Are the two wizards ready?" Wonder Woman said.
Marius walked into the bar we were waiting outside of.
"What's he doing?" I said.
Wonder Woman just shrugged her shoulders. After several minutes when Marius hadn't come out, we decided to go in.
Marius was on the telephone speaking with Jayce. "I will tell them," he said, and he hung up the phone.
"Well?" I asked.
Marius looked at me, then at Wonder Woman, and finally at the other patrons. I realized our costumes probably looked ridiculous. "Outside, please," Marius said.
We left the bar and went to the alley across the street.
"What did they say?"
"The two wizards have completed the spell twice. They believe they are now ready to face Macai. We must, however, be sure that we can defeat him tonight. We only have one shot at surprising him. If our first attempt fails, he will be more ready for us the next time around."
"Don't worry. We won't fail. Which direction is this fortress of his?"
"South," Marius replied.
"Call Jayce back. Tell him to bring Dumbledore, Potter and any supplies they need to wherever it is we are headed. Tonight, Macai returns to his chains of darkness."
To Be Continued...
A slightly shorter chapter, but the next chapter will be full of action and suspense! In Chapter 44, Batman faces off with Macai!