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!!!
jmsotc@yahoo.com
Chapter 24 Visitors
I watched for several minutes to try and determine who...or what...was in my apartment. It barely moved. It stood so still. I tried to figure out who would want to harm me. The being inside the apartment wasn't even attempting to steal anything. The only other option was physical harm and/or abduction. So I watched and waited.
Until suddenly, the being in my apartment ran and leapt out of my window, shattering it to pieces. I went to the edge of the neighboring building to see if I could ascertain which direction the being went. When I reached the edge three metallic claws coming over the edge of the building met me. I jumped back not expecting what I saw. A boot came flying over the edge and kicked me in the face, knocking me back several feet. Soon, a body followed the boots. Standing before me was a man, at least his body looked like a man, wearing all black. I couldn't imagine a woman looking that good. His face was completely covered so I couldn't tell who it was. His hand had three claws coming from his knuckles. Three more claws shot out of his other hand. He circled me looking for a chance to attack. I knew that eventually he would be able to find one, especially since I had been out fighting for the last few hours and training two to three hours before that. My only way to beat this guy was make him attack when I wanted him to, not when he wanted to.
I stopped turning with him and my eyes followed him until he was at my side. As he jumped at me, I rolled out of the way and stood as he had done the moment he landed. He turned and faced me as I faced him. He lunged at me again and I rolled away again. But this time, as soon as he was on his feet he jumped at me knocking me to the roof.
"Who are you, bub? And why are you watching me?" he said in a gruff voice as he climbed on top of me so as not to let me go.
As stimulating as this position was, I could not let it control my work. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Well, the first question. As for my second...why are you in that man's apartment?"
"Wolverine!" someone called.
I took the opportunity of him looking away to move into action. I kicked out and knocked him off balance. Using my remaining strength, I managed to roll him the rest of the way off me and stand as he stood up, readying himself to attack again.
"Wolverine! Wait!" a young redhead woman said as she climbed the fire escape. She was wearing all black, like this Wolverine character, and her face was covered with a mask, though not completely like Wolverine's.
"What is it, Phoenix?"
"He is not why we came here."
"But he was watching me through the window. And just look at the way he's dressed!"
"He could say the same about us." Phoenix turned to me. "Please forgive my friend. We are looking for someone."
"The guy who's apartment your 'friend' broke into?"
"Yes. He is a friend of ours."
"Really?" This was getting interesting since I had no idea who they were. "And how does he know you? Did you break into his previous habitations?"
"Man, he sounds like Beast!" Wolverine said.
"Wolverine, please." The redhead stepped closer. "You may not believe me. I don't blame you. But if you would give us the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure we could explain it to you."
"Yes, I'm sure you could!" an English accent sounded out.
I looked around to find someone floating up to the building roof across the street. It was a man wearing a metallic ruby colored suit. He had a cape covering half of one side of his body. The other side revealed a purple military-type suit. Under his belt it looked like the top of the tunic continued down to just above his knees. And on his head a hood that covered his face completely except for his eyes. I could see his eyes and the look in them was not very warm and inviting. A red line outlined the eyeholes in his hood and descended down either side of his nose to the end of the hood. "Where do I find these people?" I asked myself.
"Magneto!" Phoenix said rather surprised.
So these people have met before. And from the looks of it, they weren't friends.
"What are you doing here, bub?" Wolverine asked the new interloper.
"Why the same reason as you! We all want to meet the occupant of that apartment you ransacked. And might I say you did a wonderful job of keeping your presence here low key."
"Why I ought to..."
"Wolverine. No. Save it for another time. We have a job to do."
Wolverine backed down, though he grumbled and complained about it under his breath. I decided I wasn't going to let this conversation continue without me getting some answers as well. I stepped up to the edge. "What do you want with him?"
"Simple. We want him to join the Brotherhood."
"The Brotherhood? The Brotherhood of what?"
"Mutants."
My eyes widened. Damn, mutants and mutation brought up again. Why do they keep assuming that I was a mutant? That couldn't have been a mutant ability that I did at the warehouse, could it?
Phoenix turned and looked at me as if I said something she thought was puzzling, but she said nothing to me. She did, however, turn her attention back to this Magneto character. "He is obviously not here. And by the damage Wolverine did, I doubt if any of us will be able to talk to him reasonably."
"Quite right," Magneto agreed. "I see some of Charles' training has taken, at least to some of you." Wolverine looked over at Magneto and mumbled something about Magneto's lineage. Then Magneto left.
I was ready to pursue when Phoenix stopped me. "Don't bother."
I turned and looked at her. "What makes you say that?"
"Because if he does, he's going to have to deal with more than the two of us. He's going to have to face three mutants."
I looked at her questioning, but Wolverine was the one to speak. "What do you mean? I highly doubt this Eric person will stick around here after seeing his apartment."
"He's stuck around so far," and Phoenix looked dead at me.
"What do you..." then Wolverine looked at me. "You mean he's..."
Phoenix nodded her head. "Why didn't you tell us who you were...Eric?" I looked as if I was startled by a false accusation but she somehow saw right through my mask. "And don't even think about lying. I know who you are, Eric McCoy."
"How do you know?"
"Because you met one of us while you were in New York. Can we go inside your apartment?"
A few minutes later, I was in my apartment shedding my mask, cape and gloves. Man, that suit can be hot. I was sitting in a chair waiting for Phoenix to explain herself, which she didn't have a problem doing. "If you recall when you were in New York, you pursued two people to a roof top of a concert hall." I nodded in affirmation. "That's when you met one of us." She looked over at Wolverine and he pulled off his mask to reveal...Logan!
I recall now when I saw Logan on the rooftop with knives coming out of his hand. I should have put two and two together.
"But that's just the beginning of the story. You also met a woman."
"Ororo," I answered.
"Yes, Ororo. She is a mutant, too. And Magneto was there." Of course, I thought. The guy in the tuxedo that seemed to be able to control Logan. He was Magneto. "Correct, again," Phoenix replied.
"Wait a minute. You are freaking me out. You seem to be able to read my mind. How can you do that?"
"I'm a telepath. I'm also telekinetic. I can..."
"Move things with your mind," I finished.
"Yes," she said with a smile.
"Why are you here?"
"Because Professor Xavier picked up a rather enormous burst of mutant energy here a few days ago. He knew you were dating one of the members of NSYNC and that they were returning here."
"How did you find my apartment?"
"We talked with one of the guys from NSYNC. I can't think of his name at the moment. But he told me where you lived."
"Only after we assured him a thousand times we were here to help. I think it was because he recognized me when I was with Ororo that we were okay," Logan said.
"He seemed very concerned for your safety and well-being. He must be a true friend."
I couldn't think of whom she was talking about. I didn't want my mind to wander back into anything I wasn't ready to handle. Plus, I had other concerns on my mind. "Why are you here?"
"Professor Xavier has been concerned about your mutant ability growing out of control. He wants to offer you the chance to learn to control it."
"What if I say 'no'?"
"It's your choice. We can't force you to do something you don't want to do. But...I know you're scared. It's a life-changing characteristic of you."
"No, it's not. I'm not a mutant. You have the wrong guy."
"Very well," Phoenix said standing. "We won't bother you any more." She pulled out a piece of paper from a pouch on her belt. "If you change your mind, you can reach us here. We will be in town for a few days."
Saying no more, the two left. I figured out a way to secure my door until I could get it repaired the next day. I showered and went to bed.
The next few weeks seemed to go by fast. With working, preparing for school and patrolling, I had hardly any time to do anything else. My mind hardly roamed back to what happened with Justin and myself, but, then again, I hadn't had time to think about it.
A week before school started for me, I was to take a day and visit the classes that I would be taking: several Psychology classes and a few others. The morning I was to observe, I got up early and showered. I drank some tea to help settle my nerves. That's one way I calm down. It was either drink tea or pace. If I paced, I would end up being two tired for the classes. Taking my shoulder bag, I went out and waited for the cab to arrive. "I need to get me a car," I said out loud. Yes, sometimes I even talk to myself.
The taxi arrived and off we went to my next institute of education. When we arrived, the school was bustling with activity. Students were everywhere walking to class, standing in groups, sitting and reading. It was overwhelming. Feeling my anxiety build I took several deep breaths and moved on to the office where I met Kate.
"Good morning, Eric."
"Good morning, Kate."
"Are you excited about starting?"
"Excited? I'm a nervous wreck!"
She laughed at me trying to get me to relax. "You will be fine. From everything Dr. Allison has said, you are very competent."
"Whew, that makes me feel a little better."
"Here's your schedule. Your professors already know you are coming for a visitation. They are ready. Now go, find your classes and enjoy yourself. In the next few weeks, you will probably regret coming back to school." Again she laughed.
I smiled sheepishly and went off following my schedule so I could figure out the quickest route to each class. Today was a practice run for me. I like to ease into everything, as you could probably tell. So, that's what I was doing. Easing in.
I found my first class rather quickly. It was already in progress and I slipped in as quietly as possible. The professor, however, noticed anyway. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"Sorry for interrupting. I'm Eric McCoy. I will be starting next week."
"Oh, yes. Now I remember you are to observe today. I hope you enjoy yourself. As most of my students know, once you start you will wish you hadn't."
None of the students said a thing. They all remained quiet. I listened for the next fifteen minutes as the professor of Psychology 101 talked of operant conditioning and what not. I picked up psychology stuff fairly easy, but I had a hard time remembering names of the gentlemen and ladies who came up with the theories. I figure, why remember them when it doesn't matter? You will remember their theories. That's all that matters.
When that particular class was over, I went to the next one. A professor Israel was the teacher of the class. I got in early and found a seat to the back. I watched as the students entered the school and recognized one as the guy who I kindly knocked his books on the floor. He must have recognized me, too and approached. "Hi. So you're starting classes now?"
"Monday."
"That's cool. By the way, I'm Alan. Alan Shreck."
"Eric McCoy. Nice to meet you."
We shook hands and then he went to his seat. Professor Israel noticed me and came up to me. "Ah, yes, you must be the new student. Eric McCoy, I presume."
"Yes, Professor."
"Please, call me Doctor. Professor sounds too stuffy."
"Okay, Professor." I knew I was going to like this guy.
I settled in to what I hoped was going to be the first of many wonderful lectures. Professor...Doctor Isaiah Israel was very relaxed when it came to his class. He made us learn, that's for sure. But he made it fun for us to learn. That's such a rare commodity for students to have. And I'm glad I was one of the lucky ones.
Doctor Israel talked for most of the hour about the therapeutic power of psychology and the positive it brings to so many lives for healing emotional trauma. I admit when the class was over I was disappointed. I left the class and went to the other ones. I had a writing class, which I am a horrible writer, and several others. Alan was in several of them so he guided me a bit in what to do and what each of the professors was like. When the last class ended, I left feeling a bit relieved that they were normal classes, just like High School, but still overwhelmed since I had to work, take all these classes and still find time to study. "What did I get myself into?"
"Eric McCoy," someone said to me. I turned to see Alan walking up to me. He had several other college students with him.
"Hi, Alan."
"So, how did you like it today?"
"Interesting. I think I'm ready for it, though."
"I wanted you to meet some of my friends. This is Hailey, George, Hunter, and Brian."
"Nice to meet you," I said shaking their hands.
Hailey had long black hair. Her skin was dark, the color of coffee with cream. She had a pleasant smile. George had blonde hair, brown eyes and a killer smile. Hunter had light brown hair, brown eyes and a pleasant voice. Brian had these amazingly bright blue eyes. I could stare into them for hours and not care what happened around me. I quickly snapped out of my admiration as they began asking me questions: where I had come from? How long I had been in L.A.? All the usual questions that people ask when they meet for the first time. It was good to get to know new people even though I freak out about it.
We stood and talked for about a half hour just chatting about anything and everything. It was all good. Then, Hunter had to leave. He had something to take care of with his mother. After he left, everyone else slowly went his or her separate ways leaving Hailey and I alone.
"It was nice to meet you," Hailey said. "Maybe we could hang out some time." She pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to me. "Here's my phone number. Call me sometime." She smiled at me and left.
I turned and walked away not wanting her to see my smile. She had no idea I'm gay and she was hitting on him. The next time we met, I would have to tell her that I'm gay. When I returned home, I showered and suited up in my Bat suit. I needed to do some patrolling. Sitting at a desk all day was taking its toll on me.
To Be Continued...
So it's good to see Eric meeting some new people, even if some have claws coming out of their hands, can read minds and can control electric fields. And he's enjoying some of his teachers and their lectures. Always a good sign when going to college. Lots more to come, I assure you. Lots of action and suspense and a major story arc coming up real soon. And you are going to meet a familiar Batman villain with a strange twist.
I also got an email concerning the last chapter. It was not up to par with my usual writing. I apologize for that. But there was a reason for that. I want to tell you, but if I did that it would ruin the surprise and suspense. Just ask yourself, "What is Eric feeling?" It will make more sense as more chapters come. Expect things to change as we get closer to chapter 30.
Email me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Perhaps you felt the same way going to a new school, whether it was Junior High, High School or College. I may be going through the same thing as I'm trying to go to College. But don't worry, the chapters will continue.