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 25 Cold Night Out
It was welcome to be out in the night air. I enjoyed the freedom that came with being suited up and hidden in the shadows. It was very empowering. And after the busy day I had, I needed to feel like I had some power over my life.
It was nice to meet new people. Alan and his friends seemed great. Of course, then there's Hailey. I had to explain to her that I'm gay, that I wasn't interested in a relationship with a woman. But, I could have been reading too much into it. Maybe she just wanted me as a friend. I know it is to want friends. It can be difficult to make them, especially if you are afraid to meet new people. If one is not used to socializing, the prospects can be fearful. I am familiar with that fear. It's one of the fears that bind me to this day.
Taking a deep breath I decided to do a run. I ran across the rooftop, feeling the breeze flow over me. "The Animal Song" by Savage Garden ran through my head:
When superstars and cannonballs are running through your head
Television freak show cops and robbers everywhere
Subway makes me nervous people pushing me too far
Got to break away so take my hand now because
I want to live like animals
Careless and free like animals
I want to live
I want to run through the jungle the wind in my hair and the sand at my
Feet
That song is very energizing. It gives you the urge to run and expel energy. As I ran across a building, I slipped on something and fell. "What the...?" I said rubbing my head.
Standing up, I looked around at the roof to see if it was some oil or something that was spilled. What I found surprised me. "Ice?" Why would ice be on a roof in the middle of L.A.? The temperature was too warm for ice to be forming outside of man's devices. Looking around I noticed what building I was on: the local Diamond Exchange. I scanned the roof trying to find some way into the building. Perhaps someone was breaking in. I found nothing so I proceeded to check out the sides of the building. I ended up finding a hole in the wall in the back of the building large enough for one person to go in, or many people one at a time. I had to investigate.
I descended the building by jumping and grabbing onto window ledges, dropping from floor to floor. I thought of going through one of the windows but by the looks of them it would almost impossible. They were rather thick. Could you blame the manufacturers? They designed this building to keep people out, not give them easy access.
When I reached halfway down the building, I found myself in front of the hole. I took my time climbing in. The hole was wet around the edges. Why would there be moisture unless they used some kind of cutting device to cut through the brick? The water was probably there to keep the blade from getting overheated.
I stepped inside cautiously and began looking right around. I had never been inside the building so I had no idea the layout. Where would they keep their most valuable diamonds? Up high? Down low? In the middle of the building? Who knows?
It wasn't too long before I found the direction the thief went in. A trail of water and moisture gave it away. I followed it to an interior corridor. Suddenly two men dressed in snowsuits came around the corner. I was as surprised to see them, as they were to see me. However, they had the automatic weapons so I conceded them the right of way.
I jumped behind a nearby desk as they open fire. I knew I couldn't stay there for long. It was only a matter of time before the desk splintered under their barrage or they ceased fire and came around the desk. I tried to ascertain their location by shadows. I found them moving closer to the desk. I turned and faced the desk. Moving so I was on my feet in a crouching position, I placed my hands under the desk and, giving a deep "heave-ho", I flipped the desk on the side causing them to scatter. I took the opportunity to jump over the fallen desk and out the door before they knew what happened.
As they ran toward the door, I slammed it shut. One hit the glass part and it shattered. He came halfway out the broken window on the door. The second guy stuck his gun out. I grabbed it and pulled as hard as I could. He came through the window and fell to the floor. I took the gun and swung it, hitting him in the head knocking him unconscious. Pulling the clips out, I emptied the guns of their ammunition.
"Poor guy," I said referring to the person whose office this was. It was trashed.
I moved on ahead down the corridor to which my attackers had come. Knowing that there were several in the building made me even more alert than before. I quietly made my way down the corridor being sneaky. I came upon two guys guarding a door and hearing voices coming from beyond the opening. I couldn't understand the words but I could tell that one of the voices was a woman's voice. The second one was familiar to me.
I had to stop them. Robbing people of their belongings is just plain wrong. I could never figure out why anyone would do that. Why don't they just get a job?
Now, how was I to take out the two guards? I had to do something stealthy and quick so they could not alert the people inside the room. I definitely needed to get some gadgets and devices of sorts. Looking around, I saw the answer.
I grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall, dropped it in place and rolled it toward them. They looked at it and one decided to pick it up. Moving quickly I grabbed the fire ax and hurled it at the extinguisher. It landed in the canister and fire retardant sprayed out at the guy bending down to check it out. He clutched his eyes and dropped his gun. His partner ran up to check him.
I ran up to the two guys. The unharmed guy looked up as I got to him. I kicked him as hard as I could in the face. He fell to the ground. I grabbed the blinded man's gun that was dropped earlier. I took it and hit them both with it, knocking them unconscious. Then, I went to the doorway they were guarding.
Looking inside the room were two people. One was a redhead in some kind of silver spacesuit. The other had a helmet on and a white suit with orange gloves and boots. I stepped inside the room quietly and grabbed two round trays off the nearest desk. "Hold it right there!" I hollered.
The two turned around and I could tell the redhead was the woman. The person in white was still difficult to tell. The helmet had a faceplate that was slightly fogged over. "Ah, Batman. I was wondering if I would ever get the pleasure to meet you," the woman said. "My name is Mrs. Freeze."
I rolled my eyes. Where do they come from?
She pulled a silver and blue gun from off a pouch in her suit and pointed it at me. I took one of the trays and threw it at her like a Frisbee. I was lucky enough to hit the gun and knock it off aim. A blue beam came out and hit the wall forming a spot of ice. "Son?"
The man in white brought up his fists and pointed them at me. I finally noticed the rings around his wrists that were bigger than his gloves. At the last second, I realized what they were and dodged. Blue had come out of them as well and shot through the door. They would have hit me if I had not moved. I threw the other tray and hit him in the faceplate causing it to crack.
"No!" Mrs. Freeze shouted. "How dare you?"
She shot her gun toward me, freezing the desk I was hiding behind. I jumped as it shattered to pieces and landed on top of a neighboring desk. I grabbed another tray off the desk and threw it at Mrs. Freeze. It hit her in the head and knocked her down.
"MOM!" her son shouted. He ran to her side. I took the opportunity to pull the fire alarm. Sirens rung out and water fell from the sprinklers. The first to guys I knocked unconscious ran through the doorway guns ready.
"Kill him!" They pointed their guns and pulled the trigger. Nothing came out. Boy was I ever thankful they never bothered to check their guns ammunition supply. "Forget it! Help her out!"
The two guys grabbed Mrs. Freeze and dragged her to the door only to be joined by the other two guards. All four lifted her up and carried her away. I turned to face junior. "As much as killing you would give me great pleasure at the moment, I have other things to attend to. And becoming a murderer is not in my plans." He took aim and fired, freezing my legs together in a huge block of ice. I fell to the floor as he walked to the door. "Keep cool, Bats." And he left.
I tried to break the ice with my hand, but I couldn't. It was solid. "How am I going to get out of this?" I wondered. Slowly my legs went numb from the cold. If I didn't get out of this soon, I was going to lose my legs to frostbite. The irony of me being in L.A. was the clincher. I grabbed the ice and tried to squeeze it, do something to get it to shatter. Then I noticed something. The ice was getting wet but my hands were dry. It wasn't from the sprinklers. What was going on? I pushed hard on the ice again and it began melting under the pressure. The ice melted enough for me to break free. I stood up and looked at my hands wondering what I just did.
I heard an engine start up and I couldn't let Mrs. Freeze and her son get away so I ran to the hole in the wall and watched as the van was stopped at the alley by a fire engine. They couldn't get out that way. The van backed up and I jumped out the window as the van came past the hole in the wall. I landed on the roof with a thud but there was nothing for me to hold on to. Thankfully, though, the van couldn't go anywhere. Another fire engine entered the alley from the other entrance and blocked them in. Several police cars pulled out front as well as the fire engines and a few ambulances. The city couldn't take any chances of injured people.
One of the firefighters must have said something to the police as officers entered the alley and took aim on the van. "Turn off the engine and drop the keys out the window!" I looked down to see the driver do what was told him. "Step out of the van, slowly!"
One by one the occupants of the van exited and dropped to the ground. I was lying on the roof and, because it was dark, was concealed fairly well. The officers approached the thugs, searched and handcuffed them and escorted them to their patrol cars.
Two officers decided to check the van. One opened the door and said, "What's that?"
"Looks like a hole in the van. I wonder if it goes all the way through."
"Only one way to find out. Move the van."
"We can't do that yet. We have to secure the crime scene, determine the position of the vehicle."
"Fine. You mark off where the van went. I'm going to go down this hole."
"But we should get back up!"
"You get back up. I'm going down now."
After a few moments of rustling around, I knew they went down the hole. I couldn't le them get injured because they didn't know what they were dealing with so I followed. The drop wasn't too far. I heard the officers ahead moving around. "Are you sure we are going the right direction?" the timid one asked.
"Listen. You have to be tough and confident to do this job. If we don't find any clues this way, we'll go back the other way and check that out. If we find nothing that way we will go to the surface and interrogate the ones we caught."
The timid officer nodded in acknowledgment then flashed the flashlight around.
It would be almost impossible to find any clues down here. It was already damp so melted ice would be impossible to find. Then I remembered that Mrs. Freeze was injured. Her son could not have gotten her far with her injuries. They had to be back in the other direction. I turned and went back the other way and sure enough that's where they went. Right around the corner a wall made of pure ice. They were obviously on the other side of it. The question was, how am I going to get through it?
I remembered what I somehow did earlier. I pushed on the ice on my feet and legs and for some reason it melted. Would it work the same on this? How I did it, I did not know at the time. But it worked once so it was worth a shot a second time.
I placed my hands on the wall of ice and began to push. Nothing. I pushed again, harder this time. Nothing. Then relaxed myself hoping that would do the trick. When I pushed the third time, nothing happened.
"They must have got away," I heard one of the officer's say. They were on their way back. If they came the other direction instead of going up to the surface, I would be caught. And no doubt I would be accused of the crime.
I tried to push on the ice one last time. I pushed with all my might and something happened. As I pushed, the ice exploded into pieces making a hole large enough for me to get through. As much as I marveled at this feat, I could not stay and try to figure it out. The officers were rounding the corner. I jumped through the hole and ran down the sewer hoping the police did not see me or hear me.
After looking around for several minutes I realized that this Mrs. Freeze and her son got away. I had no way of finding them now. They had too much of a head start. I went to the nearest ladder to the surface and ascended it. Finding no one around I climbed out all the way and headed back to my apartment.
I wasn't home too long when I got a knock on the door. "Who is it?" I called trying to figure out who wanted to talk with me so late. I opened the door to find Professor Xavier standing on the other side. "What can I do for you?"
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
"About your refusal to believe you are a mutant. Haven't you noticed strange things happening with you?"
"Yes, I have."
"You need to face the fact that you are a mutant, plain and simple. In order for you to understand your powers, you must accept the fact you have them."
I turned and walked away from the doorway leaving it wide open for the Professor to walk through. I wanted him to come in. I needed him to come in. Too much was at stake for me not to let him in. I was grateful he did. "Do you know what it's like for me?"
"You feel so alone and confused. You don't know what is right or who. Everything seems more extreme, your anger, your sadness, all of your emotions."
"You got that right. But it seems too intense for me."
"In what way?"
"I've always felt like an outcast. I always have been in more ways than one. Yes, I'm a mutant. I'm different from most around me. But I'm also gay. Do you know what that does to me?"
"Please explain it to me so I can understand."
"I'm even more different, more of an outcast."
"How so?"
"Professor, it is so difficult to be different from everyone. And I do mean everyone. When I look at the mutant community, well, the few that I've seen of the community, I see a bunch of heterosexual mutants. So in that respect I'm different from them. When I look at the gay community, I see them as all non-mutant homosexuals. So I'm different from them. I'm different from everyone! There is no one who I can talk to who will understand what I'm going through."
"Eric, may I?"
"Sure," I said wiping a tear from my eye.
"I can only imagine what you are going through. You are separate from those who are already separate from the rest of the world. I'm sure it makes you feel completely and utterly alone in this world. Plus with what happened with your boyfriend it must seem that everyone has left you alone."
"How did you know about Justin?"
"I'm telepathic. I can read and control minds."
"Oh," was all I could say.
"You feel a great loss already. And was it the break up that caused you to use your power in such a great way a few weeks ago?"
"No. It was the fact that I was so angry at what the vampire had done to Justin. He treated him like he wasn't a living person but his plaything. No one should ever be treated like that."
"What about your other experiences with your powers manifesting?"
"Let me think. The first time that I can recall a major manifestation was when I was in New York. It was right after that psychic headache you gave me. I was in an alley and someone was going to shoot somebody. I had this great fear and anger that the person would be injured and I knew I couldn't make it to the guy to stop him. The only thing I could do was to hold up my hand and yell 'stop'. A box flew from the ground and hit the man's gun hand.
"The second time it happened was with Turic. I had enough of his humiliation and became very agitated. I was able to cause all these wooden stakes to float in the air. I could move them at will, like my hands and fingers stretched out beyond my flesh to do whatever I wanted."
"It sounds to me like you have telekinetic abilities. Is that what you perceive them to be?"
"At first, yes. But now I'm not so sure."
"What makes you say that?"
"Tonight, twice I was bound by ice. Once, my legs were frozen and going numb from the cold. A wall of ice blocked the second time my way. The first instance I was afraid my legs would go numb from frostbite and I would lose them. I pushed on the ice hoping to break it apart but it melted. With the wall of ice, I was afraid of getting caught by the police. I put my hands up to the wall and it exploded! It freaked me out but I had no time to really consider what was going on."
"No wonder you are confused. You've just expressed two separate mutant abilities. Would you allow me to run some tests on you to try and determine your mutant ability?"
"Don't you think I should figure out a way to control it or how it works?"
"I already know how it works, Eric. All I had to do was listen to you. It's simple, really. Your mutant ability is activated when you are under great emotional distress: fear for you life or someone else's life have been the two examples so far.
"As far as controlling it, I don't know if it will manifest at will. If it does not, you must learn to keep your mind when under great emotional distress. If you can do that, you may have a shot at controlling your mutation when it becomes active.
"Now, when shall we start testing?"
I arranged to meet with the Professor the following evening to test my physical makeup. It's so embarrassing and scary to have to do this but if I'm ever going to find out what it is and control it, I have to go through with the tests.
To Be Continued...
So now we know what causes Eric's mutation to work sometimes and not others. But what do you think his mutation is? And how about Mrs. Freeze? What do you think of the twist of having a female Freeze instead of a male one? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Much more to come, I promise. Especially a large story arc, the beginning will be a great event in Eric's life.