Disclaimer: This story is fiction. There are two celebrities who will appear from time-to-time. The other characters are fictitious. Any similarities to persons living or dead are completely coincidental.
In this story, I have continued the adventures of Batman, my Batman, which his story first began in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight" in the Boy Band section of this archive. It spanned 250 chapters. You will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this.
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.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
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Chapter 32 Questions
The following day, I boarded a charter plane to Columbus, Ohio. In a short time, the plane was in the air, and, after an hour and a half of airtime, the plane landed safely. I disembarked and grabbed my luggage from Luggage Return and found my contact in Columbus.
"It's been a long time, Blade," I said.
"It has, Eric. Now, pray tell me, what in the hell are you attempting to do again?"
"Can we go someplace a little less conspicuous?"
Blade nodded and we left the airport terminal and headed to the parking lot.
"Is your boy cool with you coming here?"
"As cool as he can be. Things have been happening, personal things. I don't want to get into that right now, though.
"The reason I'm here is because Lance and I were telepathically linked to an alien trapped in Hangar 13."
"And you want to what?"
"Go in and rescue the alien."
"You do some crazy shit," the Daywalker stated.
"That I do," I replied.
We arrived at the mansion given to him by Abraham Whistler, the Watcher in charge of the Slayer who had lived in this area. They had since died, leaving Blade the only one guarding the city. Ever since the Council had been destroyed and rebuilt, there had been a noticeable decline in Slayers. Less and less were being born. It was as if the lineage of Slayers was disappearing. That didn't bode well for those counting on Slayers to keep a watch on the vampire population. Without some form of control, the vampires, who had gained some status and recognition by national governments, may decide that humans are a thing of the past.
"Tell me what you are planning," Blade said as we entered the library.
"Tonight, I plan on sneaking onto the base and making my way down to where the Martian is and free him."
"I think you're going to need a little bit more planning than that," Blade replied as he walked over to the Intercom system. He pressed a button and spoke into it, telling whoever was on the other end to come to the library. "You're going to need someone who knows the government's weaknesses and can get you inside."
I heard footsteps outside in the hallway. Turning toward them, I saw two people, one man and one woman, entering the doorway. The woman, a blonde, had a sleek gray outfit on with black gloves and black boots. The man wore sleek black, and his apparel resembled that of a uniform. He had white hair on the sides and an eye patch. A cigar hung out of his mouth.
"You called," the woman said with a thick Russian accent.
"Eric, I would like you to meet Yelena Belova, codename Black Widow, and Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Shield?" I asked questioningly.
"Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate," Fury clarified. "We're a special group designed to..."
"Intervene when there's a hazard?" I interrupted.
"Precisely," he said raising his eyebrow.
"What are they for?" I asked Blade as I turned to him.
"They both have intelligence on military installations. They've been gathering it for some time."
"Why?" I asked as my curiosity became piqued.
"It seems there is some trouble brewing."
I watched Fury's and Belova's reactions. They looked reluctant for Blade to share this information.
"What kind of trouble? What's going on?"
"There might be some trouble in the government, especially ours. Not all the vampires are as benevolent as Maharet and Mekare."
"I know. I've had first-hand experience. Go on."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. believes the vampires wish to use their power to take over and enslave humanity."
"Why wait ten years to do it?"
"Simple," Fury stated as he entered and joined us. Belova entered as well, but she decided to keep her distance. "They studied us, our processes and our laws. They know what they need to do to make what they want to do legal. They will take over subtly. Humanity won't know what happened."
"Coup," I said.
"Precisely. And, it seems you've gathered the attention of the CIA and FBI, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D."
"What do you mean?"
"We've been watching your Center with great concern. The government thinks you are doing what Xavier did, gathering teenage meta-humans so that you can create your own army."
"Xavier didn't do it to make an army, and neither am I. I'm trying to save these teens from a life of torment because of their powers. Some don't understand what they are and what they can do. Others have been treated so horribly because of their uniqueness that they have nowhere else to go. And their uniqueness isn't just their abilities."
"Calm down. We have no wish of attacking you or any nonsense like that."
"Yeah, right, like I'm supposed to believe an espionage agent."
"The potential vampire threat is more pressing, Dr. McCoy. What you do with teenagers is your own business," he stopped and looked at me, then added, "to a point."
"I'm no pedophile, if that's what you are referring to."
"That's enough, you two," Blade said. "We aren't here to bitch at each other. Eric has a job to do. And you two are going to help him do it. Is there a problem?"
Neither said a word.
For the rest of the day, Blade, Fury, Belova and I planned what would transpire after the sun set. They came to the table with a solid working knowledge of how the base was set up, for which I was eternally grateful. Fury gave me security codes to bypass all their security doors. Black Widow gave me some non-lethal gadgets that would help me get passed guards as well as equipment to hack into communications. And Blade offered to drive me to Dayton. Black Widow offered to go, but Blade told her to remain behind to patrol the city. Fury opted to stay behind, as well. He would assist Black Widow with the patrolling. Granted vampires and other creatures were given legal status, that didn't mean that all vampires were law abiding. And the demonic ones were still demonic.
The sun set and Blade and I took off in his car heading south on Route 71. My suit was packed in the backpack on my back and everything else was placed in the duffel bag I would strap to me once I entered the facility. Blade said he would provide a distraction, although I did not need him to.
"If something is going on outside, they will lock everything down. I can't afford them to increase any security measures. The point is to make them think all is normal. The only thing I need you to do is be at the rendezvous point with the engine ready."
"I got you," he replied a little reluctantly.
Ever since the treaty, Blade had been pressured to reduce his vampire hunting. Even the Watchers' Council was being pressured, and Europe wasn't quite as quick to rush into legalizing of supernatural beings as the United States was. Part of me understood it. It seemed too good to be true. Finally, after years of battling with demons, they were given the same legal status as human beings. Now, I'm the least prejudice person I know. I've fought along side vampires who were good, true, and noble: Marius, Armand, and Blake just to name a few. And they should have the same rights as everyone else. Being a vampire does not necessarily equate one with being evil. But can some take this too far? Isn't it just as possible for vampires and lycanthropes take over? I knew many gay men and lesbians who would have had no problem subjugating heterosexuals because of the second-class citizenship they gave us. They would have had no problem removing their rights simply because of their sexual orientation.
But we have the Vampire Slayer lineage to consider, as well. Slayers were created to hunt demons. If demons have citizenship and legal rights, do Slayers then become stigmatized and dehumanized because of their own genetic make up? For so long, Slayers have had to keep quiet about their existence, protecting humanity against the forces of darkness. They've had no support, no appreciation, nothing from humans, yet vampires start a war, become recognized, and now they could be on the verge of overthrowing the world, that is if what Fury said is true.
I looked up to the night sky and prayed, `God, why do I seem to find myself in the middle of these things? I don't want to be involved. I don't want to have this type of responsibility. All I want is to retire to a nice, secluded home, make love to Lance every day of my life and die. Of course I want the children to be happy, but I don't want to be responsible for the safety of the world and being an activist to get equal rights for everyone. As soon as one group is protected, another group is formed that isn't protected. It's like a vicious cycle that never ends. No matter what progress humanity makes, there will always be a group that the rest of the world will not like and will discriminate against. Why can't people see that and accept diversity? Why?'
"Are you okay?" Blade asked me.
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"You haven't said a word the entire trip. I figured you would have wanted to talk about what's happening or, at the least, try to analyze me and all that's happened to me."
"I'm tired of talking about all the shit that has happened to me. It seems the longer I live, the less I really care about humanity. Nobody learns, Blade. Nobody learns to be open and celebrate diversity. People only care about themselves and what is best for them, nobody else. And they like to impose their own will on others. If you don't fit in their box, then something is wrong with you and you are made to conform.
"And let's not forget about breaking promises. One day, you're committed to something, and the next, who knows what, could happen? You think all is safe and right in the world and you end up finding out that not all is right with the world. Something you've said or didn't say, something you've done or didn't do has caused problems."
"Are you still talking about the same thing?" Blade asked, interrupting me.
"Sorry, I switched subjects on you."
"Did something happen between you and your boy?"
"Yeah," I answered. "I caught him having sex with a bunch of other guys."
"Oh, shit. That must have hurt. You didn't go crazy and turn evil, did you?"
"God, how do you know about me turning evil? Was there a memo or something?"
"Whistler told me about it. We were briefed on it when we went after Apocalypse. We figured if anything happened to Lance, you might go on an evil avenging spree. Not that we would blame you for wiping out Apocalypse or anything. But we weren't sure you would stop with just him."
"I know I have a problem controlling my emotions when super serious stuff happens, but I'm not that horrible. I know when to stop."
"That's what we all thought about Punisher. And you know what happened to him."
"Yeah," I whispered remembering.
We arrived at the base in Dayton and Blade let me out along side the road. I quickly changed into my costume and tossed my regular clothes into the duffel bag, and headed toward the high fence. All seemed quiet. I turned on my night vision lenses and saw guards patrolling near the warehouse, which was a good 100 yards away. I switched to infrared lenses to see if there were any lasers activated. It wouldn't due for me to set off the alarm thirty seconds into my mission. I didn't want to let J'onn down.
There were no lasers activated, so that meant I only had to be careful of the guards. Unless....
I picked up a twig on the ground and tossed it against the bottom of the fence. The twig disintegrated with contact.
`Grabbing that thing would not have been good,' I thought.
There was nothing around me that was high enough for me to ascend and jump over the fence. That meant me attempting to use my powers. And of late, using my powers was not a good idea. Something had been happening with me over the last decade in which I would lose control at a whim. Anything could happen. But if I did nothing, J'onn Jonnz would never be free. It was a chance I was willing to take.
I stepped back and relaxed, focusing as hard as I could on floating over the fence. I cleared all thoughts out of my head accept the one of floating gently above the fence and landing on the other side. Other thoughts tried to crowd in, but I pushed them away. It wasn't time to do that. It was only time to float.
Opening my eyes, I found myself on the other side of the fence. It worked,' I thought. At least I didn't trip any alarms or blow anything up. That would have been dangerous.'
Silently I moved across the field toward my target.
To Be Continued...
What do you think of Eric meeting up with Blade, the new Black Widow, and Nick Fury? What do you think of the concept of a conspiracy in the government with the vampires? What do you think of vampires having legal protection, as created by the author of "Tales of the New Phoenix"? We'd love to hear your thoughts on these things!
FYI: I have created a Yahoo Group where the pictures of the stories are being hosted. We've had discussions going on about certain events in the story and have a poll going concerning the future of Lance and Eric. I encourage all of you to join. Here is the link below to the homepage:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RDK_MK/