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 31 Descent into Darkness
I left the nightclub feeling a bit of relief that I had taken care of two of the guys who raped me. I'm sure my path would cross the other two eventually. I felt tired after the exertion and decided on the better part of valor and return home. I would listen in on the three-way radio built into my new costume given to me by Huntress and her Watcher in case the Huntress needed assistance in her courthouse battle.
By the time I reached home, the Huntress had quickly disposed of three vampires and found out that they were trying to destroy their criminal records. Two bit hoodlums got made into vampires and thought to destroy their records. How stupid can one get?
I undressed and showered. It felt good to be home. My mind wandered to Nick and how he was doing. Then my mind went to David and Michael. I hoped their relationship was going well. That brought me right back to Justin and what we went through.
"It's crazy for me to keep doing this to myself," I said to no one in particular. "It's over. There's nothing I can do or say that can change it. It wasn't Justin's choice to have a spell put on him. It was all Turic's fault. And he's been taken care of."
But in my heart, the pain did not die with Turic. In fact, it wasn't until after Turic was dusted that the true nature of the spell was revealed. After the fact is when it was discovered, and I had no one to release my anger upon. Because of that, it festered in me, growing with each memory that I looked to. Maybe I needed a spell to deal with it. Maybe I needed to just strike out at all who took advantage of others and seek out my justice that way. After all, I am Batman. That's what I do.
I lay in bed all night not sleeping a wink. My mind kept going over everything that happened to me. I tossed and turned trying to get comfortable, but it didn't happen. I made some chamomile tea. But that didn't work. I even considered running to the drug store to get sleeping pills but knew that wouldn't help. I looked over at my suit and decided to go out again just to feel the liberation and freedom that comes with anonymity.
I was out for about fifteen minutes and close to downtown. When someone refers to downtown L.A. it could be anywhere in L.A., the city is enormous. As I watched the pimps, prostitutes and those searching for the former, I noticed a young kid running through the crowd. Something was up. I watched him pass the building and then followed from the rooftops. He turned into an alley and hid behind a dumpster. "Why?" I wondered.
Not too much later, two cops ran into the alley and stopped. Pulling out their flashlights, they began a search of the alley, checking every nook and cranny in search of the boy.
"Come out, fag-boy. We only want to talk to you," a Hispanic said.
"Yeah. We want to know all about your little fag friends," the Caucasian officer added.
I raised my arm. There was a little patch of metal on my wrist. A little piece of metal popped out and unfolded to reveal a miniature metallic bat. I aimed for one of the flashlights and threw it. It hit dead on and shattered the light.
"What the..." the dark-skinned officer said as he examined his flashlight.
I aimed my arm at the fire escape and flexed my wrist. A rope shot out with a grapple on the end and attached itself to the railing. I ran and jumped pulling the rope taught so it would swing me around in a big arch. As I came down to the alley, I swung my legs out and kicked the two officers square in the chest. They both went down.
I released the rope and stood before them.
"Well, well, well," the Caucasian officer said as he got to his feet. "It's about time you showed your true colors, Batman. Most of us at the department thought you were unstable. Guess you are proving it now."
"What do you want with the boy?"
"He and his faggot brother are involved with a gang. We want to know where they hide out."
"And so you see fit to terrorize the youngest of the group."
"We are not terrorizing him," replied the Hispanic fellow.
"Calling him names sounds like terrorizing to me."
"Well he is a little gay boy! He's always out with his fairy boyfriend."
I couldn't take any more of this ignorance. I hauled off and punched the Caucasian officer.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Defending an innocent from the likes of you."
"Innocent? You're protecting him because he's gay? How sick is that?"
I grabbed the Hispanic officer and hoisted him up. "It doesn't matter ones sexual orientation. He's still a human being. And you are to serve and protect everyone in this city, not just those you like.
"Take a message back to your department. Tell all the cops that Batman will not tolerate discrimination against gays. If I see you raise one finger against someone simply because they are gay, I will hunt you down and bring your ignorance into the light."
I threw the officer against the brick wall and heard the white officer radio in for backup. I ignored him. It was inconsequential. I walked over to the dumpster and saw the young teen. All I did was reach down and he hesitantly grasped my hand. I pulled him to a standing position.
"Are you okay?" I asked. All he did was nod. I grabbed him around the waist, raised my hand and a grapple shot out and grabbed the railing. It lifted us off the ground and carried us to the rooftop. I looked over at the rope I used earlier only to find it gone. It must disintegrate after it's used.
I pushed the boy to the roof and climbed up after him.
"Wow. Y-y-you saved my life."
My eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Most of the cops in this area are very mean to people like me."
"What do you mean people like you? Run-a-ways?"
"No. Gay people. They are always terrorizing us. They never leave us alone. It's not like we are being bad or breaking the law. Usually we are just standing around talking."
"And they arrest you?"
"Sometimes. If they can find some reason to throw us in jail, they do. But most of the time it's name-calling and being beat up."
I heard sirens in the background. The back up was nearby. "Come with me." I took the young man's hand and ran to the edge of the building. Wrapping an arm around his waist I jumped and carried him to the other building.
"Whoa! That was way cool!"
"I'm glad you approve."
We went several blocks, to the point where I believed we were safe. There we talked for almost forty-five minutes. I discovered his name to be Joey. He told me of the way the police in this precinct treated most of the populace as criminals. Most of the neighborhood was made up of homosexuals. And the cops took that as a sign of immorality and evilness. Joey himself had been beaten up three times in the last month because he was walking down the street with his boyfriend.
I decided that I needed to do something more than what the Batman could. Eric McCoy would have to observe such activity. Just from the short talk with Joey, I knew I could trust him.
"Where can I get some clothes around here?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to do something about this harassment."
Joey smiled at me. He took me to a little resale shop where I could buy used clothes. After buying a pair of blue overalls and white t-shirt, I changed into them, putting them on over my Bat-suit. The material my suit was made out of was very form fitting hiding the fact I was wearing two layers of clothes. I place my gloves in my pocket and my mask and cape were well hid under my clothes.
"Show me around."
Joey took me on a tour of the suburb of Los Angeles. I got to meet several interesting people. Some I didn't feel comfortable around, but then again, I was always uneasy about meeting new people. Joey showed me several clubs and stores where gays hung out. I was learning the lay of the land and the people I could trust.
As we left one such store run by a very kind Asian couple, Joey was telling me about his boyfriend, Rick. "He is so nice and he watches out for me. We have a lot in common."
His words trailed off in my ears as I saw a cop car slowly drive down the street. The spotlight was on and they were moving it over building. I noticed that most of the people on the streets ran into shops quickly, not wanting to be seen by the police. Joey noticed the car and ran to a door.
"Get out of sight," he yelled before disappearing behind the closed door.
I was doing nothing wrong and felt no reason to hide. The spotlight landed on me and the car stopped. I just stood there. It appeared that the car and I were having a stare down.
Suddenly the car leapt forward toward me. I took off down the alley as it pursued me. My mutation must have kicked in, one more ability of my mutation, as I seemed to stay ahead of the patrol car as they accelerated down the alley. I slowed down noticing the alley was a dead end. The patrol car, however, did not slow down and it hit me throwing me into the wooden fence. I slumped to the ground so disoriented from the impact I couldn't see very well.
I heard the car doors open up and footsteps.
"Look what we found," one cop said.
"What was he doing running from us? He must have done something."
"Perhaps it was because your car jumped at him," a new voice said.
I tried to focus my eyes, which revealed nothing but blur. I heard a scuffle and strong arms reach down and grab me.
"Come on," the new voice said to me. This man lifted me and helped me to...somewhere, is all I can say.
Within moments we were moving down a dark damp corridor. I heard our footsteps echoing on the concrete. It must have been an access to a building.
"Who are you?" I asked as I gained a bit more focus.
"My name is Aaron. I'm a friend."
"Mine is Eric. Thanks...for your help."
"No problem. I can't stand that the cops are like that. They used to be so understanding. It must be because of the new officers training them. But I don't know who he is. No one knows."
"That's strange. The city should let everyone know who is running the force."
"We know who is the commissioner. He seems pretty relaxed towards us, very accepting. But they have department heads that run the day-to-day happenings in their area. The commissioner doesn't see what's going on down here. And if the department head reports all is well, the commissioner doesn't have a second thought about it."
"Things have to change."
"I'm working on that." After a few moments, Aaron said, "Here we are."
By now my eyes were pretty good. Aaron still kept my arm around his neck and his arm around my waist, which was good because, not only did I have a hard time keeping balance, but also he wasn't that bad looking.
Aaron opened a door and we entered a rather nicely decorated apartment room. It must have been a basement apartment in an old building. Everything was hooked up properly.
Aaron helped me over to a bed and sat me down with my back and head propped up on one of his pillows. "Wait here. I'll get you some tea." He bustled around the kitchen and came back. "The water is on the stove. It should be ready in a few minutes."
"Thanks," I replied.
"So what brings you to this neighborhood? You're a new face here. Did you just move here?"
"I live in another part of town. I happened into this area and found a friend."
"Oh. You're here for a hook-up," Aaron said looking disappointed.
"No. I met a young man who needed some help. His name is Joey."
"Little Joey?"
" I guess. He told me his name is Joey. He's about twelve or thirteen."
"Yeah, that's little Joey. What did he need?"
"Help from the cops."
"So you were returning the favor by needing help yourself," Aaron said with a smile.
"Yep," I replied smiling just as much.
"It's good that we have someone willing to come and help."
"That's what I do...help."
" I knew there was something about you I liked."
Again, Aaron smiled. The teapot began to whistle and he stood and attended to the calling water.
"Do you take cream and sugar in your tea?" he asked.
"Yes, please."
Aaron returned carrying two cups of tea. He handed me his cup and sat down on the chair beside me. I took a sip of the fresh brew and was pleasantly surprised. "Is it to your satisfaction?"
"Definitely."
"Thanks."
For the next hour we talked about our backgrounds. It was nice to share with someone my past: dealing with my sexuality, dealing with religion, etc. He was very understanding and listened as if hanging on every word. He was so attentive to me and my comfort.
Aaron shared his past with me, as well. He did not have some of the issues with religion or issues with homosexuality, but it was always something he concerned himself with. He was gay but he did not struggle with it internally as I and most others have.
"I've never been this trusting with people. Most I shy away from. I guess I'm very introverted."
"I'm thankful you can trust me."
"You make it so easy."
I looked into his deep brown eyes and they reminded me of pools of hot cocoa, so warm, so inviting, so comforting. Before I realized it, Aaron and I were kissing passionately. I couldn't believe I was moving so swiftly with this man. I'm the one who is so reserved and hesitant. I have to get to know the person very well before I'm with him. But for some reason, I felt so safe and secure with him. And my emotions felt so distant. All I felt was an intense desire to be with him.
The kissing was not the last thing we did. We got much more physical and I fell asleep in his arms.
To Be Continued...
This chapter is a little shorter than usual. What an interesting change in Eric, wouldn't you say? Kind of scary, too. How many of us would do something like Eric is doing? Sure, here there are circumstances. Yes, there is physical attraction, but reason can always, or almost always overcome that impulse. What about the situation before? Eric was hurt horribly. Thank goodness for his mutation or that could have killed him. And here is this nice attractive man taking care of Eric. This is something Eric has needed, feeling needed and taken care of and loved. But should those needs be the priority of a relationship, or should a relationship have more? Tell me what you think.