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.
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.
Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
This story has taken on a life of its own. From its inception a year ago, I had only thought it would last ten chapters maximum. As you can see, it has grown tremendously. Mostly due to readers emailing me and telling me they've enjoyed it or have received help due to certain issues addressed. I've enjoyed writing this story but it would not have been written without men and women reading it and telling me they've enjoyed it. I do hope that you continue to enjoy each new chapter as our hero lives and grows.
I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Please note, my email address has changed. At the end of July, my previous email address will no longer be active. Thanks.
authorjames2002@yahoo.com
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Chapter 2 The Hall of Fame City 2001
I awoke the next morning and showered. There wasn't much I could do in the way of clothing so I spent the day washing my dirty clothes in the bathroom of the motel and hung them on the shower rod and in front of the register to dry. The whole day I thought of what the divine messenger said to me. It was quite overwhelming to think about. I was going to go through some trials to test my humanity. I had not the slightest idea where I was supposed to do that.
When night fell, I decided to patrol the city as Batman. I donned my Bat-suit and headed out. Canton isn't that big of a downtown so there wasn't much to do by the way of action. Still it was nice to get around the city and see familiar sites.
I had decided to go to the practice of the two teams playing at the Hall of Fame this year. Even though I believe the players get paid way too much when other people are starving or people are performing a public service and don't get paid enough, I had nothing better to do. So I went.
It was a warm day and Fawcett Stadium was pretty full but not packed. I found a seat and sat back to enjoy the sun and the activity. I had thought it a treat when the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders came out along with 375 of the areas high schools cheerleaders. The treat wasn't the eighteen scantily clad girls dancing and cheering. The treat was the song they were cheering to. It was NSYNC's new song "Pop" from their new album Celebrity. It reminded me of Lance, who was still on tour. They would be finishing up soon, though. I missed him greatly. Lance believed me dead and was with someone else. I hoped he was happy with the new man in his life.
I enjoyed the music and the dancing, that's basically what cheerleaders do now is dance with pompoms, until a little after sunset when an ambulance arrived at the stadium. Being the nosy detective that I am, I went down to investigate. They wheeled out a young woman on a stretcher. I noticed two puncture wounds to her neck. A vampire. I walked over to where a police officer was asking questions to some bystanders and I listened in hoping to hear some information. People commented on a man wearing sunglasses standing alongside one of the walls going up into the seating area of the stadium. I guess the man was watching the bathrooms.
I left the area and went to my car to change. The sign had said "NO PASS OUTS" meaning they wouldn't give you a pass to enter back in. Not a problem for me. I wasn't planning on entering as Eric. Once I changed, I went to the side of the stadium that was closest to McKinley High School. It was darker there with the trees and I could easily get inside without being noticed. From there, it was just a matter of keeping to the shadows and watching for the man with sunglasses. Pretty easy to do since it was dark enough now no one needed sunglasses. Vampires, however, like to wear sunglasses at night sometimes. At least, Turic did. Hopefully this vampire was no different.
I made my way around and saw a little boy go into the bathroom. I decided to wait there until he came out and returned to his seat. I didn't want him to get caught by this vampire. After about five minutes, I realized the boy should have come out. I decided to go in.
Silently I entered the bathroom. One side of the bathroom was one big urinal with water coming down from a pipe that ran along the wall. The other side was a little alcove that had several stalls in it. I looked underneath the stalls and found two sets of feet, one belonging to an adult, one to a child. I stepped up and peaked over and saw the vampire feeding off the boy.
"Stop!" I yelled out.
The vampire turned and smiled at me with a mouth covered in blood. The boy lay limp in his arms, his skin pale from the loss of blood. The vampire had drained him completely.
The vampire lunged at me through the wooden door. It splintered to pieces as he came through it. He knocked me into the water coming down from the pipe draining into the urinals. I swung my leg up and kicked him in the face. He stumbled as I stood up, preparing for another attack.
"You killed that little boy!" I yelled.
"Sure did. Felt good."
"You sick bastard."
"I'm actually feeling rather healthy. Especially since I'm immortal."
I kicked at him. He grabbed my leg and tossed me out the door. I looked up and saw him approach me. He was wearing a brown button-up shirt that was unbuttoned, a white t-shirt underneath, and brown khaki shorts. His shoes were unique in that there were no shoelaces or Velcro to close them but they were tennis shoes. His glasses were large and covered a third of his face.
"I never thought I would have the pleasure of facing down Batman," he said as he approached me.
I flipped up onto my feet preparing for another attack.
"And you would be?"
"Ahh, allow me to introduce myself. I have not a fancy name like many vampires. I don't believe in having weird or mysterious names. I prefer the simple things in life. My name is James."
I swung my fist and hit James in the jaw. He stumbled but then threw a backhand at me. My head jerked with the impact. Then we went at it, fists and feet flying everywhere. This went on for several minutes, neither one of us gaining or losing an inch. I went to kick him in the chest and he did a back flip, landing up on a small patch of cement over our heads. He grinned at me then lunged. I grabbed his shirt and put my foot in his gut. Rolling backwards I flipped him over my head and onto one of the tables set up for concessions. The table smashed to pieces under his impact. I flipped up and turned in time to see him roll to a crouching position.
"Good moves, Batman. I wasn't sure how good you were. It looks as if you are very good with your body. Tell me, are you a top or a bottom?"
I jumped at him as he stood up. I pinned him up against the fence with my hand at his throat.
"You are sick. You should be slain."
"If there were still a Slayer in this hole of a town, perhaps I would have been slain by now. But there isn't."
"Why not?"
"Let's just say I killed her. She was a waste of flesh and oxygen. Her blood was rather tasty. You know the old truth that you gain strength the more you feed and if the blood is a stronger blood? Slayers are about as strong as you get, you know?"
"You murdered a Slayer?"
"It was self-defense. She was planning on dusting me, though I'm not sure if that would work on me now. I've drank a lot, you know."
I pushed him hard against the fence and squeezed tighter around his neck. His response was to laugh at me. Then he brought his foot up hard and kicked me between the legs. I clutched myself and dropped to my knees.
"Good position for you. Did you want to service me? Of course that mask gets in the way of a lot of action, doesn't it?" James laughed again at me then kicked me in the face.
By the time I regained my strength to move, James was long gone. I decided to patrol around and hope that I would come across him, or perhaps another vampire who may have some information concerning him. As I went down Market Ave South, I ended up in the parking lot across from the Hilton. I thought of just after New Year's when Lance and I were here, looking up at the stars. My heart longed for Lance.
I looked over at the hotel and noticed two cheerleaders from the practice sitting on a bed in bathrobes talking. They had done a splendid performance. It's amazing the energy cheerleaders have along with their agility. I turned to go but noticed movement on top of the hotel so I decided to investigate.
Shooting a line to the top of the Hilton, I ascended across the busy street and up the side of the building. When I got to the top, the emergency stairway door was closing. Whoever it was, they had entered the building. Quietly I followed and descended the stairway. I looked down the center of the stairwell to see a figure wearing black leather pants and overcoat, black boots and black gloves. He was also wearing familiar black shades. The light played off his almost baldhead and I knew it was James.
I hastened my pace and must have made a noise as he turned and looked up at me. James grinned maniacally and started running. I followed down three floors and then entered the corridor he had gone. He burst through the door the cheerleaders were in.
"Hello, ladies," he replied. The girls screamed at his intrusion. "Aww, no kissy-kissy for me?"
I tackled him to the floor. The girls screamed again. James rolled over under me.
"Oh, so you're a top, eh? Or are you just versatile?"
James laughed. Then he pushed me off. He pushed me so hard I flew into the ceiling and made an indentation. He had gotten up and moved by the time I crashed down to the floor. I stood up to see him halfway out the window.
"You never give up, do you, Batman? It looks like you've met your match when it comes to cruelty and darkness, doesn't it?"
James jumped out the window. I ran to it and found him landing on his feet on the cement. He looked up at me and saluted a "goodbye" then ran off into the darkness. I couldn't let him get away.
I shot a line and swung down to street level and ran after him.
"God, I wish I had a car or motorcycle again," I said as I ran.
I saw him in the distance heading down West Tuscarawas street. I followed him down a hill and down a side street. The building he stopped at was a gay bar that I remembered from my life before Los Angeles.
"There's something to be said for familiar territory," I muttered.
James must have broken in or something because the place is not open on Sunday nights. I tried the door and it opened easily. I stepped inside to see a few lights on. The overhanging light lit the pool tables on the left and on the right was a small counter. Through a doorway I saw the bar, which was also lit up. Quietly I continued, softly and silently not wanting to make a noise. When I got into the bar, I looked over at the dance floor through the glass wall. It was dark. When I turned back, James was standing beside me.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?"
James grabbed me by my suit and pushed me. I flew through the glass wall and landed on the dance floor.
"Can I have this dance?" James asked as he entered the dance floor and switched a few switches. The floor lit up and some lights started flashing. "Ah, mood lighting," he said.
"What's your game, James? Why do you like to terrorize?"
"It's what I'm good at, Batman. Don't you see? You are good at fighting and all that other stuff. I, on the other hand, am an expert at causing pain and agony. I break men's hearts and bodies; I rape women and children, as well as maim them all. I'm good at hurting others. If I've got it, I should flaunt it, wouldn't you say?"
"You are sick."
"No, not sick. Determined."
"Determined to do what?"
"Determined to inflict enough harm to this world as it inflicted upon me."
"What do you mean?" I asked. He was showing some sign of reaching out. He was exposing himself. I was hoping for information about a weakness of some sort. But being the psychologist I am, I was also curious as to his reasoning for what he was doing.
"What do I mean? Why, I have always been treated horribly. From teachers to students to my own family, to parents of friends, I have been treated as someone less than whom I was. At first, I couldn't understand why. But then I learned it was my sexual orientation that they hated. And I was so free with it. It bothered them. This world thrives on control you know that.
"Anyway I was a threat to them and all they held dear. I was the wild card. I understood everyone else's' point of view but I challenged them to look deeper, to see things from a different perspective. At first it was enlightening and refreshing. Then I had college potential. Now, I'm a menace to society. Go figure."
"But that doesn't explain why you are doing what you are doing."
"Alright. Bottom line. I love men. I'm not that attractive so I use all my other abilities to get men. I'm not talking sort of attractive men. I'm not talking kind of cute men. I'm talking drop-dead, drop-your-pants-so-I-can-blow-you, let-me-be-your-bottom-forever men. I'm talking the kind of guys that you get hard and cream your pants when you just think of them. Those kinds of men. I get them to take me to their place. I get them all worked up and horny and then I suck them. I draw it out long and slow getting the maximum taste and pleasure for them and me. Just when they are ready to blow and I can feel the precum just gushing out and the cum running the length of their enormous cocks, I bite them off."
"Bite what off?" I was actually afraid to ask.
"Their cocks, Batman! Their long, thick, hairy, hard cocks! They start their scream in pleasure and end it in pain! Usually they end up dead by bleeding to death as their dicks have a vein running through them. The gay community's loss. Not mine, though. I had a chance to have them."
"What about the women?"
"I hate women. I tried dating women at one time to see for sure if I was gay or straight. I mean who hasn't? But these were women I thought I could relate to. I was very picky about who I dated. They had to reach certain criteria. Any who these women would get close enough for me to actually feel for them. Not sexual feel for them, but be a close friend to them. Then they would rip out my heart. So I decided to rip out something of theirs! I'm such a hoot! I would leave most of them battered, bleeding and worn."
My God, I thought, this guy is totally sick and whacked out! I was almost afraid to ask the last question. "And the children?"
"Childhood friends never played with me. They hated me, made fun of me, all because I was different than them. They treated me horribly as well. Children are not as innocent as the world thinks. Many children are cold, calculating, heartless vermin. They need to be put in their place and realize that the world is not their oyster. Since parents don't do anything to help children realize their social status, I've taken it upon myself to rape and maim children who are arrogant toward others. A thankless job, but I'm ready, willing, and able to preserve a better future for this world."
James laughed maniacally yet again. He was sick and disgusting. No kind of reasoning could fix him. I would have to slay him. And the more he talked the easier it was becoming for me to do exactly that.
"It ends now."
"Hardly."
James lunged at me. I grabbed his collar as I leaned back, moving with his movement. I fell to the ground, my foot placed firmly in his abdomen. He rolled over me and I pushed out, launching him back through the glass wall and into the bar. I flipped up and looked around in time to see James running through the front door. I followed him out at a distance. He was gone. The darkness and the surrounding buildings hid him well. There was nothing more I could do here so I returned to my motel.
As I swung from rooftop to rooftop I saw several gray vans parked in the lot. The occupants of the van were looking at the motel centering on my room. As I looked closer I noticed a name on the sides: Friends of Humanity. This must have been the group my parents referred to, the group that "cures" mutation. Sorry, I didn't want to be cured. I was happy the way I was.
I turned at a rustling around me. A man in all leather hefting heavy weaponry stood before me. "Don't move," he said to me as he took aim.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm the Punisher."
To Be Continued...
The vampire James is a real freak, don't you think? Does he seem to be a good villain, comparable to Batman? Who do you like better: James or Turic? James isn't the same type of vampire as Turic was. He's a vampire like those found in Anne Rice's novels. That means he's not as easily killed.
And a crossover between my two stories! As many of you know, I've been writing "The Punisher" for nifty as well. The Punisher and Batman are two completely different characters with completely different personalities. I wonder what will happen when they clash. To find out, keep reading!
Questions and comments are welcome, good or bad! Email me!