Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. It has no intentions of resembling any real persons dead or alive. This is entirely from my imagination, with a little help from already established sources. This story is based loosely on the comic book character "The Punisher" from Marvel Comics. Other characters may appear from Marvel comics as well as DC Comics.
Punisher and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.
Blade and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel copyright Joss Whedon, United Paramount Network and Warner Bros. Respectively.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
I have written another story on nifty entitled "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". It is in the Celebrity/Boy Bands section. Batman may appear in this story once or twice, as the Punisher may appear in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". Any comments may be sent to authorjames2002@yahoo.com
Thank you and enjoy.
Chapter 4 Opportunity
Ty and Tandy arrived at the mansion and found Whistler reading a book in the library with a bottle of ice cold beer at his side.
"Hey, Whistler," Ty said. "Doing research on some evil?"
"Fuck no," Whistler replied. "I'm reading for pleasure. This is Stephen King's new one."
"Oh. Well, um, we need to talk to you about something."
"Oh?" Whistler said closing his book on the bookmark he placed in his spot. "What about?"
"Tandy kind of did something tonight."
"You didn't kill any humans, did you? There was a huge mess with a Slayer killing a human a few years ago in Sunnydale."
"No, nothing like that," Tandy answered. "I could sense the vampires that were in the area. We were walking and all of a sudden I felt something. I can't describe it but I could just sense them nearby."
"Yeah. It was so cool. She turned slowly and threw out her arm in the direction of the vamps and light daggers flew out of her hand. They hit the vampires while they were still in the bushes and burned them up."
"Interesting," Whistler said as he closed his book. "It has been said that Slayers can sense nearby vampires but I don't remember running into many, except Serena. She had a cat's sense when it came to vampires. Tell me more about this feeling."
Blade pulled up and dismounted his motorcycle. He entered the mansion and went straight to his room. He didn't care what Ty, Tandy and Whistler were talking about. For once, his life looked a little brighter. That was all he was concentrating on at the moment.
"I need to get going," Harris said to Davey. "Every since you-know-what, my mom has been paranoid about me being out real late."
"What do you mean by that?" Ryan asked.
"It's personal," Harris replied.
"Oh," Ryan said with a look on his face. "Did she catch you two..."
"No," Davey answered immediately. Placing his drink on the counter, he paid the bartender and told Ryan goodbye.
"See you guys tomorrow," Ryan said as the two left.
The next day, Davey got a telephone call from Harris. Harris was so excited his voice ran a mile a minute. His words ran together and Davey had a hard time understanding him.
"Slow down," he said. "What happened?"
"I just got a call from Steve. He said I'm in! I am going to Florida! And so are you! Isn't that great?!"
"That's awesome!" Davey replied. "Did they say when we were leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
"What about school?"
"We get tutored while rehearsing and competing. Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, that's awesome!"
"That's all you keep saying," Harris replied. "Is something the matter?"
"No," Davey answered. "I wasn't really excited about this at first. Now that I'm actually going, I'm kind of surprised and in shock. I think once the reality sets in, I will be more excited."
"My mom is excited for us! She thinks this is a great opportunity for us! She's all for us going!"
Davey talked with his mom about going and she was reluctant to allow Davey to go. But after much coaxing from Davey and Harris, plus a reassurance from Harris's mom that she would watch out for both boys, she allowed Davey to go. Davey thanked her and told Harris, who was ecstatic that both would be going to Orlando, Florida.
"Do you know who some of the judges are?" Harris asked.
"No, I don't."
"Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass from NSYNC! Isn't that awesome?!"
This didn't excite Davey too much due to the fact he had met the two singers while in New York right after September 11th. But still, being judged by two members of a boy band would give all the contestants some ideas as to how to improve. Davey wasn't as into it as Harris was. Granted he had his moments where he was excited about it, but he knew Harris was more into it than anything else. Besides, Davey didn't think his life would go beyond what he was doing now. He didn't see a career outside of fighting evil. Davey's motive for doing this was for Harris completely.
After sunset, Blade arrived at the Pub and went in looking for Tia, his new friend. She was sitting at the bar talking with someone. Blade noticed something about the guy that she obviously didn't. The guy wasn't drinking a thing.
"Tia," Blade said as he approached, interrupting the two laughing.
"Blade," Tia said. "I'm glad you showed up."
Blade noticed the guy become uneasy at the mention of his name. He ignored it, though, and focused his attention on Tia.
"Did you think I wouldn't show?"
"At first I didn't. I figured you would have other things to do, more important things than to baby-sit an out-of-towner."
"I wouldn't have missed this for the world."
The guy stood up nervously. "Thanks for the conversation. See you around." He darted out the door quickly.
"That was rather odd," Tia replied. "He seemed fine a few minutes ago. Are people from Columbus always this flighty or is it just you?"
"Probably just me," Blade answered. "I have that affect on people. Excuse me for just a minute."
Blade went outside and looked around for the guy. He was nowhere to be seen. As he turned to go back in, Tia stood in the doorway.
"I figured we could just go," she replied. "It's a nice Pub, but after a while, it gets old."
Blade smiled and the two got on his bike. Tia held him a little tighter as the motorcycle started up and headed off down the street.
"Where are we going first?" he asked.
"Have you ever heard of Worthington, Ohio?"
"Yes, is that where your brother is?"
"Several leads said he was seen there a few months ago."
"Then we'll check that out first."
Blade revved the motorcycle and headed toward Interstate 71. It would take him north to Worthington.
Roughly twenty minutes later, Blade showed up at the address on Tia's list. It was a dark industrial district with a rundown abandoned factory. She climbed off the bike followed by Blade.
"Be careful," he said. "You don't want to rush into a situation. Things have been known to happen in places exactly like this."
Tia nodded and stayed back as the two entered the factory. All seemed quiet at first. Then suddenly, something jumped out at Blade and tackled him. Blade flipped whatever it was into the air and jumped to his feet. The creature landed near Blade in a crouching position.
Tia watched as Blade drew a sword from the back of his jacket. She took in air quickly making a gasping sound.
"It's all right," Blade said. "It isn't human."
The creature circled around Blade trying to find an opening. At first none was available. Blade, wanting to fight the creature on his own terms, gave it an opening. The creature took it and lunged at the Daywalker. Blade stepped sideways and swung the sword cutting the creature in half. It caught fire and turned to ash before their eyes.
Blade quickly sheathed his sword and walked over to Tia, who appeared dumbfounded. "It's all right," he said taking her into his arms.
"Was that a...a vampire?" she asked.
Blade nodded. "Some of the things that go bump in the night are monsters, despite what this world may want to believe."
"I never would have thought," she muttered. "Do you...do you think my brother could have...?"
"It's possible, Tia. You might have to accept that. But for now, I'm not going to believe it until I see him myself."
"Thank you so much, Blade. I can't believe I found someone I can trust like you."
She looked up at him, into his eyes even though they were covered with sunglasses. She leaned forward and they kissed.
Davey and Harris were in Harris's room, with Davey laying on Harris's bed and Harris looking at the hotel they were going to be staying at in Orlando.
"You wouldn't believe this place!" Harris said excitedly. "They've got a huge pool, weight room, spa, deluxe suites! I don't think we would be staying at a deluxe suite, though. They couldn't afford it with all us competing."
Davey said yeah unenthusiastically. Harris caught the hint and got up from the computer and lay down next to his boyfriend.
"What's wrong?" Harris asked.
"I don't know," Davey started. "There are times I think about us. And there is a lot of good here. I really care about you, Harris."
"And I care about you, too."
"I think sometimes that maybe we should take it to the next level."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about doing more than just kissing. Granted we're only fourteen, but still. There are other fourteen year olds that do stuff. Like the guys I used to hang out with, they had sex a lot. Sucking, sticking their dicks in each other's butt, rimming, they had sex. We don't."
"There are differences," Harris replied. "You and I care about each other. I don't think any of them cared."
"But that should make it more okay," Davey said. "The fact that we care about each other."
"Yeah. But I don't think I'm quite ready for that, Davey. I'm not sure about it yet."
A knock came at the door. It was Harris's mother. She had been having a hard time adjusting to all that had happened to her son over the past summer. First, he joined the mutants against the Friends of Humanity, then she found out that he helped fight vampires, and through all of this, knowing he was dating a mutant.
"Harris? Is everything okay in there?"
"Yes, mom," he said.
"Davey will have to be going home soon."
"Yes, ma'am," Davey replied, trying to be as polite as possible. He stood up.
"Please, don't be mad," Harris requested as he kissed Davey.
"I'll try."
"Part of caring about someone is respecting their feelings, you know?"
"Yeah, I know."
Davey went out the door and down to the car. He had some last minute things to get together before leaving tomorrow.
Blade pulled his motorcycle up to Tia's apartment and she dismounted.
"Looks like tonight was a bust," he said.
"It's okay. I still have more leads to follow. I hope he wasn't turned into one of those creatures."
"I'm betting he hasn't. We don't have any evidence he was turned."
"True. And one good thing did come how of tonight."
"What's that?" Blade asked.
Tia leaned in and kissed him. "I found someone I can trust."
Blade smiled slightly at her. "Same time same place tomorrow night?"
"Definitely," she said.
"See you then."
Blade watched as she entered her apartment. Then he took off toward the mansion.
Tandy and Ty sat on the swing in the back looking up at the night sky. As they rocked back and forth, Tandy leaned in to kiss Ty. He smiled and kissed her, though it wasn't deep and passionate. She pulled away slightly and then went back for more kissing. Her hand caressed his cheek and down his neck. His hand cradled her head while his other hand ran his fingers through her hair. Tandy's hand moved further down his body, running across his abs and to his crotch. She cradled his swollen member in her hand and he pulled away.
"No," he whispered.
"No?" she asked in the same whisper. "Why?"
"Because I went somewhere with Elektra that I shouldn't have gone and I don't want to go there with you."
"What?" she said pulling back.
"That didn't come out right. What I mean is, with Elektra, it was only about sex. I want our first time together to be special."
"It is special. We have the starry night, the cool breeze, we're both in the mood."
"That doesn't make it right, though. What makes it right is if we are both ready. And I'm not."
"Okay," Tandy said moving away from him.
"Don't be upset," Ty said trying to comfort her. "I have good reasons why I don't want to do this."
"Really? Is it because you think I'm ugly? Am I not dark enough? Do I not dress scantily enough? Do you think I'm too fat?"
"Tandy, please, it's none of those things. The big reason is that I'm not ready yet."
"Not ready? NOT READY? You stuck your cock up Elektra's cunt and you're telling me you're not ready for sex? How in the world do you figure that?"
"With Elektra, I rushed. I wanted my first time to mean something, and it didn't. I don't want to make that same mistake again."
"Countless men and women have sex that doesn't mean anything. With me, it does mean something. We're dating for God's sakes. It's not like I'm traveling the world like her, either. I'm not going anywhere."
"That's the thing," Ty said. "I am."
"What?" she asked.
"I've been given an opportunity to go to New York."
"What?"
"I was contacted by a woman, Wanda Maximoff, who has heard about me from Professor Xavier. She is a mutant witch and, because I had interest in studying with the X-MEN, she has taken interest in my abilities. She wants me to go to New York soon."
"How soon?" Tandy asked.
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? When were you going to tell me about this?"
"Tonight."
"How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know."
"What about us?"
"I don't know. It isn't too far away. Maybe you could visit."
"Yeah, right. I have to stay here to slay. I can't go tromping off just for fun. The only time I left the state was when we went to New York, and there was a reason for that."
"You have a reason to come to New York now. Me."
"No, I mean I would need a good reason."
Ty's crinkled his eyes at the insult.
"Oh, you know what I mean. It would have to be work related."
"A relationship with me is work, isn't it?"
"You have no idea," Tandy said as she stood.
"What are we going to do about us?"
"I don't know," Tandy replied. "Long-distance relationships don't work out. You might find somebody else, probably would find somebody else. I might find somebody else. This relationship wouldn't last."
"Then do we go back to being friends?"
"I don't know. I guess so."
Ty stood up and took her into his arms. "No matter how our relationship changes, I will always love and care about you, Tandy."
"Same here, Ty."
The two youths hugged and Ty left leaving Tandy alone in the night.
To Be Continued...
What do you think of this twist? Ty is going to New York to study with the Scarlet Witch and the Avengers. Now with Davey going off to Florida, where will that put the Marvel Knights? Two less members for a time. I wonder how that will work out. More to come!