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.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and all related characters created by J.K. Rowling. Copyright Scholastic Press, Inc.
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 and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
jmsotc@yahoo.com
Chapter 46 I Can Feel Your Power
I stirred underneath the rubble. My suit was very warm but cooled as it hit the outside air. I stood up and the pieces of wood and metal fell off me. Looking around I saw the warehouse no longer standing but a great pile of debris. Macai was nowhere to be found. 'A good sign,' I thought.
I also noticed the area was vacant. At first I panicked believing all my newfound friends were dead. But as I looked around at closer examination, I found no traces of torn clothing or blood spilt on the ground. Everyone was alive and well, and probably returned home to rest after the ordeal.
'Excalibur,' a voice whispered in my ear.
Yes, the sword. I needed to retrieve the sword for Captain Britain. He would be the only one who could keep it safe. I headed back toward the entrance to the fortress in the hill. It was sealed with rubble. Pointing my hand toward the debris, I attempted to move it with my powers. After all, I had become rather powerful since Macai tried to kill me.
To my surprise it was rather difficult to do. I had to concentrate hard on the debris for it to budge enough to fall away. 'What happened?' I thought. 'I was very powerful. I had been strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with an immortal demon. Why was moving debris a problem?'
"Because, Eric," a voice said behind me. I turned to see the messenger walked toward me. "That amount of power is no longer needed. God had allowed your power to increase to such dramatic heights to face off with Macai. Now that the threat of Macai is over, you no longer need such power. You've been returned to your normal self."
"That is a good thing, I guess. But what happens when I need to exercise more power? What then?"
"Your powers became manifest when you put yourself in a life-or-death situation. When your emotions were heightened, your mutation kicked in and the right amount of power needed to accomplish the task was made available to you. That will happen again. When you or someone you care about is threatened, your powers will increase to do whatever is needed for the situation."
I nodded in understanding. At least I was alive. That was all that mattered. My next objective was to get to the sword Excalibur buried somewhere beneath the rock and rubble. How I was to get through that?
Before I could come up with an idea, the messenger walked over to the rubble and placed the left hand on the rock. The rock fell away and no exertion was on the messenger's face. The messenger turned and smiled at me.
"Thank you," I said.
"You are welcome. You have one hour to find the sword and return. The hole will seal up and be forever closed."
I nodded and rushed down the stairs. It was a maze and a nightmare. The corridor had almost completely collapsed and small openings were the only way to navigate. I worked my way slowly through the openings until I reached the end where a doorway opened to a fighting arena. The end of a whip was the only thing revealing what had transpired here hours ago. I made my way through the tattered and torn battleground and walked through the corridor to the throne room. Surprisingly the corridor was hardly damaged.
The throne room, however, was completely and utterly destroyed. The throne was smashed, the large cauldron where the blue wizard performed the spell was toppled, and the contents of the cauldron sat in a puddle nearby.
'Where is that sword?' I thought. My mind went back to the fight I had with Macai. It had fallen by the wayside. I tried to remember where Macai dropped the sword. Looking around, I remembered and saw the hilt sticking out of some fallen stone. I ran over and grabbed the hilt. Pulling hard, it slowly slid out from the stone. I chuckled to myself remembering the story of the sword in the stone.
A faint cry came to my ears and I turned listening for it. A small door off the throne was hidden almost completely in shadow. The cry definitely came from that direction. Keeping the sword ready, I made my way over and under fallen debris to the small door.
Pushing hard it slowly opened to reveal a long stretch of corridor and spiraling stone stairs leading deeper into the earth. I made my way slowly down the stairs no knowing what I would be facing. The cries, however, were getting louder, so I knew I was on the right track. And the cries were ones of suffering and pain and fear. Very human cries, I could sense. Knowing there were human beings down here possibly trapped, I hastened my pace.
Down I went and out into another corridor. The hall was lined with stone doors and small openings near the top of each door. Obviously this was some type of dungeon Macai had built a long time ago. I walked to the first door and looked in. No one was inside. I went to the next and saw a young girl. Using all the strength I could muster, I pulled the door open and went inside.
The girl looked up at me in fear. "I won't hurt you," I reassured her and, using Excalibur, cut the chains holding her. I looked into her eyes and could tell who she was. Christian's sister. The demon had taken them hostage, I remembered. "Let's get your parents out of here."
I went to the next door and sure enough, her mother hung on the wall from chains. I entered and cut her down as well. The two females comforted and hugged each other while I went to rescue Christian's father. In no time, I had the three down and free and we made our way back up the spiraling staircase.
"My goodness," Christian's father exclaimed. "It looks as if a war happened here last night."
"It sounded like it," Christian's sister stated. "I thought for sure we were going to die."
"You are alive and well," I replied. "But we still have to get out of here."
I made my way across the throne room, with the Burns's following me. It took a little bit of time but we got through the arena, the corridor and up to the top of the stairs. They climbed out of the stairwell and sighed with relief. They were free of the clutches of the demon and rejoiced.
"Where are we?" Mr. Burns asked.
"I'm not quite sure," I replied. "As you could probably tell, I'm not from this area."
A rumbling noise turned our attention back to the hill and the entrance to the fortress. We watched as the stairwell collapsed to the ground sealing up the fortress forever, just as the messenger stated.
"Thank goodness its over," Mrs. Burns replied.
"Amen to that," I muttered.
"We should be able to find our way home from here," Mr. Burns replied. "Thank you again for your help."
"You're quite welcome," I answered.
Mr. Burns shook my hand and the three headed off toward the road. I wished them well and hoped they would get home safely to their son. I know Christian loved them very much or he wouldn't have risked everything for them.
Once the family was safely down the road, I stuck to the wooded area and made my way north toward London. By car it had taken well over an hour to get to this area. On foot, who knew exactly how long it would take.
After walking for forty-five minutes, I arrived at a town. I believe it was Bristol, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure. Since I was still in costume, it wouldn't due to walk up to someone and ask where I was. The best I could do was stay to the shadows and listen to conversation hoping someone would mention the city's name or some well-known location to indicate where I was.
For a half hour, I moved around the city listening and hoping to find a way to keep moving. It was difficult because the city was bustling. I could not move too far and keep in the shadows. Deciding to stay until nightfall, my objective changed to finding a place to rest and hide until after sunset. It did not take long to find an entrance into a basement that looked rather dusty and dirty, good indications it wasn't in use. I found a darkened corner and settled in for a nap for the rest of the afternoon.
I wasn't sure what time I awoke but the cause of my return to consciousness was a loud thump. I opened my eyes abruptly and looked about the room. What I saw were four vampires with a victim lying on a table. Their victim was a middle-aged man with black hair. He lay unconscious on the table. Teeth marks were visible on his neck. I couldn't tell from this distance and lack of light whether he was alive or dead. If he were alive, I had to act fast before they killed him or worse, turned him into a vampire.
Quietly, I moved to a nearby box and peered over at the vampires. They were in the corner talking about something leaving the man alone. I went over and checked his pulse. He had none. I was too late to save him. My heart sunk. No matter how long I patrolled or how early I would start. No matter how much power I had, there would still be those whom I would not reach.
"What the hell are you?" a vampire said to me. I stood and readied myself.
"It's the bat!" one exclaimed. "The one who beat Macai!"
The vampires were part of the army Macai had raised. Evidently, not all were slain by Wonder Woman, Marius and Jayce.
I leapt at the vampires catching them off guard. Surprising them, I was able to knock three over. The other just jumped back to watch the humorous battle. A tall, dark-skinned vampire kicked me off them. I flew back and into the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of me. As I caught my breath, I pulled out a stake. I turned to face the vampires and found them on their feet ready to fight.
One came at me. I spun around and kicked it in the face. It flew into the wall beside me. A second followed and I spun around again, kicking the creature in the face with my other foot. It fell on its friend. The dark-skinned vampire swung its fist at me. I ducked and it followed through turning itself around. I pushed him against the fourth vampire that decided to stay back and watch.
I sensed something behind me and turned as the second vampire I kicked came running at me. I held the stake up and let the creature's momentum impale itself. As the creature turned to dust, a fist came through and punched me in the face. I stumbled back and the two vampires, the cowardly fourth one and the dark-skinned one grabbed me from behind. The vampire that punched me approached with a wicked smile on its face.
"You are not so tough," it said to me. "I cannot believe you defeated Macai. Tell me, how did you do it?"
"The power of God," I said.
The vampire smiled big and punched me hard in the stomach. They all laughed at me. "Really. The power of God rests in you to defeat an immortal demon. Where is that power now?"
"After I defeated Macai, God took it back."
"Too bad for you. What can you use to defeat us?"
"God gives me what I need. I don't need that power to defeat you."
I looked up at the vampire and my red eyes brought fear to him. To his utter amazement, the two vampires holding me burst into flame. He backed away as I stood fully erect and free. I smiled at him, even though he couldn't see my face, and walked toward him.
"I can understand exactly what happened. If you want, I can explain it to you. See, the explosion caused my mutation to work overtime to save my life. Look at it like a muscle working out constantly only never needing to rest or heal. Can you imagine the strength it would have?
"That is how I was able to use my powers so easily. God, in infinite wisdom, designed humankind to work in such a way. After the second explosion, in which I used all my powers to weaken Macai, my mutation was overexerted. A muscle overexerted tends to collapse and not work one hundred percent."
I knew God was giving this wisdom to me as I spoke it. Whoever said God never worked scientifically evidently didn't know God very well.
"I'm back to my normal power, which is enough to slay you."
"But...how did you cause them to burst into flame? Didn't you say your mutation was overworked?"
"It is. That doesn't mean I can't use it. That means it is back to normal. And it works when I'm emotionally stimulated. I find the more intense rage I feel, the hotter the fire I can create or the easier it is to manipulate any other molecules I want. Right now, I'm rather upset."
I looked over at the victim of the vampire gang. I watched as the body sat up now possessed by a vampire spirit. It was one of them, no longer a human being. I held up the stake, spun it around with my powers and flung it across the room into the newly arisen demon's heart. It turned to dust and the stake collapsed to the table.
The vampire looked over at where his "child" once lay. It then looked back at me. My fist flew at its face and connected. The vampire stumbled back into the wall. I walked up, grabbed it by its collar and threw it onto the table. It collapsed underneath the impact. As the demon stumbled to stand up, it picked up the stake and ran at me, pinning me against the wall.
"We win some. We lose some," the vampire said. "But the question remains: who is holding the stake?"
I reached up and grabbed its wrist as it tried to plunge it into my heart. My strength struggled with the strength of the vampire. Slowly, I was able to turn the stake to point at the demon. With all my strength, I pushed the demon's hand down and the stake went into its chest. It turned to dust and dropped my stake to the floor.
After taking several breaths, I retrieved my stake and returned it to its place on my costume. "That was fun," I muttered. Then I made my way out of the basement and into the city. I had to get to London and the Watchers' Council castle as soon as possible.
To Be Continued...
Only four more chapters to go!