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 below 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. Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston. Copyright DC Comics.
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!!!
Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
authorjames2002@yahoo.com
I also have several online messenger services. If you want to chat with me in real time, email me and tell me the services you use and I will tell you my screen name.
Chapter 13 Discovering the Past
"I remember your mother," I replied after coming down off the shock of Hyppolyta remembering me. "How is she doing?"
"She is well."
"What brings you to this part of the world?"
"My mother wishes me to learn of the ways of man. Our island is filled only with women. Men are not even allowed to step foot on the island. We have believed that men are evil, barbaric creatures. My mother, after having worked alongside you, believes that not all men are barbaric. Because I'm her daughter, she wants me to get an understanding of how the outside world works. And she believes you would be the best teacher to show me that not all men are evil."
"That's quite a show of faith your mother has in me."
"I said the same to her as well. I do not believe that one man can atone for the sins of an entire world. But I also believe that no one man should be held accountable for the sins of an entire world. I'm anxious to get started."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Just so you are aware, I can hold my own in battle. Just this morning, I stopped an airplane from crashing."
'That was her?' I thought. 'She and Clark could very well have the same strength! That's amazing!'
"I was on the airplane you speak of. You saved my life. I appreciate it."
"You are quite welcome."
"I'll take you to your room. Please, come with me."
Diana stood and we exited my office, went upstairs, and headed down the other side of the corridor opposite where Clark was staying. Her room was on the end and it was a single room as well. She brought in her bag of clothes and sat them on the bed.
"The room is rather small."
"Sorry about that. We don't get much space at all around here. I'm sure you will settle in fine."
Diana nodded again and thanked me. Then she went about unpacking and I went back to my office.
I sat and took a deep breath, feeling overwhelmed by the mere presence of Diana and Clark. A knock came at my door and I called out that they come in. Lance entered and closed the door behind him.
"So, who is she?"
"I worked with her mother many years ago."
"Would that be Tina's daughter?"
"No. Do you remember when I was in England?" Lance nodded affirmatively. "I worked with several people to help defeat the demon. One of whom was Hyppolyta, Queen of the Amazons. She sent Diana, her daughter, here so that I could teach her that all men are not evil."
"Are you serious?"
"Sure am. And, it turns out she's the one that caught the plane this morning."
"Is she a mutant or something?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask. That will be something to talk with her about tonight."
Lance nodded. A knock came at my door. "Come in," I called out. Clark walked in as I stood up. "Hey, Clark," I said.
"Hey," he replied. He looked over at Lance.
"This is Lance, my husband and business manager of the center. Lance, this is Clark Kent, from Smallville, Kansas."
"Nice to meet you." Lance stuck his hand out and Clark shook it.
"I'll get back to work, now," Lance said. "See you later, Eric. It was nice meeting you, Clark."
"You, too," Clark replied.
Once the door shut, I offered a seat to Clark. "Thanks."
I smiled at him. "You seem to be acting a little more like your mother and father described. Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know. Maybe because I know I'm not alone as I used to be. There are other people who are like me, sort of."
"When one is different, finding others like ourselves brings comfort, especially when we are rejected and hated for being different. It's a sad story that recurs often. Hitler and the Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, Osama bi Laden and al-Qaeda, the Friends of Humanity. They all believed they were superior because of skin color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and genetics. They never learn those things are unimportant to what makes someone a good or bad person. But they served as catalysts for social change.
"You haven't been exposed to many different types of people, have you?"
"No, not really. Pa always taught me to be respectful, but I never really met anyone different from what I saw every day."
"I'll let you borrow some books if you'd like."
Clark nodded.
"Why do you think you're here?"
"Because I'm different?"
"Do you think your parents look at you differently because of your abilities?"
"Sometimes they look at me like they are afraid. I worry that they are afraid I'll hurt them."
"Do you think that fear is valid?"
"My abilities can be overwhelming. But they know who I am inside. They know I would never hurt them. So I don't think they are afraid of me."
"What do you think is the source of their fear?"
"You were talking about all those different people being hurt because of their differences. Maybe they are afraid that people will want to hurt me because of my differences."
I nodded. "I think so, too. People tend to fear the unknown. And that, Clark, is why we are here. Your parents gave me a bag of items they found with you. I haven't opened it up yet. Do you want to take a look?"
"Yeah," Clark replied getting a little excited. Then, nervously, he added, "I hope I don't find out I'm from a hostile place where people like to kill everyone else."
I got up and we went over to a table where the bag rested. "Go ahead, Clark. You do the honors."
Hesitantly, Clark unzipped the bag and reached inside. The first thing he pulled out was a weirdly proportioned pentagon. Turning it around, we saw that it was outlined in red with what appeared to be a red "S" in the middle. The background was yellow.
"That's cool. But what is it exactly?"
"I don't know. Maybe there are some more things inside."
Clark nodded and reached in. He pulled out a big red cloth and held it up. On one end appeared a yellow stitched symbol like the one on the pentagon.
"This could be some type of ceremonial cloth," I said.
He nodded and pulled out some other things. One looked like a picture frame with two young people, possibly in their late 20's or early 30's. Clark resembled them both.
"Could they be my biological parents?" he asked.
"It's possible."
He pulled out another device and looked at it. "I'm not sure what this is."
"Neither am I. Would you like to come with me? I have a computer that can analyze some of this stuff."
Clark nodded. He replaced the items in the bag and zipped it up. Then he followed me out to the hallway and down to my private quarters. When I opened the door and stepped in, he became uneasy.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you in any way. Shut the door behind you, please."
Clark closed the door.
"Do you remember some of the things I could do in Smallville?"
"Yeah. You said you're a mutant."
"I am. But I've been using my abilities for a long time. But not as Eric."
I opened the hatch and headed down the ladder with Clark following behind me.
When we got to the cave, the lights came on.
"Welcome, Eric," the computer greeted.
"Hello, Oracle."
A glass cabinet lit up and illuminated my suit. Clark looked at it and his eyes widened. "You're...?"
"Yep."
"But everyone says the Batman is an urban legend."
"I assure you, I'm very real. Could you open your bag and take the things out?"
Clark did so and handed the items to me.
"Oracle, scan these objects. I want to know their chemical composition as well as the translation of the marks."
I placed the items on the scanner and the beams came down from the top.
"So, you're Batman?" Clark said.
"Yep."
"Have you always been Batman?"
"Not always. It didn't start until I left my home town at twenty-three. I started being Batman even before I learned I had these powers. They sort of developed when I got really mad at someone."
"Mad?"
"Yeah. My mutation manifested when I went into a heightened emotional state. I had to learn to get upset in order to use my powers."
"That could be hard to control. Especially if you have a bad temper."
"True."
"Why did they manifest so late, though? I'm sure you have gotten upset before then."
"I did. But because I was so afraid that someone would find out my secret at the time, that I'm gay, I did all I could to repress any extreme emotions. It was one of those 'try to be as good as possible so they won't find out how bad you really are' things."
"Wow. So now you are a psychologist helping people get in touch with their inner feelings."
I couldn't help but chuckle. "Psychologists do a lot more than that, but, yeah, to put it simply, we help people get in touch with what they are feeling, or not feeling."
Oracle beeped. "Analysis complete."
Clark and I turned to the monitor.
"Display," I said.
The monitor turned on and displayed the alphabet matching the characters on the items. Both Clark and I were amazed at the amount of information kept in the system, and the amount that Oracle was displaying.
"What's that up there?" Clark pointed out.
"It looks like the name of the planet you're from."
"Krypton," he whispered. "I guess that would make me a Kryptonian or something?"
"I guess," I replied with a smile.
The symbol that looked like and "S" was represented of Clark's biological family, the house of El. His parents' names even came up on the data base: Jor and Lara. Clark's birth name was revealed as Kal.
"This is amazing."
"You're free to look around a bit, if you like." Clark nodded and sat. "Clark, one thing I want you to keep in mind." Clark turned to face me. "It's important to know where you come from, both earth and beyond. But you should also consider where you are going?"
Clark nodded and smiled. Then he turned back to his work.
I headed back up the ladder and out through the room. I walked down the hallway and found Lance coming out the door.
"Hey," he said as I approached.
"Hello."
"How was your meeting with Clark?"
"It went well," I answered. Then, I lowered my voice. "We went through his things and had the items scanned by Oracle. Surprisingly, the database has information about where he's from."
"That shouldn't be too surprising," Lance answered.
Lowering my voice further, I added, "He's from another planet."
"If what happened to us on our honeymoon hadn't have happened, I wouldn't believe you. But since it did, I do.
"That is surprising that it has information about him. As far as the world is concerned, there really aren't such things as aliens, though we are hoping to discover something with the newly scheduled trip to Mars. Still, why would the system have that information?"
"I don't know. Should I be concerned?"
To Be Continued...