Sesame, DC: The Gotham Grouchfest

[muppetwriter]

Not much others, and I haven't seen many of the other Marvel movies... Which is why I very much get a high level of entertainment from you crossover fics posted here.

That's MARVELOUS to know. I try to make them as different from the original film or television show as I can, because I know some have already seen the original. I just get a kick out of re-writing them, because I can put my own awesome spin on things.

I'll have more on this one hopefully soon.

 

[muppetwriter]

Here's another interesting chapter, narrated by the most gorgeous member of Mystery Inc., Daphne Blake.

Chapter Five​

Present Day​

It was totally unbelievable what happened the other night, with us “meddling kids” meeting that freaky Dr. Jonathan Crane (his scarecrow mask gave me the creeps) and the weird incident that occurred at the docks. Some things weren’t just adding up, from the “giant bat” that poor Elmo had seen and the one that everyone had been talking about, since the front page of Gotham’s newspaper included a photo of Carmine Falcone strapped to a spotlight, which led to that strange bat symbol projected onto the night sky. And though we could just bury the case after Falcone had finally been arrested for possession of drugs, Fred still believed there was more to this mystery than meets the eye.

“Until we find out why Falcone was shipping those drugs and what they’re actually made for or out of, this mystery hasn’t been solved.” Fred said, as he sat in “The Malt Shop” in Gotham City (which I have to say is not as clean as Metropolis’s “Malt Shop”) with Shaggy, Scooby, Elmo, and me, just a couple of days after our experience at the docks. Velma was busy getting another newspaper that would give us more clues to our situation.

“Like, I think it’s best for us to just drop the whole thing.” Shaggy suggested (of course). “There’s a giant bat out there, man. And he’s got all of the bad guys spooked. And if they’re spooked, that means I have a reason to be, too.”

“Shaggy, we can’t back out of this.” I simply told him, like I always do. “Whatever went down with Falcone and his men must be huge, if he’s got a crooked cop like Detective Flass working with him.” While I was talking, I couldn’t help but to look over at Elmo, who was just sitting down and drinking his milkshake like the good little monster he was. I felt real sorry for the poor little guy, being caught up in all of this corruption and intrigue. No resident of a friendly Metropolitan neighborhood like Sesame Street belongs in a dreadful, filthy place like Gotham City.

“It’s huge alright.” Someone said, and we looked up to see Velma come up to the booth that we were sitting at, throwing down a newspaper that had a different photo of Carmine Falcone on the front page. It was a photo of him looking more frightened than Shaggy and Scooby combined, with a straightjacket on and quarts of saliva coming out of his mouth (Ewww!).

“That’s a funny face Mr. Falcone is making.” Elmo uttered, laughing a little. He was oblivious to the fact that Falcone looked that way because he had fallen into a state of insanity (pure insanity, I might add). “Why does Mr. Falcone make that weird face?”

“That’s a good question, Elmo.” Fred said, playfully rubbing his fingers through Elmo’s fuzzy red fur. He was doing a terrific job in making our little monster-detective feel like he was part of team (which he was) by pretending to be proud of the simplest things he did. However, Velma was not pretending to be smart (and a little creepy) with the deductions she made after showing us that headline.

“The last person to see Mr. Falcone, before he started going remarkably insane, was Dr. Crane—the same Jonathan Crane that we visited at Arkham, and the same Jonathan Crane who we found out was meeting Carmine Falcone at the docks the other evening.” Velma said, and by the determined tone in her voice, I could tell she had been anxious to find some dirt on Dr. Crane, who was a joke to everything Velma believed in psychiatry. Elmo could somehow tell the same thing, too.

“Are you mad, Velma?” He asked, and Velma did realize that she was about to loose her cool, so she just simply smiled at the cute, furry red monster.

“I’m just a little excited that this mystery is almost solved, Elmo.” Velma said. “Before you know it, we’ll be back on Sesame Street, and you can tell all your friends how you put an evil doctor behind bars.” When Elmo should have seemed excited, he looked rather confused from what Velma had told him.

“Dr. Crane is evil?” Elmo asked. “He seemed like such a good man to Elmo.” We just looked at each other, wondering if we should tell Elmo the truth about Crane. But we all decided (at least mentally) to not infect Elmo’s clean mind with thoughts of corrupted physicians, because he was just learning about detective work as it is.

“Forget I said that, Elmo.” Velma remarked. “Dr. Crane is a nice man who just is a little confused and doesn’t understand what he’s doing, which is why we’re solving this case to help him and other people out.” Believing in Velma’s remark, Elmo just simply nodded in reply and continued with his milkshake, while we decided on what else to do.

“So Falcone is remaining at Arkham no matter what.” Fred said. “That just leaves the mystery of Dr. Jonathan Crane and this mysterious drug to be solved, and it’s obvious—well, at least to us—that they’re both connected.”

“So we should have this mystery solved by dinnertime?” Shaggy asked, and as usual, the thought of food had him and Scooby licking the drool off their mouths. Fred and I were excited for a different reason; we were solving a crime that could save millions of lives. But the only person that wasn’t too pleased was Velma, who remained frowning with determination.

“Wrong, Freddy.” She said. “There has also been some news going around that Wayne Enterprises have come across a thief. A prototype weapon had been stolen from one of the cargo ships last night.” The rest of us just looked at each other in concern, wondering just how much bigger was this mystery going to become.

“What kind of weapon?” I asked Velma, who didn’t have to be worried about explaining technological stuff to me, since I’ve been learning how to fix a hair dryer in less than a second.

“It’s a microwave emitter, Daphne.” She told me. “It’s designed for desert warfare, using focused microwaves to vaporize the enemy’s water supply. Sources at Wayne Enterprises say that two redheaded boys—one with a brain the size of a pea and the other with skin as white as snow—were spotted at the scene with a blonde, noseless girl with an sour attitude and a ghostly figure wearing a strange mask. They also say that a combination of petty crooks and high-tech robots were there as well.” Upon hearing the description of the thieves, Shaggy and Scooby instantly got the chills, clinging onto each other as they always do when they’re scared.

“L-Like, w-w-what’s upon with t-that, m-m-man?” Shaggy stammered.

“What would a bunch of kids and a ghost want with a microwave emitter?” Fred asked, seeming more puzzled about this increasingly weird mystery than the rest of us.

“It sounds like they’re kids out there that are more meddlesome than we are.” I joked, but no one was in the mood for laughing (Hey, I know fashion, not comedy).

“Man! What the heck is going on?” Fred asked, though none of us had the answers yet. “What’s in these drugs that’s so big, the criminals are getting younger and younger?” I was going to make another lame joke about youth formula or something, but I just decided to save it for later.

“The only way we’re going to find out is by finding Jonathan Crane, who I’m starting to believe is the ringleader in all of this.” Velma said, and once we heard the slurping sound that signified that Elmo was finished with his milkshake, we got up from the booth and left “The Malt Shop” to get inside the Mystery Machine van outside. While we were trekking through the streets and finding leads that would take us straight to Crane, news on the radio had come up about the police putting an A.P.B. out on the costumed vigilante than they were addressing as “Batman” (catchy name, but a little corny at the same time). An interview with Police Commissioner Loeb proved that he was determined to find the Batman and keep him from taking the law into his own hands, which he said made the situation worse.

Later in the evening, it started to rain, and we had yet found any leads to Dr. Crane. Just when we were about to give up hope, Elmo had spotted a familiar face moving away from a nearby vendor on the street. When the rest of us had realized that it was Detective Flass, we were extraordinarily proud of Elmo (that time for real) for his quick scouting skills.

“You’re becoming a better detective than us, Elmo.” I complimented him, with a big kiss on his cute little orange nose. Though it was hard to tell from his red furry face, I could tell I made him blush.

Fred immediately pulled the van over to the sidewalk and allowed all of us to jump out from the Mystery Machine and follow Flass into a dark part of the street. The slimy, fat creep was too slow to avoid us, and by the time we were inches away from him, we started asking our questions. However, before Flass could even realize that we were there, something had yanked him from the pavement and pulled him up between the two buildings near us. When he was at least twenty-five feet above us, we saw how he had come face-to-face with none other than Batman himself.

“That’s him! That’s him! That’s the giant bat that Elmo saw!” Elmo exclaimed, and Fred, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and I could hardly believe what we were seeing, as the Batman began interrogating Flass, asking him some of the questions that we were about to ask.

“Who was with Falcone at the docks?” Batman asked, and Flass (as nervous and frightened as he could be) wondered if it was best to respond to Batman’s question.

“I…I don’t know.” He replied, which might’ve been a huge mistake. “I swear to God!”

“SWEAR TO ME!!!!!!” Batman bellowed, before Flass was dropped three flights down on the wire that Batman had him on. He nearly fell onto us, until he stopped and was whipped back up to where Batman was crouching in the shadows high above.

“I never knew his name…never…” Flass told Batman, and we wanted to intervene (as we always had done) and give Batman the suspect’s name. But it was our suspicions of this “Batman” character that kept us from saying anything at all.

“Tell me what you do know about him!” Batman demanded, viciously.

“S-Sometimes shipments went to this guy before they went to the dealers.” Flass replied. “There was something else in the drugs…something hidden…”

“WHAT?!!” Batman screamed, and the tone in his voice nearly had me spilling my guts (that didn’t come out right, did it?).

“I don’t know! It’s something!!” Flass cried. “I never went to the drop-off. It’s in the Narrows. Cops can’t go into the Narrows, except in force!”

“Batman can.” He said, just as he looked down at where we were. “And maybe those meddling kids can, too.” After saying that, he dropped Flass back down to our location again and stopped him once he was a few inches from the ground. Batman disconnected the wire from the ankle of Detective Flass, making his fat carcass dropped to the pavement with a loud thug.

“Man, I sure wouldn’t have wanted to be you that moment.” Shaggy told Flass, as we looked up to where Batman had been, seeing how there was no longer anyone there. And with that, we left the slimy Flass lying on the muddy concrete and hopped back into the Mystery Machine, heading to the Narrows.

A few minutes later, we arrived in a neighborhood that was Sesame Street minus a million. It was a ramshackle labyrinth of crumbling public housing, with makeshift additions growing like fungus around an insane asylum. It was disgusting and revolting…it was the Narrows…and it was here where we would find Dr. Crane.

Parking the Mystery Machine at a safe distance, we came across a warehouse built around the monorail tracks that ran through the city. That’s where we decided to begin our search for Dr. Crane, and when we found a massive shipping crate by a freight elevator on the top floor, we knew that we instantly hit the jackpot, especially considering the fact that the microwave emitter was inside of it.

“Now all we have to do is find…” Fred said, and he quickly shut himself up, once he heard some noises in the distance. We immediately hit in separate shadowy places (I hid with Elmo in one section, keeping the little guy calm while we did), while seven people entered the room: two men that were dock employees (obviously, I could tell from their distasteful sense of fashion), a redheaded boy with pale skin and red eyes (wearing makeup on his face in the form of black eyeliner under his eyes, a black overcoat, and a pair of goggles over his forehead), a blonde girl (who oddly matched the description of one of the cargo ship thieves), another redheaded boy who had a pink, oversized nose and wore a blue/white striped shirt and a red hat to cover his red hair (who looked to be the brainless one of the group), a purple ghost that looked like a translucent octopus with eyes that were similar to the pale-skinned kid’s goggles and a masked face that resembled his backpack, and then there was Dr. Crane himself.

“Isn’t this fun, Mandy?!” The redhead with the oversized nose said to the noseless blonde, with a weird giggle. “We get to be the bad guys!”

“Technically, Billy, we’re not the bad guys.” The noseless blonde (Mandy) said, in a very monotone voice. “We’re just putting Gotham out of its misery, before anything else negative happens to it. Personally, I don’t mind the lives of billions of people suffering day in and day out.”

“Enough of this chatter, when are we going to get to doing the real wicked stuff.” The pale-skinned kid asked, while the ghost just grinned at him.

“Patience, Jack.” She told him. “Our boss wants to keep things under wraps until the time comes.” The pale-skinned kid (who I guess I start referring to as Jack) went over the crate and placed his hands over it, grinning as he did.

“Man, would I love to see the geniuses that created this nifty device.” Jack said. “I could create one just like it…if I had the necessary equipment.”

“You mean if you had the necessary intelligence.” Mandy insulted, and Jack turned away from the crate to shoot a dirty look at her, while his ghostly companion hovered over his shoulder and smiled at Mandy.

“You are becoming a girl after my own heart…that is, if I had a heart.” The ghost commented. “I am starting to enjoy this alliance we have formed.”

“Don’t get too comfortable with it, Wuya.” Mandy uttered. “Once we get to wiping out Gotham City, I’m going back to making the Grim Reaper’s life a living…”

“Hello!!” Billy (the pink-nosed kid) yelled to someone that I couldn’t see from the hiding place that Elmo and I were in.

“Who are you talking to, doofus?” Mandy asked him, and just as she and the others turned to see what Billy was seeing, all of them reacted in surprise, especially the ones known as Wuya and Jack.

“Oh, no!!” Jack screamed. “What are you idiots doing here?!?!”

“We have come to stop whatever it is that you are attempting, Jack Spicer.” The voice that was talking sounded like that of a small Asian child.

“And, dude, it looks like whatever you’re attempting is nothing but dangerous.” Another voice said, sounding a little older than the previous voice but with a Brazilian accent.

“Who are these weirdoes?” Mandy asked, not looking very impressed or intimidated by these other strangers.

“What’s going on, Daphne?” Elmo whispered to me, and I simply just shrugged my shoulders in response, while two characters stepped out to where we could see them: a young, blue-eyed Japanese girl with black hair that was in the style of pigtails and a slightly bulky blonde-haired kid wearing a cowboy hat (both of them were wearing short red robes and white pants or stockings).

“Whoever your friends are, I hope they’re ready to get their butts kicked just as hard as yours.” The Japanese girl said.

“And we also hope they’re not afraid either.” The cowboy added, and Jack laughed at his statement.

“Afraid? Of what?!” Jack asked, and soon after he did, Batman jumped out from the shadows and attacked Jack, Crane, and the other criminals. One of the dock employees pulled out a gun and Batman smashed his arm to the ground, making him drop the gun. The other dock employee moved in from the side, but a fast elbow to the neck dropped him. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Suddenly, a small child with a large yellow head jumped high into the air and knocked Jack down from behind, while another kid with brown hair and dark green eyes came behind Billy and Mandy and threw them into an empty crate, which the Japanese girl and the cowboy closed and locked afterwards.

The ghost known as Wuya had disappeared from the scene, leaving Dr. Crane the only one for the heroes (which I could assume they were from the way they dealt with those criminals) to take down. But as soon as they had turned to Crane, the evil doctor was wearing his creepy mask again and reaching out towards them. As quick as the heroes had dodged it, a flash of smoke puffed out from underneath Crane’s sleeve. But the smoke had already gotten into their lungs, and they were left coughing and staggering all over the room.

“Oh, no!” The child with the yellow head screamed, as he gasped and choked. “Squirrels…Massive, terrifying squirrels…everywhere!!!” Neither Elmo or I understood what the child was screaming about, nor even the screams from the other characters puzzled us more.

“No! No! I threw you away a long time ago! STAY BACK!!!!” The Japanese girl shouted.

“Don’t kiss me, Grandma! I can’t stand the way you pinch my cheeks!!” The cowboy yelled.

“No! You don’t exist! You’re only in my imagination! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!” The Brazilian kid cried.

All of their screams were occurring as Batman struggled to stand on his own two feet and fluttered his arms out at the air, as if there was something flying around him that frightened him. They were all screaming in terror over something that neither of us could see, and it was all because of Dr. Crane, who started pouring gasoline all over Batman.

“Why don’t you lighten up?” Crane said, just as he turned on a lighter and tossed it at Batman, who burst into flames. While Crane had made a quick retreat, the flaming Batman spun and leaped desperately at the nearest window, smashing through it and falling several feet to the ground. Once the other heroes fought through their fears long enough to realize what happened to their companion, they left the room and escaped the warehouse.

Elmo and I had stepped out from our hiding place, as did Freddy, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby, and we all went to the broken window to see what had happened to Batman. From what we could tell, the wet pavement had doused the flames that were on him, just in time for his fear-filled friends to stumble out of the warehouse and come to his aide. As they did, three more figures that we recognized had come out of nowhere: Count von Count and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, and Detective Sean Thomas of the Metropolis Police Department.

“What’s Oscar and Count doing here?” Elmo asked.

“Better question is why a Metropolitan detective is in Gotham, helping the police’s number one target?” Fred asked, and we all watched with interest as a Rolls Royce pulled up near the group and took them in, driving them away from the Narrows afterwards.

“Gang, something tells me this mystery is far from being solved.” Fred said, and we all (of course) gave him that “No, duh!” look that we had been giving him since we were part of the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency.

END OF CHAPTER FIVE​

 

[The Count]

.... Mmm, very good chapter.
You know, I was confused about the assistant crimnals at first. Knew you were talking about Billy and Mandy, ut I thought their accomplices were Grim ad Erwin. Surprised me just a ittle, though it clarified things, to find out it was just Jack Spicer and Wuia. So, you're using Wuia in ghost form instead of human form huh? Could work, especially should there be theopening needed for crossovers in the sequel to this, The Dark Knight on Ssame Street o The Dark Knight Before Christmas n Sesame Sreet.

Very much liked you referencing th Shadow of Fears episode here directly. And I also appreciate the descripts of all the characters involved, helps me envision them a bit better now. Hpe for more story soon, take care.

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Six​

It was amazing how Bruce Wayne could survive such a big fall, while being engulfed in flames and under the influence of a dangerous toxin. In fact, it just downright impressed Count, Oscar, Alfred, Dojo, and me that our friends were still alive after the previous evening. For two days had they been unconscious, fighting through the effects of the gas that Jonathan Crane forced them to breathe, and when their condition had worsened after the first day, we called Mr. Fox over to check up on them.

According to Mr. Fox, who tested the blood samples that we sent him, what went into their lungs was some kind of weaponized hallucinogen that was administered in aerosol form. It could be synthesized into an antidote (I made sure to tell him that we might need more that a few, in case our adversaries get this thing out into the air all around the city or the world), but Fox did let us know that it could be a difficult task to handle.

When Bruce and the monks-in-training regained consciousness, they suffered the most horrendous headaches ever. In Omi’s own words, he was having a “slicing headache,” but none of us had the heart to tell the little guy that he meant “splitting headache” (probably would have made him feel worse). We alerted them of what Fox had explained to us about the drug and a possible antidote, but it was finding the source of the problem that they were most determined about (gotta admit that despite the pain they were going through and the fact that it was Bruce’s 30th birthday that day, they were no doubt strong warriors).

Later that afternoon, while Alfred and the mini-monks were getting decorations together and Count was putting the thirty candles on the birthday cake, Rachel Dawes came over and visited Bruce to wish him a happy birthday and give him a small present. The mini-monks, the boys from Sesame Street, and I crowded around Bruce to see what the present was, but before he could open it, Rachel received a call from her assistant, regarding the legally insane Carmine Falcone.

“They keeping him at Arkham Asylum? I thought we agreed that he should be moved to a safer clinic!” Rachel yelled, a bit of anger within the tone of her voice. “Suicide watch?! Who authorized that?!” While Rachel was talking to her assistant, Bruce and I exchanged glances with the mini-monks, Oscar, and Count, each of us getting an idea of what was happening that moment. “Get Crane there right now, and don’t take no for an answer! And call Dr. Lehmann, because we’ll need our own assessment on the Judge’s desk by morning.”

“Anything we can do to help, ma’am?” Clay asked Rachel, while Oscar just rolled his eyes in discouragement.

“Oh, don’t encourage her, will ya?” Oscar said, and Kimiko meant to elbow him in the side to shut him up, but ended up banging her elbow against the side of his trash can instead, hurting it a little.

“Ouch!!” She cried, and Oscar snickered, while I just simply slammed the lid over his head and leaned on it. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” I said, just as Rachel said her goodbyes to Bruce and the rest of us.

“You’re going to Arkham now?” Bruce asked her. “It’s in the Narrows.” She just smiled at him, as she placed her hand over the one he held his birthday gift in.

“You have yourself a great time, Bruce.” She replied. “Some of us have work to do.” And before leaving the mansion, she gave him one soft look and said, “Happy Birthday.” While she was leaving, Bruce opened up the present and picked up a note inside that said, “Finders Keepers,” before he looked further inside and spotted a small arrowhead stone.

“What’s the story behind the rock?” I asked Bruce, and when Oscar heard what I said from inside the trashcan, he didn’t hesitate to give his opinion.

“A rock?!?!” Oscar bellowed. “Who does she think you are? Charlie Brown?!” Raimundo, getting a little tired of Oscar’s grouching, gave a little kick against the side of the trashcan and made a lot hollow noise that irritated even Oscar himself. “HEY! CUT IT OUT!!!” Before Bruce can give us any explanation to the birthday present, he turned away from the front doorway of the mansion and headed upstairs, with Alfred and the rest of us following him close behind.

“Hey, hey! Where’s the fire?” Dojo asked Bruce.

“You’re going back to the Narrows, aren’t you?” I asked him.

“We’ve come too close just to quit now.” Bruce responded, and the mini-monks agreed with that assessment.

“Yes, especially now that we have discovered that Jack Spicer and Wuya are in league with our enemies.” Omi stated.

“Not to mention those two weird characters that were hanging out with them and Dr. Crane at the scene of the crime.” I added. “And if they’re still creeping around near that same warehouse in the Narrows, then it’s crucial that we get there in time to warn Rachel.”

“But, Master Wayne, the guests will be arriving.” Alfred said, and Bruce stopped for a moment and turned to him, handing him Rachel’s birthday present.

“Keep them happy until I arrive.” Bruce ordered. “Tell them that joke you know.” While Bruce was heading into the study with the mini-monks, I turned to Count and gave him my own order.

“Stay here with Alfred, Count.” I said. “Help him keep them busy with a game of…of…”

“Counting the number of wine bottles in the cellar.” Count suggested, and though I had something else in mind like singing karaoke, that idea sounded somewhat better.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” I acknowledged, right before I lifted Oscar’s trashcan and carried him over to the study. “And you’re coming with us, Oscar.”

“Why?! Do you have any idea how stupid it is hanging out with you guys?” He asked from inside the trashcan, and I just ignored his complaint, just as I came into the room and noticed how Bruce hit four notes on the piano and made a nearby bookcase swing open. We all stepped through the opening and descended down a stone staircase, coming upon the top of a wrought iron spiral staircase and stepping onto the dumb waiter at its center afterwards.

Bruce pulled a lever and released the lift, which plummeted down the center of the spiraling stair. When we reached the bat cave area, the lift hit the bottom with a great rattle, and Bruce went to a padlocked box. He opened it to reveal his bat suit, hanging in the box and having the appearance of a phantom, with its black eyes staring back at us.

“I will never get use to your idea of symbolism, Mr. Wayne.” Omi said, as Bruce reached for the suit.

~~~~~~~~~~​

Elmo and his Mystery Inc. friends were really nervous about going about to Arkham Asylum (Elmo wasn’t so sure why he was nervous, because he was excited about going to see Dr. Crane again). When we arrived at Arkham Asylum in that grouchy neighborhood called “The Narrows,” Elmo and his friends didn’t come in the same way as before. Fred drove the Mystery Machine into a really dirty and dark alleyway and parked it there (that really puzzled Elmo).

“Why aren’t we going through the front door?” Elmo asked his friends, and they smiled at Elmo, as we all hopped out of the Mystery Machine.

“Well, Elmo, this isn’t any ordinary visit we’re taking to Arkham.” Velma said. “We’re taking a secret way in, because we don’t want to be spotted by Dr. Crane.”

“How come we don’t want to be spotted by Dr. Crane?” Elmo asked, really confused. “Are Elmo’s friends scared of Dr. Crane?”

“Boy, you can say that again.” Shaggy replied, and Elmo had no idea why Shaggy would say something like that, and Elmo didn’t understand why Scooby would shush him after he said it.

“We’ll explain it all later, Elmo.” Velma said, before Fred led Elmo and everybody else through a dirty-looking door that had the words “Keep Out!” printed on it. Elmo knew that whenever a sign like that was up, it meant that nobody could go in. But Elmo should tell his Mystery Inc. friends that, because they just ignored it as Elmo and them went inside.

Elmo and his friends went through a really dark, dirty, and wet hallway, while hearing people yelling far away. Elmo had no idea why they were yelling like they were, but Elmo knew that it really scared Shaggy and Scooby. When Elmo and his friends came across an elevator, we took it down to the basement of the Arkham Asylum, where he came into a hallway that was even dirtier, darker, and wetter than the other one. Elmo would think somebody clean up the hallways every now and then.

“Elmo hear water running.” Elmo told his friends, who heard it also. Elmo and his Mystery Inc. friends went further and came into a really big room, where the same people that Elmo and his friends saw two days ago were making some powdery stuff and dumping it all into this huge pipe that had water running through it. “What are they doing?” When Elmo had asked that question, his friends had shushed him, meaning that Elmo shouldn’t have talked so loud. The people in the big room looked up at Elmo and his friends, and the redheaded kid named Jack Spicer pointed at us with an angry look on his face.

“Hey, what’re you meddling kids doing here?” Jack asked Elmo and his friends, and before Elmo could answer Jack’s question, Daphne grabbed Elmo and ran out of the room with him and his other Mystery Inc. friends. But before Elmo and his friends could get out, Dr. Crane (wearing his scarecrow mask) appeared and blocked the way out. Elmo liked Dr. Crane; but with that scary scarecrow mask on, Elmo didn’t.

“How nice of you kids to come and visit us again!” Dr. Crane told us, with a not-so-nice voice. “Perhaps you should have some of our medicine. It’ll clear your heads.” Dr. Crane then did something that Elmo thought was really cool: he sprayed a small puff of smoke from his sleeve and at Elmo and his friends. Elmo would have really enjoyed it, if it weren’t for all of the coughing and choking that Elmo was doing. And especially the…scary...very scary monsters…not like the ones on Sesame Street…that were coming at Elmo. Elmo never been so scared before…neither had his Mystery Inc. friends. Elmo wanted to go home…but scary Dr. Crane wouldn’t let us. Why Dr. Crane want to hurt Elmo and his friends?

~~~~~~~~~~​

The plan was simple: Oscar and I just sneak into Arkham and find out where Rachel was, and then we wait a while for the signal from Bruce and the mini-monks. Through an earpiece that Bruce had given me before walking in, I found out that Rachel was in the abandoned refectory…and she wasn’t alone. I discovered exactly what Bruce meant by that last part when Oscar and I were near the room and spotted the kids of Mystery Inc. and Elmo, looking as if they had seen the devil himself.

“What’s goin’ on?!” Oscar asked, and I shushed him, as he popped out from his trashcan and saw what I saw: poor little Elmo and the Mystery Inc. kids lying down on the floor and quivering like timid rabbits, while a terrified Rachel Dawes lied down on a table with the masked Dr. Crane staring down at her. She was obviously under the influence of his powdered drug (which I noticed was being mixed with the city’s entire water supply), because of the way she stared at him. Accompanying Crane at that time were the Xiaolin warriors’ worse enemies (the Heylin warriors known as Jack Spicer and Wuya) and the two kids from Gotham City’s worst neighborhood ever (Endsville’s Billy and Mandy).

“Those poor kids.” I said, as quietly as I could. “They don’t deserve to be caught up in any of this.”

“Neither do we.” Oscar whispered to me. “Seriously, Thomas, when ya gonna learn when to stop poking your nose in other people’s business. You turned a pleasant trip into a stupid police matter.”

“We never came to Gotham for vacation reasons, Oscar.” I told the grouch. “I came to look for Bruce, and finding him led me to all of this.”

“Whatever. I’m just gonna sit here in my can and pretend like none of this is happenin’.” Oscar declared.

“Then you do that.” I said, and as he lowered himself back into his trashcan, I focused on Dr. Crane and his process of scaring answers out of Rachel, who was too frightened to respond.

“She doesn’t know anything.” Jack assumed. “And even if she did, she’s too much of a scaredy cat to tell us anything we want to know.”

“No…someone sent her here.” Dr. Crane said, and soon after he did, all of the lights in the room had gone out. I looked around curiously, wondering if that was the signal that Bruce and the monks were giving me. But until they popped out from the shadows to confirm that, I stayed exactly where I was and squinted my eyes to see Jack Spicer clinging on to one of his robotic creations like a scared little girl.

“Who’s the scaredy cat now?” Mandy told him, and Jack stopped screaming long enough to contradict her.

“I’m not scared.” He said. “I just have a problem with the dark that’s all.” Jack got off his robot and stood close to Dr. Crane, who took off his scarecrow mask and looked towards the ceiling with a creepy, fascinated smile on his face.

“He’s here.” Crane said.

“Who?” Jack asked.

“The Batman.” Jack looked as if he had gone from being scared to furious in a split second.

“That could only mean Omi and his stupid friends are here, too.”

“What do we do?” Billy asked, looking like he was going to wet himself, while Mandy just coolly pulled out a cell phone.

“What anyone does when a prowler comes around.” She said, and Billy nervously (and stupidly) smiled at Mandy.

“Try to take over the world?” He asked, and I shook my head at his comment.

“No, you moron.” Mandy replied. “Call the police.”

“What? You want to bring the cops here?” Jack asked her. “No! Bad idea!”

“Have no fear, Mr. Spicer.” Crane said. “At this point, the cops are irrelevant. But the Batman…he has a talent for disruption. Let the cops wrangle him. Force him and those monks-in-training outside, and the police will take them all down.” He sounded like it was all going to be that easy.

“What about Dawes and the kids?” Jack asked, pointing to Rachel, Elmo, and the Mystery Inc. kids.

“They’re all gone.” Crane replied, and when he said that, my heart nearly jumped out from my chest, because the last thing any of us (at least those who cared) wanted was for Rachel, Mystery Inc., and Elmo (especially Elmo) to be dead. “I gave each of them a concentrated dose. The mind can only take so much.”

“You monster.” I muttered, while calming myself before I blew our plans.

“Hey, Doc…the things they say about Batman…is it really true?” Jack asked. “Can he really fly?”

“I hears he can disappear…like magic.” Billy added, and Dr. Crane just grinned at the both of them.

“We’ll find out, won’t we?” That was the last thing Crane said before he backed into the shadows, leaving Jack and Wuya alone with Billy, Mandy, a few of Jack’s robots, and a few of Crane’s thugs.

“Aw, man! I hate this!” Jack shouted, just as we heard the sound of glass shattering, and five shadowy figures dropped from a high window. Realizing that was the signal, I stepped out of my hiding place and aimed my gun at all of them.

“Alright! Don’t move!” I yelled, and for a moment, all of their eyes were on me. But then our attention was aimed at one of the thugs who was grabbed from above and pulled up into the blackness of the rafters, screaming in the process.

“What the heck?!” Jack screamed, just as Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Raimundo appeared and took out all of Jack’s robots, using different Xiaolin moves that represented the four elements (earth, water, fire, and wind). “Don’t think those are the only ones I brought with me, punks.” Jack reached underneath his coat and pulled out a remote control that he used to call in some more of his robots. While the mini-monks were destroying the bots, Batman came down and crippled Crane’s thugs in seconds.

As all of the fighting was taking place, I tried looking around for Crane, who was nowhere to be seen or found. Glancing all around the room, my eyes had stopped on Billy and Mandy, who were fleeing the scene. However, they did not go empty-handed; they had taken Oscar’s trashcan with them, and Oscar was still in it (I could tell, because he was screaming obscenities from inside it). I attempted to run after the little juveniles, but the whimpers that came from the frightened Mystery Inc. kids and Elmo kept me from taking another step. They were still alive, and my only concern was to see that they were kept that way. So I went to the kids and checked on them.

“You all okay?” I asked them, and Elmo looked up at me with frightened eyes—he was suffering from Crane’s drug the worst.

“D-Detective Thomas…I see bad monsters.” Elmo told me, and I just stroked my right hand across the poor little fella’s furry red head and calmed him down.

“Take it easy, Elmo.” I said. “Everything going to be…” And before I could finish, something (or someone) popped out of the shadows and approached me. I looked up and realized that it was Crane (wearing his scarecrow mask again), with his left arm high and aimed at my face. He would have fired his toxic gas at me again, if Batman had arrived in time to grab his arm and move it away from me. Luckily Bruce had shown up at the right time, because if he fired that stuff with me standing over Elmo, the furry red monster might’ve been fed another dose and surely would’ve been brain dead.

I watched Batman as he wrestled with Dr. Crane, removing his mask and bringing him in closer to Jack, who was sent flying backwards towards Crane and Batman, after a fierce kick to the chest by Kimiko. With Jack near him and Crane, Batman ripped Crane’s jacket open and pulled out the source of his weapon, a rubbery bag full of toxin.

“Time for you boys to have a taste of your own medicine!” Batman exclaimed, and the eyes on Jack and Crane went wide, as Batman squeezed the bag and sent a choking cloud of dust into their faces. Wuya, seeing the trouble that the two were in, decided to make a hasty retreat by gliding out of the room and through a wall. We all surrounded Jack and Dr. Crane, as they both fell to the ground. I could only imagine how they both saw us (especially Bruce, with his Batman suit on), while under the influence of that toxin. My best guess was five grotesque looking zombies with red glowing eyes, along with a black-eyed, horned, winged demon with fangs.

“Not so tough when you’re under your own medication, aren’t ya?” Kimiko asked them, right before Batman grabbed Dr. Crane and pulled him up to his feet, so that they were face-to-face. Seeing how wide Crane’s eyes were in complete terror, it must have been horrifying for him to see such a hideous version of Batman from his point of view.

“Who are you working for?!” Batman asked him.

“Ra’s…Ra’s…Al Ghul…” Crane stammered with his answer, and the mini-monks and I looked at each other, really confused.

“He’s lying! Ra’s Al Ghul is dead!” Kimiko shouted. “We saw him die.”

“Who are you really working for, Crane?” Batman asked again, but the doctor was beginning to show signs of fading into lunacy, while seeing the “demon version” of Batman. “CRANE!!!!” He just simply smiled at Batman, with his eyes glazing, his mind flying, and images cascading through his fevered brain.

“Dr. Crane isn’t here right now, but if you’d like to make an appointment…” He said, and while Batman tossed the brain-toasted Dr. Crane away, Omi attempted to interrogate Jack. But before Omi could even touch him, the little freak just screamed like a girl again and fainted.

“No doubt they have jumped the cage.” Omi said, and it only took us a second to realize what he actually said.

“I think you mean, ‘Flown the coop’.” I corrected him.

“That, too.” Omi remarked, just as we heard the sound of sirens outside, followed by the amplified voice of a Gotham police officer.

“Batman! Put down your weapons and surrender!” The officer demanded. “You are surrounded.”

“Oh, this is just getting better and better.” Raimundo said, obviously being sarcastic, while Kimiko and I moved to the nearest window and looked outside at the police cars that were surrounding the asylum, with several cops standing near them, guns drawn and waiting. As the Arkham Asylum staff emerged from the building, I noticed how Detectives Gordon and Flass had arrived—only one could help us get out of this mess.

“Sean, you’re a detective.” Kimiko reminded me. “Why don’t you step out of there and tell them we’re the good guys?”

“As much as that sounds like a good idea, it’s actually a bad one.” I told her. “I’m way out of their jurisdiction. They’ll arrest me the moment I step out of the building.” When Batman came up to us and looked out the window as well, he noticed the same thing we did: Detective Gordon moving away from the side of Flass and entering the building.

“I have a plan.” Batman said.

“Of course you do.” I uttered, as we moved from the window and towards Rachel, Elmo, and the Mystery Inc. kids.

“Let’s get them upstairs.” After her gave the orders, the mini-monks and I used all of our strength to pick up each member of the Mystery Inc. gang and Elmo, while Batman picked the barely conscious Rachel up from the table. We carried them to the upper sections of Arkham Asylum, evading the SWAT officers that were busting their way in through the front door.

END OF CHAPTER SIX​

 

[The Count]

Hmmm... This was another good chapter. Advancing the lotline of the movie. Fight scene at Arkham between Batman and Scarecrow. Intoxication of Rachael, Mystery Inc., and Elmo. Fight between Jack Spicer and the mini-monks. Bit worried where Billy and Mandy took Oscar off to though.
The only problem I have with this chapter is the shifting first person narrative thrughout the entire chapter. It makes it a bit diffcult to know who's talking and soetimes it doesn't match up well. Take for instance the part where Mandy calls the Gotham PD on her cell phone, that's one instance of where the shift in narration sticking in first person causes slight confusion. Try to keep it in first person narrative for the one person who's doing the main narration, but allow for the individual characters to deliver their own dialogue.

On another note... There's a Billy and Mandy movie planned to debut in March as part of CN's Movie Madness campaign. That'll be the fifth one so far based on one of their shows, though they're more of special hour-long episodes instead (except fr KND: Operation Zero). The Where's Lazlo? move/special was good, it was kind of an origin episode explaining their first adventure at Camp Kidney. Hope for more story soon.

 

[muppetwriter]

Take for instance the part where Mandy calls the Gotham PD on her cell phone, that's one instance of where the shift in narration sticking in first person causes slight confusion.

Where did you get confused on that part? The whole first and last parts of the chapter were narrated by my character, while that one part in between was narrated by Elmo.

 

[The Count]

Yes... Figured it was your character. But that's the problem. If it's your character who's going to be speaking, then when you switch to another character like Elmo or Mandy in the example I pointed out, it doesn't help to have it stay in first person narrative because the reader thinks it's still Sean Thomas speaking when Elmo's the one who's taken over narration duties. Needs to be redone so the reader knows who's talking is what I'm trying to say.

Oh... Wanted to ask, you've seen various episodes of Billy and Mandy. If you could help me out, what does Lord Pain look like? Working on something and I think he'd be the right base for the character I have in mind, but as always, I need visual help. Hope to hear from you soon and that more story gets posted as well.

 

[muppetwriter]

It's kind of hard to do a first person narrative with Elmo, seeing as how he's always referring to himself in the third person. But I'll be sure to give everyone a head's up for who's narrating next time.

Not quite certain what Lord Pain looks like, because I haven't seen that episode of Billy and Mandy yet. I just found out online that this year will mark the show's final season. If that's the case, then I'm glad I'd decided to include them into this tale.

 

[The Count]

F-f-f-f-final season?!?!?!?!? Where'd you hear that? Aw maaaaan, I'm losing a bunc of shows I like this year. This makes e a bit sad, while makes me appreciate the shows still in production for now, and wonder if there'll be anything this good that'll capture my attention next year. Hope it's not true, but I'm often left flicking channel to channel trying to find good programming in the animation storytelling department from year to year. Thanks, take care.

 

[muppetwriter]

Well, this is what I read off of Wikipedia's article on the series:

The show is scheduled to end post-production in spring 2007, after having 78 half-hour episodes, which is as many half hours as Cartoon Network has given to any of its series. This is according to Maxwell Atoms's blog on MySpace.

I also found out from there that by this October, there's going to be a crossover between it and Codename: Kids Next Door (they're calling it "The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door").