Needless to say, the boys and I did not get any sleep after what happened.
We wound up staying awake and alert for the rest of the night, doing a headcount on all the villains that posed as a threat to us thus far in this adventure, and what our steps would be once the barrier went down at 9 that morning. Bane and J-man swapped places guarding the entrance, while Gavin made periodic rounds checking in on the halls upstairs.
Mulder and Scully had eventually altered their agreement, with the two ultimately exchanging places after all, despite Mulder protesting that he'd take the full watch.
As exhausted as the ambitious agent appeared, it didn't surprise me that he caved in.
It certainly was a long night, but with enough Pepsi to make anyone's kidneys explode, and all of us turning to eachother to randomly ask reality-shattering questions that left us pondering our own existence, we managed to stay afloat. Or maybe, given the clown we're dealing with, I should rather state that we managed to remain sleep-deprived, but somewhat functioning.
The boys sat around in various positions of the room, playing poker for lighters and animal crackers...since that's all that was sparingly laying around in the lobby, for reasons unknown..
while I was hanging off my chair, chewing gum and reciting all the Disney songs I knew by heart to pass the time. This went on for about an hour. I did the best I could, y'all, but there's only so many songs.
Gavin was tucked in the corner, sharpening his ninja tools, given that he wasn't a poker-playing man, while gradually sipping his green tea. So Japanese, I think I might cry.
"Demens, you aren't participating?" Master asked out of the blue, shuffling his deck.
I shook my head, my legs hanging off one arm of my chair, my head resting against the other.
"Nah, more of a Go Fish kinda gal."
"Ah, but Demens, what about Go Fish..for moolah?"
"Hard pass, J. I don't gamble. Unlike you louts, I'm actually smart with my dough."
"A girl smart with currency? How can this be true when you impulsively buy shoes, dresses and pretty diamonds?"
"Do you even know me at ALL, clown?"
He pretended to shift his cards around.
"Nay, the only things you'll find me spending moolah on are food, fandom merch and...well, basically, just food and fandom merch."
"Wow.." Master shifted his cards, unamused. "What an exciting life you lead."
"Do you even know how expensive all that girly girl crap is?! The lengths they go to beautify themselves?! Thank GOD I'm a tomboy!"
"I thought you swore up and down that you were a self-proclaimed tough girl, not a tomboy."
I made a face. "The more I interact with my own kind, the more I warm up to the title."
Joker took a swig of his drink. "You seem real comfortable fitting in with guys, so that doesn't surprise me, kid."
I exhaled in a somewhat sad manner, crossing my wrists as I stared up at the ceiling.
"I would hope so..I don't really...have any friends back home.."
"How is that even possible? I would think you'd have no trouble having connections."
"Online, sure, I know tons of people. But in person? I just...well....let's just say, you four really helped me come out of my shell."
The three villains paused and looked at me with natural surprise that I'd say something so positive regarding their influence on me. Master, of course, crinkled his nose at me with a petty attitude, not able to handle positivity. "You certainly had no trouble adjusting enough to give us an attitude all the bloody time!"
I only smirked. "Given enough time, I can get pretty far out of my shell."
Master shook his head, "I despise you."
"I despise you, too, darling."
"Not again!" Jim slapped the table and looked at the both of us, sternly.
"If you two are going to start this up, take it outside."
"But my dear Jim, why would I leave elsewhere when your elegance resides here?"
Jim swiveled his head at me, dropping his mouth, in utter shock at my blunt and sudden flirtation.
That makes two of us.
"Oh god." Master groaned, his face falling on the table. "She's cracked!"
Gavin chuckled at this, still sharpening his blade with diligence.
This brought Joker's attention to the quiet ninja, obviously feeling now that it was too long a gap since he last tormented him. "Stop flirting with other men in front of your boyfriend, Demens!"
I didn't even care, I was too tired to scream. "You're all my boyfriends."
"Is that so?" Joker pivoted in his chair to face me, his interest blatantly piqued.
"It's my charming good looks and charisma, ain't it?"
I rolled my eyes with a sigh, "Oh yes, your rambunctious tick of lip smacking and scar licking are to die for."
This pushed Gavin over the edge and he couldn't even begin to withhold his laughter.
He stopped everything altogether and leaned forward as he broke out in adorable giggles.
"What's so funny over there, chuckles?!" I exclaimed.
I got no answer.
I hummed and laid my head back, exhaling with thought. "Well at least someone laughs at my jokes."
He shook his head, "I'm sorry..I'm sorry, I just..you four's banter is enough to keep anyone around."
Jim rose a brow. "Quite true. Sarah should write a book."
This is the moment where one pretends they are in an episode of The Office and proceed to turn their head to the camera in inexplicable silence as they share a profoundly deep connection with the audience of a past situation. I had this moment, so intensely staring into the non existent camera ahead of me that my burning eyes became as dry as a cactus.
If only they knew..if only they knew.
"I'm hungry."
My attention snapped back to the Master, who abruptly slapped his deck on the table, screeched his chair back and stomped over to the fridge.
"That's right, you better." I quietly warned, always on edge whenever those words were uttered from his mouth. He dove into the cold appliance and emerged from our fully stocked shelves with an entire plate of chicken wings. My mouth sagged. "You addict!"
He made a face at me as he munched on a wing, chewing excruciatingly loud.
"What?!"
I pointed, "You need to do something about this chicken wing problem you have!"
He furrowed his brows, "I don't have a chicken wing problem!"
"Oh yes, you do!" "You really do, we've taken notice, mate."
Joker turned his head to him, with the utmost compassion in his expression.
"Your friends are here for you, Harry."
Master waved his wing in the air, "I do not have a chicken wing problem!!"
J's eyes drifted to me and Jim. "He's in denial."
He then skid his chair back and arose, approaching the Master only to lay a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't lash out. It's going to be okay."
The Master puffed up his cheeks and shook his head in frustration, staring at the floor, as his shoulders deflated. "I swear, I bloody hate you all."
Jim wagged his finger as he jumped up from his seat. "You shouldn't swear, Sarah doesn't like that."
Oh my word, these boys. I can't. I absolutely can't.
My attention was once again pulled back to Gavin, who emerged from his dark little corner to approach me, wielding a knife in his hand. I took immediate notice of it and humorously stared at it, crossing my eyes, pretending to be horridly unprepared by this shocking turn of events.
"Please, don't make me go out like this. This is the most least eventful death."
Gavin shook his head, laughing like an amused child.
"No, silly..I wouldn't dream of killing you, let alone with a knife."
He flipped the blade around with one hand and offered me the small object.
"Here..for you."
I blinked dumbfoundedly at the unexpected gesture, but slowly took it nevertheless.
"F--for me?"
He nodded, placing his hands in his pockets. "I sharpened and polished it. I couldn't help but notice that you needed a something for close combat situations.."
"..You're just giving me one of your weapons or did you specially pick it out for me?"
"..It's..one of mine...it's actually my 13th birthday gift from my father."
I jerked up in a panic, about ready to hand it back, but he only rose his hand up to stop me.
"Please don't. Keep it. It served its purpose with me..I know it sounds silly, but whenever I had it, fights always seemed to be averted and I just...just please. I want you to have it. It's special. You'll see. You need it more than I do.."
I crinkled my brows as I examined it.
His eyes lowered to the floor. "...I know it's not much..and a strange thing to-" "I love it."
His eyes flashed back to me as he straightened his back.
My own eyes lifted back to him and I smiled, gratefully. "Thank you...this means a lot."
He smiled, giving a soft nod. "You're welcome."
A weapon as a gift. And not just any weapon, but a personal item with years of sentimental value that someone gives you solely because they like you and want you safe and happy. Now there's a man.
The coolest part of this particular knife was that it was one of those butterfly knives which are freaking awesome and I have always wanted one and the fact that he just up and gave me one without the knowledge that I was secretly aiming to get one someday was pretty stellar.
It's like him and I are in sync.
Well, the moment only got awkward when a wild Bane suddenly appeared.
He mysteriously chose to stand in front of the two of us, which made me uncomfortable..
"Switch time already?" I asked, but received no answer.
He only stared down at us. Just a wee bit concerning..but as it turned out, his intentions were pretty darn pure, after all. "It has been said that in some cultures, men crafted the finest blades in place of rings for a woman's hand in marriage." He pointed at the blade in my hand. "It seems you are carrying on with that tradition."
This only made Gavin jump back, blushing like a madman as he instinctively held the back of his head. "Oh no! That's not what I..dear goodness!"
He was growing redder than a cheery, which he tried to hide as he frantically sought my help through wild eye contact. I only clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to keep from laughing.
I wasn't even mad.
"Bane..dear, he's not..." I giggled. Yes, giggled. Shuddup.
Bane only looked at us with the utmost confusion.
"Do you not hold feelings for Miss Demens?"
Gavin widened his eyes as he staggered over his words. "I..well, I..."
"Is this gift not a proclamation of your love?"
I was stifling my laughter so hard.
Poor Bane was so innocently shipping us, Gavin was so innocently flushed with panicked embarrassment, and poor me simply could not hold the laughter inside of me any longer.
I spurted it out, my lungs aching from the vicious seal noises escaping my own piehole.
All the while, Bane was looking even more confused, giving Gavin a look that suggested he was mentally judging him for not proposing to me.
I held my shaking head, despite my stomach needing the real attention from laughing too much.
"Oh my gosh, Bane. This is why you're my favorite, bro. You're so freaking precious."
"Nah, more of a Go Fish kinda gal."
"Ah, but Demens, what about Go Fish..for moolah?"
"Hard pass, J. I don't gamble. Unlike you louts, I'm actually smart with my dough."
"A girl smart with currency? How can this be true when you impulsively buy shoes, dresses and pretty diamonds?"
"Do you even know me at ALL, clown?"
He pretended to shift his cards around.
"Nay, the only things you'll find me spending moolah on are food, fandom merch and...well, basically, just food and fandom merch."
"Wow.." Master shifted his cards, unamused. "What an exciting life you lead."
"Do you even know how expensive all that girly girl crap is?! The lengths they go to beautify themselves?! Thank GOD I'm a tomboy!"
"I thought you swore up and down that you were a self-proclaimed tough girl, not a tomboy."
I made a face. "The more I interact with my own kind, the more I warm up to the title."
Joker took a swig of his drink. "You seem real comfortable fitting in with guys, so that doesn't surprise me, kid."
I exhaled in a somewhat sad manner, crossing my wrists as I stared up at the ceiling.
"I would hope so..I don't really...have any friends back home.."
"How is that even possible? I would think you'd have no trouble having connections."
"Online, sure, I know tons of people. But in person? I just...well....let's just say, you four really helped me come out of my shell."
The three villains paused and looked at me with natural surprise that I'd say something so positive regarding their influence on me. Master, of course, crinkled his nose at me with a petty attitude, not able to handle positivity. "You certainly had no trouble adjusting enough to give us an attitude all the bloody time!"
I only smirked. "Given enough time, I can get pretty far out of my shell."
Master shook his head, "I despise you."
"I despise you, too, darling."
"Not again!" Jim slapped the table and looked at the both of us, sternly.
"If you two are going to start this up, take it outside."
"But my dear Jim, why would I leave elsewhere when your elegance resides here?"
Jim swiveled his head at me, dropping his mouth, in utter shock at my blunt and sudden flirtation.
That makes two of us.
"Oh god." Master groaned, his face falling on the table. "She's cracked!"
Gavin chuckled at this, still sharpening his blade with diligence.
This brought Joker's attention to the quiet ninja, obviously feeling now that it was too long a gap since he last tormented him. "Stop flirting with other men in front of your boyfriend, Demens!"
I didn't even care, I was too tired to scream. "You're all my boyfriends."
"Is that so?" Joker pivoted in his chair to face me, his interest blatantly piqued.
"It's my charming good looks and charisma, ain't it?"
I rolled my eyes with a sigh, "Oh yes, your rambunctious tick of lip smacking and scar licking are to die for."
This pushed Gavin over the edge and he couldn't even begin to withhold his laughter.
He stopped everything altogether and leaned forward as he broke out in adorable giggles.
"What's so funny over there, chuckles?!" I exclaimed.
I got no answer.
I hummed and laid my head back, exhaling with thought. "Well at least someone laughs at my jokes."
He shook his head, "I'm sorry..I'm sorry, I just..you four's banter is enough to keep anyone around."
Jim rose a brow. "Quite true. Sarah should write a book."
This is the moment where one pretends they are in an episode of The Office and proceed to turn their head to the camera in inexplicable silence as they share a profoundly deep connection with the audience of a past situation. I had this moment, so intensely staring into the non existent camera ahead of me that my burning eyes became as dry as a cactus.
If only they knew..if only they knew.
"I'm hungry."
My attention snapped back to the Master, who abruptly slapped his deck on the table, screeched his chair back and stomped over to the fridge.
"That's right, you better." I quietly warned, always on edge whenever those words were uttered from his mouth. He dove into the cold appliance and emerged from our fully stocked shelves with an entire plate of chicken wings. My mouth sagged. "You addict!"
He made a face at me as he munched on a wing, chewing excruciatingly loud.
"What?!"
I pointed, "You need to do something about this chicken wing problem you have!"
He furrowed his brows, "I don't have a chicken wing problem!"
"Oh yes, you do!" "You really do, we've taken notice, mate."
Joker turned his head to him, with the utmost compassion in his expression.
"Your friends are here for you, Harry."
Master waved his wing in the air, "I do not have a chicken wing problem!!"
J's eyes drifted to me and Jim. "He's in denial."
He then skid his chair back and arose, approaching the Master only to lay a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't lash out. It's going to be okay."
The Master puffed up his cheeks and shook his head in frustration, staring at the floor, as his shoulders deflated. "I swear, I bloody hate you all."
Jim wagged his finger as he jumped up from his seat. "You shouldn't swear, Sarah doesn't like that."
Oh my word, these boys. I can't. I absolutely can't.
My attention was once again pulled back to Gavin, who emerged from his dark little corner to approach me, wielding a knife in his hand. I took immediate notice of it and humorously stared at it, crossing my eyes, pretending to be horridly unprepared by this shocking turn of events.
"Please, don't make me go out like this. This is the most least eventful death."
Gavin shook his head, laughing like an amused child.
"No, silly..I wouldn't dream of killing you, let alone with a knife."
He flipped the blade around with one hand and offered me the small object.
"Here..for you."
I blinked dumbfoundedly at the unexpected gesture, but slowly took it nevertheless.
"F--for me?"
He nodded, placing his hands in his pockets. "I sharpened and polished it. I couldn't help but notice that you needed a something for close combat situations.."
"..You're just giving me one of your weapons or did you specially pick it out for me?"
"..It's..one of mine...it's actually my 13th birthday gift from my father."
I jerked up in a panic, about ready to hand it back, but he only rose his hand up to stop me.
"Please don't. Keep it. It served its purpose with me..I know it sounds silly, but whenever I had it, fights always seemed to be averted and I just...just please. I want you to have it. It's special. You'll see. You need it more than I do.."
I crinkled my brows as I examined it.
His eyes lowered to the floor. "...I know it's not much..and a strange thing to-" "I love it."
His eyes flashed back to me as he straightened his back.
My own eyes lifted back to him and I smiled, gratefully. "Thank you...this means a lot."
He smiled, giving a soft nod. "You're welcome."
A weapon as a gift. And not just any weapon, but a personal item with years of sentimental value that someone gives you solely because they like you and want you safe and happy. Now there's a man.
The coolest part of this particular knife was that it was one of those butterfly knives which are freaking awesome and I have always wanted one and the fact that he just up and gave me one without the knowledge that I was secretly aiming to get one someday was pretty stellar.
It's like him and I are in sync.
Well, the moment only got awkward when a wild Bane suddenly appeared.
He mysteriously chose to stand in front of the two of us, which made me uncomfortable..
"Switch time already?" I asked, but received no answer.
He only stared down at us. Just a wee bit concerning..but as it turned out, his intentions were pretty darn pure, after all. "It has been said that in some cultures, men crafted the finest blades in place of rings for a woman's hand in marriage." He pointed at the blade in my hand. "It seems you are carrying on with that tradition."
This only made Gavin jump back, blushing like a madman as he instinctively held the back of his head. "Oh no! That's not what I..dear goodness!"
He was growing redder than a cheery, which he tried to hide as he frantically sought my help through wild eye contact. I only clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to keep from laughing.
I wasn't even mad.
"Bane..dear, he's not..." I giggled. Yes, giggled. Shuddup.
Bane only looked at us with the utmost confusion.
"Do you not hold feelings for Miss Demens?"
Gavin widened his eyes as he staggered over his words. "I..well, I..."
"Is this gift not a proclamation of your love?"
I was stifling my laughter so hard.
Poor Bane was so innocently shipping us, Gavin was so innocently flushed with panicked embarrassment, and poor me simply could not hold the laughter inside of me any longer.
I spurted it out, my lungs aching from the vicious seal noises escaping my own piehole.
All the while, Bane was looking even more confused, giving Gavin a look that suggested he was mentally judging him for not proposing to me.
I held my shaking head, despite my stomach needing the real attention from laughing too much.
"Oh my gosh, Bane. This is why you're my favorite, bro. You're so freaking precious."
I arose and laid my hands on either side of his arms, "He's just giving me a simple gift, bud. Not proposing or anything like that..and uh..we're just friends. Nothing more."
Bane looked at Gavin at that moment, his eyes indicating that something much more was at work in the mercenary's mind. "..Why is that?"
I blinked. ".....Because...."
Bane looked back down at me, pausing for a second. I frowned.
"..You care for one another..you shouldn't waste time."
His eyes darkly glared at Gavin, teeming with emotion beyond imagining.
"..Your window of opportunity will not last forever."
Here, he turned right around and walked away from us without another word.
Leaving us both feeling completely uncomfortable and in shock as if he just tried to strangle us.
I couldn't even make eye contact with Gavin, nor could he do so with me.
We were much too bewildered by Bane's mysterious behavior and why he was pushing us to admit something to eachother that not even we were sure about.
I mean, uh, ya know..I definitely don't have feelings for the boy, it's just...ya know.
...Words.
Then it started to occur to me..Talia.
This was about Talia.
Talia, who was killed in the final battle against Batman, that Bane must have discovered was killed upon resurrection, due to dying himself before her inevitable demise.
His love for her fueled his entire being. He gave up everything for her. Sacrificed so much for her.
The entire reason why he even wears a mask is from sustaining injuries received from protecting her.
The entire reason he was kicked out of the League of Shadows was his love for her..
Everything was for Talia.
And she was gone.
It now occurred to me why Bane was even more quiet than he once was so long ago..
He had lost so much of his meaning..his plans..his drive...now he wanders.
Not for adventure. Not for revenge.
...For purpose.
Bane was broken.
I had been too busy with the matter at hand to notice that Joker and Jim were in the background, desperately trying to rip the wing from Master's grasp, who was trying to protect his precious hoard of chicken, as the three entered a humorously vicious tug of war.
Master kept trying to make an escape, but the other two would have none of it.
Bane approached the three, trying to get Joker's attention for the next watch, but Joker waved him off with a 'Not now!' and poor Bane was left repeatedly trying to get his attention, stepping closer and closer as they got further and further.
I was baffled. The Joker and Jim Moriarty chasing the Master around to take his chicken wings away was pretty much the funniest thing I had seen yet. If only I had my camera in hand.
"Boys, stop trying to take Master's food."
Dear God, I sounded like their mother.
I immediately clamped my hand over my mouth for such a vile manner of authoritative speaking.
But they persisted.
"BOYS!"
Persistence intensifies.
I sighed and turned my head to Bane. He read my mind.
The brute stepped over to the three squabbling men and with one hand, he grabbed the back of Master's hoodie, twirling him to one side, then shoved the clown and consultant back with the other hand.
"ENOUGH." His masked voice commanded.
I smirked. That's RIGHT.
Master looked back in a shocked manner, as the others pouted..well, at least Jim pouted. J gave Bane narrowed eyes with a defeated slouch in his shoulders.
"Fine." They simultaneously surrendered.
"Never give up, never surrender. Isn't that what they said in Galaxy Quest, Sarah?"
"It is indeed. And kudos to you for knowing that movie, I am proud."
I sighed. "Which reminds me, boys..when all this is said and done, I need to teach you all the ways of the geek." "The ways of the geek? What does that even mean?"
"Aren't geeks the sciency fellows with glasses and suspenders?"
"No." I huffed with frustration. "You're thinking of NERDS. They are the brainy, schooly types..the geeks are people passionate about subjects like pop culture and stuff like that, and are well learned with the right knowledge of those particular subjects. Me, I am an extreme geek..I am honestly the geekiest person I know..it's not even funny...."
"We ain't laughing." "Shuddup. But yeah..there's a difference. Feel educated."
"I really don't."
"Ya know what, Master, give Joker the wings and chase him for awhile."
J made a face. "Ha-HA."
"I mean, I'm not opposed to this plan." Master commented, staring straight at Joker.
The two shared a moment of intense eye contact and I was beginning to fear I would have to break up yet another fight. I shook my head, slithering in between them deliberately to try and keep the peace.
"What even time is it, anyway, golly.."
I made for the clock.
"Half past 3." Jim declared.
"No..half past 5:30." "That would be..wait what?"
"Wrong, it's 7:14." "You're all wrong, it's 8:30. Just about showtime."
"Goodness, how the time flies when you're doing absolutely bloody nothing."
"Speak for yourself, I was very productive during quarantine!"
Joker puffed himself up with pride, laying a hand upon his chest.
"I rearranged my sock drawer."
I exhaled, deeply. "I genuinely can't believe sometimes that I know you three."
Jim slapped his forehead, grunting at Joker's shenanigans. "Idiot."
"Sissy."
Jim gasped, "No you!"
"You are, you little priss!" "You're just jealous that all the women want me!"
"HA! Your mother, maybe!" "At least I don't wear makeup!"
"Okay, but could we all act our age for five seconds and not like a bunch of teenage prom queens?"
Jim threw a finger at Joker. "HE is the prom queen! He cakes his face with makeup and has a girly little voice!" "He doesn't even fight; all he does is sissy slap!"
Jim swung around. "Peon!" "CANDY *BEEP*!" "TWISTED SISTER!"
"SPARKLE FAIRY!" "I WILL PUBLICLY NOMINATE YOU BOTH AS PROM KING AND PROM QUEEN IN FRONT OF EVERY MACHO VILLAIN I CAN FIND, RIGHT NOW, IF YOU DON'T ZIP IT!"
They sunk as I took a deep breath, rolling my neck in irritation like a bird ruffling its feathers.
"Now..Kimberly..Tiffany..if you two are done braiding eachother's hair, painting your nails and squealing about the hottest jock in school, I can use your help outside, thank you."
I was about to walk away, when Joker yelped, "I only have one question!"
I turned for but a moment.
J pointed at himself. "Which one is Kimberly and which one is Tiffany?"
I rolled my eyes back into my skull, before giving a devious smirk.
"The most annoying one."
At this, the two men simultaneously whipped their heads at one another and pointed accusingly.
I chuckled and walked off. "Trick question, you're both annoying."
. . .
Upon exiting the T.A.R.D.I.S. into the semi-empty lobby, I could now see that daylight had cracked into the room, with Bud still snoring his cares away at the reception desk.
I rose a brow, looking out into the bright environment just outside the doors.
The barrier was still active, for at least another half an hour. That gave me a slight sense of security until we ventured off. I cleared my throat, exhaling my anxiety out with a shudder of my muscles.
The boys climbed out and gravitated naturally to my side as I surveyed the conditions and did a headcount of everyone I was now responsible for from there on out.
The tricky part of my predicament is even though I am not the Queen, I am still acting as the Queen and am out there doing the work of the Queen and taking the Queen's duties upon my shoulders, so I therefore I am very much accountable for literally everyone I come across during these ventures.
So the stress and tension of the ventures was a very constant and frightening reality for me that was a constant strain on my mind. Never mind the emotional guilt of not actually being the Queen.
Heh..here I am talking as if all this is in the past tense..it isn't.
I always carry this weight.
I rubbed my chin in thought, trying to distract myself from the stressful cons and focus on the pros.
"As soon as that goes down, we need to bust outta here and begin that search. Those kids are counting on us and I can't waste another minute not being able to help them."
I nodded at the boys. "Go grab something to eat real quick, get your effects in order. Don't know what we're gonna find or who we're gonna come across."
The boys silently agreed and either made their way to the kitchen or back to the ship to prepare.
"Wrong, it's 7:14." "You're all wrong, it's 8:30. Just about showtime."
"Goodness, how the time flies when you're doing absolutely bloody nothing."
"Speak for yourself, I was very productive during quarantine!"
Joker puffed himself up with pride, laying a hand upon his chest.
"I rearranged my sock drawer."
I exhaled, deeply. "I genuinely can't believe sometimes that I know you three."
Jim slapped his forehead, grunting at Joker's shenanigans. "Idiot."
"Sissy."
Jim gasped, "No you!"
"You are, you little priss!" "You're just jealous that all the women want me!"
"HA! Your mother, maybe!" "At least I don't wear makeup!"
"Okay, but could we all act our age for five seconds and not like a bunch of teenage prom queens?"
Jim threw a finger at Joker. "HE is the prom queen! He cakes his face with makeup and has a girly little voice!" "He doesn't even fight; all he does is sissy slap!"
Jim swung around. "Peon!" "CANDY *BEEP*!" "TWISTED SISTER!"
"SPARKLE FAIRY!" "I WILL PUBLICLY NOMINATE YOU BOTH AS PROM KING AND PROM QUEEN IN FRONT OF EVERY MACHO VILLAIN I CAN FIND, RIGHT NOW, IF YOU DON'T ZIP IT!"
They sunk as I took a deep breath, rolling my neck in irritation like a bird ruffling its feathers.
"Now..Kimberly..Tiffany..if you two are done braiding eachother's hair, painting your nails and squealing about the hottest jock in school, I can use your help outside, thank you."
I was about to walk away, when Joker yelped, "I only have one question!"
I turned for but a moment.
J pointed at himself. "Which one is Kimberly and which one is Tiffany?"
I rolled my eyes back into my skull, before giving a devious smirk.
"The most annoying one."
At this, the two men simultaneously whipped their heads at one another and pointed accusingly.
I chuckled and walked off. "Trick question, you're both annoying."
. . .
Upon exiting the T.A.R.D.I.S. into the semi-empty lobby, I could now see that daylight had cracked into the room, with Bud still snoring his cares away at the reception desk.
I rose a brow, looking out into the bright environment just outside the doors.
The barrier was still active, for at least another half an hour. That gave me a slight sense of security until we ventured off. I cleared my throat, exhaling my anxiety out with a shudder of my muscles.
The boys climbed out and gravitated naturally to my side as I surveyed the conditions and did a headcount of everyone I was now responsible for from there on out.
The tricky part of my predicament is even though I am not the Queen, I am still acting as the Queen and am out there doing the work of the Queen and taking the Queen's duties upon my shoulders, so I therefore I am very much accountable for literally everyone I come across during these ventures.
So the stress and tension of the ventures was a very constant and frightening reality for me that was a constant strain on my mind. Never mind the emotional guilt of not actually being the Queen.
Heh..here I am talking as if all this is in the past tense..it isn't.
I always carry this weight.
I rubbed my chin in thought, trying to distract myself from the stressful cons and focus on the pros.
"As soon as that goes down, we need to bust outta here and begin that search. Those kids are counting on us and I can't waste another minute not being able to help them."
I nodded at the boys. "Go grab something to eat real quick, get your effects in order. Don't know what we're gonna find or who we're gonna come across."
The boys silently agreed and either made their way to the kitchen or back to the ship to prepare.
That's where I heard the distinct sound of footsteps rustling from above. The rest of our party was awake. I smiled. At least we weren't dealing with late bloomers.
My attention was drawn to the presence behind me, the all-too-familiar smell of cologne filling the air and calming my nerves as if a hypnotic aromatherapy.
My eyes honed in on Gavin, who stayed behind when the boys left elsewhere, crossing his arms while his eyes wandered the lobby thoughtfully. After a few seconds, they stopped at me and I realized now that I had been staring at him and that's slightly on the creep side, so I quickly averted my gaze to the floor, despite the fact that he was now staring. My pale complexion was turning a beet red as he naturally was inching closer to me.
"Yessss?" I sung, trying not to look. "I was just wondering where you wanted me..."
My expression deepened as I looked him square in the eye and furrowed my brows.
"You? Where? For what purpose?"
His face softened into the politest 'duh' expression I'd seen anyone give me.
"..To find the children???"
I blinked. "Oh...um..yes...you...you stick with me. I need you--er, need your help, anyway..uh..yeah."
I cleared my throat so awkwardly, I was about to shed actual tears.
He nodded sincerely, nonetheless, curling his lips back in agreement.
I straightened my back, "I'm breaking all of us into factions to cover more ground, as you know, so there will be investigators and then the fighters, who are gonna hunt for the HQ of the low lives."
I looked down for but a second in thought before lifting my eyes back to him,
"..How many of them have you seen, by the way? All of the basic Scooby villains orrrr..."
"Apart from the ones we faced? Not many. But I heard tell of monster descriptions that possibly indicate even more out there that haven't made their presence known yet. Whoever is behind this, the one pulling the strings..he doesn't want to be seen. He's back at the base with the children..that's what makes the most sense, anyway."
I shrugged my shoulders, "I agree, but we can't be certain. They might have everyone back at the base since the townspeople will be out and about in the daylight."
I leaned against the counter.
"..I feel like I've spouted out this plan more times than what's necessary during this blasted quarantine."
"But planning is all we can do." Gavin chuckled, drawing in toward me when I was purposely trying to distance us. "Better to decide what to do now instead of running in blind."
"Oh, but running in blind is what I do best...I especially like going in Gavin Takeo style and try to save a kid that's actually a psychotic shape-shifting clown spider."
Gavin's head fell in embarrassed shame. "..That's not going away, is it?"
"Oh, my memory is long and obnoxiously on-point on these sorts of things and BUD, WAKE UP ALREADY." I slammed my hand down on the desk counter, which caused Bud to startle awake, jumping out of his seat and storming to the lobby, charging into battle with a.. pencil. :/
"I'LL SLICE THEM ALL! MAN THEM! MAN THE TORPEDOES! SEND IN THE DOGS!! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YA." He waved the pencil frantically, eyes squeezed shut as his mouth hung open. I glanced at Gavin, my fingertips pressed against my lips.
"Bud has lived a violent life.."
Gavin smirked. I looked back with a smirk of my own. "I knew I liked him for a reason."
As Bud continued to fight against an invisible foe, I found it best to resolve the issue by stepping over to him and lay a hand on his shoulder. "BUD, the war is over!"
But the old man swung around, waving the pencil at me, charging forward with a fiery passion, of which I still dodged with ease due to me being me and Bud being..Bud.
"Bud, wake up already, pal!"
However, he did not yield. He actually began chasing me, yelling out a battle cry as he performed deadly thrusts with his writing tool. When they said the pen is mightier than the sword, they meant the pencil, apparently. "For God's sake, man!"
Just as I thought I would have to draw a weapon to defend myself, that's when Bud was snatched from behind by the shoulders. But instead of violence being inflicted, he was held in a caring manner.
"Shoooossshhhh."
Gavin's soothing voice instantly put Bud in a paralyzed state.
"Calm your mind, friend. The war's behind you.."
His voice was so gentle and entrancing, it almost put me in a coma.
My brows lifted in amazement as Bud's muscles relaxed and he let out a sigh as his mind awoke.
He began to function like normal.
Gavin's therapeutic gaze-- although in my case, it actually makes my heart accelerate at obnoxious levels-- met my own widened gaze as I gawked at the scene before me.
Bud gently shook his head, as he held it with his palm, scrunching up his face painfully.
I straightened my back quickly as his eyes settled on me and I knew by the disappointed expression he was sending my way that I was in trouble. To an extent, of course.
"Demens, what the sam heck are you and your boy doing?!"
He looked all around at the sunny room, sniffing with disapproval.
"It's this late in the day and you two are slacking around! Up and adams already!"
He started storming off before I had a chance to address any of his accusations and my cheeks puffed out a wasted collection of air. He shook his head as he put his hands behind his back.
"You young hooligans, I swear.."
I waved my fist at the old timer as he disappeared into the kitchen, where I spun around and showed my furious expression to Gavin. "I swear, from the minute I stepped into another world, just about everyone I've come across has warranted a sucker punch!"
He tried hard to keep from laughing as he approached me.
"Now Sarah, you shouldn't be punching your friends."
I shouldn't, but it bloody well feels good.
I shrugged my shoulders, uneasily. "Oh why not, I punch everyone."
I was looked at with judgment, so I looked away, sniffing my guilt away.
"..It's how I express my affection."
"Mmhm." Gavin doubted, shaking his head with his own disapproval.
"Who's punching who now?"
Our attention was brought to the boys, who were advancing toward us.
"Demens, are you being violent again?" Master groaned.
I lifted my chin. "I was just mentioning to Gavin that if Jim declares to anyone else that I'm his wife, I'll put his hair in pigtails and chain him to Joker."
Jim gasped, Master snickered, while Joker made a face. "Oh god, why would you punish ME?!"
Gavin rolled his eyes with a hidden smirk. He pointed to the door, "I'll watch the entrance. Make sure things are clear when the shield goes down."
"K."
My head turned from the departing ninja to my boys, who I huddled towards.
"Y'all eat yet?" "We grabbed a quick bite. Not much to eat around here, not even in the ship."
"Gosh, I'm glad that shield is coming down, I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic."
That's when a slew of heavy footsteps started barreling down the steps.
The rest of our heroic allies were ready to go.
I greeted them as they arrived, nudging my head happily.
"Morning, my beautiful sleuths!"
"Demens!" Dipper exclaimed, before proceeding to run faster than the others.
"Demens, you'll never believe what happened last night; we had a crazy dream! Of a creepy clown that was.. was CHASING us!"
My eyes glared while still keeping a smile on my face. "..A creepy clown, you say?"
He nodded, frantically.
"Oh, it was horrible! We all had the SAME dream..a creepy red haired clown was after us and it felt SO real!"
I scanned the group while processing Daphne's words, lowering my chin. "What did he say?"
Mulder shook his head, his eyes sporting bags underneath. "For me, didn't say anything. Just laughed and watched me sleep."
"He did the same to me.." Scully revealed, but her face was teeming with doubt.
"We were trying to keep him out in our dreams." Velma expressed, nodding at the rest of the Scooby gang. "He chased me and Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed, frowning and shuddering.
"He was super angry and acting crazy."
I pressed a finger against my lips and turned my gaze to El. "What about you?"
Eleven's eyes drifted to the others before returning to me, her face spread thinly with concern.
"..He didn't.."
We all looked at her, our interest piqued.
"Oh?" Fred questioned, "How's that?"
She lowered her eyes. "I visited him."
We jumped back. Mulder, in particular, rushed toward her excitedly. "You mean you psychically connected with him and walked through his mind?!"
She took a deep breath. "..When he saw me, he fought me..I fought back. But..I saw him..and the others." "The others?" "..The..children."
"You saw them?!" Velma exclaimed, before then leaping back, clearing her throat, getting a hold of herself. "..Allegedly.."
My head fell back. "Velma, come now.. all that you saw and you're STILL playing Doubting Thomas?!"
"I still thinking there's a logical conclusion for this."
"I agree." Scully spoke with a nod. I groaned. "You two are like skeptic twinsies."
"What else did you see?" Dipper pressed.
"Anything will help.." Mulder encouraged, "Any buildings, recognizable environment of ANY kind..."
She frowned, however. "..I...I saw them...I'm sorry...."
"No..that's fine. You did good, kid." Mulder rubbed her head like she was a puppy before turning his eyes to me. "The kids are alive..that means we have a chance to still find them."
"Let's hope we're not too late..that clown looked pretty upset!"
"Dipper, be positive! We'll find them and get back home in no time!"
"About that.." Mulder turned, looking to the three young children. "You three need to stay somewhere where it's safe. That clown is after kids, it might very well come after you."
The Pines twins gawked. "WHAT?!"
"No arguments, kids, it's too dangerous to take you along!" Fred agreed. "We don't know what we'll find out there!" "But wouldn't it..like..be best to take them along? Keep them with us? Leaving them alone just doesn't feel right!"
"Yeah, Shaggy's right!" Dipper exclaimed. "We can be super helpful and be safest with you guys; plus, we get to solve the mystery together!"
"Sorry, but I have to side with the kids on this one. It'd be too dangerous to leave them here with the shield down and I don't really trust them alone in the T.A.R.D.I.S...and it doesn't seem right solving the mystery without them. The crooks are like animals and strike their prey when they're alone and vulnerable..there's strength in numbers. Being with us is the best choice."
They looked to one another with this decision and really had no way to argue.
"Now...we're going to split into groups to cover more ground, but do it the right way. We need to keep things fair and balanced..so..at least one believer, one skeptic, and..whoever else..so that means--"
"Me with one or BOTH of these ladies?" Jim winked at Daphne and Velma, making the girls gasp and blush. Velma shifted her glasses, nervously. "Jinkies!"
I rolled my eyes back so far into my skull, in turn rolling my head to face him.
"Velma....really?"
He wagged his eyebrows, smirking at me. "Yes....jealous?"
"Oh dear god...YES, you caught me, I am totally threatened by an overly skeptical cartoon brainy girl in an orange turtleneck..you're so desperate, I wanna cry."
"I definitely don't have any complaints!" Velma giggled quietly. I clamped my hand over her mouth.
"SHOOSH yourself, don't encourage him!"
The kiddos laughed at the silliness, but I only groaned in frustration.
"ANYway..go grab yourselves something to eat before we leave. When you get back..it's showtime."
They nodded in compliance and went on their merry way.
"Ah, leadership..you seem to enjoy bossing others around."
I turned my gaze to Master, who was smirking in a smug manner.
"I do, actually, it's fun....so, dear Harold, we got any...super heavy duty weaponry in the ship??"
"..??..Uhhh..not really......why?"
I rubbed my fingers together in thought. "..Just curious..we might need it..."
"We're just rescuing a bunch of kidnapped kids.." He crossed his arms.
"How dangerous you expect this to be?"
"I don't know for sure..what I DO know, though, is we haven't faced a number of enemies this large since Middle Earth. Though these aren't a bunch of dimwitted orcs..these are each very dangerous and very capable monsters that prey on people's fears and have freaking super powers to do it. We need to be ready for anything.."
"So in other words, we need heavy artillery.." J scratched his chin, falling into deep thought himself.
"That's gonna be tough. Not many places around here are gonna carry that kinda fire power, I imagine."
"Then we'll have to improvise." Bane spoke from behind and we turned to face him.
He approached us, fists clenched. I looked up at Bane's tall self, feeling as small as a child whenever he stood close to me. "Does everything look clear?"
"Yes..Mr. Takeo is watching the entrance. I understand you will require both of us to accompany you."
"You understand correctly. You'll be my muscles and he'll be my stealth. Master and J will be the lookout wherever we're led to, so that we can infiltrate their base and have eyes on the outside in case things turn awry."
Master tilted his head. "..Led to??"
I nodded and abruptly pulled out the tracker used to locate Gavin.
"In order to find the kids, we'll need to go to one of their families and get their imprint..then--"
"We use the tracker to locate them, that's brilliant!"
"My, that thing is crafty.."
My head turned to Moriarty. "Jim, the others mentioned that the hospital was being guarded last night. I need you to go and check it out and make sure nothing is still going on there."
"What, I'm not invited with the big kids?" He sulked.
"This is important..I can't hog up all my best players. If something goes south..I need you guys to come for an assist..got it?"
Jim rubbed his chin. "So what you're saying is..." He took a wide step forward until he was mere inches from me, standing so close I almost fell back. I blinked with widened eyes by his face being so close to mine. He looked down at me with suggestive intentions embedded all over his face.
"..You need me?"
I shut my eyes, unable to deal with him and his weird whispers, and I groaned.
"Just come when I tell you, you awkward lobster."
I shoved him back and his mouth ran agape at the rejection.
Suddenly, a snap was heard from behind and we all jolted, throwing our heads in the same direction as the machine ahead clicked and a rotating sound echoed through the lobby before a noise erupted that resembled a lightsaber turning on. The shield instantly went down before our eyes.
Gavin whipped his head at us, still standing in front of the doors.
I swallowed. "..There it goes.."
Master lifted his chin as the five of us stared at the entrance.
"That's it, then..the building officially has no protection...we're all in the open now."
I stood there a second, before crossing my arms. "..Good..."
I turned and walked towards the kitchen. "Wait here, boys.."
- - -
It didn't take long for the mystery-solving party to grab something to eat.
As soon as I entered the room, everyone was wiping their mouths or licking their lips or already excusing themselves out of the room..obviously, they were eager to be sleuthing.
"That was quick." I commented, as they all passed by me.
Daphne smiled as she rushed out, the last one in line, where she snatched my arm and caused me to follow them. "This should be a walk in the park! You'll like Coolsville much better in the daytime..it's not all creepy and foreboding like it is in the nighttime. And people are out, too!"
I made a face, not being able to help but think that that sounded quite horrible.
"I don't know, Daph, you and I might have different ideas of a good time.."
She ignored me and we hurried behind the others.
"Great, the shield is down!" Fred observed. "Let's move, gang!"
"Not so fast, Goldilocks!"
The party faced me. I cleared my throat and straightened my hoodie.
"Now..y'all have your team assignments. I want you guys to honor it and not try to get any bold ideas. Stick to the plan and keep in constant contact with one another. Bane, hand them the walkie talkies.."
Bane proceeded to do so, handing each team leader their own walkie.
Jim flashed his with pride.
"You're going out on your own, right?" Shaggy spoke. I nodded.
"I'll be taking my best warriors with me to find the kids..Master, J, Bane, Gavin and myself will be going together..but before we can do that, we first have to figure the location out. We'll tag along for the first family we question so we can track the kids with our handy dandy tracking device."
I presented it for all to see.
"But I'll still need you to stay in town, gather as much intel as possible and keep the peace for the people. If things get hairy, I will need y'all to update me."
I cleared my throat. "..As I was saying, BEFORE I WAS RUDELY INTERRUPTED...Mulder will be with Mabel, Fred and Daphne. Scully with Dipper and Eleven. And finally, Jim with Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. Mulder, Scully and Jim will be armed, just in case. If, God forbid, we don't find the kids by nightfall, we'll all meet back here. Understood?"
Compliance. I smiled. "Fabulous."
"Hey, where do I come in?!"
I looked to Bud, who was raising his brows hopefully from behind his desk. I bit my lip.
"..You, Bud?"
"Yeah! I wanna help, too, cricket! What can I do?"
I lowered my eyes to the floor as I thought of this.
That's when I stepped to Bane and he handed me a walkie, where I reached in and handed it to Bud.
"You stay in contact, Bud. Warn us if the hotel gets breached or if anyone tries to mess with ya. We'll come running." Bud made a face at the doo-hicky in his hand, playing with the knobs and buttons.
"How do you.." He switched on the feed by accident and it whirled and crackled loudly, causing me to put on a pained face at the ringing in my ears. "Dagnab it, Bud!!"
"Sorry!" Bud yelled, trying to turn it off.
Master scrunched his face, squinting, as he reached in to help. "It's been doing that..some sort of odd interference." The fuzziness started to fade before the Timelord finally switched it off and we all eased.
"Neato..then we're ready to begin the fun, aren't we!"
"Most assuredly, old timer." J mused, running his fingers down one of his suspender straps.
"I'm itching for some action after being cooped up in that hunka junk last night.."
"Oy!" Master scolded, head-slapping him. "She's beautiful, thank you for very much!"
"SHE? Excuse you, Master, it's a he."
"I won't have you telling me which gender my T.A.R.D.I.S. is."
"He's a family T.A.R.D.I.S., Master, learn to share."
He rolled his eyes.
"Us? Family? Eh? Come again?" J's confused glares hit me in the soul.
I swallowed my exaggerated pain away. "Let's get outta here, peeps."
"God speed." Bud saluted, holding the walkie proudly.
I nodded with a smile, saluting back. "Stay safe, Bud."
We all hurried out, a crazy assorted-looking party, ready to play detective and rescue.
As we passed, Gavin joined my side and we left the hotel behind to venture into the alarming chilled world outside. We were off.
~
We had entered the dreary little town of Coolsville, a bright overcast covering the world as the sun was blotted out by the conglomeration of clouds.
We turned our heads every which way as we stepped further from the hotel, being as cautious and skittish as mice. The environment was so foreign from the version we saw from the night before..
as is always the case with day and night.
So far, the coast seemed to be clear. Too clear. The roads were empty. Completely devoid of any activity, or any life of any kind. Regardless, we stuck tightly close together, hands readied at our weapons in preparation for any attacks.
"..T-there's probably no one around here..right now.." Daphne looked down, a little uncertain.
"Everyone most likely returned to the neighborhood after last night's attack."
"Which way is that?"
The gang all pointed in the same direction. "Straight ahead." Shared Fred.
Joker leaned in close to Master's ear. "Do these, uh..Vashta..Nirvana..creature thingies, attack in broad daylight?" Master showed little to no interest in physically acknowledging the clown.
Just simply sniffed and blinked his eyes. "They come at any time..night..day..doesn't matter. They're a part of any shadow..any trace of darkness..they feast on whoever they can find."
"I thought they mainly feasted on roadkill, though."
Master glared. "Who told you that?"
I lowered my brows. "The Doctor."
He only laughed and I didn't like the manner in which he did so.
"That chump would tell you anything to keep you from sobbing."
"I think the Doc knows more about creatures than you do."
He seemed offended. "Is that so?"
"Yeah.. cuz he actually takes the time to study and LEARN about them instead of DESTROYING them." This made him cut his eyes darkly at me.
"Now's not the time to be arguing, you two." Scully scolded. "Behave yourselves."
Well golly gee, if Scully gets on to ya, you know you're in trouble.
"Are we going to have to separate you two love birds?" Jim teased.
I humphed, making a face at him.
"I'm seeing no souls in this town and that worries me." Dipper shuddered, drawing closer to Mulder.
"Can we get this over with?"
"Of source." Velma soothed, stroking his head with care.
"There are no real monsters, Dipper, I promise you. There's a reasonable and scientific explanation for all of this." "Yeah, like there are real monsters, don't lie to the boy."
I shook my head at Velma, who frowned at me.
"Oh Sarah, please-- this is all a big hoax!"
"How do you explain that same guy getting inside all our heads? And the shadows on the ground chasing us? And never mind the fact that those monsters were trying to kill us! And when I tried to take the Creeper's mask, it wasn't coming off?!"
"Easy. It's all a very well established sham. I'm sure of it."
I facepalmed. "I swear, a puddle of goo could slap you in the face with a brick and you'd still doubt its existence!" "But why would a puddle of goo slap me in the face with a brick?!"
I disapprovingly jiggled my head, approaching her. "For being so darn freaking unteachable."
I then pulled out the tracker and fiddled with the controls. "We have to get over there and fast. I don't know how long it'll take us to find where the kids are at. Coolsville isn't the smallest town."
"Yeah, about that..I ain't really feeling tagging along, so I'll just switch with the Irish-"
"You hush." I tapped Joker's forehead, then turned. "C'mon, peeps, we gotta hurry."
In all honesty, keeping J with us was a deliberate move, as I don't necessarily trust him on his own.
Silly to assume he's any safer with Master, but yeah actually.
We all made for the neighborhood, which was quite a few blocks away, our focus now less on talking and more on our environment, trying to be as alert as possible.
It being so empty on the streets didn't make us feel any better; might as well have had it filled with monsters, least then I wouldn't feel so paranoid.
Granted, it was still relatively early in the day, but a growing feeling of dread was still resting in the pit of my stomach.
The kids kept close to the adults, Dipper especially close to Mulder, who seemed to be his new best buddy-- I friend-ship it-- Mabel with Daphne and Velma, and Eleven with the Master, of all people.
Shaggy and Scooby were huddling in the middle of everyone, no doubt seeing it as the safest place.
Fred stuck next to Scully and Jim, Joker with Bane, and Gavin was next to me.
Naturally........shut up. ;_;
At last, we had arrived in an actual neighborhood.
Completely a 180° difference from the town itself, it looked as if we had just stumbled onto a suburban catalog. There were pretty little houses with beautiful porches and lawns, but the theme of Halloween was heavily splattered upon the decorating, with carved pumpkins, spooky skeletons, and grotesque witches. A few of which reacted to our passing by.
As to be expected, Shaggy and Scoob screamed at the sudden cackling and cowered in eachother's arms. We paused and looked onward, further into the neighborhood now, enough to start thinking about knocking on doors. Cuz..honestly..we didn't have a set house in mind.
"I guess we should start." Fred announced. We all agreed.
Bane glared, "Do you know anyone we could speak to?"
"Quite a few, actually.." Daphne responded. "But anyone here will do. Even if we don't know them, they sure know us."
"Let's start with this house!" Mabel charged to the left and ran up the pathway leading to a house with a white porch and black exterior, an enormous tree's branches overhanging from atop the roof, a car sitting in the driveway. She trotted ahead, waving her arms about, where she then rung the door bell and stood back, her arms behind her back as she waited patiently.
We watched from afar, waiting...and waiting..and waiting....she rung again.
And still...nothing.
We all glared in suspicion, a sinking feeling taking place.
Mabel slowly turned, giving us a look of concern. "Uhhhh...hold on."
J rushed forward and made for the house next-door. He skidded to the door and pounded his fist.
"Shhh, quiet!!" Velma exclaimed, holding her head. J turned his own head, raising a brow.
Still...there was nothing.
"Seriously?" Dipper grunted aloud. He turned. "Let me try.."
He rushed to the house to the left of the two--at least from my perspective-- and rattled his little fist on the door. No bloody response.
"What in the world?" Daphne gasped.
"This is like the Twilight Zone.." Gavin whispered, rubbing his head in bewilderment.
I was too distracted to yet again praise him for fantastic fandom appreciation-- I slowly turned, looking at the homes lined up next to eachother, painting a pretty image that was more deceiving than we realized. My brows lowered. "Daphne..remember how you said it was less creepy in the daytime?"
I swallowed. "Well..I think I disagree with you...I think it's worse."
We all looked at the neighborhood around us, eyes widening at the dead streets.
No one was there. No one was driving, checking their mail, playing, looking out, nothing.
There was zero activity and this shook me to my core.
An instant feeling of sickness came over me and I now most assuredly felt as if I was being watched.
"Guys..look."
We all jolted as Dipper pointed. There was a person! Someone was poking their head out from their door, staring at us from afar.
"SIR!!" I exclaimed and instantly made a break for it. The man's eyes widened and he hurriedly closed the door. I was there in a matter of seconds. "YO!! Open up!!"
I pounded, viciously.
"What is it with you people being so aggressive?!" Velma cried.
The man threw his door open.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" He whispered loudly, trying to hide most of himself with the door.
"I wish to be left alone, PLEASE!"
But I only pointed, accusingly. "Where is everyone else, boy?! The families, the remaining kids, the dog walkers, the joggers, the mailmen! These streets are empty!"
"They're not home!" He barked hoarsely, before yet again trying to shut the door.
I let out a hand and stopped it, holding it in place as he stared at me in shock.
"NO. FREAKING. KIDDING."
He swallowed as I got closer, seeing that I was not playing around.
"Now you are the only living, breathing individual we have seen active in this god forsaken town since last night's attack, therefore you are the ONLY one right now to give us ANSWERS. Now's not the time to be playing hermit--if you wanted to stay out've this, you should have kept that door closed."
His head lowered shamefully, his grip on the door relaxing. "...There is something going on.."
"Like, I dunno..for instance, missing kids?!"
His head perked up, his chest puffing out. "How do you know so much?! I've never seen you around here!" I rolled my shoulders. "Traveling psychic."
He shook his head with an irritated sigh, "Well that and you are not the only bizarre things to happen in this town...but I'm most certainly not discussing the happenings of our town with strangers!"
Fred came forward upon the three steps leading to the porch.
"Not even with us, Mr. Cotton?"
His eyes snapped to the tall blonde boy with rage. "Especially with you kids! You bring nothing but trouble!" The Scooby gang lifted their heads in surprise of the criticism, looking quite confused.
I tilted my head. "Trouble? They expose monsters to be corrupt and conniving criminals that terrorize the citizens and you say they bring trouble?"
"Yeah, look where we are now! They exposed those people and angered them, and now they're attacking all of us! They've taken control of this town and have many of us cowering in our homes-- all because they upset those monsters!"
Instead of arguing back, I crossed my arms and smiled at Mr. Cotton.
"You know more than you're letting on, bucko."
He pursed his lips.
I rose a suspicious brow. "You can either tell us or we can get the info we need from someone else. Either way, we are going to get the answers we need and we're going to solve this mystery."
My head tilted. "Unless you're only withholding this information due to being in league with the monsters yourself..you do seem to be the type to be a monster from these parts..."
He straightened his body in offense, gawking all the while.
"EXCUSE YOU, I would NEVER associate myself with those degenerates! I'll have you know-"
"Wonderful, he's sharing information, got 'im right where we want 'im."
He huffed, crossed his arms and turned his head away. Obviously not intending to utter yet another word.
I rose my brows at his defiance and nodded my head with an "Okay..", then turned to the others.
"Mr. Cotton here DEFINITELY wants to assist us, everyone! So pay close attention, cuz he's gonna be a BIG HELP CRACKING THIS CASE."
I yelled so loud, I heard my voice carry on throughout the neighborhood, to where everyone, especially the villains no doubt watching us from afar, could hear me.
I turned back smiling, just in time to see Mr. Cotton back into the door in terror.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STOP, THEY'LL HEAR YOU."
He hunched over, looking all around in a panic.
A few of the others snickered at my devious plan, while the rest were shocked I'd stoop so low.
The look of horror on his face at what I'd done was everything.
"See, now ya got no choice but to help us."
"Yes, now that you've sealed my fate, you horrid little beast!"
Joker shook his head, "You don't know the half of it."
I rose my hands up, "Hey, I'm not the one willing to let little kids get kidnapped and the town under a state of terror from these creeps all for the sake of staying out of the villains' radar.."
This took him back and he glanced at the others with a layer of guilt in his eyes.
I once again rose my brows at him as he glanced back to me, before finally sighing and lowering his head in defeat. "Alright..I'll tell you everything I know..but please..solve this thing and get rid of those brutes..we..we need your help."
Mulder stepped up next to me, the rest of everyone gravitating closer behind us.
"Then that's precisely what we'll give you...."
~ to be continued ~
My attention was drawn to the presence behind me, the all-too-familiar smell of cologne filling the air and calming my nerves as if a hypnotic aromatherapy.
My eyes honed in on Gavin, who stayed behind when the boys left elsewhere, crossing his arms while his eyes wandered the lobby thoughtfully. After a few seconds, they stopped at me and I realized now that I had been staring at him and that's slightly on the creep side, so I quickly averted my gaze to the floor, despite the fact that he was now staring. My pale complexion was turning a beet red as he naturally was inching closer to me.
"Yessss?" I sung, trying not to look. "I was just wondering where you wanted me..."
My expression deepened as I looked him square in the eye and furrowed my brows.
"You? Where? For what purpose?"
His face softened into the politest 'duh' expression I'd seen anyone give me.
"..To find the children???"
I blinked. "Oh...um..yes...you...you stick with me. I need you--er, need your help, anyway..uh..yeah."
I cleared my throat so awkwardly, I was about to shed actual tears.
He nodded sincerely, nonetheless, curling his lips back in agreement.
I straightened my back, "I'm breaking all of us into factions to cover more ground, as you know, so there will be investigators and then the fighters, who are gonna hunt for the HQ of the low lives."
I looked down for but a second in thought before lifting my eyes back to him,
"..How many of them have you seen, by the way? All of the basic Scooby villains orrrr..."
"Apart from the ones we faced? Not many. But I heard tell of monster descriptions that possibly indicate even more out there that haven't made their presence known yet. Whoever is behind this, the one pulling the strings..he doesn't want to be seen. He's back at the base with the children..that's what makes the most sense, anyway."
I shrugged my shoulders, "I agree, but we can't be certain. They might have everyone back at the base since the townspeople will be out and about in the daylight."
I leaned against the counter.
"..I feel like I've spouted out this plan more times than what's necessary during this blasted quarantine."
"But planning is all we can do." Gavin chuckled, drawing in toward me when I was purposely trying to distance us. "Better to decide what to do now instead of running in blind."
"Oh, but running in blind is what I do best...I especially like going in Gavin Takeo style and try to save a kid that's actually a psychotic shape-shifting clown spider."
Gavin's head fell in embarrassed shame. "..That's not going away, is it?"
"Oh, my memory is long and obnoxiously on-point on these sorts of things and BUD, WAKE UP ALREADY." I slammed my hand down on the desk counter, which caused Bud to startle awake, jumping out of his seat and storming to the lobby, charging into battle with a.. pencil. :/
"I'LL SLICE THEM ALL! MAN THEM! MAN THE TORPEDOES! SEND IN THE DOGS!! I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YA." He waved the pencil frantically, eyes squeezed shut as his mouth hung open. I glanced at Gavin, my fingertips pressed against my lips.
"Bud has lived a violent life.."
Gavin smirked. I looked back with a smirk of my own. "I knew I liked him for a reason."
As Bud continued to fight against an invisible foe, I found it best to resolve the issue by stepping over to him and lay a hand on his shoulder. "BUD, the war is over!"
But the old man swung around, waving the pencil at me, charging forward with a fiery passion, of which I still dodged with ease due to me being me and Bud being..Bud.
"Bud, wake up already, pal!"
However, he did not yield. He actually began chasing me, yelling out a battle cry as he performed deadly thrusts with his writing tool. When they said the pen is mightier than the sword, they meant the pencil, apparently. "For God's sake, man!"
Just as I thought I would have to draw a weapon to defend myself, that's when Bud was snatched from behind by the shoulders. But instead of violence being inflicted, he was held in a caring manner.
"Shoooossshhhh."
Gavin's soothing voice instantly put Bud in a paralyzed state.
"Calm your mind, friend. The war's behind you.."
His voice was so gentle and entrancing, it almost put me in a coma.
My brows lifted in amazement as Bud's muscles relaxed and he let out a sigh as his mind awoke.
He began to function like normal.
Gavin's therapeutic gaze-- although in my case, it actually makes my heart accelerate at obnoxious levels-- met my own widened gaze as I gawked at the scene before me.
Bud gently shook his head, as he held it with his palm, scrunching up his face painfully.
I straightened my back quickly as his eyes settled on me and I knew by the disappointed expression he was sending my way that I was in trouble. To an extent, of course.
"Demens, what the sam heck are you and your boy doing?!"
He looked all around at the sunny room, sniffing with disapproval.
"It's this late in the day and you two are slacking around! Up and adams already!"
He started storming off before I had a chance to address any of his accusations and my cheeks puffed out a wasted collection of air. He shook his head as he put his hands behind his back.
"You young hooligans, I swear.."
I waved my fist at the old timer as he disappeared into the kitchen, where I spun around and showed my furious expression to Gavin. "I swear, from the minute I stepped into another world, just about everyone I've come across has warranted a sucker punch!"
He tried hard to keep from laughing as he approached me.
"Now Sarah, you shouldn't be punching your friends."
I shouldn't, but it bloody well feels good.
I shrugged my shoulders, uneasily. "Oh why not, I punch everyone."
I was looked at with judgment, so I looked away, sniffing my guilt away.
"..It's how I express my affection."
"Mmhm." Gavin doubted, shaking his head with his own disapproval.
"Who's punching who now?"
Our attention was brought to the boys, who were advancing toward us.
"Demens, are you being violent again?" Master groaned.
I lifted my chin. "I was just mentioning to Gavin that if Jim declares to anyone else that I'm his wife, I'll put his hair in pigtails and chain him to Joker."
Jim gasped, Master snickered, while Joker made a face. "Oh god, why would you punish ME?!"
Gavin rolled his eyes with a hidden smirk. He pointed to the door, "I'll watch the entrance. Make sure things are clear when the shield goes down."
"K."
My head turned from the departing ninja to my boys, who I huddled towards.
"Y'all eat yet?" "We grabbed a quick bite. Not much to eat around here, not even in the ship."
"Gosh, I'm glad that shield is coming down, I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic."
That's when a slew of heavy footsteps started barreling down the steps.
The rest of our heroic allies were ready to go.
I greeted them as they arrived, nudging my head happily.
"Morning, my beautiful sleuths!"
"Demens!" Dipper exclaimed, before proceeding to run faster than the others.
"Demens, you'll never believe what happened last night; we had a crazy dream! Of a creepy clown that was.. was CHASING us!"
My eyes glared while still keeping a smile on my face. "..A creepy clown, you say?"
He nodded, frantically.
"Oh, it was horrible! We all had the SAME dream..a creepy red haired clown was after us and it felt SO real!"
I scanned the group while processing Daphne's words, lowering my chin. "What did he say?"
Mulder shook his head, his eyes sporting bags underneath. "For me, didn't say anything. Just laughed and watched me sleep."
"He did the same to me.." Scully revealed, but her face was teeming with doubt.
"We were trying to keep him out in our dreams." Velma expressed, nodding at the rest of the Scooby gang. "He chased me and Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed, frowning and shuddering.
"He was super angry and acting crazy."
I pressed a finger against my lips and turned my gaze to El. "What about you?"
Eleven's eyes drifted to the others before returning to me, her face spread thinly with concern.
"..He didn't.."
We all looked at her, our interest piqued.
"Oh?" Fred questioned, "How's that?"
She lowered her eyes. "I visited him."
We jumped back. Mulder, in particular, rushed toward her excitedly. "You mean you psychically connected with him and walked through his mind?!"
She took a deep breath. "..When he saw me, he fought me..I fought back. But..I saw him..and the others." "The others?" "..The..children."
"You saw them?!" Velma exclaimed, before then leaping back, clearing her throat, getting a hold of herself. "..Allegedly.."
My head fell back. "Velma, come now.. all that you saw and you're STILL playing Doubting Thomas?!"
"I still thinking there's a logical conclusion for this."
"I agree." Scully spoke with a nod. I groaned. "You two are like skeptic twinsies."
"What else did you see?" Dipper pressed.
"Anything will help.." Mulder encouraged, "Any buildings, recognizable environment of ANY kind..."
She frowned, however. "..I...I saw them...I'm sorry...."
"No..that's fine. You did good, kid." Mulder rubbed her head like she was a puppy before turning his eyes to me. "The kids are alive..that means we have a chance to still find them."
"Let's hope we're not too late..that clown looked pretty upset!"
"Dipper, be positive! We'll find them and get back home in no time!"
"About that.." Mulder turned, looking to the three young children. "You three need to stay somewhere where it's safe. That clown is after kids, it might very well come after you."
The Pines twins gawked. "WHAT?!"
"No arguments, kids, it's too dangerous to take you along!" Fred agreed. "We don't know what we'll find out there!" "But wouldn't it..like..be best to take them along? Keep them with us? Leaving them alone just doesn't feel right!"
"Yeah, Shaggy's right!" Dipper exclaimed. "We can be super helpful and be safest with you guys; plus, we get to solve the mystery together!"
"Sorry, but I have to side with the kids on this one. It'd be too dangerous to leave them here with the shield down and I don't really trust them alone in the T.A.R.D.I.S...and it doesn't seem right solving the mystery without them. The crooks are like animals and strike their prey when they're alone and vulnerable..there's strength in numbers. Being with us is the best choice."
They looked to one another with this decision and really had no way to argue.
"Now...we're going to split into groups to cover more ground, but do it the right way. We need to keep things fair and balanced..so..at least one believer, one skeptic, and..whoever else..so that means--"
"Me with one or BOTH of these ladies?" Jim winked at Daphne and Velma, making the girls gasp and blush. Velma shifted her glasses, nervously. "Jinkies!"
I rolled my eyes back so far into my skull, in turn rolling my head to face him.
"Velma....really?"
He wagged his eyebrows, smirking at me. "Yes....jealous?"
"Oh dear god...YES, you caught me, I am totally threatened by an overly skeptical cartoon brainy girl in an orange turtleneck..you're so desperate, I wanna cry."
"I definitely don't have any complaints!" Velma giggled quietly. I clamped my hand over her mouth.
"SHOOSH yourself, don't encourage him!"
The kiddos laughed at the silliness, but I only groaned in frustration.
"ANYway..go grab yourselves something to eat before we leave. When you get back..it's showtime."
They nodded in compliance and went on their merry way.
"Ah, leadership..you seem to enjoy bossing others around."
I turned my gaze to Master, who was smirking in a smug manner.
"I do, actually, it's fun....so, dear Harold, we got any...super heavy duty weaponry in the ship??"
"..??..Uhhh..not really......why?"
I rubbed my fingers together in thought. "..Just curious..we might need it..."
"We're just rescuing a bunch of kidnapped kids.." He crossed his arms.
"How dangerous you expect this to be?"
"I don't know for sure..what I DO know, though, is we haven't faced a number of enemies this large since Middle Earth. Though these aren't a bunch of dimwitted orcs..these are each very dangerous and very capable monsters that prey on people's fears and have freaking super powers to do it. We need to be ready for anything.."
"So in other words, we need heavy artillery.." J scratched his chin, falling into deep thought himself.
"That's gonna be tough. Not many places around here are gonna carry that kinda fire power, I imagine."
"Then we'll have to improvise." Bane spoke from behind and we turned to face him.
He approached us, fists clenched. I looked up at Bane's tall self, feeling as small as a child whenever he stood close to me. "Does everything look clear?"
"Yes..Mr. Takeo is watching the entrance. I understand you will require both of us to accompany you."
"You understand correctly. You'll be my muscles and he'll be my stealth. Master and J will be the lookout wherever we're led to, so that we can infiltrate their base and have eyes on the outside in case things turn awry."
Master tilted his head. "..Led to??"
I nodded and abruptly pulled out the tracker used to locate Gavin.
"In order to find the kids, we'll need to go to one of their families and get their imprint..then--"
"We use the tracker to locate them, that's brilliant!"
"My, that thing is crafty.."
My head turned to Moriarty. "Jim, the others mentioned that the hospital was being guarded last night. I need you to go and check it out and make sure nothing is still going on there."
"What, I'm not invited with the big kids?" He sulked.
"This is important..I can't hog up all my best players. If something goes south..I need you guys to come for an assist..got it?"
Jim rubbed his chin. "So what you're saying is..." He took a wide step forward until he was mere inches from me, standing so close I almost fell back. I blinked with widened eyes by his face being so close to mine. He looked down at me with suggestive intentions embedded all over his face.
"..You need me?"
I shut my eyes, unable to deal with him and his weird whispers, and I groaned.
"Just come when I tell you, you awkward lobster."
I shoved him back and his mouth ran agape at the rejection.
Suddenly, a snap was heard from behind and we all jolted, throwing our heads in the same direction as the machine ahead clicked and a rotating sound echoed through the lobby before a noise erupted that resembled a lightsaber turning on. The shield instantly went down before our eyes.
Gavin whipped his head at us, still standing in front of the doors.
I swallowed. "..There it goes.."
Master lifted his chin as the five of us stared at the entrance.
"That's it, then..the building officially has no protection...we're all in the open now."
I stood there a second, before crossing my arms. "..Good..."
I turned and walked towards the kitchen. "Wait here, boys.."
- - -
It didn't take long for the mystery-solving party to grab something to eat.
As soon as I entered the room, everyone was wiping their mouths or licking their lips or already excusing themselves out of the room..obviously, they were eager to be sleuthing.
"That was quick." I commented, as they all passed by me.
Daphne smiled as she rushed out, the last one in line, where she snatched my arm and caused me to follow them. "This should be a walk in the park! You'll like Coolsville much better in the daytime..it's not all creepy and foreboding like it is in the nighttime. And people are out, too!"
I made a face, not being able to help but think that that sounded quite horrible.
"I don't know, Daph, you and I might have different ideas of a good time.."
She ignored me and we hurried behind the others.
"Great, the shield is down!" Fred observed. "Let's move, gang!"
"Not so fast, Goldilocks!"
The party faced me. I cleared my throat and straightened my hoodie.
"Now..y'all have your team assignments. I want you guys to honor it and not try to get any bold ideas. Stick to the plan and keep in constant contact with one another. Bane, hand them the walkie talkies.."
Bane proceeded to do so, handing each team leader their own walkie.
Jim flashed his with pride.
"You're going out on your own, right?" Shaggy spoke. I nodded.
"I'll be taking my best warriors with me to find the kids..Master, J, Bane, Gavin and myself will be going together..but before we can do that, we first have to figure the location out. We'll tag along for the first family we question so we can track the kids with our handy dandy tracking device."
I presented it for all to see.
"But I'll still need you to stay in town, gather as much intel as possible and keep the peace for the people. If things get hairy, I will need y'all to update me."
I cleared my throat. "..As I was saying, BEFORE I WAS RUDELY INTERRUPTED...Mulder will be with Mabel, Fred and Daphne. Scully with Dipper and Eleven. And finally, Jim with Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. Mulder, Scully and Jim will be armed, just in case. If, God forbid, we don't find the kids by nightfall, we'll all meet back here. Understood?"
Compliance. I smiled. "Fabulous."
"Hey, where do I come in?!"
I looked to Bud, who was raising his brows hopefully from behind his desk. I bit my lip.
"..You, Bud?"
"Yeah! I wanna help, too, cricket! What can I do?"
I lowered my eyes to the floor as I thought of this.
That's when I stepped to Bane and he handed me a walkie, where I reached in and handed it to Bud.
"You stay in contact, Bud. Warn us if the hotel gets breached or if anyone tries to mess with ya. We'll come running." Bud made a face at the doo-hicky in his hand, playing with the knobs and buttons.
"How do you.." He switched on the feed by accident and it whirled and crackled loudly, causing me to put on a pained face at the ringing in my ears. "Dagnab it, Bud!!"
"Sorry!" Bud yelled, trying to turn it off.
Master scrunched his face, squinting, as he reached in to help. "It's been doing that..some sort of odd interference." The fuzziness started to fade before the Timelord finally switched it off and we all eased.
"Neato..then we're ready to begin the fun, aren't we!"
"Most assuredly, old timer." J mused, running his fingers down one of his suspender straps.
"I'm itching for some action after being cooped up in that hunka junk last night.."
"Oy!" Master scolded, head-slapping him. "She's beautiful, thank you for very much!"
"SHE? Excuse you, Master, it's a he."
"I won't have you telling me which gender my T.A.R.D.I.S. is."
"He's a family T.A.R.D.I.S., Master, learn to share."
He rolled his eyes.
"Us? Family? Eh? Come again?" J's confused glares hit me in the soul.
I swallowed my exaggerated pain away. "Let's get outta here, peeps."
"God speed." Bud saluted, holding the walkie proudly.
I nodded with a smile, saluting back. "Stay safe, Bud."
We all hurried out, a crazy assorted-looking party, ready to play detective and rescue.
As we passed, Gavin joined my side and we left the hotel behind to venture into the alarming chilled world outside. We were off.
~
We had entered the dreary little town of Coolsville, a bright overcast covering the world as the sun was blotted out by the conglomeration of clouds.
We turned our heads every which way as we stepped further from the hotel, being as cautious and skittish as mice. The environment was so foreign from the version we saw from the night before..
as is always the case with day and night.
So far, the coast seemed to be clear. Too clear. The roads were empty. Completely devoid of any activity, or any life of any kind. Regardless, we stuck tightly close together, hands readied at our weapons in preparation for any attacks.
"..T-there's probably no one around here..right now.." Daphne looked down, a little uncertain.
"Everyone most likely returned to the neighborhood after last night's attack."
"Which way is that?"
The gang all pointed in the same direction. "Straight ahead." Shared Fred.
Joker leaned in close to Master's ear. "Do these, uh..Vashta..Nirvana..creature thingies, attack in broad daylight?" Master showed little to no interest in physically acknowledging the clown.
Just simply sniffed and blinked his eyes. "They come at any time..night..day..doesn't matter. They're a part of any shadow..any trace of darkness..they feast on whoever they can find."
"I thought they mainly feasted on roadkill, though."
Master glared. "Who told you that?"
I lowered my brows. "The Doctor."
He only laughed and I didn't like the manner in which he did so.
"That chump would tell you anything to keep you from sobbing."
"I think the Doc knows more about creatures than you do."
He seemed offended. "Is that so?"
"Yeah.. cuz he actually takes the time to study and LEARN about them instead of DESTROYING them." This made him cut his eyes darkly at me.
"Now's not the time to be arguing, you two." Scully scolded. "Behave yourselves."
Well golly gee, if Scully gets on to ya, you know you're in trouble.
"Are we going to have to separate you two love birds?" Jim teased.
I humphed, making a face at him.
"I'm seeing no souls in this town and that worries me." Dipper shuddered, drawing closer to Mulder.
"Can we get this over with?"
"Of source." Velma soothed, stroking his head with care.
"There are no real monsters, Dipper, I promise you. There's a reasonable and scientific explanation for all of this." "Yeah, like there are real monsters, don't lie to the boy."
I shook my head at Velma, who frowned at me.
"Oh Sarah, please-- this is all a big hoax!"
"How do you explain that same guy getting inside all our heads? And the shadows on the ground chasing us? And never mind the fact that those monsters were trying to kill us! And when I tried to take the Creeper's mask, it wasn't coming off?!"
"Easy. It's all a very well established sham. I'm sure of it."
I facepalmed. "I swear, a puddle of goo could slap you in the face with a brick and you'd still doubt its existence!" "But why would a puddle of goo slap me in the face with a brick?!"
I disapprovingly jiggled my head, approaching her. "For being so darn freaking unteachable."
I then pulled out the tracker and fiddled with the controls. "We have to get over there and fast. I don't know how long it'll take us to find where the kids are at. Coolsville isn't the smallest town."
"Yeah, about that..I ain't really feeling tagging along, so I'll just switch with the Irish-"
"You hush." I tapped Joker's forehead, then turned. "C'mon, peeps, we gotta hurry."
In all honesty, keeping J with us was a deliberate move, as I don't necessarily trust him on his own.
Silly to assume he's any safer with Master, but yeah actually.
We all made for the neighborhood, which was quite a few blocks away, our focus now less on talking and more on our environment, trying to be as alert as possible.
It being so empty on the streets didn't make us feel any better; might as well have had it filled with monsters, least then I wouldn't feel so paranoid.
Granted, it was still relatively early in the day, but a growing feeling of dread was still resting in the pit of my stomach.
The kids kept close to the adults, Dipper especially close to Mulder, who seemed to be his new best buddy-- I friend-ship it-- Mabel with Daphne and Velma, and Eleven with the Master, of all people.
Shaggy and Scooby were huddling in the middle of everyone, no doubt seeing it as the safest place.
Fred stuck next to Scully and Jim, Joker with Bane, and Gavin was next to me.
Naturally........shut up. ;_;
At last, we had arrived in an actual neighborhood.
Completely a 180° difference from the town itself, it looked as if we had just stumbled onto a suburban catalog. There were pretty little houses with beautiful porches and lawns, but the theme of Halloween was heavily splattered upon the decorating, with carved pumpkins, spooky skeletons, and grotesque witches. A few of which reacted to our passing by.
As to be expected, Shaggy and Scoob screamed at the sudden cackling and cowered in eachother's arms. We paused and looked onward, further into the neighborhood now, enough to start thinking about knocking on doors. Cuz..honestly..we didn't have a set house in mind.
"I guess we should start." Fred announced. We all agreed.
Bane glared, "Do you know anyone we could speak to?"
"Quite a few, actually.." Daphne responded. "But anyone here will do. Even if we don't know them, they sure know us."
"Let's start with this house!" Mabel charged to the left and ran up the pathway leading to a house with a white porch and black exterior, an enormous tree's branches overhanging from atop the roof, a car sitting in the driveway. She trotted ahead, waving her arms about, where she then rung the door bell and stood back, her arms behind her back as she waited patiently.
We watched from afar, waiting...and waiting..and waiting....she rung again.
And still...nothing.
We all glared in suspicion, a sinking feeling taking place.
Mabel slowly turned, giving us a look of concern. "Uhhhh...hold on."
J rushed forward and made for the house next-door. He skidded to the door and pounded his fist.
"Shhh, quiet!!" Velma exclaimed, holding her head. J turned his own head, raising a brow.
Still...there was nothing.
"Seriously?" Dipper grunted aloud. He turned. "Let me try.."
He rushed to the house to the left of the two--at least from my perspective-- and rattled his little fist on the door. No bloody response.
"What in the world?" Daphne gasped.
"This is like the Twilight Zone.." Gavin whispered, rubbing his head in bewilderment.
I was too distracted to yet again praise him for fantastic fandom appreciation-- I slowly turned, looking at the homes lined up next to eachother, painting a pretty image that was more deceiving than we realized. My brows lowered. "Daphne..remember how you said it was less creepy in the daytime?"
I swallowed. "Well..I think I disagree with you...I think it's worse."
We all looked at the neighborhood around us, eyes widening at the dead streets.
No one was there. No one was driving, checking their mail, playing, looking out, nothing.
There was zero activity and this shook me to my core.
An instant feeling of sickness came over me and I now most assuredly felt as if I was being watched.
"Guys..look."
We all jolted as Dipper pointed. There was a person! Someone was poking their head out from their door, staring at us from afar.
"SIR!!" I exclaimed and instantly made a break for it. The man's eyes widened and he hurriedly closed the door. I was there in a matter of seconds. "YO!! Open up!!"
I pounded, viciously.
"What is it with you people being so aggressive?!" Velma cried.
The man threw his door open.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" He whispered loudly, trying to hide most of himself with the door.
"I wish to be left alone, PLEASE!"
But I only pointed, accusingly. "Where is everyone else, boy?! The families, the remaining kids, the dog walkers, the joggers, the mailmen! These streets are empty!"
"They're not home!" He barked hoarsely, before yet again trying to shut the door.
I let out a hand and stopped it, holding it in place as he stared at me in shock.
"NO. FREAKING. KIDDING."
He swallowed as I got closer, seeing that I was not playing around.
"Now you are the only living, breathing individual we have seen active in this god forsaken town since last night's attack, therefore you are the ONLY one right now to give us ANSWERS. Now's not the time to be playing hermit--if you wanted to stay out've this, you should have kept that door closed."
His head lowered shamefully, his grip on the door relaxing. "...There is something going on.."
"Like, I dunno..for instance, missing kids?!"
His head perked up, his chest puffing out. "How do you know so much?! I've never seen you around here!" I rolled my shoulders. "Traveling psychic."
He shook his head with an irritated sigh, "Well that and you are not the only bizarre things to happen in this town...but I'm most certainly not discussing the happenings of our town with strangers!"
Fred came forward upon the three steps leading to the porch.
"Not even with us, Mr. Cotton?"
His eyes snapped to the tall blonde boy with rage. "Especially with you kids! You bring nothing but trouble!" The Scooby gang lifted their heads in surprise of the criticism, looking quite confused.
I tilted my head. "Trouble? They expose monsters to be corrupt and conniving criminals that terrorize the citizens and you say they bring trouble?"
"Yeah, look where we are now! They exposed those people and angered them, and now they're attacking all of us! They've taken control of this town and have many of us cowering in our homes-- all because they upset those monsters!"
Instead of arguing back, I crossed my arms and smiled at Mr. Cotton.
"You know more than you're letting on, bucko."
He pursed his lips.
I rose a suspicious brow. "You can either tell us or we can get the info we need from someone else. Either way, we are going to get the answers we need and we're going to solve this mystery."
My head tilted. "Unless you're only withholding this information due to being in league with the monsters yourself..you do seem to be the type to be a monster from these parts..."
He straightened his body in offense, gawking all the while.
"EXCUSE YOU, I would NEVER associate myself with those degenerates! I'll have you know-"
"Wonderful, he's sharing information, got 'im right where we want 'im."
He huffed, crossed his arms and turned his head away. Obviously not intending to utter yet another word.
I rose my brows at his defiance and nodded my head with an "Okay..", then turned to the others.
"Mr. Cotton here DEFINITELY wants to assist us, everyone! So pay close attention, cuz he's gonna be a BIG HELP CRACKING THIS CASE."
I yelled so loud, I heard my voice carry on throughout the neighborhood, to where everyone, especially the villains no doubt watching us from afar, could hear me.
I turned back smiling, just in time to see Mr. Cotton back into the door in terror.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STOP, THEY'LL HEAR YOU."
He hunched over, looking all around in a panic.
A few of the others snickered at my devious plan, while the rest were shocked I'd stoop so low.
The look of horror on his face at what I'd done was everything.
"See, now ya got no choice but to help us."
"Yes, now that you've sealed my fate, you horrid little beast!"
Joker shook his head, "You don't know the half of it."
I rose my hands up, "Hey, I'm not the one willing to let little kids get kidnapped and the town under a state of terror from these creeps all for the sake of staying out of the villains' radar.."
This took him back and he glanced at the others with a layer of guilt in his eyes.
I once again rose my brows at him as he glanced back to me, before finally sighing and lowering his head in defeat. "Alright..I'll tell you everything I know..but please..solve this thing and get rid of those brutes..we..we need your help."
Mulder stepped up next to me, the rest of everyone gravitating closer behind us.
"Then that's precisely what we'll give you...."
~ to be continued ~
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