"The Gotham Grouchfest" - Part Two

Part Two

            Elmo and Scooby-Doo were the only ones spared from being apprehended by the Gotham City Police, both following Fred’s orders to stay by the Mystery Machine. When the sound of gunshots erupted in the air, Elmo was terrified but Scooby kept the furry, red little monster safe (to the best of his ability). The moment the police arrived, they hid in the shadows. The Mystery Machine was impounded by the police, leaving Scooby and Elmo with no other choice but to follow them on foot – Elmo riding on Scooby-Doo’s back.

            They arrived a half hour later at the location of the GCPD headquarters, standing secluded within an alley across from the entrance. “Elmo and Scooby gotta do something to help,” Elmo suggested. “Elmo and Scooby’s friends are innocent.”

            “Rut do re do?” Scooby asked.

            As the furry red monster and the Great Dane pondered on a plan, they heard a vehicle pull up behind them, shining its headlights on them both. Because of the blinding lights, they couldn’t tell what type of car it was, nor could they see the person that stepped out of it and approached them.

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            “I wanna have a word with your boss! We’re innocent! We did nothing wrong!”

            Alan couldn’t stop staring at the new woman his mother had become – through the process of regeneration. There she was, shouting through the bars of the jail cell that she, Mystery Inc., Skeeta, and Alan himself were placed in. No one was outside to hear the pleas of Candace…or the woman who used to be Candace.

            “At least let one of us have a phone call,” she demanded.

            “Who are we gonna call?” Skeeta asked her.

            She momentarily turned to tell her father, “I can pull a few strings. I’ve been to Gotham City before.”

            “You’ve been to a Gotham City, not this Gotham City,” Skeeta stressed.

            She merely waved off his emphasis and said, “They’re all the same to me.” She then returned to the bars, slamming her fists against them in frustration. “Argh! Why aren’t the police listening to me?!?!”

            “Maybe because you’re not white anymore?” Alan suggested.

            “What?” Neas scoffed. “Of course I still am. See?” She held up her right forearm, indicating the pigmentation of her skin. “I mean, it’s a little extra tan than usual, but it’s still technically white.”

            “Oh, yeah?” Alan remarked. “And what about your hair?”

            “What about it?” Neas returned, running her fingers through her locks and pinching a few strands between her thumb and index finger to bring into view. She was surprised to notice the change in color from blonde to black. “Wait…what? When did this happen?”

            Skeeta placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s your first regeneration. Things are gonna feel like they’re the same at first, but once you’ve looked in the mirror, you’ll start to accept the change.” He gestured to the only low-hanging mirror in the jail cell for her to go to.

            Neas rushed over right away and glimpsed at her reflection.

            She saw the tall, fit middle-aged blonde she once was staring back at her. However, after a few seconds, her mind readjusted to her new reality, and she saw an Asian woman who was slightly younger and much shorter. “It’s true,” she said in a hushed tone. “I really did regenerate.”

            While she continued staring at her new face, she detected Skeeta’s wide frame fill in the space behind her. It took up most of the mirror, even cutting off his head. “You’ll get through this, hon,” he said. “But you can’t go by ‘Candace’ anymore.”

            Neas turned to face him, baffled. “Why not?”

            “New face, new name – that’s the rule your mother and I came up with, shortly after my first time regenerating into the man you see here and now,” Skeeta explained. “What if you were to return home one journey and happened across someone who once knew you when you were Candace Curtsinger? And you had this face?” He circled his finger around her Asian features.

            “I see your point,” she acknowledged. “Who should I call myself now?”

            “How about ‘Sonia’?” Daphne suggested from her spot in the jail cell. “I once knew a Sonia in this nail and hair salon I went to.”

            Neas considered the name for a brief moment and then nodded approvingly.

            “From this point on, I’ll be Sonia.”

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            Detective Erica Harvey reported in at the GCPD headquarters under the pretense that it would’ve been another dull night, surrounded by cops that were dirty in more ways than one. However, the station bustled with activity that evening, after the surprising arrest of Carmine Falcone at the docks.

            Sergeant Jim Gordon filled her in on what happened when she arrived, yet Erica found some of the details difficult to believe as fact. “A giant bat swooped in and grabbed Falcone and then tied him onto a spotlight, so that it would project the shape of a bat in the sky?”

            Gordon shrugged. “Yeah, I found it hard to believe even when I saw it.”

            Erica shook her head in disbelief. “This city gets crazier by the day.” Her brightly-colored eyes glimpsed over at one of the jail cells adjacent to the bullpen, noticing its current occupants: a group of hippie-looking kids, a couple of adults (one bald and black, the other short and Asian), and a black youth whose gaze locked with hers. He looked close to her age, presumably early-twenties, and was rather handsome in the detective’s eyes.

            “What’s the story on them?” Erica nodded to the jailbirds.

            Looking at the cage himself, Gordon replied, “Just a bunch of snoopers we found at the scene. Flask brought them in.”

            “Has he processed them?” Erica asked.

            “This is Flask we’re talking about,” Gordon derided.

            Erica acknowledged that answer with a nod. “I’ll take care of it,” she volunteered. “Have the black kid and the Asian woman escorted to the interrogation room.”

            Gordon carried out her request and the ones named Alan and Sonia were taken into the room where Detective Harvey waited. The detective gave them both a chance to represent not just themselves but Skeeta and Mystery Inc. as well, telling their whole story. “You wouldn’t believe us,” Alan stated.

            “Try me, kid,” Erica challenged.

            Alan huffed. “Well, for starters, this woman here…” He looked to Sonia. “…she’s my mother.”

            “That I can believe,” Erica said.

            Sonia and Alan shared a quick stunned glance before looking on the detective and collectively exclaiming, “Really?!”

            “I mean, clearly you got more of your dad’s features than hers,” Erica observed. “But you do share similar skin tones.”

            Her observation prompted Sonia to examine her forearms again. “O.K., I am way more ethnic than I imagined!”

            “That’s not what I meant though,” Alan told Erica. “She used to be a white woman – like blond hair and blue eyes – until she got shot by that dude ya’ll arrested from the docks and then she turned into an Asian woman.”

            Erica stared at him blankly, rightfully skeptical. “Right…I would’ve bought the fact you were adopted more than…whatever you just said.”

            “Oh, but I did adopt him,” Sonia said. “Took him in when he was just a lil’ cutie with no one left around to care for him. You see, there was this alien invasion that happened in New York during Independence Day of 1996 and I…”

            “O.K., I’ve heard enough,” Erica proclaimed.

            She stood up from the interrogation table and was about to call in for the guard to escort Alan and Sonia back to their jail cell, until Jim Gordon walked in and told her, “Their bail’s been paid.”

            This news surprised Erica. “By whom?”

            “Bruce Wayne,” Gordon revealed.

            And the night continues to get weirder, Erica thought to herself as she walked out of the interrogation room with Alan and Sonia. Before they parted ways in the lobby, the detective warned them, “You two either stay out of trouble or get out of town. Because, as long as you’re in Gotham, I’ll be watching both of you.”

            She walked away, not knowing how much Alan was watching her. Detective Harvey dressed a lot more casual than the other detectives in the precinct, wearing a tight sweater dress that showed off her curves. “And I’ll be watchin’ you, baby,” Alan muttered, once Erica was out of earshot.

            Seeing her son’s ogling of the young detective, Sonia elbowed him in the side and scolded, “Hey, behave yourself. I raised you better than that.”

            “Did you? Or did the woman who you used to be?” Alan retorted.

            His words stung Sonia a little bit. Thankfully, she was distracted by the elderly British gentleman who greeted them, Skeeta, and Mystery Inc. in the lobby. “Hello, I’m Alfred Pennyworth,” he said. “Master Bruce sent for me to pay your bail.”

            “Well, gee…we’re awfully grateful to Mister Wayne,” Fred said. “But why in the world would he wanna bail us out of jail?”

            “That, Mister Jones, is something we should discuss at Wayne Manor,” Alfred told him.

            “Wait,” Velma uttered. “How do you know Fred’s last name?”

            “Once again, Miss Dinkley,” Alfred said. “I’m not at liberty to discuss it here.”

            He led them to the limousine waiting outside. There, they found Elmo and Scooby-Doo sitting in the backseat, having been found by Alfred in the alley and kept secluded inside the vehicle. After the reunion, they stopped by the impound lot to retrieve the Mystery Machine and ride separately towards the outskirts of Gotham City where Wayne Manor was located.

            Bruce Wayne welcomed his peculiar guests to his home. “I’m aware of the circumstances of your visit,” he noted. “It’s not often I get to meet visitors from another dimension – neither is it often I get to say something like that with a straight face.”

            “How is it that you know so much about us, Mister Wayne?” Sonia inquired.

            “Because these two told me,” Bruce replied, gesturing to two characters standing in the nearest room – two characters that Elmo was more than delighted to see again: Oscar the Grouch and the Count.