The Crime Crusaders Club

Case 2: "Sanguine Dreams & Other Wonders"

By Mikel Midnight

Lando walks out onto the back porch of the Crime Crusaders Clubhouse, as the other members discuss points of order.  Politics does not concern him. He sniffs the night air, closing his eyes and expanding his other senses to look for anomalies.  Briefly he passes by the affairs which are being met by others of his community: the alabaster which glows like the sword of God's vengeance, the ancient gold from beyond the stars, the twained soul with the sign of the seven, the ruby man preoccupied with celebrity and adventure, the backwards man with a mind like a maze ...

He wrinkles his nose at the stench of rotted flesh and dried blood, paired with the sharp tang of ozone.  He withdraws quickly from the unpleasant sensation.  <<Keith Everett>> his mind calls out.

Moments later, light floods the porch as the Gay Ghost strides through the double doors.  "I heard thy voice in my head, Lando.  What dost thou wish of me?"  His tone is light, his hand rests easily on the pommel of his sword, as if he were ready to seek out adventure at a moment's notice.

Lando can't help but smile at the dashing young man.  "I sensed something odd in the supernatural realms, something that seemed to combine magic and science in a manner unfamiliar to me.  I sensed it in Gotham City, which I believe is where you've made your home since coming to America.  Have you had any recent encounters with ... the undead?"

The Gay Ghost opens his mouth to speak, and then hesitates.  Lando notes the other's eyes peering over his shoulder, and he turns to see a third man coming out of the shadows.  In the darkness, the style of his helmet gives the impression of a terrible feral animal.  He smiles grimly. "Gotham City?  Yes, since you asked, the Earl of Strethmere and I did have a nasty encounter there with a vampire of sorts."

Lando wonders how the man known as the Flying Fox was able to move so silently, even he had been unaware of the man's presence on the porch until he had spoken.  "I didn't know you were local to the area, Mr. Darrell."

The Flying Fox nods, "My father, Terrance Darrell, was white, but my mother was one of the Quontauka tribe who came down from Canada and settled in the Kansas area, centuries ago.  I grew up in a small town there but my adulthood was spent in Gotham.  I usually spend my time in Europe on the front lines, but when I'm in America I always visit my old home.  And last time ... well you tell it, Keith."

The Gay Ghost takes a deep breath ... old habits are hard to break, notes Lando, as the former Earl does not need to breath.  "My present-day identity had been assigned to investigate a series of foul murders.  The victims had been drained of blood and their faces were stretched to a most horrible rictus of a smile.  All were vendors of rare jewels who had purchased their wares from a common distributor, so it was a simple matter to invisibly follow the next likely candidate.  I interrupted his attack by a frightful apparition.  Its skin was pale as death itself, its lips red as blood, its hair a bilious green."

"My uncle, Gilbert Darrell, was the vendor," says the Flying Fox, "and I was visiting him at the time.  I immediately recognised our attacker as the Joker from the newsreels, but they never mentioned that Gotham's worst criminal was a vampire!  I was even more surprised that the next person to appear out of nowhere was my teammate, the Gay Ghost. Without my helmet he didn't recognise me, of course."

"I was grateful for thy presence," continues the Gay Ghost, "as the clown prince of crime was an horrific opponent.  He had me at a disadvantage and might even have been able to damage my spectral form, had not the Fox been sly enough to impale the fiend on my sword, which I had long since lost in battle.  Unfortunately, the fiend turned to mist and disappeared, so our success was fleeting.  But that was not the end of the mystery."

Lando raises an eyebrow.

"After returning to the office of my mortal form, I contacted the Gotham police department.  Our opponent could not have been the Joker, who was in gaol at that time.  I know not what insane spectre we had done battle against, but despite its guise it was not who it appeared to be."

"Whatever the source of the creature you fought," Lando stroked his chin thoughtfully, "it has made its home in Gotham.  Accompany me, sir, and we shall investigate."

"Should we not summon our teammates?" queried the Gay Ghost.

"No, this is a matter of sorcery and requires the touch of those who are familiar with magical realms.  The only other ally of ours who would qualify would be Drusilla, and Wonder Girl is too much a child for the horrors which lay ahead of us."

The Flying Fox takes Lando by the shoulder.  "You can ignore the rest if you want, but I was here at the beginning of this case, and you're not leaving me behind."

Lando gestures hypnotically.  He traces his fingers through the air, seeking out a path of power connecting him and the source of the vampires. Finding one, he chants under his breath, "Agga djin!" and draws a line in the air with his fingertips.  He traces the line into a circle, and Flying Fox feels his eyes unable to track as Lando pushes the completed circle in space out onto the ground, leaving a tunnel clear through to an unlit area in Gotham.

The Gay Ghost passes through the portal easily, and Lando follows.  The

Flying Fox pinches the area between his eyes, fighting vertigo as he finds himself unable to focus on the space before him.  "This can't be worse than doing a loop behind Uncle Adolph's flyboys," he mutters to himself, and tries to focus just on the space beyond the portal, finally jumping through and landing awkwardly.

He watches with a sense of discomfort as Lando reaches back through the portal, apparently lifting up the space which had fallen on the other side and plugging the hole behind him.  Lando peers back at him.  "Are you all right, Mr. Darrell?"

The Flying Fox grits his teeth.  "I'm fine.  Let's go."

Lando hesitates as he attempts to locate the source of his sensations.

"North of here," he points.  "Earl, do you know this area?"

The Gay Ghost throws his cape back in a flourish and leaps with balletic grace into the air, floating among the treetops with grace.  When he returns, he nods empatically.  "I do remember now.  A year ago many practioners of a certain profession sought to improve their standing with the nation's youth by creating a carnival here.  I believe their attempts were for naught, and the grounds of the carnival remain desolate and tumbling ... a ghost town, of a sort."  He gives a half-smile at his jest.

The Flying Fox pulls his gun from his holster and begins loading it.

Lando interrupts to wave his hand over the gun.  "Gurgo hlath," he intones, and the bullets transform into solid silver.  "A precaution, Mr. Darrell," he says solemnly, "when dealing with the undead."  The predator of the skies narrows his eyes and nods silently.

Following Lando's senses and the Gay Ghost's knowledge of the area, the trio marches northwards paralleling a recently paved but trafficless highway, even in the moonless night seeing the peculiar shapes of the abandoned amusement park.  Despite themselves, Lando and the Flying Fox stare with amazement as they approach the entrance.  An enormous speculum, the size of a small building, invites them to enter MEDICALAND.

Rex Darrell chokes, "Keith, you didn't say it was the ... medical profession.  There are some things I'm glad I missed about Gotham when I've been overseas.  Their obsession with giant ... props ... is one of them ... "

Lando agrees wanly, his usually implacable composure near cracking, “I'm... not ... surprised it was hardly a success."

They pass through the locked gate, walking under the series of enormous forceps which arc over the walkways, the two contemporary men staring aghast at the Inoculatory Needle ride, the Stethoscope ride, the Colostomy Bag ride.  "There," Lando says, pointing at an immense black doctor's bag which seemed to double as an administrative office.  His next words are silenced by a wolf at his throat.

The beast is the size of a large man, its fur red as blood aside from an odd yellow patch of fur which seems to resemble a skull and crossbones emblazoned on its forehead. The Gay Ghost draws his sword but his lunge at the creature is stilled as it glances upwards, its eyes catching Keith Everett's, who freezes in place as if hypnotised.  It lowers its head to tear at Lando again when it is felled by an explosion of silver from the Flying Fox's guns.  The beast staggers, and leaps at him, but another twin shots through its heart stills its movement.  As it lays on the ground, the beast slowly transforms into a gaunt human figure clad in a red robe and full hood, and then dissipates into mist.

Rex Darrell turns his gun towards the Gay Ghost, unsure.  The supernatural swordsman looks to him, "I am quite myself, I assure thee.  Our foe seemed to dull my thoughts with its eyes, but the effect vanished with the creature did.  Let us look to our friend."  He kneels down by the fallen master of magic.  "Lando?"

Lando coughs, and raises his right hand to his throat.  His hand glows a bright green, with spreads through his throat.  <<I am alive, but not much use I'm afraid,>> he spoke into their minds.  <<Without the ability to speak, I cannot cast spells.  The healing effect should remedy that, but it will take time.>>

The Flying Fox says, "And now they know we're here, that's time we probably don't have. We have to carry on.  Lando, can you come with us or do you want to try to bring help?"

Lando rolls onto his right side, and using his hands, lifts himself to a crouching position, and then to his feet.  <<I am here now.  Let us carry on.>>

"Hast thou previously come across such a creature?" enquires the Gay Ghost.  "Was it one of the undead of which you spoke, Lando?"

<<I don't know,>> he replies.  <<It ... seemed to be ... though few vampires develop their wolf forms so powerfully.  And yet the creature seemed to lack spiritual substance, even the remnants of what one would expect of the undead.  I don't know what sort of phantasm attacked us... which is a problem.>>

The Flying Fox tries the door of the office structure, scanning the room alertly as they enter.  "A problem?  This is something you'd better tell us about now, Lando."

Lando sighs, <<I ought to have been able to detect the wolf, and I couldn't.  I don't think it's what it appeared to be.>>

The Gay Ghost looks amused, "So it was a creature of sand and mist, and not a vampire or a werewolf?  The distinction is to fine for me to draw. Whatever its nature, it was felled by the noble Fox's silver, and I yearn to try my own steel against one such beast, be it spectral or real."

A voice floats out from the darkness, eerie and German-accented, "You will have your chance ... your chance for maximum terror!"

Lando turns his hand outwards, illuminating the room with the glow.  Four figures stand cloaked in the darkness before them.  The first is an elegant woman of indeterminate age. She is beautiful and raven-haired with angular features, high cheekbones, and full, bowed lips.  Her eyes are heavily shadowed with kohl.  She is wearing a long gold silk dress, and an open-faced hood.  Accompanying her is another woman, slightly shorter and slimmer with hair cut short in a Louise Brooks style, she is wearing a form-fitting dress the style of which evokes a previous decade.  With them is> a boy of about 12.  He wears a blue bodysuit and grey shorts, gloves, boots, and cape.  The upper part of his face is hidden behind a grey mask which leaves his red hair free.  A yellow quarter-moon inside a white circle is emblazoned on his chest.  A utility belt around his waist completes the picture.  Finally, there is a creature that could barely pass for human. The Crime Crusaders first notice his white skin, followed by his visible fangs, his bald head, and very long fingernails.  His ears are large, and crumpled at the edges, but the overall effect is frighteningly inhuman rather than ludicrous.

"So, the Nazis are sending vampires to invade our shores now?" notes the Flying Fox. Barely has he spoken when the boy reaches into his utility belt and tosses a handful of pellets at the team.  Flash and smoke pervade the small space as they find themselves under attack.

Out of the smoke, a swingline grapples onto a rafter on the ceiling, and the boy flies out above the others, one hand holding onto the line and the other reaching behind him in mid-air and tossing a boomerang at the Flying Fox's gun, knocking it out of his hand. The taller woman takes him by the throat.  "You slew him, my wolf, my love," she hisses, fanglike teeth bared.

Lando shouts, unused to being caught so by surprise, as he feels a sharp pain in his arm.  The shorter woman has inserted a catheter into his vein, and as his blood flows down the tube she almost smiles at him.  "Not all of us are Germans, slick," she says in American English.  "Some of us are just girls out for a good time."  She lifts the end of the tube to her lips, licking at it and allowing some of the blood to speckle across her face.  "Won't you show me a good time?"

The albino figure dressed in black crouches down like some hideous animal, and springs at the Gay Ghost.  As he lands the two fall into a wrestle, their long cloaks whirling about like a stormcloud of blue and black.

The Flying Fox strikes at the woman's wrist, jarring her slightly off her feet but her superhuman strength holds.  The costumed boy tumbles forward, striking at the Fox's head with a roundhouse kick, and he feels his knees crumble beneath him.

Lando turns the flat of his hand outward, shining light into the face of the other woman.  She winces as her eyes adjust in the gloom, and then smiles at him.  "I think I like the lights on Broadway better, slick." She twists the catheter to the side, sending further sharp pain through his arm, and slams her knee between his legs.  He groans, and crumbles to the ground.

The Gay Ghost finds his strength matched by the humanoid creature.  It's movements are strangely theatrical, despite a stiffness and awkwardness belied by its great speed.

<<Keith Everett>>

<<I hear thee, magician.  Speak swiftly, this foe is daunting indeed.>>

<<I am not strong enough after the wolf's attack to defeat my opponent physically, and the magic I have left is useless against her.  Mr. Darrell is in danger of being felled. Aid us, I can destroy the nosferatu you face.>>

<<Two women and a child?  Thy tactics are hardly honorable for one such

as I.>>

<<They are not real, my friend.  And is it more honorable to allow your friends to fight women and children?  Or allow your friends to be felled by them?>>

<<No.>>

Without another word, the Gay Ghost fades to invisibility, vanishing into the shadows. The woman standing over Lando falls a moment later, as if a heavy object had struck her from behind.  She vanishes into mist before she hits the ground.  Lando's light strikes the nosferatu in the eyes, and it howls in an inhuman anguish.  It falls to its knees, again turning to mist.

Keith Everett, the Earl of Strethmere, reappears and stands amidst the faded foes. "So, thou art but phantasms after all," he says, pointing his sword at the woman who has Rex Darrell in a deathgrip.  "Away with you then."  He lunges forward, impaling her, and with a lightning motion withdraws and strikes at the boy.  They both disappear in smoke.

The swordsman stares at his blade, "No blood.  How didst thou know, Lando?"

Lando walks to the space where the Gay Ghost's opponent had vanished.  "I... " he says, and chokes off, hand at his throat again.  <<I recognized this one>> he continues telepathically.  <<Count Orlok, a character from the film Nosferatu.  What we battled here exactly resembled the actor, Max Schreck, in his makeup.>>

The Flying Fox looks thoughtful as he retrieves his gun.  "I remember reading about a criminal who could make fictional characters come alive, named Funnyface.  Could this be his handiwork?  I don't recognise any of the others."

<<I don't either.  It's possible they could be real criminals, rather than fictional, which Funnyface managed to duplicate somehow.  After all, he'd managed to duplicate the Joker.>>

"A man could create wonders with such an ability," notes the Gay Ghost. "It's a pity he hast chosen to devote his time to evil."

<<All too often the case>> agreed Lando.  The trio continues down the corridor, following Lando's senses through to the central warehouse area.

"Welcome to my home," says a thickly accented voice as they open the door.  They see Dracula looking just like the way that Bela Lugosi portrayed him. The legendary Vlad the Impaler is impeccably dressed in 

tuxedo and cape. His slicked back hair and sharp teeth bespeak evil.

"Another phantasm ... this one I recognise," says the Flying Fox.

The Gay Ghost's sword point hovers near Dracula's heart.  The vampire looks at him, slightly amused.  "Take us to thy creator.  Where is the  0ne known as Funnyface?"

"Funnyface?  Whatever do you mean?"  Dracula steps aside with a small bow as a small, frail man in a white lab coat steps from the back.  He removes his glasses to polish them, and stares inquisitively at the newcomers.

The Flying Fox blinks, perplexed.  "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Oh," chuckles the man, "My name doesn't matter.  Some time ago I started calling myself the Vampire Master ... I accomplished quite a bit of mischief before I encountered Doctor Occult."

Lando thinks to himself:  accompanied by Rose Psychic, no doubt, the twained soul with the sign of the seven.

"Mischief?," replies the Gay Ghost.  "Theft and murder?  Methinks the Crime Crusaders Club will prevent thee from indulging any further such mischief."

"Oh no oh no," says the Vampire Master.  "Most regrettable to be sure, but I assure you my current goal is quite benevolent.  Please, follow me and I will show you."

The three men pause, eyes on Dracula.  The count chuckles softly, licking his lips, revealing sharp fangs as he does so.  "The living are such frightened rabbits," he says. "I will precede you all into the workroom, if you wish."  He passes into the room, beckoning the others to follow. The Vampire Master precedes them, and they pass through.

Beneath an open skylight, a network of lights greets their eyes. Countless jewels, set within a metal framework, reflect beams of light from one to another, in multifarious colors.  "God's wounds," mutters the Gay Ghost, "what is this?"

The Vampire Master claps his hands in delight, "An updated version of the thought materializer!  Doctor Occult destroyed the first one, but I deserved it, sadly.  But I no longer wish to keep the infinite possibilities to myself: when it is finished, all mankind can be vampire masters!"

The Flying Fox stares up at the skylight.  "What?  What do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you've never lost anyone you've loved?  Or wanted to meet a character in fiction?  Or had an adolescent crush on someone beyond your reach?"  The old man smiles, "Once this is operational, anyone in the world will only have to think of a person and they will materialize before them as a vampire.  All our dreams can come true, my friends!"

"Sanguine dreams indeed," says the Gay Ghost.  "I had thoughts of one such as thee performing wonders, I see now that no good can come of thy insanity."

Lando steps into the maze of lights, using his hands to catch and deflect them.  His hands refocus the beams, causing the generating mechanism to fall.  "Stop him!" cries the Vampire Master, but the Flying Fox grabs him by the shoulders, holding him back.  With surprising swiftness, Dracula leaps forward, striking Lando to the ground.  "Did you think I would be as easy to dispose of as those amateurs at the gate?"

"Leave him be," says the Gay Ghost, "or taste my steel through your heart. That will slay thee as easily as any other phantasm."

Dracula flings Lando aside with a contemptuous gesture.   "I defended my homeland for decades against the Habsburgs, and my sword brought me the name The Impaler."  He reaches to his side and draws out his own sword. "I had worn this today only ceremonially, but let us see whether my skills have grown rusty in these past centuries, shall we?"

The metal clashes fill the room, and the Gay Ghost finds himself being driven backwards by the speed and ferocity of his opponent.  <<Keith

Everett, lead him away from here.  I need to finish my job.>>

Wordlessly, the Gay Ghost flies upwards through the skylight.  Dracula howls with laughter.  "Run, little rabbit, run!"  He takes to the air in pursuit.

<<Rex Darrell, assist the Earl.  I can carry on with the bereft Vampire Master.>>

The Flying Fox releases the scientist, who falls to the floor, sobbing. He nods at Lando and runs out through the hall.  He turns back to see Lando approaching the thought materializer again, his hands glowing.

He arrives at the exterior of the immense doctor's bag to see a strange batlike creature cavorting in the air alone.  Has the Earl been slain, he thinks to himself?  No, there's the glint of steel.  He realises the Gay Ghost must have become invisible in an attempt to disarm his foe, and the vampire must have changed to a shape whose senses would allow him to detect the other.

He assesses the grounds.  There must be some way to become airborne; I'm helpless as a kit down here.  He spies a display of dental equipment, a vertigo ride consisting of an enormous pair of pliers, with numerous teeth suspended from the top, each of which acts as a doubled seat for the riders.  Who designed this monstrosity, and thought it was a good idea?

Entering the base of the ride, he activates the switch which supplies the power.  Good, the Vampire Master must have supplied electricity to the entire grounds in order to work his laboratory.  He throws the switch into overdrive, and watches as the ride starts to spin around, the spin driving the teeth upwards until they are nearly horizontal. Entering the base of the ride, he finds the maintenance tunnel and crawls upwards through to the top of it.  Arriving at the top, he stands on the narrow base, surveying the whole of Medicaland.  He sees the Gay Ghost has become visible again.  The Earl is exhausted, and Dracula barely looks winded.

He kneels onto the base, watching as the chains bearing the teeth spin around at blinding speed.  No worse than wingwalking, he thinks. Choosing a moment, he lunges onto one of the spinning chains, screaming at the jolt as he is whirled around.  He takes a moment to re-establish his bearings, and he crawls along the whirling chain, wind whistling through his ears. Finally he reaches the end and slides into the tooth.  Not the most graceful of vehicles, he contemplates.

He tries to track the location of the duelists.  The Gay Ghost's sword goes whirling off to the ground, and Dracula takes him by the throat. The vampire might be saying something to him, but the Flying Fox can't hear it above the sound of the wind.

He pulls from his coat a pair of cutters he had grabbed when he entered the maintenance shaft.  He slices through one of the supporting chains, and the tooth wobbles dangerously.  Not yet, not yet, he thinks.  This would be a stupid way to die.  Eyes on the vampire, he chooses his moment, and cuts through the remaining chain.

The tooth is released, and with a fierce cry, the Flying Fox is flung at his opponent, howling like a wild animal.  Dracula looks up, barely given time to assess what he sees when the flying tooth slams into him, their momentum carrying him backwards.  The vampire growls what may be an Hungarian obscenity, when the tooth passes the peak of its arc and impales Dracula atop the Inoculatory Needle ride.  He, too, vanishes into mist.

The Gay Ghost floats over, taking the Flying Fox's hand before the tooth falls to the ground with a crash.  The two of them descend, and once grounded the Keith Everett bows deeply to the Fox.  "I am in thy debt, Mr. Darrell.  That was a most fantastic display, and I was soon to yield to the vampire's spell.  You are truly a master of the air."

The Flying Fox returns the gesture with a nod.  "I just did my bit.  Let's go down and get Lando, and let's go home."

THE END

Note:  the vampires, in order of appearence, are the Monk [Batman foe],

Dala [Batman foe], the Vamp [Sandman foe], Fledermaus [Young All-Stars

foe], Nosferatu [film character], Count Dracula [film character].