Fear Himself

Synopsis:  Fear Monger, along with Dr. Heinz Doofenschmirtz and the Scarecrow scheme to use a broadcast signal that can make anyone make their worst fears come to life, along with an extra dose of Scarecrow's world-infamous fear toxin. Two of their targets are Woodton "Woody" Woodpecker and Michael Theodore "Mickey" Mouse. The Rangers learn that laughter can conquer fear. In a backstory, the Toons decide to pay Edward and Dolores Valiant a visit in their home in Toontown.

Chapter 1—Golden Voice, Ill Intentions

Metro Dhals was a man that had never really had a solid father figure growing up during his childhood. Ghibran was an alcoholic, a man that never wanted to be settled down in a parental role. He tended to be fine until his lips hit fire water, and then everything changed. Eventually, Iris and Metro had to leave due to Ghibran’s abusive nature, berating and threats. They knew that if they hung around, they would become victims and Iris had her fill of it. Despite a rough childhood, Metro did well but he didn’t trust men all that much. He looked up to the wrong people for advice and it landed him in trouble from time to time. True, he had been arrested for misdemeanors throughout his life but nothing major. Just small things like five-finger discounts for items he and his mom needed and stealing from the drugstore to make certain his mom had the medications she required. Sadly, no medication could stop the cancer from metastasizing and eventually, she died.

Metro got into radio broadcasting at a young age as well as voice acting. He was paid well but was really annoyed that toons were getting all the notoriety they were receiving. From his studies, he knew that there were frequencies that could be used to maximize a person’s phobias. True, it was theory but he had read on ScreenSlaver’s tech that had given her such an advantage. It used frequency but in a different manner. His idea was far more insidious. Since he knew no one could escape radio, he wondered if he could get anyone to jump on his nefarious bandwagon. Having nowhere else to go and no one to really turn to, the golden voiced Metro frequented a bar known as The Black Spade. Here all sorts of criminal ruffians tended to mingle. Good meaning folks steered far away from this seedy locale.

Not being one for alcohol, Metro ordered a Shirley Temple. Sure, it got him some leers and muttered jeers but Metro didn’t let passing intimidation ruin his night out. Heinz Doofenshmirtz was savoring a hard lemon seltzer and Scarecrow was chatting and laughing with him. These villains were some of the most feared and ‘most wanted’ as far as their villainy was concerned. Gathering up his nerve, Metro walked toward them and sat down. They already knew him. Word traveled fast, especially in small metropolises like Toontown and its surrounding suburbs.

‘I’m tired of being overshadowed. Woodton Woodpecker, Michael Mouse...they’re really starting to get under my skin. I can no longer allow WKRS to be overshadowed by some wisecracking woodpecker or pipsqueak mouse.’, Metro stated. He also wanted revenge on his dad. His dad ran away. He wanted a relationship with him. When Iris had contracted cancer, Ghibran fled like a coward. This was a man ruled by a Peter Pan complex and a horrible case of failure to launch.

‘So, it’s your dad you’re really after, hmm ?’, the Scarecrow grinned sinisterly.

‘Yes. Haven’t heard from that muck-about in decades now. We had to leave long before mom got cancer but I needed help. I thought he would’ve changed when I told him but, no, he ‘coudln’t be bothered’. He returned to the poison of fire water.’, Metro began seething. He was not only after Ghibran but also the listeners who had their attention stolen by comedy shows and the endearing nature that Mickey exuded to detract and distract potential listeners from old-fashioned radio and Metro’s popular audio books.

‘Sounds tremendous. I know exactly how to bring people back to the old fashioned medium of radio and even get your dad to start reconsidering his role in your life.’, Scarecrow said.

‘Oh, I have got to hear this. If its phobia based, I’ve always wanted to do that. I’m tired of being thought of as a simple ‘pharmacist’ when I am so much more.’, Heinz demanded, pounding his fist on the table irately. Scarecrow placed his hand atop his friend’s and shook his head.

‘Heinz, that ire will help in our quest and Metro’s too. We work as a team. With my latest invention, it won’t be long until everyone will be too scared to go outside or even look at the sun ever again. All of us will have free reign of the streets and before long, the world will be our oyster.’, Scarecrow vowed. He knew he could trust these two men, for neither had anything to lose and everything to gain. The only problem with Scarecrow’s Phobos technology was the fact that it could scar people for the rest of their lives, and Ghilbran, being a radio listener, most likely would find himself too afraid to even venture into the wild, wicked world once he was stricken by the ‘fear frequency’.

Chapter 2—Initiate Phobos

It was a dark, moonless night when the trio had gotten into WKRS studio. Metro made certain that surveillance cameras were dark. Anything that the villainous trio did would be no more than a story if anyone happened to catch them up in the wee hours of the night.

Scarecrow began to link Phobos with the signal WKRS broadcast. Within moments, the affects were starting to be felt by everyone within listening distance. Everyone began experiencing their deepest, darkest fears. Even Woody, who had been giving a stand up show, started having terrible panic attacks. He had wrestled with stage fright in the past and overcome it, but he had no clue as to why this fear was rearing its ugly head now. Unable to continue, he apologized, left and went into his dressing room only to be met by Winny, his loving wife.

‘Woodton, are you ok, hon ?’, Winny questioned, wrapping an affectionate wing around her spouse. Woody began to become more placid under the velveteen touch of his wife’s fingers.

‘I just...froze out there. That has never happened. I love the crowd and hearing everyone laugh. It gives me an incredible adrenaline rush.’, Woody confessed. Winny recalled that there had been a very unusual undulating frequency that she had felt and heard before Woody’s reaction. She knew the two correlated. Putting 2 and 2 together, she recalled something she heard on the news.

‘This isn’t good. We are going to need help. Grab all the comedians you can find. If there’s one thing fear cannot withstand, it’s humor.’, she said, sagely. Woody knew exactly why he appreciated his better half so much. Some of the funniest people could defeat this thing whatever it was, but he had a premonition that this fight was going to be the toughest he and his friends had ever faced.

Chapter 3—Literal Panic Spreads

That night before Woody could begin calling Paul on his Picturephone, Scarecrow and his partners had initiated Phase 2 of their sinister plot. He had always wanted to try his fear serum on toons. It was extremely effective on human subjects, but Ichabod being the eternal inquisitor of the empirical realm, he itched at the chance to try something truly dastardly.

Betty Boop was out on an evening stroll with her dog, Bimbo when she found her view obscured. The smell was worse than a skunk in heat and it nearly made her vomit. Suddenly, she found she couldn’t locate Bimbo, no matter how hard she tried. Bimbo, being a very intelligent dog, ran to Betty’s longtime beau, Freddy, who had been finishing up some work around Betty’s home.

‘What’s wrong, boy ? It’s Betty, isn’t it ? She’s in trouble !’, Freddy surmised aloud as he followed the plucky white puppy with black spots rushed to find Betty cowering on the sidewalk corner, mascara running down her face. Freddy took her home and decided to interrogate her later. Scarecrow secured his mask so as not to breathe in the panic serum he had perfected. With a smooth, flawless unscrewing of the lid of the vial the vile liquid resided in, the serum seeped into Toontown.

‘My work here is done for now.’, Scarecrow thought. He would keep record of what he had witnessed but didn’t consider it a victory, yet. There were still others unaffected and he needed Heinz’ signal booster to reach other victims outside the tristate area.

Chapter 4—Fear Cannot Defeat Us

Essentially at first, Metro was willing to work with his co-conspirators but then tired of how he felt they were ‘tying him down’ and ‘holding him back from his utmost potential’. Being the polite young man he was despite his rough upbringing and lack of male role model, he let his pals know that the project ‘Fear and Loathing in Toontown’ was his and his alone. His vendetta was personal and vengeance was beginning to be wrought for all the air time that had been unscrupulously ‘taken’ from him.

The Rangers had started feeling the effects of the serum and the toons had begun cowering.

‘I’m in a state of full-fledged panic. I can’t seem to stop shaking !’, Webby said, clearly irritated that her fear of abandonment was making her look like a fool. What reassured her is that Lana, too, was just as scared as she was and the two close friends hugged each other for comfort. In fact, that was what the team was doing until Paul remembered what had been said to him by Sully. Mike and Sully had been traveling the area, getting more laughter energy for their villages.

‘Fear destroys. Laughter builds. I’m sure this will work similarly. But, I’m just theorizing.’, Mike said, a bit awkwardly. The plan itself was ingenious. Who knew they were about to use a monster’s strategy to combat Fear Monger’s signal and terrifying oppression.

From every corner of Toontown, even in the human realm, everyone was gathered who knew their chops concerning the crushing world of stand-up comedian shtick. It was not a place for the faint of heart, especially not those terrified of blinding stage lights and hecklers. Paul was well prepared for a day like this. His old crew was gathered and it felt like a reunion of sorts. His family stood boldly, even though fear gripped most of the nation with an iron, though invisible clutch.

They came out with a simple taunt. Certainly it was a childish tactic, but Metro slinked out of the shadows from his comfortable senior swivel chair level of cushiness just to see what all the asinine mocking was about.

‘I’m a senior executive. I seriously don’t have time for this...’, he thought, rubbing his temples to alleviate his headache. The robots were acting as their own broadcasting service, which the scientists of the Rangers had recently figured how to activate. They only hoped now that their ‘funny broadcast’ would overcome the signal that Fear Monger was consistently sending.

Joke after joke, gag after gag, Metro felt his resolve start to crack. He wouldn’t have admitted that he had a sense of humor, but some of the shtick he heard made him guffaw. That outer shell he had created around himself sloughed off like useless dead skin. Whatever exoskeleton he had built was eroding away with the laughter that wracked his body. How could he not love the feeling it gave him ? He felt guilty for having such a narrow minded view and knew that broadcasting the signal was wrong. Even if he shut it down forever, he realized he was doing the right thing. He would never be a villain again and he would have to reform, which would take him at least 2 years to undo all the damage he had caused. In time, though, the better, more accepting version of himself would become a reality.

Chapter 5—Teaming Up Against Dr. Doofenschmirtz and Scarecrow

Although the battle over the fear signal had been an easy victory, the fear gas bombs were still a factor. Those areas that Scarecrow and Heinz had control over were still buckling their knees in terror underneath their oppression.

‘It might not be ethical, but I have laughing gas. There is such a thing as laughing oneself to death, but I can control how much of it we use.’, Synde said, remembering where there was a hidden alcove of the substance when he himself was a villain. He used to use it for interrogation and it was extremely effective.

‘I’m glad you’re on our side rather than on theirs’.’, Tommy said, with a nervous chuckle. True, it had been a while since Synde had turned over a new leaf. However, the Rangers trusted him implicitly. It was only a matter of time when Scarecrow and Doofenschmirtz would be incapacitated. Everyone else would be suited for the defensive, even police. Luckily, neither villain knew of the ‘fear counterattack’.

Just like a home run hit out of left field, it knocked them into submission entirely.

Though they had enjoyed what was to become an empire, people were starting to see who had the real control. Many people were given masks to avoid breathing in the laughing gas. Only Scarecrow and Doof were victims. In milliseconds the police force had been called in to take the two villains away. Any residue of the broadcast that they had helped Metro with so long ago had also been destroyed. For the first time, Doofenschmirtz had actually done something diabolical and it felt addictive ! He longed to do so again, and the sooner the better. Luckily, he had a cell in which he could think, but for now, he went to sleep on a cot, wondering where this new life of villainy would lead.

Epilogue

Eddie Valiant and his lovely wife, Delores were savoring an old fashioned ‘couples’ milkshake’ at a local diner while talking to their new friend, Metro. Metro’s radio station had currently returned to the forefront once Metro decided playing new, popular music wasn’t so bad. He also played more obscure, indie musicians as well as musicians wanting to to make strides in the cutthroat world of popularity, trends and shifting loyalties. Since the ‘fear’ incident, Metro was far more laid back. He had let his father Ghibran, go and decided he no longer needed to contact him. Whatever life his dad was leading, that was his life, and not Metro’s.

‘You’re really doing well for yourself. I hear you even went far enough to find a girlfriend.’, Eddie said. Metro blushed. He had met Yolanda at a concert where he had been playing keytar for a band he supported known as ‘Moonlight’. He was so good that he became an official member.

‘Yolanda has changed everything for me. I don’t know what the future holds but we’re taking it slow. I made friends with the Rangers and their crew and they have since forgiven me. I might even be of use to them in the near future. Though radio is entrenched in the past, we know everything hinges on frequency, so I can still be of use.’, Metro said. It was about that time that Metro grabbed the chocolate chai with milk that he had ordered as well as a blintz, americano and some orange juices for the road as he went to meet with his lovely girlfriend once more. Yes, life indeed was good and nothing could keep the denizens of Toontown down for too long. No, just like their rubbery selves, they always bounced back.

To be continued…