Hello everyone. Here's one of my newest stories. I've becoming fascinated with the Sweeney Todd story. I love the songs, the story, and the characters. Then I thought, and I'm probably not the only one who thought of this, what would happen if Sherlock Holmes went to solve the Sweeney Todd case? So that's what I'm doing. I'm taking the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes and the Johnny Depp Sweeney Todd and combining them. There's going to be a lot of Holmes sleuthing, Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd singing, Holmes and Watson trying to get a better understanding of not only Judge Turpin's motivation, but the reason for Sweeney Todd's vengeance against humanity, Holmesavision being put to the test against Sweeney Todd, and a lot of blood. A lot of blood. It's not going to have as much gore as the Sweeney Todd movie, but there will be some bloody crime scenes, Sweeney will kill a lot of people, there will be some bad deaths, and Sherlock really is going to be on the clock in order to stop Sweeney from killing more people. I also had the idea of having Holmes and Watson sing too. Not randomly, but at specific parts. Like when Sherlock is having to figure out who Sweeney Todd really is, when they are both realizing what Sweeney Todd is doing to his customers, and how Mrs. Lovett is profiting from her business. However, if you all don't want Holmes and Watson to sing, I won't have them sing. Also, you all know that there will probably be a confrontation between Holmes and Sweeney Todd, but I don't know how I should end it. Should I have it be that Holmes simply arrests Sweeney and Sweeney is put away for life, or should I go with how the ending really goes and have it be that Sweeney dies? I know that if I'm doing Sweeney Todd, that I'm going to have to kill off my favorite characters, but I'm still not going to be able to bring myself to write, Sweeney lies there with his wife in his arms, his throat cut, because I really don't like killing off the characters, but it's Sweeney Todd so I kind of have to. I just don't know if I should have him die by Holmes' hand or, like in the actual story, by Tobey's hand. I don't want it to be that Holmes just shoots him, I like the irony of Sweeney being killed by his own razor. So, I might keep that. So, anyway, I think I've kept you here long enough. So, here we go. Sherlock Holmes and the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

It was a dark and stormy night in London, England. All the people were held up in their houses, not daring to come out, mostly because they didn't want to get drenched by the rain, but also because evil things came out at night in London. Most of the people downtown would go out to the bar or to the opera, as they were not as afraid. However, the people on Fleet Street would board up their windows, lock their doors and shut off their lights because they all knew that evil forces lived on Fleet Street. In a secluded part of Fleet Street stood Mrs. Lovett's World Famous Meat Pies. The owner was Mrs. Nellie Lovett, a widow after her husband Albert died and left her the shop. Her shop had a reputation for making the 'worst pies in London,' and for good reason. Mrs. Lovett made her pies out of the leftover cat meat that Mrs. Mooney used in her pies. She had a residence above her shop that no one would rent because folks say that it was haunted. Something bad had happened up there. Back when Mrs. Lovett was just a young woman and her husband was alive, a young couple came looking for a house. Benjamin and Lucy Barker were looking for a nursery for their infant daughter, Johanna. Benjamin Barker was a barber of tremendous craft. His wife Lucy was immensely beautiful, but there was another man who wanted her. Judge Turpin, one of the best and most corrupt judges in the court, wished for Lucy to love him. He sent her a flower everyday, but she wouldn't come down and greet him, and so he convicted Benjamin and banished him. Then he abused her at a party, causing her to poison herself with arsenic, leaving young Johanna to be adopted by Judge Turpin. 15 years later, a man by the name of Sweeney Todd appeared at Mrs. Lovett's meat pie shop, who then took up the residence above the shop. As soon as Sweeney Todd appeared on Fleet Street, nothing was the same. Which is why one of the residents of Fleet Street sent a letter to 221b Baker Street. The men who lived there would be able to help them, or so they hoped.

~o0o~

A few days later, at 221b Baker Street, the postman brought a bunch of letters and the newspaper to the door. The landlady, Mrs. Hudson, grabbed the letters and paper, thanking the postman. She brought them up to the flat of 221b. She walked in to the tune of a violin and to the sight of billowing smoke. She carried the letters and the paper into the room and set them down on the small table in the cluttered room. Mrs. Hudson cleared her throat and the man playing the violin looked over. He had a pointy, curved nose, with high cheekbones and stubble across his face. He was not a very big man, only about 5'7'', and he had a noticeably small frame, however he was, in actuality, a very muscular man. His hair was black and all messy and greasy and he had green-grey eyes. He was wearing a dirty white open neck shirt with unbuttoned cuffs with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of leather and cotton bracers with pinstripe trousers and black leather loafers. This man was Sherlock Holmes. He looked at Mrs. Hudson and put down the violin.

"Ah, Nanny, you have the paper. Good," he said, walking over with a pipe in his mouth. He grabbed the paper as a door opened at the side. Another man came out of the room and opened the window to let the smoke out. He sat down in his chair and grabbed the paper from Holmes. This man was taller than Holmes. He also had a noticeably small frame, but he, just like Holmes, was very muscular. He had short, light brown hair and he had a bushy mustache of the same color. He was wearing a stiff necked white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of light brown leather bracers, a pair of grey tweed trousers, a pair of light brown leather loafers and a dark brown coachman style bowler hat. This man was Sherlock Holmes' colleague and best friend Doctor John Watson. Watson opened the paper and started to read. Mrs. Hudson came back in with a tray of tea and set it down on the table. Watson put down the paper and smiled when he saw the tea.

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Hudson," he said. Mrs. Hudson left as Watson picked up the letters. He looked through them and read them aloud to Holmes.

"Now, let's see, there's a letter here from Mrs. Darling of Cherry Tree Lane. Her grandson's disappeared."

"He got lost on his way to the candy shop. Took a wrong turn. Should be back in about five to ten minutes," Holmes said. Watson sighed. He put the letter back and opened another one.

"Alright, Lady Trenton reports..oh, her diamond necklace has disappeared," Watson said. Holmes didn't even look up as he grabbed the paper.

"She left it at her sisters house. Lord Trenton is there, with the scullery maid, and he'll find out, too late where it is," he said. Watson just dropped the letter in frustration. Then he picked up the third letter.

"Now this is odd," he said, looking at the letter. Holmes, not even looking up, asked,

"What do you mean?" Watson held up the letter and read it aloud.

"Dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, we need your help. It is urgent that you respond immediately. Matters are occurring that require your singular talents. There are evil forces at work. Numerous crimes have been committed. Mr. Holmes, please, we need your help." Holmes put the paper down and put his hands together.

"Most engaging," he said to himself. Watson looked at the envelope and found a second page that told where the investigation was. Without looking, Holmes asked,

"Whom is the message from?" Watson looked at the envelope and said,

"Ms. Susan Kensington."

"Where is the address?" Holmes asked. Watson looked and said,

"34 Fleet Street." Holmes put his hands down and asked,

"Fleet Street?" Watson nodded. Holmes picked up his pipe and lit a match, lighting it up.

"Watson, send a note back to Ms. Kensington. Tell her I'll take the case. I may need some help with this one, old boy," he said, puffing from his pipe.

"Holmes, if you didn't realize I have a life outside of sleuthing. My fiancee wouldn't want me to get hurt a year before my wedding," Watson said. Holmes smiled.

"This may be the most important case of my professional career, Watson," Holmes said. Watson sighed.

"Holmes, you say that about all your cases."

"Yes. But I have a feeling that this one will be it. This will be the greatest case of my professional career, perhaps of all time," Holmes said.

"I'm sure Mary wouldn't mind you going on a small gallivant to Fleet Street, Watson."

"Mary always minds me going on 'gallivants' with you, Holmes. Hell, she minds me even coming over here," Watson said. Holmes took a few puffs from his pipe and clasped his hands together, closing his eyes.

"Come now, Watson. Just a small jaunt over to Fleet Street and then you can go home to your fiancee," he sighed. How was it that he was always convinced to go gallivanting off with Holmes on cases. If only Watson knew what was in store for both of them.

Now, if you're wondering where this story falls in the Holmes movies, I'm taking 'poetic license' and making the events in Sweeney Todd take place in 1890, one year before Game of Shadows. So it is in the sequence of after the first Sherlock Holmes movie, but a year before Game of Shadows, so Holmes is still hot on the trail of Moriarty, he's just taking this case cause he's bored and has nothing better to do. Watson is still engaged to Mary, and he's just hoping that this is going to be a short case. Oh, how wrong he's going to be. When they meet up with Mrs. Lovett and meet Sweeney Todd for the first time, Watson is going to see that he made the wrong choice accompanying Holmes on this one. They are going to see things they thought they would never see ever. When you take on the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, you see things that you never, ever thought that you would ever see before. So, that's the first part. I hope you enjoyed it. Tune back next time when we see Holmes and Watson going to Fleet Street and to Mrs. Lovett's shop. It's going to be awesome.