Disclaimer: All characters are not mine, and are the property of Dhx Media, Soup 2 Nuts, & PBS.

This is a great joy for me, to write a crossover featuring two of my favorite PBS shows. Also happy to see that Martha Speaks finally has a category on here.

Also, for those not familiar with Martha Speaks, I'll do you guys a favor and describe the characters for you.

Speak Softly and Carry Some Big Words

Wagstaff City was a normal town, although it had its' fair share of odd encounters. Yet none of them were anything compared to what they would soon experience, on a day that started like any other.

It was a seemingly normal day at the local bank and the teller had just finished helping a customer. "Next!" he called out.

The next customer came up to the window and looked to be a butcher, complete with cuts of meat hanging from his uniform.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Yes, I'd like all the cash from the vault please."

"Okay, let me just…I'm sorry, did you just say 'all the cash?'"

"What are you, deaf?" the man asked "yeah, gimme all the cash."

"Are you, robbing us?"

"I'm trying to, yeah, but youse ain't making it easy on me."

"Forgive me for saying this sir, but you seem very unprepared for a bank robbery," the teller told him "you have no weapon that I can see, so I see no reason why I shouldn't call the police right now."

"Oh you want a reason?" the man asked "here's your reason; sausage cyclone!"

Before the teller could realize what happened, sausages emerged from the man's hands, burying him in a pile. Naturally, this attracted the attention of the other customers in the bank.

"Okay, all of youse get back, or you'll get more of the same!" the man said, keeping his hands trained on them. He then hopped over the counter and approached the vault.

"Porkchop chop!" he shouted, causing porkchops to fly from his hands and eventually break through the vault door.

A few moments later, he emerged from the bank, sacks of money in hand, and ran off down the street.

"Oh man, that was great," he said happily "I robbified that place and WordGirl isn't anywhere to stop me. And that's just the beginning; there's a whole bunch of places in this city I can rob blind, and nobody's gonna stop me."

Ten minutes later, in a normal suburban house, a pair of figures were watching TV, having little clue how this mystery man would soon impact their lives.

One of the figures was a young 10-year old girl, with a mop of orange hair and dressed in a purple sweater and leggings, darker purple shoes, and an orange skirt with thick horizontal white stripes; her name was Helen Lorraine, and she was a typical average girl.

The other was her pet dog and faithful companion, who had yellow fur, with a white belly, paws, and tip of muzzle & tail, as well as brown ears, and was clad in a red collar. Her name was Martha.

"Isn't Courageous Collie Carlo brilliant?" Martha asked.

Oh yeah, the dog can talk; I probably should've mentioned that earlier.

"Yes, but have you noticed it tends to get repetitive after awhile?"Helen asked.

"Repetitive? Does that mean great? Because I agree!"

"No, if something is 'repetitive', it means that it repeats itself over and over again," Helen explained "the show always seems to have the same plot; Carlo has to rescue Bimmy or someone else from some danger, Carlo gets a reward, the end. I realize it's a show about a heroic dog, but it could use a change once in a while."

"I disagree, I think the show is brilliant."

"You're just saying that because you have a little crush on Carlo," Helen told her.

"What's your point?"

Before Helen could come up with one, the door to the house opened and another person rushed in.

He was a boy about Helen's age, with short blonde hair, wearing orange shorts, white sneakers, blue socks, and a light-blue t-shirt with darker blue shoulders & sleeves, and a tomato on the front. He was TD Kennelly, one of Helen's friends, known for his…well, you'll see.

"Oh my gosh, you guys aren't going to believe this!" TD said excitedly.

"What? What is it?" Helen asked.

"I just heard on the TV," TD said "that the bank was robbed earlier today!"

"That's terrible news," Helen told him.

"Yes, but that's not why I'm excited," TD explained "according to the news it was robbed by, get this, a meat man!"

"A meat man?" a skeptical Helen asked.

"That sounds like my kind of man!" Martha added, wagging her tail in excitement.

"You're saying a man made of meat robbed the bank?" Helen asked "what would he even need money for?"

"No, he wasn't made of meat," TD explained "he shot meat out of his hands."

"Oh, that makes much more sense," Helen replied sarcastically.

"I'm sensing you don't believe me," TD said.

"I believe you," Martha chimed in "but only because I like meat."

"It's just that, you tend to exaggerate and think things are something they're not," Helen told him "remember last week, when you thought you saw a zombie at the supermarket?"

"He was buying cereal!" TD shouted "although that did seem a bit strange, seeing how zombies eat brains."

"That's cause he wasn't a zombie, he was just an old man!" Helen told him.

"Okay, I'll admit I was wrong about the zombie thing, but I'm right about this!" TD told her "after all, it was on the news, and they never lie on the news."

Helen crossed her arms and glared at him. "Okay, maybe they lie on the news sometimes," TD admitted "but I know they're right about this."

"I'm sorry TD, but I just don't believe there's a man who shoots meat from his hands running around Wagstaff City," Helen told him.

"I wish there was," Martha said, sadly.

"Anyway, I need to take Martha for her walk; do you want to come?"

"No thanks, I need to monitor the news for more sightings of the meat man," TD replied "I'll prove he's real, and then I'll get him to grant me meat powers as well! See ya," he added, as he left.

"Man, I hope TD's right about that meat man," Martha said "I'd love to meet him."

"Yeah, well I don't think that's gonna happen," Helen said "come on, let's go for a walk."

And soon, they were on their walk, unaware they would be running into a new girl and her pet monkey, who were there on an important mission.

"So you are you liking Wagstaff City so far Bob?" Becky Botsford asked her monkey pal.

He responded with something in monkey chatter "we can sightsee later, right now we have to find the Butcher," she told him "I've heard that he already robbed a bank, and we need to figure out where he'll strike next."

Pardon me for asking, but how exactly did you get your parents to allow you to travel to another city all by yourself?

"Well it wasn't easy," Becky admitted "but I was able to use a cunning ruse."

A few days earlier, at the Botsford house:

"Okay mom & dad, Bob and I are going to a sleepover at Violet's house," Becky said "so If you need me, that's where I'll be, at Violet's house. Not someplace else."

"Okay, have fun Becky," her mom, Sally told her.

"Right, we totally trust you, since you told us where you'll be," her dad, Tim added.

"Okay, but if you need me, be sure to call Violet, because I will totally be at her house for hopefully only a day," Becky explained, while Bob simply facepalmed.

"Don't worry, we got it," Sally told her "you have fun with your little slumber party."

"And have fun doing…whatever girls do there, I guess," Tim added "I honestly have no idea."

Okay, but what happens if they call Violet to check on you?

"Already got that covered," Becky said "I told Violet we were playing a game where if my parents call, she's supposed to tell them I'm there."

And you're sure this will work?

"Look, I don't like deceiving my parents, or Violet, but I couldn't just tell them 'hey, I'll be gone for a few days 'cause the Butcher's lose in another city, and, since I'm WordGirl, I have to recapture him'," she said "this is just what comes with being a superhero."

Sounds terrible.

"It is, but such is the price I pay for fighting evil," Becky replied, "anyway Bob, perhaps we should talk to someone, see if they know anything."

While Becky & Bob discussed this, not too far away, Helen was walking down the street when Martha spotted the duo.

"Hey Helen, check it out" Martha said, as she headed down the street. Alongside her was a longer brown dog with a green collar; his name was Skits, and he was the family's other dog, though he lacked the ability to talk. "I don't think I've seen that girl around before."

"She must be new here," Helen guessed "come on, let's welcome her."

"We should try to find someone who lives here and have them give us a tour of the place," Becky told Bob, unaware of the girl and dogs heading near her "that might help us figure out where the Butcher is holed up. Now, who could we find to help us?"

"Hi there."

Becky turned and saw a redheaded girl and two dogs standing mere inches from her.

"Oh, hello," Becky said.

"I don't think we've seen you around Wagstaff City before," Helen replied.

"Oh…well, that's because…um," Becky paused, trying to develop a cover story "that's because my family just arrived here yesterday, yeah that's it. My dad is in town on some business, and that's the reason we're here; I mean, it's not like we're a little girl and her monkey that just came here by ourselves," she added, chuckling nervously, as Bob slapped his face with his hand.

"I never said you were," Helen replied.

"Um, yes of course," Becky told her "anyway, I'm Becky Botsford and this is my monkey, Bob" she added, before Bob chattered something in response.

"Bob says it's very nice to meet you," Becky explained.

"You can understand what the monkey says?" Martha asked, "I wish I could; I needed to get a bunch of animals to help me the last time."

"Okay, wait a minute; did your dog just…talk?" Becky asked.

"Oh yeah, Martha can speak," Helen replied nonchalantly, as if it was the most normal thing ever "I sometimes forget that not everyone knows that."

"O…kay," Becky replied, a bit unnerved.

"Hey, since you're new here, maybe you'd like a tour of the city," Helen suggested.

"That would be great!" Becky said "you know, because I want to see more of the city, since I'll be here for awhile."

"Then come on," Helen said, as she and her dogs led the way down the street.

"This is perfect," Becky whispered to Bob "with her help, we'll comb every corner of this city and hopefully catch the Butcher before he strikes again." Bob chattered something in reply; "fine, you can get some souvenirs, now come on!"

In the next chapter, Becky has a sleepover at Helen's house, and the people of Wagstaff City are introduced to WordGirl & Captain Huggy Face.