Inspector Gadget: The Case of the Red Hood
Inspector Gadget and all related characters and setting are owned by Cookie Jar Entertainment. DiC now remains an in-credit name only.
Chapter One: Strike at the Bowling Alley
To the naked eye, Inspector Gadget looked as average as could be. He was average height with an average build. He looked about forty, an average age. His looks were slightly below average. His long face had beady black eyes and his messy black hair had a receding hairline. He wasn't going to win any beauty contests. No one on his side of the family ever did.
One thing that did make Inspector Gadget stand out was that he was a cyborg, a bionic detective. Hidden in his body were a wide variety of mechanical devices that sometimes, actually worked! On the outside he looked pretty normal, at least until he did something uncanny.
Since the death of his sister and her husband he had been the legal guardian of his ten year old niece Penny, who was decidedly above average, way above average. Penny Dollar inherited her good looks from her father, and didn't look like anyone from her mother's side of the family. She looked like the little girl from Aliens. She was blessed with teal-green eyes, perfect skin, blonde hair and a unique high pitched throaty voice that was perfect for conveying both care and concern.
More importantly she was a super genius just like her late parents. Her analytical mind would cure cancer someday or create the first true artificial intelligence. Her parents were both brilliant scientists. Her mother was an electronic and computer genius and her father had been the leading expert in canine biology.
Their dog Brain was Penny's late father's greatest achievement. He was a unique breed that was based off the golden Labrador, but he was far superior to any normal house pet. Conceived as the perfect Seeing Eye dog, his hyper developed brain was able to understand human speech and even possessed limited telepathic talents to aid in conversation with his human charges. In addition, his skeletal structure was modified in order to give the dog opposable thumbs and the ability to walk erect if he so chose.
All and all, they were an unusual family but they tried their best to appear 'normal'. For example, Penny went to school just like every other kid even though she was easily smart enough to teach the classes she was taking.
Ever since the accident that turned him into a bionic man, Inspector Gadget exhibited signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He always dressed in the same clothing every day. Even indoors, he wore a grey raincoat with a matching fedora over a white shirt, blue pants, black tie and black shoes. His brown gloves he wore all the time, for they were his hands now. Professor von Slickstein had promised him a more realistic set of hands two years ago and he was still waiting for them.
His niece Penny wore a short sleeved red shirt bisected by a wide white stipe and green pants with yellow patches on the knees almost every day. Her uncle had bought multiple sets the same clothing in different sizes so she could grow into them. There were rare times when she wore something different though.
"Penny!" Inspector Gadget called from the ground floor of their house. "Don't forget your rain parka! It looks like it might rain you know!"
"All right Uncle Gadget!" his niece's scratchy voice called back.
See? I told you sometimes Penny wears something different. Today she's taking a red rain parka.
"I'd better take off for headquarters…" he said as a ringing sound distracted him. He glanced around but for the life of him he couldn't imagine where that telephone sound was coming from. A strange metallic dish unfolded itself around his ear, only to fold in on itself and vanish again.
"Uncle Gadget, it's the top secret Gadget-phone," his niece said as she came down the stairs.
"Thank you Penny," he said as he pulled a tiny antenna out of his thumb. A wide variety of technological devices were hidden in his hands, including a secured cellular telephone. "Is that you, Chief?" he whispered into the telephone. "You're where? Right away Chief!"
Penny and her orange dog Brain watched Gadget carefully as he opened the front door to see a short blonde fireplug of a man in a postal uniform with a full mustache smoking a pipe. "Oh, it's the postman!" Gadget was momentarily startled, but he regained his composure. "Any mail today?"
"Uncle Gadget it's Chief Quimby," Penny told him. "He's only dressed like a postman." Brain frowned and shook his head.
"Here's your assignment Gadget," the undercover police chief said as he handed an envelope to the bionic detective. Unknown to the general public, both Gadget and Quimby were part of a top secret division of Interpol that investigated international criminal conspiracies and terrorist plots. Whenever Quimby was forced to contact Gadget when Penny was around, he always wore a disguise as an additional security measure. "Read this."
Gadget opened the envelope and removed a slip of paper. As Gadget read the paper aloud, the sound of an electric typewriter emanated from his somewhere inside his skull. "'Mysterious informant telephoned headquarters and offered to reveal the secret identity of Doctor Claw in exchange for protection. Is willing to meet only with Inspector Gadget and doesn't trust police. Make contact at the Metro City Bowling Alley on 5th street. Your assignment is to meet the informant and get the information without scaring him off. This message will self-destruct.'"
"I don't like it, Gadget. It sounds like a trap," Quimby shook his head. "You could be facing the most deadly peril."
"And… loving it!" Gadget replied pompously. "It might be a trap but it's the best lead we've gotten in two years. Don't worry Chief. I won't go alone. The informant said just me and no other police, right?" When the chief nodded Gadget continued, "So I'll take Corporal Capeman with me. He'll be an extra set of eyes."
"Very well, good luck and stay in contact," Quimby nodded. As he turned to leave Gadget absently put the secret message in the mail bag the police chief carried on his back.
"You better keep an eye on Uncle Gadget Brain," the girl whispered to her dog. "I think Chief Quimby is right. It does sound like a trap!"
"Right," the dog whispered back.
"Ready for school, Penny?" Gadget asked the girl. "You better get going right away. It could start to rain at any moment!"
The sound of an explosion boomed through the door as stamped envelopes fluttered in the air.
"Wowsers, it sounds like it's ready to cut loose," Gadget said as he opened the door to a coat closet. He handed Penny a scarlet rain cape with a protective hood. "You better wear this; that sounded like thunder."
"Why do I put up with him?" a blackened and bruised Quimby moaned from the front yard.
Miles away, a sinister man in a high backed chair watched Gadget's image through a computer monitor. The chair had a stylized cat face log with horns instead of ears on the back as well as the capital letters 'M A D'. "Ha-ha-ha!" laughed a deep inhuman voice as a black sleeved arm flexed a fist concealed by a metal glove. "You're falling right into my trap, Gadget! Once you're gone, I'll be able to replace you with my own agent and the world will be my oyster!" An overweight cat sitting on the table made laughing noises with him. "Woolf!" He pushed a button his keyboard and the image of Gadget vanished to be replaced by that of a man who looked similar to the police inspector but whose hair was shorter and slicked back. "Make sure there are no other police with Gadget before you spring the trap. I don't want any witnesses when it happens."
"Don't worry Doctor Claw," Woolf assured him. "If Gadget brings backup he'll never see my face."
"See that he doesn't or else no one will ever see your face ever again!" Claw threatened. He cleared the screen of his computer. "Well Madcat, when Gadget gets to the bowling alley, that's when we'll strike! Get it? 'Strike?' Mooh-hoo-ha-ha-ha!"
Madcat laughed along with him.
Hours later, Gadget and Capeman were at the bowling alley. "Well Capman, we've been here for hours and we still haven't been approached. It looks like a wild goose chase."
Corporal Capeman was a fat nerdy teenager who dressed in a garish superhero costume. Flying goggles, acne and buck teeth completed the appearance of someone who was too geeky to get into a science fiction convention. "Too bad Inspector, but at least we've been able to practice our bowling." With that Capeman squinted at the bowling pins and blew on his bowling ball. He waddled forward and threw the bowling ball that went straight up before returning to the ground with a loud THUD. The bowl then rolled slow…ly… down the lane before drifting into the gutter and missing every pin.
"Good throw Capman, your aim is improving," Gadget smiled in a fatherly fashion. He didn't notice that he had mispronounced the Capeman's moniker. As a matter of fact, he usually called Capeman 'Capman' and had only referred to the clueless fanboy as 'Capeman' that morning by accident. "You keep practicing while I go check in with the chief." He walked away from the noisy alley and glanced around. So far he and Capeman were the only customers. As a matter of fact they were the only people in the building aside of that short guy by the door who looked like an orange dog dressed in a bowling shirt and golf pants. It was the perfect time to contact the chief without being overheard.
In reality, the guy by the door was Gadget's dog Brain disguised as a human being. Somehow Penny's father had given the dog the power of suggestion allowing him to pass for a human if he dressed the part. The poor dog had no idea how it worked and was unable to hypnotize people or make them act like a chicken, but it was very handy for getting into places dogs weren't allowed to go.
"Brain," Penny's voice hissed. "Let's go outside."
The dog looked behind him to see Penny in the doorway gesturing at him. He followed the blonde pig tailed girl out to the sidewalk and listened.
"I just got out of school," Penny whispered as she glanced around. "Is everything okay with Uncle Gadget?"
"Oh reah," the dog nodded. "Row rouble row far," he mumbled.
Inside Gadget was making a similar report into a communication device hidden in his hand. "That's right, Chief," he said while his sidekick was making a mockery out of bowling, "No one has contacted us so far. This place is emptier than a cookie jar in a kindergarten class. No don't worry; I don't think it's a trap. We're completely safe."
At that moment the ball that came out of the automatic ball slot emerged to reveal that it had a stylized catface logo with horns instead of ears. It also had a fuse instead of holes for the fingers. "I wonder where the holes are?" Capeman said as he picked up and examined the bomb.
The explosion knocked Penny and Brain off their feet and even tipped over the bicycle that Penny had leaned against the wall of the building. "Uncle Gadget!" Penny gasped. "Oh no!"
Next: Back to the Drawing Board