A/N: I know that I should upload my other stories, but once I was bitten by he RoboCop bug, I couldn't stop writing and that's the result of it. My intention for this story is to stay true to the original Paul Verhoeven ''RoboCop'' and try to rewrite the sequels the way I saw it fit, using a few elements from other incarnations of the story for this fic. As the thing progresses, you'll see what I mean. I didn't saw the remake that came out this month, nor do I have any plans to go watch it. I may change my mind when I ever get the chance of seeing it, but I prefer to stick to the original for now!
Just to avoid any misunderstanding, this is taking place after the orignal 1987 RoboCop movie, and it will include several of my favourite characters from Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. For some odd reason, I couldn't resist the urge to write a crossover like this, and I hope that by the next couple of chapters, more people will like the marriage of these two worlds.
Basically, it's my take on how the sequels should have looked like, with my own twists to them. And I will only say it once here, so that I don't get tiring mentioning that over and over again:
RoboCop is the copyrighted property of Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, while Beetlejuice belongs to Tim Burton and the characters are also the property of Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson. I don't derive any monetary profit from this story and I doing it because of my love for both films and I thought it was fun to try out something like that. It may be what I need to get myself from the ground and start working on my other stories again.
And now, on with the story! Hope you love this. And don't forget to review on the way out. As always, reviews are love and help me go on with the thing. I accept constructive criticism, but don't try to flame me because of that crazy decision of mine.
Prologue:
It was early in the morning at the newsroom of ''Media Brake'', and Casey Wong exchanged a few glances with his partner, Jesse, asking whether she felt confident or not today, since today's news were anything but reassuring. The last thing he needed was his partner having a psychotic breakdown due to the nature of the things they were going to say in front of the people tuning to their channel.
There wasn't enough time for both of them to say anything else, as a voice boomed from an outside speaker and recited the all-too familiar tagline of this news station, accompanied by a slightly altered theme tune.
''This is ''Media Brake''. You give us three minutes, and we'll give you the world.''
The lights were slowly illuminating the room, and the cameras cued on the two news broadcasters, who managed to put a smile on their faces just at the nick of time.
''Good morning, everyone. I am Casey Wong, along with my partner, Jess Perkins. And now, our top story.'', the male broadcaster said, while a split screen from behind came up, one side showing several images of Detroit while the other was a black background with the logo of a corporation named ''Omni Consumer Products'', better known as OCP, dominating at the center. Casey never lost eye contact with the camera and continued to talk as casual as he could.
''It's been several months following the success of Robert Morton's RoboCop programme at eliminating the severe crime that plagued the city, and it looks like we had earned a long needed rest from it. Although dead, Morton's legacy as head of Security Concepts carries on, now that it has been taken over by Dr. Lance Macintyre Kahn, who has come from New York to bring his expertise in advanced cybernetics and join forces with the department. He was quick enough to say the following statement. Lance Macintyre Kahn, OCP.''
The screen was changed to that of a young looking man with grey hair and blue eyes, only wearing a black suit with a grey tie standing out the most and it was zoomed in, taking over the entire screen in the process. It was him standing in a desk on what appeared to be one of the top floors of the company's building, with a window behind it, showcasing some of the other buildings and streets of the city below.
The subtitle read ''Dr. Lance Macintyre Kahn, Head of Security Concepts, OCP''
The man seemed unmoving, although it was because he was hearing the questions of some of the reporters in an attempt to think of the best response to them.
''Your work in cybernetics and advanced robot technology has become a staple of our culture and rumour has it that you have plans to expand it for military uses overseas. The army has become increasingly interested in that, alright. But why, out of all the offers that you got lately, you chose to turn them down in favor of revolutionizing the SC division at Omni Consumer Products?'', the voice of a male reporter asked from off-camera.
''Ah, well, I happened to hear some of the troubles this division faces nowadays, and having met Bob Morton himself on several occasions, even though I wouldn't describe ourselves as close friends, I felt I owned it to myself to carry on with his work and find new ways to expand on that technology. I believe that there's so much potential that was never explored in that division, and hopefully we'll start work on some of the new projects I had in mind for a while. Not sure where we're heading to, but at least we can make some real progress with the company, don't you think?'', the man said to the reporter.
''Dr. Kahn, what are your views regarding the success his RoboCop programme had in eliminating crime in Old Detroit? Would you care to answer any of the rumours about your possible involvement at revisiting Morton's programme or anything around it?'', a female reporter asked this time.
The blue-eyed man laughs a bit and replies to the eager reporter, ''Again, it just depends on how the board will perceive my ideas and notions, which I doubt there'll be any problem in trying out new stuff and experiment a bit with other things. But yeah, I wouldn't rule out taking a shot at a new RoboCop model, although it will take a while before my team comes with a satisfactory outcome. Personally speaking, I don't think there's need for a new RoboCop, but I don't say that the door of endless possibilities is completely shut, so we'll see how it goes.''
''And what do you have to say about any possibility at a future attempt to improve other products of the division, like the Enforcement Droids line, series 209?''
''Oh, you mean the good old ED-209. What can I say? I think it's a swell guy and if we get to bypass some of his earlier programming and fool around with it, we may be able to reintroduce the series the way Richard Jones intended it to be, for urban pacification. Sure, there were some accidents before, but with a little trial and error, my boys will have a newer version out there to help Robo police the streets even more effectively. In no way will the line replace the guy, we only want to give a helping hand to him in any form we can, and as far as I'm concerned, once the tests with my take on ED-209 are positive, we should expect a new model to patrol the streets, and especially the slums and more dangerous areas in Old Detroit.''
Lance remained silent for a few seconds and after a few moments of silence, he decided to break it and opened his mouth.
''Okay, are there any other questions? So far, so good? Ah, yeah, the man on the far left? Yes, I meant you sir, you over there.'', Lance said while pointing his right hand with the index finger on the left side of the room.
''Reggie Jackson, from ''The Detroit Herald '', sir. I was just wondering what your take is at any further developments at OCP, and whether or not ''Delta City'' it's still one of the company's top priorities.'', another male voice spoke out, obviously belonging to an African-American reporter.
Running a hand through his short grey hair, Lance gave a huge sign and tried to compose himself to give a satisfactory answer to the man. Blinking a few times, he went with the best response his mind could come up with.
''To be honest, I don't have any real opinions on the Delta City project, since it's not part of my division, but even if I had something to say about it, it wouldn't be anything different from what you've already heard before for quite some time, gentlemen. Rest assured, though. All of us at OCP work day and night to provide the two and a half millions of citizens of Detroit with what the American city of the 21st century should look like. It's not an easy task, but I am confident we can go forward with the project. First, we have to eliminate crime on a...a more meaningful scale than before to ensure worker safety and start replacing Old Detroit with our company's ideal metropolis, which is my priority at the moment.''
At the last sentence, some of the cameras flashed in front of him and more voices jumped in to fill the room with more fuss than the young-looking scientist needed right now.
''And second, but not least, we have to work with a very limited budget, since some of the city officials still don't share a lot of our views, but I'm very confident we can overcome all these obstacles once they see how effective our way of implementing law enforcement will become. RoboCop, in my estimation, was only the beginning of this great adventure, and yet we still haven't tapped on the many advantages that could come with all of that technology. Our future will have a silver lining only if we go the distance and I fill in the void of what Morton and Jones left behind them, and I think that would be all for today, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your time.''
Dr. Kahn slowly raised from the desk and walked towards the doors of his office, more cameras flashing and people chattering over his last statement.
When he reaches for the doors, he turns his head towards the reporter and that image is frozen in that instant, with the screen retreating back to the background, leaving enough space for Casey Wong to resume his job and his eyes focused on what he was supposed to read in the text in front of him.
''Those were the final words of him during his interview yesterday that evening. From what we can gather, the young scientist seems to take his role even more serious than his predecessor did, in spite of the criticism he received from other quarters of the local industry. Following the death of crime boss Clarence Boddicker, and his connections with a high-ranking OCP executive, Richard ''Dick'' Jones, who threatened the company's president at point blank range, only to be shot down by RoboCop himself, thus saving the older man from harm's way, there may be some hope that the dream of Delta City will come at a fruition within the next years. Jess, what do you make of all this?''
''I certainly hope so it becomes a reality, Casey. I really think it's about time to let Old Detroit become a thing of the past and embrace the future that is Delta City.'', the blonde woman said, turning herself towards the camera to announce the other news item they had to share with the audience.
''Apparently, the Star Wars Peace Platform will have to go through another series of revisions, at it once again misfired its missiles at an located area near Waco, Texas, effectivly destroying most of the crops and burning about 8.000 acres to a crisp, also causing the death of two senators who were vacationing at that same location. A day of mourning indeed, for esteemed Republican leaders Pat McGoohan and Rick Hanson. We will sorely miss them.''
And with the camera now showing both of them and the news room, Casey Wong took his cue and completed the segment.
''And that's all for today at ''Media Break'', folks, We hope you have a wonderful day today. Here's a word from our sponsor. Goodbye, now.''
The screen went completely black only to fade in with the image of a family on a table in their dining room, playing what appeared to be a board game.
''Red Alert! Red Alert! Initiate Def Con 4, all units man your stations.'', a mechanical voice echoed around the room.
A blonde girl all of a sudden said, ''Why can't you make it easier on yourselves? Never cross my line of death!''
The mother held a card with one hand and throw a couple of dice on the board game. ''You should be more careful, Katie, before I get close to dismantling your RX stockpile.''
The son anxiously said, ''Holy cow, Big Bro was right. Now the Soviets are advancing towards me and I can't retaliate, not when half my troops are trapped near Pakistan's border.''
''Well, you done it, buster!'', the father exclaimed with his glasses still on his head, even though the force of his movements should shake them up a bit. ''And this time, no more military aid from me, and certainly no more help from your NATO friends!''
He pressed a button on his side on the table and multiple explosions went off like firecrackers, with all members of the family feeling awestruck by the sight in front of them, only to hug each other after the holograms of smokes were clearing out.
The announcer of this commercial said the following, as the logo of the game came into view, above the happy cheery family. It read, '''Battlefield, 1984 A.D.'' in capital neon letters.
''From the creators of ''Nukem'', comes the most dazzling board game of all time. ''Battlefield, 1984 A.D.'' Try to get all your enemies before they get you. Another addition to Butler Brothers' quality games.
*Batteries not included. Big Bro cards and figurines sold separately. Be cautious to imitators. Not suitable to children under the age of 7. Oceania figures and region cards are not part of this package as well. Follow instructions in installing the circuitry for the explosion effect.
The screen faded out completely once the commercial was over.
It was rainy day in Old Detroit, and somewhere within the confines of the OCP headquarters, in the main laboratory of Security Concepts, the grey haired man who was interviewed a couple of days ago was sitting in his desk, his eyes glued to a series of blue-prints that were sprawled in front of him. He was wearing a typical white lab coat, along with a dark blue shirt on the inside and the rest of it being black pants and white tennis shoes to complete this odd sort of attire; under close inspection, it would appear that the latter was meant to match his coat on purpose, although Lance was not a man known for making careful decisions over his fashion styling, and people tend to point it out a lot more now than before.
There were other matters to attend to, however, so going under the fashion department at the moment was out of the question, and his focus should be on studying the very blue-prints he had managed to acquire from Morton's archives during the time he was asked to come up with a back-up plan in the event the ED-209 proved to be a failure in enforcing the law. He wished that his team could have saved a lot more than that, but unfortunately, he had to deal with the cards he was dealt with.
The items he was looking over impatiently for the last four hours were mostly some of the schematics that showed the inner workings of the model of the original RoboCop suit, showcasing the main parts of it. They included brief descriptions of items like the helmet with the visor, the Auto-9 pistol that was holstered in its proper place, the delta spike, and all the rest of it.
Having spend almost two hours reading them, Lance still couldn't make some sense of the design and he continuously wrecked his brain to think of the words that might have unlocked this jigsaw puzzle, giving him a shot to replicate the success of Morton's programme without severely damaging most of its vital features.
As it turned out, it didn't even matter how much of a genius was if he couldn't find a way to bypass several parts of that kind of programming and add his own special touch, as his colleagues and friends would call it.
Heavily sank in his own thoughts, Lance never noticed the phone that was ringing just a few feet away from the other corner of the room.
Taking a break from the work at hand, he walked towards the direction of phone, not in the mood to answer random calls at hours like this.
''Yes, Security Concepts, OCP. How could I help you?''
''Lance? Lance, is that you? Come on, are you okay? What's going on down there?'', a young woman's voice answered to his voice.
''Oh, don't tell me. Let me guess: Brunette, strong-willed, brown eyes to die for. Lydia? Lydia Evelyn Deetz, is that you? How's your pop back at the Big Apple? Thought you never really wanted to talk to me again after that little lab accident a few months ago. Alright, look here, I am sorry what happened to your Nikon, I am gonna make up for it some other time, but now's not that moment. So, what you wanna know?''
There was a long pause before the feminine voice answered again.
''Well, I kind of wanted to ask you if it's okay that I follow Dad to meet you and the team at Old Detroit. Perhaps you haven't heard, but whoever is in charge at Omni nowadays had confirmed just yesterday that Charles Deetz is officially part of the senior employees for this thing they have been cooking up for a while, what was the name? Oh yeah, Delta. Begin construction of Delta City in Old Detroit. You wouldn't mind if I came down here with him, would you, Lance?''
''Ah, I think it's a...No, never mind, I don't have any problem with that. You're welcome by all means, Lydia, but make sure you don't go at any routes connected with the Detroit slums, especially any of the areas around Metro West. I wouldn't recommend that to you.''
''And the reason for that? That I couldn't manage at all out there?'', Lydia asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
''No, I just don't think RoboCop can be anywhere at all times. I mean, no one's perfect, not even him. But if the board lets me and the boys deal with the ways the way we wanted for the last ten years, we may be able to provide ''Tin Man'' with other ''Tin Toys'' to help him out. I just have to pull the right strings on this one and don't screw it up big time, just like that shit-head, Morton, I told you about the other day.''
''Then I will talk to you when I get there. Okay?''
''Yeah, sure. Anytime you want, but just be careful.'', Lance replied back to her, his voice laced with concern than weariness or annoyance.
''I will, Lance. I will. Anyway, it's pouring down here in Manhattan as well, so it's gonna be a bitching day at work. Anyway, it was nice talking to you. I hope you are alive enough to share with me some of your new discoveries. Just no more talk about ''Tin Men'' and men made of steel, alright?''
''Yeah, it won't be just that, don't worry. Well, I better hang up before I bring too much strain to my phone accounts, you know this new tax shit, do you? I already scheduled a demonstration for next Friday, so try to be there with your Dad. Gotta go, now.''
''Alright, I'll call you again tonight, or I could try when I get to my place. Goodbye, Lance. Bye'', Lydia said in a haste before she hung up, leaving Kahn in deep thought over how the first of his new projects will be received by the board of his fellow executives that Friday evening.
Until then, he could only pray that his boys didn't screw up with the new ED model, at least not the way Dick Jones and McNamara did a year ago.
A/N: I should point out that the original RoboCop movie from 1987 is owned by Orion Pictures Corporation and Beetlejuice from 1988 by the Geffen Company, respectively.
Seriously, let me know what you thought of it. I only try to stay true to the satire of the original RoboCop, so if you have any problem with that, then perhaps that's not the story for you. Thank you for reading it.