What Gabriel thought was going to be a normal day of setting up decorations for the Hocus Pocus Bash had quickly turned sideways when the streets of Main Street were suddenly filled with paparazzi. The Dream Keeper was confused by this and followed the crowd to the town hall, where a pack of werewolves were gathered on the steps of the building.
"Woah, what's going on here?" Jasiri asked.
"Look, it's the Dream Keeper!" one the reporters said, making all cameras face the raven. "What do you think about the ongoing investigation of sabotage?"
"The what now?" Gabriel questioned.
"Our moonstone was stolen!" one of the werewolves exclaimed. "And we want justice for the person that did so."
"Why's this moonstone thing so important?" Kessie wondered.
"Because the stone is the source of the werewolves' power," Rachel explained, coming out of the building. "Gabriel, good to see you here. I could use your help in this matter."
"Sure Rachel, happy to help," Gabriel nodded. "So, back to the moonstone thing. That's from the Zombies movies, right? How did it get stolen in the first place?"
"The werewolves agreed to let us use the moonstone as part of the décor for the Hocus Pocus Bash," Rachel said. "I even offered to help keep it safe for them, but last night it disappeared, and the only thing left was this." The sword mage held up a bag containing a few scattered scales in purple and blue. "We have our most likely suspect in custody right now."
"Take me to them," Gabriel said. The three went to the police station, where many different officers from around the Disney worlds were seen working. Going to the holding cells, the raven was surprised to see who was behind bars. "Randall?"
"Oh, it's you," Randall Boggs said, rolling his eyes and sighing. "Are you here to persecute me further, Dream Keeper?"
"I'm just here to get the full story," Gabriel shook his head. "I didn't even realize that Main Street had a police station…"
"It's mostly just used for investigating crimes," Rachel explained. "Normally if a villain is involved, we could just fight them, but in this case since we didn't find the moonstone with Randall, we have him detained here."
"I didn't have the stupid rock because I didn't steal it!" Randall said, grabbing the bars of the cell.
"Then why did we find your scales at the crime scene?" Rachel shot back.
"Because I was framed, obviously," Randall said, crossing his arms. "If you didn't know I'm not exactly the most popular with the other villains, so they like to play pranks on me. But whoever did this took it too far, even for someone as bad as me."
"To be fair, you're not exactly the evilest villain out there," Gabriel said.
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Randall was making a machine to extract screams out of children and tried to kill Mike and Sulley more than a few times."
"Yeah, but he was also working under Waternoose, who is the actual big bad of the movie, so it could be easily said that he was manipulated into doing what he did," Gabriel said. "And I kinda feel bad for Randall, especially after everything that happened to him in Monsters University."
"I don't need your pity, kid," Randall scoffed. "That being said, I'm not just going to let you guys hold me here when I didn't steal the moonstone!"
"Oh yeah, then if you didn't do it, who did?" Rachel asked.
Randall looked away. "I dunno. But if I do find the guy, you better believe that he'll be sorry."
"Maybe there's something we can do…" Gabriel pondered. "Halloween is the one event of the year that villains can have fun with the rest of us, so it would be a shame if Randall didn't get to join in." The raven gave a nod. "Okay then, I'm going to do some investigating of my own. I'll clear your name and figure out who really stole the moonstone."
"Good luck with that," Randall shrugged. "I'll be here when you do. Not like I can leave this cell…"
"You sure you can solve this mystery?" Rachel asked.
"Even if I can't I do have some friends that can help me out," Gabriel said. "I just have to get a hold of Brooklyn. He knows a guy from NYC that knows a thing or two about these kinds of problems…"
[***]
Gabriel and Jasiri left the police station with directions from Rachel as to where the moonstone had been stolen. The Dream Keeper made a call to Brooklyn to meet them there, with the gargoyle already on the scene by the time they arrived at the stage in front of Disney Castle. With Brooklyn was a man in a yellow and brown superhero costume with devil horns on his head.
"Woah, that guy is kinda scary," Kessie shivered, hiding behind Gabriel.
The raven smiled softly. "He might be a bit intimidating, but he's one of the good guys, Kessie. Meet Daredevil, crime fighter by night and lawyer by day."
"Even if secret identities aren't much of a thing here in the Magical World, I do like to keep my two lives separate," Daredevil said.
"So he's a superhero, like Rocket," Jasiri noted.
"Daredevil is a friend of the Wyvern Clan," Brooklyn explained. "He's got enhanced senses that puts him above normal humans and can 'see' the world with his radar sense. If you ever find yourself in legal trouble, he can bail you out in the court room as well."
"That's why I wanted your help, Daredevil," Gabriel said, shaking the hero's hand. "A magical artifact known as the moonstone was stolen here, and I wanted to see if you could dig up any evidence to prove my… well, Randall isn't a friend, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't the one to steal the moonstone."
"I'll see what I can do," Daredevil nodded. "Everyone fan out and see if you can find anything as well."
The heroes did just that, looking for clues around the stage to see what they could find. Whoever did steal the moonstone must have done a good job, though, as there wasn't a trace of anything out of place. "Wow, I'm not even picking up any weird scents," Jasiri said.
"It's strange, isn't it," Daredevil mused. "The only major scent I have is that of wolf, or werewolf in this case. Your client is reptilian, yes?"
"That at least means that Randall didn't do it, right?" Kessie asked.
Brooklyn shook his head. "We'll need more that the word of a superhero to solve this case. Magic could easily hide someone's scent, among other things. No, we need more definitive proof."
"What if the person that stole the moonstone didn't need to hide their scent?" Gabriel asked. "While the moonstone is a powerful magical artifact, only werewolves can use it. So…"
"The only people that'd try to steal it are werewolf hunters, or another werewolf," Brooklyn finished.
"We're still back at square one then," Jasiri sighed. "There are plenty of werewolves helping out in the decorating."
"Hm…" Kessie landed on Daredevil's head as she thought. "Randall said something about the other villains not liking him and playing pranks at his expense. So, they'd have to be a werewolf and someone who would try to frame Randall in the first place."
"Good deduction, bluebird," Daredevil smiled. "And I just so happened to pass by someone that would fit that description. Brooklyn and I will get him to the station. Meet you there."
"Thanks for the help, Daredevil," Gabriel said, waving goodbye to the two as they went off.
"You know, I thought we'd be meeting a different superhero lawyer today," Jasiri mused.
"Eh, Jen has bigger things to worry about than this case," Gabriel shrugged.
[***]
The three soon went back to meet with Rachel at the police station, explaining to her what they'd found at the crime scene. Soon enough Brooklyn returned alongside a black furred wolf in a green hat and red suspenders.
"Now that guy is scary," Kessie shivered.
"Oh, and I'm not?" Randall frowned.
"Nah, you're kinda funny looking with how you squint all the time," Kessie giggled.
"Now what's all this about?" the wolf asked, crossing his arms. "I've got places to be so make it quick."
"You're the Big Bad Wolf," Gabriel noted. "And the reason you're here is because someone stole the moonstone that was on display for the Hocus Pocus Bash."
"That shiny rock? Sure was pretty," Big Bad Wolf said. He looked over at Randall and smirked. "Bet you have this fella locked up because he went and snatched it, huh?"
"More like someone framed him for it," said a voice. Behind Brooklyn came a man in a business suit with red-tinted sunglasses. "Matt Murdock, Attorney at Law. The reason we brought you here, Wolf, is because there is reason to believe that it was you that stole the moonstone?"
"Me? No way!" Big Bad Wolf scoffed. "Sure, I saw the thing, but was never even near it."
"Then explain why you smell like the area around where the moonstone was stolen," Matt questioned. "The only people that should smell like that are the werewolves that protect the stone, so that already makes you suspicious."
"Wow, you have a really good sense of smell for a lawyer," Jasiri said. "Even I didn't pick that up!"
"T-that doesn't mean anything!" Big Bad Wolf said.
Randall caught onto what was happening and smirked. "You know, BB, you seem a bit… bloated today. Had a big meal?"
"Just filled up on sweets before I got here," Big Bad Wolf said. He slowly backed up as the others closed in on him. "Come on, you can't seriously believe that I'd eat the moonstone, that's crazy!"
"Who said anything about you eating it?" Rachel said. She held out her sword and used a fire spell, striking the Big Bad Wolf in the stomach.
He yelped as the spell it, knocking the Big Bad Wolf over as the moonstone was forced out of his mouth! Brooklyn caught the stone, shifting his footing to properly hold it. "That's a big stone for sire," the gargoyle said.
"Ugh, my stomach," Big Bad Wolf groaned. He held a hand to his mouth as he burped, a piece of paper coming out.
Gabriel caught the sheet and looked at it. "Hey, this is a page from the Hundred Acre Wood!" the raven realized.
"Well, I think we can safely say that Randall didn't steal the moonstone now," Rachel said. She unlocked the door, setting Randall free while tossing the Big Bad Wolf in. "We'll have BBW do some community service for stealing the moonstone. As for you, Randall, be on your best behavior this Halloween."
"Sure, whatever," Randall said. Before the monster could leave, Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, if you want, you could hang out with me and my friends this Halloween," the Dream Keeper offered.
"Yeah, no thanks. I already have plans," Randall said, pushing the hand aside.
Gabriel looked a bit down as the monster left, with Jasiri giving him a comforting nuzzle. "Not every bad guy is willing to play nice, even with the Dream Keeper," Jasiri said.
"I thought that I could get through to him, but these kinds of things take time," Gabriel said. "I realized after my trip to the Mirrorverse that I've only really been focusing on the good guys, when part of being the Magical World is that both heroes and villains can live together. Not saying that I want to be friends with all the bad guys, but at the very least I'd like to play nice with the ones that aren't actively trying to hurt us."
"Does that mean you'll let me out? We can be friends!" Big Bad Wolf said with a big smile.
"No way! You almost ruined Halloween for everyone," Rachel said.
"Yeah, that's not cool at all, dude," Brooklyn shook his head.
"My guess is that he stole the moonstone to get more power, not realizing that it only works for werewolves, not anthropomorphic wolves," Gabriel speculated. "But yeah, you're not getting out anytime soon, unless you're on really good behavior."
"Looks like my work is done then," Matt said, taking his leave.
"Mr. Murdock, tell Daredevil the next time you see him that he's free to come to the Hocus Pocus Bash!" Gabriel said.
"I'll tell him you said that," Matt said with a knowing smile.
With that the lawyer left, leaving the heroes with the satisfaction that their mission to find the true thief of the moonstone was a success. "Hey Gabriel, which page did Big Bad Wolf have?" Kessie asked.
The raven hummed, holding up the page as it flashed with magic. A stuffed donkey fell out of the page, which Gabriel safely secured back in the book. "Thanks for rescuing me," the donkey said.
"Eeyore!" Kessie said, giving the donkey a hug on the head. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot you!"
"Wouldn't be the first time I was missed. Probably won't be the last," Eeyore said.
"That's one dour donkey," Brooklyn said.
"Don't worry, being down is Eeyore's thing, but he's just as loveable and caring as the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood residents," Gabriel said. "That's one page down, the rest to go!"
Author's Note
A short but fun chapter as we prepare for the Hocus Pocus Bash. Randall is one of my favorite Disney villains, though that's mostly because of his character in Monster's University. It was heartbreaking seeing him and Mike as friends before Roar Omega Roar tore them apart due to peer pressuring Randall. It's sadly realistic how friendships can fall apart, and also extra sad that Randall continued to be manipulated by people like Waternoose throughout the rest of his life.
And Daredevil got to get in on the action as well! I'm super happy that Charlie Cox from the Netflix series get's to continue as the character in the MCU, and he was great during his episode guest starring in She-Hulk. The Man Without Fear is my brother's favorite Marvel hero next to Spider-Man, so this chapter is dedicated to him.
TBH I haven't actually seen the "Zombies" movies, so if I got anything wrong on how the moonstone works feel free to correct me. Big Bad Wolf is a classic Disney villain, so him getting to show up was cool as well. Finally, Gabriel finds the first page of the Hundred Acre Wood book and with it the dower donkey Eeyore! Expect to find the other pages in similiarly unexpected places!
Next Time: Gabriel goes on an adventure in the world of dreams!
