Phantom of the Elementary 4
August 11, 2022
6 AM
J.D. woke from his slumber, minutes before his alarm clock would have buzzed, waking him up for work anyways. "Ah!" He suddenly rose up screaming with a splitting headache AND a sore back, placing one hand on his temple and another near his spine. The last thing he remembered was getting shot in the back by a police officer. He could barely catch his breath at first.
"What the HELL is going on here?! Why does this keep happening to me?"
That caused the wifey to wake up. Most days she might have been somewhat upset about getting woken up by such an annoying sound, but today wasn't most days, today was J.D.'s 46th birthday. "Happy birthday, honey." She said softly just before rolling back over to get a little more shut-eye.
"It's not my birthday anymore!" J.D. declared, putting his hand on her shoulder and nudging it a couple times, hoping she would wake up because he felt like he was having a nervous breakdown. "Honey, somethings wrong." He declared.
"Ugg." Just let me sleep a few more minutes." His wifey pleaded, not budging from her position.
He then got up from out of the bed and checked his back to see if it was bleeding. The gunshots felt so real. Plus, the pain was still there. It couldn't have been a dream. I did go to jail, I was in a terrible explosion, and I did get shot in the back. Yet, somehow here I am. Trapped in my own Groundhog's Day movie, or perhaps it's more like Happy Death Day. Either way, I have to figure out how to get to August 12th. I don't know how many more times I can take dying like that."
He then crept towards the bathroom, looking back to make sure the wifey hadn't moved. It was still a bit dark, but he heard no sense of motion from her.
Suddenly, just before entering the bathroom, the family dog, who had been lying still at the foot of the bed, noticed that J.D. was awake and moving about.
J.D. turned around. He knew exactly what the dog was about to do next, so he quickly ran up and snatched up the dog before he could even jump off the bed. "I didn't forget about you this time."
BUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZ! The alarm clock blared.
"Damn it! I DID forget about that though!"
J.D. quickly rushed over to the side dresser and turned it off before it managed to wake up his wifey. He forgot to turn it off when he woke up due to feeling like he had been shot in the back by a police officer.
"It's okay. I'm awake." His wifey muttered, throwing off the blanket which was covering her, getting out of bed, and brushing past J.D. to get to the bathroom before him. "I'll make you a small birthday breakfast after I get out." She mentioned just before shutting the door.
"I know, I know, eggs and toast. And, if the dog or the alarm wakes you up tomorrow morning, the bread isn't the only thing that is going to be toast." J.D. remarked, remembering the exact quotes.
J.D. sat down on the bed, still holding the dog, feeling very confused. "Okay, this DEFINITELY isn't deja vu, and it most certainly IS the exact same day repeating itself over and over again, so what do I do about it?" He pondered for a moment. "I know exactly what I need to do. If this long-face guy wants to mimic the Joker, then I will mimic Batman!" He declared, getting up and walking over to the closet. He then pulled out his Batman cosplay outfit and quickly put it on. "I'll stop that madman before he ever has a chance to enter the school!" He declared, pounding his fists together.
6:08 AM
J.D. came rushing down the steps as if he was the real Batman. He was even humming the Danny Elfman Batman 89 theme song as he darted out the door and got into his Ford Escape. But to him, it was no Ford Escape. Today, it was his Bat-mobile.
His wifey thought she heard the front door slam, so she went to check what was going on. When she looked, she could see J.D. pulling out of the driveway. At first she wondered why he was leaving so early. She thought maybe it was because he had to be at a teachers meeting, but then she realized J.D. forgot his lunch. She tried running out after him, yelling for him to stop, but he was already blaring the radio so loud that he didn't even hear her.
J.D. started driving a little faster because he was hoping to make it to the school as fast as possible so that he could find a place to hide out and wait for the long-faced man to show up in the parking lot.
He was approaching a traffic light, it was green. "Awesome! If I can make this light, I should be able to get to the school without any delay.
Just as he said that, the light started turning yellow, and he was still about one-hundred feet away. "No No! Don't turn red, you bastard!" He said, gritting his teeth and stepping on the gas in hopes of making the light.
The light turned red just before he made it to the intersection. "Looks like I might be running this one!"
But, at the last second, he came to a screeching halt, remembering the police car that had pulled him over yesterday. Sure enough, the police officer was sitting in an empty parking lot, waiting for traffic violators. "Whew! That was a close one!" He exhaled. "Yesterday that guy thought I was crazy for wearing a Batman t-shirt to school. I can only imagine what he would think if he saw me in my entire Batman outfit. He would probably shoot me right on the spot."
J.D. managed to make it to the school without any incident. The parking lot only had four or five cars in it at this point. Most of the faculty and staff wouldn't start shuffling in until about seven. This gave him ample time to find a perfect hiding spot and wait for the long-faced man.
He chose a dark corner, just to the left side of the building, where he wouldn't be spotted, plus he had a great view of the parking lot. If someone was to enter onto the premises, he was going to know.
6:45 AM
J.D. suddenly heard someone making a noise from off in the distance. The noise was coming from behind him. He turned to get a look at who it was. It looked like there was a person messing around near the back entrance of the school, near the gymnasium doors. He couldn't get a very good glimpse of the person, but luckily, J.D. had brought his Bat-binoculars with him. Upon scoping out the individual, he discovered it was Joseph Kerrington. He knew it was him because he instantly recognized the purple bandana. "What the hell is he doing here?" He said to himself. "Most of the students don't start filing in for another half hour or so."
J.D. wanted to go investigate, but he knew the long-faced man would be pulling into the parking lot with his purple car soon, and he didn't want to miss his chance to stop the madman once and for all.
Seconds later, just like clockwork, the long purple car pulled into the parking lot, but instead of parking in the visitors area, he drove around to the side, which was closer to where the buses dropped off the students.
J.D. thought this was his chance. As soon as the man would leave his car, J.D. was going to pounce. But, for some reason, the man never got out of his car. "What is he doing?" J.D. questioned.
J.D. then took out his Bat-binoculars once again. He wanted to see what the man was doing. "Is he… SLEEPING?" J.D. asked, looking through the lens. "How could this madman sleep? He is planning on bombing a school. If he can sleep at a time like this, I can only imagine what other terrible things he has done in the past… or what he might do after this. He has to be stopped!"
Seconds went by, but the man never emerged. Then, minutes... Still nothing. Even all the buses had managed to pull up and let all the kids out, yet the man didn't budge. "What is he waiting for?"
7:30 AM
Suddenly the long-faced man woke up. It looked as if he was startled, checking the time as if he was late. "Damn it! I missed the students getting off the bus!" The long-faced man exclaimed, opening his car door and then stepping out, brandishing a purple lunchbox.
WHAM! J.D. jumped from atop his Ford Escape and slammed down onto the long-faced man who was wearing an all purple suit, knocking him to the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The long-faced man yelled in shock, J.D. with his knee forcefully pressed upon the man's sternum. The man took notice of J.D.'s outfit. "What the hell are you supposed to be? Halloween isn't for a couple more months!"
"I'M BATMAN! AND I know why you're here?" J.D. growled. "I know you have a bomb on you! I know the purple lunchbox has a fake bomb in it, so that you can distract us from the real bomb! You aren't going into THAT school!"
"I don't know what you are talking about! Are you mad?" The long-faced man cried out.
J.D. rose his fist in the air. "Here, let's see if this refreshes your memory!"
POW! J.D. smashed his fist into the man's face, breaking the man's nose, causing blood to splatter in all directions.
J.D. acted as if he was going to throw another punch, causing the man to finally admit why he was there. "Okay! Okay! I'll admit it! I do have a fake bomb in the purple lunchbox. It's for my son, Jack. We play pranks on each other all the time. It doesn't do anything bad. It's just full of powder and fake smoke. The worst thing it might do is scatter some papers about."
"Sure pal! I believe that!" J.D. piped up. "What is your name?" He asked, holding his fist up again.
"Arthur! My name is Arthur!" The long-faced man responded, squinting his eyes, hoping J.D. didn't hit him again.
"Arthur?" J.D. questioned. "You mean like Arthur Fleck from that Joker movie? Let me guess, your son's name is Jack Napier, from the Batman 89 movie? How dumb do I look to you?"
The long-faced man looked back at J.D.'s outfit. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
Suddenly, both of the men were startled when the school security guard yelled out, "Hey! What's going on over here?"
"THANK GOD YOU ARE HERE!" J.D. and Arthur blurted at the same time.
"This madman jumped me in the parking lot and then broke my nose!" Arthur bellowed.
"This madman has a bomb on him and he is planning on blowing up the school!" J.D. warned.
Despite J.D.'s growling, the security guard recognized J.D.'s voice. "J.D.? Is that you? Why are you dressed up in a Batman costume?"
J.D. quickly took off his mask. "Yes. It's me. I wanted to stop this maniac before he had a chance to hide his bomb."
"But, why are you dressed in a Batman costume?" The security guard inquired again.
"I'm wearing it because today is my birthday. Plus, this day keeps happening over and over again, so I figured, WHAT THE HELL!"
The security guard then looked down at the long-faced man. "Is he right? Do you have a bomb?"
"It's not actually a bomb! It's a prank I am pulling on my son! It wouldn't have hurt anybody!"
"That might be true, but you also plant another bomb that explodes at 9:40, just as the fourth-grade class goes to recess!" J.D. declared.
"I have no idea what you are talking about!" The long-faced man spouted. "I can't believe this school would hire crazy people like you!"
"CRAZY! LIKE ME!? Why, I oughta!" J.D. rose his fist once more.
"Whoa, J.D.! Stop! You already broke his nose!" The security guard blurted. "If this man has a bomb on him, then we will call the police and have them check it out. I'll take over from this point. You should get to class."
7:40 AM
The final bell rang, letting all the students know that they should be in their classrooms by now. J.D. was quickly walking towards his classroom, when suddenly,
"J.D.?" A woman's voice called out.
J.D. turned to look. "Oh, hi Ms. Haley. I'm running late."
"I see that. We must have just missed each other in the teacher's lounge. Happy birthday! AND, Nice outfit! You are sure to get lots of attention wearing that today."
"I assure you, that wasn't my intention." He replied, continuing to walk towards his classroom.
9:40 AM
J.D. would be heading back down to get his students from music class soon. He was relieved when he never heard the purple lunchbox explode. "Finally! Maybe this day won't repeat itself again since I stopped that madman!" He congratulated himself, watching out the window as the fourth-grade class headed out to recess. He could see the Kerrington boy harassing the other students.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
August 11, 2022
6 AM
J.D. woke from his slumber, minutes before his alarm clock would have buzzed, waking him up for work anyways. "NOOOOOOOOOO! I did everything right!" He exclaimed, quickly sitting up, head hurting even worse after being involved with yet another explosion. "How did he manage to get the bomb into the school?"
