Disclaimer: I do not own the artist, the Music Meister, or anything related to Batman.
Chapter 4: The Good Life (Three Days Grace)
As school days go for Cliff Meisters, this one was rather normal at first. His special glasses were tucked away in the pocket of his jacket, so the bullies wouldn't be too tempted to break them. They were there at the door, some surprised to see him actually alive-they last saw him running away from them crying his eyes out. Now he was walking into school with a sprightly gait, as if he was high or something.
He checked the lost and found, and he discovered that his bags were in exactly the same condition he abandoned them in. He pulled them out, and went through a regular day…at least until lunch. At that time, he placed all of his bags in his locker, and went to the cafeteria.
There, he was set upon by the bullies once again. One of them was carrying a sandwich that he probably stole from one of the other choir-members. He pulled it over his head, ready to throw it at Cliff, but before he could, Cliff said "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
After overcoming the initial surprise at such defiance, a bully asked: "What? The little girl finally learned how to be a man?"
"If by a 'man' you mean someone who can stand up to you, should you ever cross me again, then I am most definitely a man."
All of the ruffians laughed. "You? Stand up to us?? Whatever you did yesterday messed with your head! Not even Batman could stand up to us!"
Cliff simply crossed his arms, and said, "I am not one to be intimidated by such ridiculous exaggerations anymore."
Finally, one of the group grabbed Cliff by the hem of his collar, lifted him two feet in the air, and said "Alright. What's your game, Meister?"
Cliff slapped the big guy's hand, dropped to the ground, and put on his new glasses all in two swift motions. Just before the others could start kicking him, he hummed slightly under his breath, and stopped them in their tracks!
"That's 'Music Meister' to you. Now listen, because I have something very important to tell you all…"
And before anyone could react, everyone started hearing a rather odd ringing in their ears-one that sounded an awful lot like a guitar solo!
The good life is what I need…
Too many people stepping over me!
The only thing that's been on my mind
Is the one thing I need BEFORE I DIE!
And the instant he hit the high note, their inhibitions and will simply vanished. They knew they were not in control of their bodies anymore, but it was like their personalities were shoved off into a distant corner in their minds! And Cliff was in control of the abandoned grey matter.
All I want
Is a little of the Good Life!
All I need
Is to have a good time!
Oooohh oh,
The Good Life.
All I want
Is a little of the Good Life!
All I need
Is to have a good time!
Oooohh oh,
The Good Life!
All of those bullies then musically droned, in a voice resembling that of a robot:
The Good Life.
The sudden unusual sound drew some attention from the nearby crowd of students. They looked at the guys surrounding Cliff Meisters…and how they were dancing along with him! They all stopped their conversations and listened, hoping to find out what was going on…
I don't really know who I am;
It's time for me to take a stand!
I need a change and I need it fast,
I know that any day could BE THE LAST!
…and the instant he hit that high note again, all the listeners fell under his control as well. Even more conversations stopped, reducing the number of voices echoing around the dining-hall to only one: The hypnotically-pulsating voice of the Music Meister.
All I want
Is a little of the Good Life!
All I need
Is to have a good time!
Oooohh oh,
The Good Life.
All I want
Is a little of the Good Life!
All I need
Is to have a good time!
Oooohh oh,
The Good Life!
It was at this point that Cliff realized that his voice had hypnotized every single student in the cafeteria. Everyone in there was standing up, and dancing to his voice. No one was calling him an art-geek because of his devotion to musical arts! His talents were finally getting the chance to truly show themselves, a chance they never had before!
Hold On, Hold On;
I always wanted it this way!
As his concentration wavered slightly (given that he had just discovered his powers, and was in no way used to controlling so many all at once), the students voiced their vain attempts at resisting his will:
We never wanted it this way!
Undeterred, Cliff leapt onto a table, looked around, and repeated:
Hold on, Hold up:
I always wanted it this way!
Again, they tried to resist:
We didn't ask for it this way!
However, their attempts failed utterly as Cliff shouted once again:
I always wanted it this way!
With their wills completely washed away, he mentally programmed them to do something he just thought of; they were going to help him turn his family fortunes around. He would never be called 'poor' again.
He had access to his mother's bank account, so they would get him money, and he would directly deposit it all in the family account. He could tell his mom that someone gave him his lottery winnings out of charity.
As soon as their programming was completed, his army droned:
The Good Life.
And with that, just for the heck of it, he ordered his army out into Gotham while singing the chorus once again:
All I want
Is a little of the Good Life!
All I need
Is to have a good time!
Oooohh oh,
The Good Life.
All I want
Is a little of the Good Life!
All I need
Is to have a good time!
Oooohh oh,
The Good Life!
With a rush of triumph, he leapt off of his table, as the helpless student body danced off into the world, singing once again:
The Good Life.
"So sings the Music Meister!" Cliff shouted to no one in particular, as he had emptied the cafeteria with his power-song.
………
The very next morning, Cliff went to school again. Not to learn anything, but to collect the earnings of yesterday's events. He found crowds waiting in the auditorium, bundles of cash in their hands. He ordered them to take it to a nearby ATM (there was a building with one just across the street), giving them the number they needed (he could erase it from their memories later), and turned on a nearby TV to check the news…
-Reports are coming in all over Gotham. Robberies have occurred at nearly every street corner, taxing the police to the limit. An organized crime of this scale has been unheard of since The Riddler's Gotham-sized crossword puzzle, when he used a crossword-puzzle sheet to plan his next robbery.
The few arrests that have been made revealed that all of the perpetrators are students of Gotham High School, and committed the robberies against their will. They claim that they heard some odd music, and the next thing they knew they were being arrested for Theft.
Suddenly, it dawned on Cliff: He ordered his army of dancers to get some money quickly. However, he left it at that, not telling them how to get it. So, without total guidance, they assumed that the quickest way to get money was to steal it!
"This wasn't how it was supposed to happen!" shouted Cliff, as the reporter continued:
Citizens are all concerned about this, but some are even more concerned about Police Commissioner James Gordon's controversial move of assigning Batman and Robin to perform the initial investigation, rather than officially deputized detectives. Commissioner Gordon had only this to say:
And the scene on the screen changed to a scene from an interview with Commissioner Gordon, who said: "The organizer of this act of mass terror is obviously of the costumed-criminal variety, and can employ mass-hypnosis to achieve his ends. I'm calling Batman because, even though he is operating outside the law, he's the best chance we have against a menace of this scale."
Cliff slumped in his chair in frustration. "Great. Now Batman is after me! What now?"
What now indeed! Tune in next time to find out what happens when Batman and Robin meet the Music Meister for the first time!
Note: This is by no means my only work! If you like this one, check out my earlier projects to see how I got here!