Author's Note: Here's the second installment of my City of Mysteries series, folks!

As the title suggests, this story is based on the 2005 film Batman Begins and picks up where the previous entry, The Mark of the Werewolf, left off with regards to the ongoing story arc.

In case anyone needs a refresher, The Mark of the Werewolf left off with Fred shadowing the quarterback of the school football team and saw him dealing with a bunch of shady characters in exchange for what he believes to be performance-enhancing drugs.

That cliffhanger, in fact, is where the elements incorporated from the Batman Beyond Season One episode The Winning Edge comes into play, where long story short, the criminal conspiracy concerning the Blue Falcon involves match-fixing and drugs.

In addition to being based on Batman Begins, this story also incorporates elements from Volume Two of Batman: Earth One.

In the meantime, after some deliberation, especially after taking notice of SpongeAddict's story One for the Money and its sequel Two for The Show, I have been thinking of discontinuing my Streets of Coolsville in its current form and rework the story and series.

What I am planning on for the retooling of my Streets of Coolsville series involves retooling the Coolsville setting in being similar to its depiction in my Paranormal Instincts series with some modifications.

What sort of modifications are in store for this retooling of Streets of Coolsville? All I can say is stay tuned!

I don't own Scooby-Doo. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.

Chapter 1: Prologue and a vicious beating

June 29, 1952

It was a stormy night in Coolsville as nine-year old Radley Crown and his parents walked out of the Crystal Dale Theater after spending the past couple of hours inside watching The Story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

Making their way down the street, Vincent Crown smiled as he and his wife Rebecca watched their son Radley playfully running down the street, imitating Robin Hood in shooting an arrow from a bow.

"Look at me!" Radley exclaimed as he raced down the street. "I'm Robin Hood!"

Vincent and Rebecca smiled at each other as Radley proclaimed, "And I will watch over those that can't defend themselves over any form of tyranny imposed by the Sheriff of Nottingham!"

Radley continued with his imitation of Robin Hood as the family of three made a turn onto Parkdale Alley, which is one of the frequent shortcuts the family has taken every night they went out for the movies.

Owing to defective lamp posts, the alleyway was quite dark and for quite some time, Vincent has been pushing for the city's Department of Public Works to repair the lamps without any response.

Adding to the gloomy appearance of the alleyway was how run down the neighbourhood was. For decades, the area was bustling with industrial activity, providing means for livelihoods for the predominantly-black and poor white residents.

However, as factories began to individually move to the suburbs and talks of constructing an elevated highway linking the city to San Francisco came through, the neighbourhood began to appear more run down as residents were evicted from the properties.

Vincent himself was vocally opposed to the construction plan, and he had campaigned on a promise to halt the project and invest further in the neighbourhood to head off the deterioration in the quality of life.

Election Day was still days away, but multiple polls conducted ahead of time has projected that he will win the mayoral election in a landslide and thus unseating the four-year incumbent Mayor Jefferson Dudley.

It was then that the mayoral candidate paused when he saw that Radley had stopped running, and his eyes soon settled on a man ahead of them.

There was something eerie about the man ahead of them, and Vincent promptly stopped in his tracks as the man discarded his cigarette and stepped forward from the dark shadows.

The man was wearing a light brown flat cap as he stepped out of the dark shadows, and almost instantly Vincent can see that he was armed with a pistol.

"I'm only gonna say this once." The man warned them as he stepped towards them with the gun trained onto Vincent. "Hand me yer valuables!"

Rebecca and Radley glanced towards Vincent in concern as he gently raised his hands with one hand reaching into his pocket.

"Take it easy." Radley said calmly. "I'm just reaching for my wallet."

The man frowned as he kept his gun on Vincent, who made no effort to pick up the wallet and dropped it onto the ground.

With his eyes and the gun still trained on Vincent, the mugger slowly knelt down to pick up the wallet before standing back up.

Noting the pearl necklace Rebecca was wearing, the mugger turned his attention towards the wife.

"As a bonus, I would like those pearls as well." The mugger declared as he turned his aim towards Rebecca.

What happened next became something that would continue to play non-stop in Radley's mind as he witnessed his father shoving her aside, only for the mugger to open fire.

In horror, Rebecca rushed over to Vincent's side as he collapsed onto the ground, during which the mugger seized her pearl necklace and fired another shot.

To Radley, everything in front of him was happening in slow motion out of a disaster film as he watched his mother falling to the ground, and his father only looked on as he laid on the ground.

"...Be...Becca..." Vincent rasped as life was slowly draining away from his eyes.

With his parents on the ground, Radley looked up at the mugger, who now had his gun on him.

There was something about the stare in Radley's eyes that unnerved the mugger, and his hand started to shake.

"Wh-what are yer starin' at, kid?" The mugger asked.

Radley simply maintained the stare on his face, and the mugger stuttered, "S-stop starin' at me like that, kid."

Taking a deep breath, the mugger steady his grip on the gun with his finger on the trigger.

Before the mugger was thinking of pulling the trigger, a loud voice suddenly shouted, "Hey!"

Believing that the source of the loud angry voice to be that of a policeman who no doubt must've heard the gunshots earlier, the mugger immediately took off running down the dark alleyway.

With the mugger gone, Radley turned back towards his parents who were both laying on the ground, the lives completely drained away along with the blood from the GSWs they've sustained in the mugging.

He was kneeling in front of their bodies when a man and a woman, both of whom were wearing uniforms, rushed towards him, during which the woman can be heard saying, "Oh, dear G**..."

"Never mind that, Wendy." The man accompanying her said as he noted the pool of blood at the scene. "Check on the boy and see if he's okay."

The woman nodded as she knelt down beside Radley and placed her hand on his shoulder, during which the man added, "I'm going over to get help."

As the man took off from the scene, the woman asked Radley gently, "My name is Wendy. I'm a nurse. Are you okay, son?"

Radley looked at her sadly, and she nodded and asked, "Your Mommy and Daddy aren't okay, aren't they?"

The young boy didn't respond, and Wendy rubbed him in the back to comfort him.

A closer zoom-in revealed the name plate on Wendy's uniform to read "Amon", and she has a red cross patch on the shoulder of her dress shirt.

A short while later, the alleyway became a law enforcement encampment as officers began scouring through the scene looking for evidence.

While Wendy continued to look after Radley, the uniformed man that had accompanied her earlier was speaking to the police captain.

"Look, I understand you're concerned about the boy's well-being, Captain Rogers." The police captain was speaking. His nameplate read "Strickland" and he certainly looked like he might've put on some weight. "Just let my men finish canvassing through the-"

"Canvassing." Captain Rogers repeated as he gestured towards the police officers that were strolling around the scene casually. "At what stage are they canvassing? Contemplative?"

Strickland sighed as Rogers continued, "Shouldn't they be interviewing witnesses? Someone's gotta have heard or saw-"

"Like I said, Captain." Strickland raised his hands up. "We're workin' on it, and besides, shouldn't a Marine Corps captain like you be over at what's-that-place commanding your men in fighting those f**king communists?"

"A matter a fact, I'm on shore leave." Rogers replied as he placed his hands on his hips and added, "And for your information, that place we're fighting at is called 'Korea', which was only recently liberated from the Japs five years-"

"Right." Strickland raised his hand again. "Even so, don't you know better than interfering with the way we investigate this-"

"Well, it just so happens that I'm also a police officer, with the NYPD may I add." Rogers cut in. "I know my way around a crime scene like that, not to mention that I am just about very much aware of what the protocols in crime scene investigation is-"

"Whatever you say." Strickland said. "H*ll, you're not even in your jurisdiction, so just stand back and let my men and I do our jobs."

Without another word, the police captain waved his hand dismissively at Rogers and turned to return to his men, and Rogers scoffed and shook his head at Strickland's retreating back.

As Rogers turned back towards Wendy, he scanned through the crowd, knowing full well that the culprit could be among the crowd watching the scene unfolding.

His eyes soon settled onto a red-haired man that was speaking to one of the police officers, and he held his eyes there as the man in question finished speaking and turned towards the scene, which is when their eyes met.

For a while, neither men moved as they engaged in some sort of a staring contest, then the man looked away as he was escorted by the officer to Wendy and Radley.

Wendy was in the middle of assuring the boy when the police officer and the red-haired man joined them, and she turned and looked up.

"Captain Amon, this is George Robert Nedley Blake." The officer introduced. "He has been named Radley Crown's guardian by the deceased."

Wendy only nodded solemnly as she stood up, nodded briefly at George, then she placed her hand on Radley's shoulder one more time.

"Stay strong." Wendy said before she marched off towards Rogers, who was watching them.

George's gaze followed Wendy onto Rogers, and the two men resumed their staring contest before the redhead curtly nodded and looked away.

Rogers only nodded briefly before Wendy joined him, and without another word, the pair promptly marched off.

March 11, 1969

Sam was staring at the photo of him and Wendy standing in front of the "Welcome to Coolsville" sign as he sat in his office in Coolsville Central that afternoon, during which memories of that encounter with the orphan Radley Crown flood back into his mind.

Even though it has been, what, almost seventeen years since he first step foot in this city and made that fateful encounter with the orphaned Radley Crown, the police lieutenant remembered the events as if they occurred the day before.

In the seventeen years since that encounter, a lot has happened to Lieutenant Sam Rogers.

After he returned home from the Korean War, Sam transferred to the reserves as he resumed his work in the NYPD, where he got promoted to detective and was assigned to the 9th Precinct in Manhattan South in '54.

A man of integrity who abides by a strict principle in his approach to police work, Sam soon find himself no stranger to controversy from his colleagues at work.

He frequently confided to Wendy about the bribes his colleagues would receive, and it was only a matter of time before his colleagues, and in particularly his commanders, would seek of ways to have him demoted or transferred out of the department.

That opportunity eventually came in 1961, when Sam became involved in a sting operation to foil a plot to rig the results of an upcoming special election for a vacant seat in the New York City Council, which saw him taking down several of his fellow officers in the process.

Following that sting operation, Sam got called to his captain's office, who conferred to him about a homicide table opening across the continent in the small city of Coolsville and convinced him to accept the offer.

Apparently, the captain seemed to be very much aware of Sam's preoccupation with the Crown murder case in Coolsville, especially given how diligently Sam's been trying to follow the progress of the high-profile cold case in his spare time in spite of being very much a continent away from Coolsville.

Thinking back on the captain's words that day, Sam only sighed and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

Things sure has only gotten even more busier for Sam since he and his task force closed the Werewolf case almost six months ago, not withstanding the windstorm that took down Chief Strickland in the fallout from the case.

As Sam has predicted, Rupert Gosnell, who replaced Strickland as chief of police, was nowhere better than his predecessor with Sam finding him to be as much of a politician and bureaucrat as Strickland was.

Even so, Sam figured that he has better things to do than worry about Gosnell breathing down his neck, and the past several weeks was an indication of that.

The detective bureau of the Central Division has find itself stretched as investigators caught case after case, and Sam has find himself having to keep track on the progress of at least a dozen cases.

At least he could leave those cases in the capable hands of his investigators, many of whom he knew needed the push from his arrest of Pistol to not be afraid to push the buttons of the corrupt establishment that has preyed off Coolsville for far too long.

Adding to that is that a couple weeks ago, he had another detective added to his roster of investigators in a move that has raised some eyebrows among the squad of the mostly-white detectives.

Detective Nelson McCormick was the latest addition to the Central Division's detective bureau, having had spent the past ten years down in Los Angeles at the homicide table of Hollywood, from what Sam had gathered.

The circumstances leading to McCormick's transfer to Coolsville were murky, though Sam gathered that McCormick was involved in an incident where he jumped at a supervisor who didn't fully appreciate his skills as an investigator during a case down in LA.

Apparently, there are plenty of those in blue that have issue with the colour of McCormick's skin, his supervisor in LA included.

Leave it to me to prove to the brass that the non-whites are just as capable as their white peers. Sam scoffed as he thought to himself. What the h*ll is wrong with those people? They'd never know how capable these very good men are just because of the colour of their skin.

Having McCormick partnered with Detective Chan, Sam soon began referring to them as his "Dynamic Duo" as a result of their ability to get cases done with remarkable results.

Sam was put out of his thoughts as Chan and McCormick approached his office door and the former knocked on it gently.

"That the casebook for the Weiner Case?" Sam asked in greeting.

"Indeed, sir." McCormick nodded as Chan handed him the casebook. "Wrap-up investigation and paper work all completed."

Sam took the casebook from Chan, put on his glasses, flipped the book open and scanned the case summary at the front page, then he looked towards the duo.

"Excellent work, gentlemen." Sam said. "Don't suppose that the culprit is going to see the light of day outside of bars again, eh?"

"I don't think so, sir." Chan shook his head. "Not after what he's done, only hope is that the judge agrees and keeps him locked up."

"Hmm." Sam grunted. "Anyways, better for you both to call it a day, eh?"

"Indeed, sir." McCormick nodded as he and Chan took their leaves. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Sam nodded back.

After the two investigators have left, the lieutenant sighed as he put back on his glasses and resumed reading the casebook.

A short while later, Sam glanced at his watch and, upon noting the time, decided to call it a day.

On his way out of the station, Sam stopped by the watch commander's office, where Sergeant Daniel McBride was reviewing a deployment chart.

"Callin' it a day, sir?" McBride asked in greeting.

"Yeah, think I've seen enough from what my guys has reported for the day." Sam replied. "Getting slower, though."

"Which couldn't come at a better time." McBride nodded. "I've been trying to juggle my guys around, we're gonna be short on the desk for the next couple weeks."

Sam nodded. With officers on sick leave, vacation or court appearances, McBride has to juggle officers around by pulling them off the desks and onto patrol cars for deployment, which leaves a skeleton crew to handle any form of calls, especially if said calls were tips for ongoing cases.

"Appreciate the heads up, sarge." Sam said before he glanced at the time on the clock and added, "I better be off now."

Before McBride could respond, their idle conversation was interrupted by the telephone, and the sergeant promptly reached over to answer it.

"McBride, Central Division watch office." McBride responded, and Sam promptly paused and turned around, in time to see the look on the sergeant's face turn serious.

"Oh, is that right?" The sergeant asked. "G**amn. I'll be sure to dispatch someone to the scene right away."

"What's going on?" Sam asked as the sergeant hung up the telephone.

"Victim of physical assault found on Friedman Road, just near the crossing with Constitution Boulevard." McBride reported. "Concerned citizen has called for an ambulance."

"Hmm..." Sam grunted. "Have a patrol team track down Detective Silverman and have them meet me at the scene. I'm heading straight over."

"It happened...so fast." The victim reported as Detective Silverman jotted things down on his notebook. "H*ll, I didn't get...a good look of...the fiends that did this."

As Sam looked on and surveyed the scene, the victim was in the process of being loaded onto an ambulance while Silverman was jotting down notes.

Several patrol officers were securing the scene and looking out while Silverman's partner Welker was conferring with crime scene investigators that were pouring through the scene for evidence.

Just then, Silverman called over to Sam and reported, "Sir, the vic would like to speak to you."

"Oh?" Sam arched his eyebrows as he joined Silverman at the ambulance.

Turning towards the victim, the lieutenant asked, "What is it that you would like to speak to me about, son?"

"I...know that your son...doesn't think of me...highly 'cause of what...I did..." The victim winced. "But let him...and his friends know...that the hooligans that...did this...warned me that...if I don't follow through with..."

Before the victim could continue, he started coughing, prompting the paramedic to step in.

"Save your strength, son." Sam urged. "You are gonna need the rest-"

"No, you need to...hear this, sir..." The victim cut in. "There's some sort of...match-fixing goin' on...in our high school football matches...and the hooligans that did this...wanted me to throw the match against...Ridge Valley."

"Which you refused." Sam interjected as Silverman looked on.

The victim nodded. "Wasn't gettin' my...fair share for throwin' the past...couple matches as...promised. Wanted out, and...you know the rest..."

The minute Sam returned home, he marched straight to the kitchen and reached for the telephone.

Shaggy, Scooby and Maggie all stood by, knowing better than to ask, given that the look on Sam's face says it all.

Without missing a beat, the lieutenant dialled a number and placed the ear piece by his ear.

When the party at the other end answered, Sam was straight to the point.

"Hey Jones." Sam said. "You may wanna let your son Fred know that Randolph Herring is currently in the ICU at the Coolsville General after being subjected to a vicious beating in an alleyway."

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