A silver-haired woman was shown to be wearing a suit dress as she brought out a clear clipboard page with her hair in a bun. She sat in a chair with her legs crossed and had her pen ready as she sipped a cup of tea and had her coach cleared off for her upcoming and newest patient who was highly recommended of visiting her, especially due to recent events. This woman was Leslie Thompkins who was a doctor who went to medical school with Thomas Wayne, Bruce's late father, and another man by the name of Matthew Thorne. She was good friends with both and she was one of the few civilians who knew that Bruce Wayne and Batman were the same person.
"Send in Cherry, please." Leslie soon spoke once she was ready and mentally prepared herself for the next hour of talking.
Eventually, the door opened and inside came Cherry who lugged in her backpack, wearing dark sunglasses and she soon came in to see the doctor who Selina begged Bruce to let her go see, especially due to the recent insanities and trauma the perky goth was forced to endure and not just fighting with The Justice League.
"Cherry, good to see you," Leslie greeted. "What's with the sunglasses? You're not hitting Bruce's bottles again, are you?"
"No, ma'am, it's just very bright in here," Cherry reassured as she sat on the couch across from the older woman. "A lot has changed since I first saw you after Selina walked in on me trying to a tie a rope to a ceiling fan blade."
"...Hopefully for the better, I assume," Leslie replied. "I see that you've made some new friends since the last time you visited."
"Yeah..." Cherry nodded. "I have... Atticus you know has been with me since the beginning, even though he was an orphan."
Atticus was soon shown to be reading a comic book in his bedroom and Patch was beside him with several school awards shown all over his bedroom for "Perfect Attendance", "No Detentions or Demerits", or "Academic Excellence".
"I think he's gonna grow up to be a detective," Cherry's voice narrated. "He's always been very smart and helpful throughout the years."
Mo was then shown to be gardening with her older sister, Gloriosa Daisy.
"Mo, she's sometimes a bit of a ruffian, but she cares about plants and animals," Cherry's voice continued before Angel lunged out and tackled Mo on the ground, licking her and both of the sisters laughed together. "She and Atticus are just crazy about each other. We also had three new exchange students from a place called New Townsville, but I don't know what to make of them yet. They look like something out of a superhero cartoon, to be honest with you... Powerpuff Girls Z."
"Sounds interesting enough." Leslie's voice chuckled in amusement.
"Thor..." Cherry's voice continued as the warlock teen was shown to be studying magic, though also reading Star Wars comic books. "He's a big guy, but he wouldn't hurt a fly... Unless that fly was allied with The Legion of Doom or something."
"Tell me about this Lionel Schwartz boy I've heard quite a bit about." Leslie's voice said before we are shown the office again.
"Leslie... Don't do this to me..." Cherry chuckled bashfully as she crossed her arms on the couch.
"Cherry...?" Leslie asked with a smirk on her lips. "Go ahead. This is a safe place."
Cherry rolled her eyes before shrugging. "Well, he's an interesting case..." she then said.
Lionel was shown to be playing video games as he tried to stay as busy as possible until he would see Cherry and the others again.
"He's pretty loyal... Funny... Protective... He can be charming sometimes..." Cherry's voice narrated. "He's unlike anyone I had ever met before. I'm not sure where he even came from sometimes, it's like he just came into my life and refused to go away like some kind of alien invasion," she then continued with an amused laugh. "In a good way though. He's a pretty good addition to our team: The Toon Force."
"Toon Force?" Leslie asked.
"That's our little group name away from The Justice League," Cherry explained. "Lionel thought it would be a good name for us when we were looking for Atticus's birth parents."
"I see," Leslie replied. "Well, I'm glad that you're making friends, and having a reason to refrain from self-harm."
"Yeah... Some of my scars have healed up..." Cherry nodded. "It'll take a while for more though."
"Of course," Leslie replied. "The important thing is that you learned to control and stop that... Now, I understand you have another friend?" she then prompted. "A new girl named Sabrina Spellman?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, Sabrina..." Cherry nodded. "She's pretty interesting herself, especially in her fascination with horror movies... Plus talking to her cat... Zatanna keeps an eye on her for us."
"Do you think she's happy in town too?" Leslie asked.
"Oh, yeah, Sabrina's just fine here." Cherry nodded confidently.
"Are you certain?" asked Leslie. "I'm sure if she had any problems, she could talk to her friends."
"Not that I know of," Cherry replied. "She has a movie date later though, so we won't see her at our hang-out for long."
"Hmm..." Leslie paused thoughtfully as she soon wrote in her clipboard. "You're happy though, right?"
"For the most part, I am," Cherry admitted. "Even though our lives are kinda crazy, especially with assisting The Justice League."
"Well, I'm glad to know you're doing better." Leslie told her.
Cherry nodded.
"Any nightmares?" Leslie asked.
"Not recently," Cherry replied. "Sometimes if I eat chocolate ice cream after 9:00, but that's mostly my fault."
Leslie chuckled, a bit amused from that.
"Yes, I think things are going to be just fine in this world." Cherry soon said.
Meanwhile, Sabrina was shown to be getting ready for a date she was really excited for and waited all week for, spraying perfume around herself as Salem coughed and sputtered.
"Hey! Easy with that stuff!" Salem grunted. "You're gonna smell like Mother Nature's garden if you don't turn down the volume!"
"Lighten up, Salem," Sabrina replied. "So I'm excited and wanna give a great first impression. Nothing wrong with that!"
Salem coughed a bit and went over to Sabrina's bedroom window and opened it up, gasping and panting for fresh air.
"This is going to be so much fun," Sabrina smiled as she brought out her crimson dress that was nearly the same shade as fresh blood. "I wonder if we'll get to kiss?"
"Better him than me." Salem smirked as he dangled from the window as Sabrina got dressed.
Sabrina then exited the room and headed downstairs.
Hilda and Zelda were doing their own thing in the meantime. Zelda cleaned up the kitchen while Hilda watched some TV.
"Aunt Hilda, Aunt Zelda," Sabrina announced as she came down. "I'm ready."
"Oh... And don't you just look darling?" Zelda smiled as she came to the teenage girl with her sister. "Jim's going to love it."
"What movie are you going to see?" Hilda asked.
"A retro movie called 'The Ring'," Sabrina smiled. "It's gonna be perfect."
"Well, you two have fun." Hilda replied.
"Oh, I know we will, this is going to be the best." Sabrina beamed.
Hilda and Zelda hugged their niece before a car horn honk was heard outside. Sabrina beamed and she soon ran off outside.
"Oh, Edward, if only you could see your daughter now." Zelda said, a bit tearfully.
Hilda gave her sister a hug and a pat on the back. "...Well, I'm gonna go call Drell." she got up and left the room a little after that.
Zelda nodded as she decided to let Hilda do that. Atticus, Mo, Lionel, and Thor sat at the local milkshake place to sit and hang out, though Cherry and Sabrina were missing. Cherry soon came through the door though to meet up with them.
"Cherry," Atticus smiled. "Did you have a nice talk?"
"Yeah, it was pretty nice actually," Cherry replied. "Sorry I couldn't meet up with you after school for our little Toon Force meeting."
"It's all good," Lionel replied. "Better late than never!"
"I just don't think Brina will be joining us today." Cherry said as she sat with them.
"That's alright," Thor smiled. "She's got a movie date with that Jim boy anyway."
"A movie date?" Cherry asked. "Knowing Sabrina, there'll be a lot of ghosts, blood, and nightmare fuel."
"Yeah, she loves that stuff." Mo agreed as Lionel ordered more chocolate shakes.
"I hope it's a good date then," Atticus smiled. "She's been looking forward to this date for months, it's just a good thing he didn't end up going with Alexandra Cabot."
"Pfft! Like Jim would be caught dead with that Skunk Head." Cherry smirked as she crossed her arms.
"New book?" Atticus asked, seeing a smaller book that said "Once Upon a Time II" on it.
"Oh, yeah," Cherry nodded. "I'll tell you about it later, but it reminds me of that time with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Red, and Jack and Jill." she then added.
"Well, we've got time." Lionel replied.
"It's a very fantastical tale..." Cherry said as she showed her new book. "Henry Mills has really outdone himself this time."
"Tell us more." Thor smiled.
"Very well," Cherry replied before reading the synopsis/blurb on the back for them before she would begin. "For Emma Swan, life has been anything, but a happy ending, but when she's reunited with Henry: the son she gave up for adoption 10 years ago, on the night of her 28th birthday, everything changes. The now 10-year-old Henry is in desperate need of Emma's help because he believes from reading a book of fairy tales that she's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, who sent her away from the Enchanted Forest to be protected from a curse that was enacted by the Evil Queen."
"Yowza," Lionel remarked. "Sure sounds extremely hectic beyond belief."
"Emma initially refuses to believe a word of Henry's story, but soon finds that his hometown of Storybrooke, Maine is more than it seems," Cherry then continued. "Because it's in Storybrooke that all of the classic characters we know are frozen in time with no memories of their former selves; except for The Evil Queen, who is Storybrooke's mayor and Henry's adoptive mother: Regina Mills."
"Whoa." Atticus said.
"How'd even come up with that?" Mo wondered.
"I dunno, that's just the power of being an author," Cherry shrugged. "I'd like to be one someday myself."
"Well, who knows what tomorrow might bring?" Atticus smiled. "Also maybe we can see our fantasy friends again."
"Yeah, the Avengers Grimm!" Thor beamed before looking thoughtful. "...Or are they The Grimm Avengers?"
"I like Grimm Avengers better." Cherry replied.
"Then we go with that!" Lionel replied.
"I wonder if we'll ever see them again?" Atticus smiled.
"Maybe, maybe not, but cheers to us for helping them defeat Rumplestiltskin." Cherry said as she lifted up her milkshake glass as a toast.
"CHEERS!" Everyone declared as they lifted their glasses as well.
The group laughed happily and soon tucked into their milkshakes. The door soon opened as the ringing of a bell was heard to show an older man with shoulder-length, brownish/grayish hair with deep brown eyes who stumbled inside the diner with a cane. He also wore a blackened suit with a matching tie and shoes with a light blue inner shirt. The group soon looked at him like he was a bit strange and unknown.
"Who's that?" Cherry asked while Atticus shrugged.
"Don't make eye contact," Thor whispered. "He might be a Dracula."
"That or a creeper," Lionel replied, taking out a golf club. "He tries anything, I'm gonna whack him."
"Pardon me, children," The man spoke to them with a light Scottish/Irish accent. "But do you go to the high school around here?"
"Uh, yes, we do?" Atticus nodded. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, I was asked to be a new teacher there," The man then said with a small smile. "You see, I moved here from very far away and I was asked to fill in for a man by the name of Mr. Kane?"
"Thank goodness," Cherry groaned. "That guy's a total snorefest."
"Well, who the galifrax are you, buddy?" asked Lionel.
"I can tell that you're an interesting lad," The man chuckled. "The name is Gold. Mr. Gold to you and don't you forget the 'Mister'."
"Yes, sir." The group nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Gold," Atticus replied. "Welcome to our town."
"Thanks," Mr. Gold replied. "I think I'm going to be quite happy here."
"Mm-hmm." Lionel nodded.
"Um... Well... We hope you like it here," Cherry said softly. "Plus you don't have to worry too much about crime. We have people around who do jobs of saving the day a lot more than just police officers and firefighters."
"I'll take your word for it," Mr. Gold smiled at all of them. "I hope to have you as my future students. You seem like a very nice and smart bunch of kids."
"We can be." Mo nodded.
The others murmured in agreement.
"I'll just take a small vanilla cup." Mr. Gold told the patron.
The patron nodded and went to fill out his order.
"A new teacher... That should make things more interesting until we're needed," Cherry whispered to her friends. "Especially since it's been quiet for The Justice League and Toon Force."
"Well, relatively speaking," Lionel replied. "It's at least something."
Thor began scratching Lionel's head, and he let out small purring noises. They soon continued to have their milkshakes as tonight seemed to be a normal, quiet evening.
However, Sabrina's movie date seemed to be going... Well... Interesting to say the least.
Sabrina had a bit of an eerie smile on her face during the movie while most people, including Jim, were screaming their heads off and popcorn went flying everywhere as she was having a great time. "Isn't this great?" she asked out of excitement. "This is so much fun!"
Jim was screaming and wailing in terror. Sabrina looked at him with a small frown, but continued to watch the movie and enjoyed it. A lot of people left the theater early and some were definitely going to be scarred for life.
"That blood is so life-like... Almost like my favorite dress..." Sabrina commented.
Another person covered their mouth as they ran out to puke.
"Don't go for too long, you'll miss the best part!" Sabrina called.
"Maybe we should go." Jim gulped as he was white as a sheet.
"Now?!" Sabrina frowned. "But we just got here."
"I'm sorry, Sabrina, but... I don't know if I can stay..." Jim shivered as he suddenly got up and ran out of the theater too.
Sabrina watched him go and began to look a little sad that her date was a bust, but she couldn't imagine why. Jim began to vomit as Sabrina followed him out of the theater, and he stumbled home, looking completely green in the face.
"I had a great time." Sabrina said to him.
Jim continued to throw up into the trash outside of the doors as the movie kept going.
"Yes, guys, I feel like we're all happy around here." Cherry's voiceover said as Sabrina began to look a little glum.
Eventually, everyone went to sleep for the night, Sabrina didn't tell Hilda, Zelda, or Salem how her date went as she just went to bed early which concerned them and the teenage witch slept well until she began to dream about being part of the Justice League with her friends, though she had a nightmare that, surprisingly, actually scared her. She saw that Darkseid and King Sombra came back somehow and brought the end of the world to everybody...
Many heroes and friends they all knew were either killed or enslaved and she even saw Batman, Lady Gothika, and Bat-Mite were brainwashed followers... Conner's version of Superboy was neck snapped which led to his death... John Constantine and Zatanna were separated with one dead and the other alive... Saiyaman had given up hope and surrendered to his evil Uncle Sombra... It was a horrifying and terrifying sight and they called it The Apokalips War. Salem was turning over in his bed when he heard Sabrina's crying in her sleep, which woke him up.
"Again...?" Salem yawned. "This one sounds like a helluva bad time..." He hopped onto Sabrina's bed and sat nearby... And to get Hilda and Zelda's attention, he yowled as loudly as he could for an entire hour.
Hilda and Zelda suddenly ran into the room in a panic. Sabrina hugged her pillow as she tossed and turned.
"Sabrina, honey, please, wake up!" Zelda cried as she tried to shake her niece awake.
Sabrina took a minute, but she soon woke up and looked all around to find herself safe and sound back home.
"Sabrina, did your movie night scare you?" Hilda asked.
"No," Sabrina panted. "You know those scary movies are like kid's stuff to me."
"She was having a nightmare," Salem replied. "May as well ask about it."
"Sure, dear," Zelda nodded as she sat on one side of the bed while Hilda sat on the other with Sabrina in the middle. "You can always talk to your favorite aunties."
"What happened?" Hilda asked with a small smile.
"Well... I dreamt I was with the others in the League..." Sabrina said emotionally as she hugged her pillow while telling her guardians all about the nightmare she just had. "I-It was just so horrible! I'm not sure what would be worse: dying in the battle or be one of the few survivors just destined to be killed without mercy."
"Goodness..." Zelda frowned. "That does sound pretty wild."
"But we happen to know for a fact that that will never happen to you and your friends." Hilda promised.
"You don't know that!" Sabrina exclaimed. "None of you know that..." she collapsed, sobbing into her pillow.
Hilda and Zelda frowned, a bit concerned for Sabrina. Salem soon patted Sabrina, trying to comfort her, though it felt impossible.
"We should call someone." Hilda said to her sister.
"There's a handsome sounding radio doctor in Seattle~" Zelda had a small smirk. "Maybe we could ask him for help."
"Quit joking around, Zelda; that's my thing." Hilda retorted.
"Who's joking?" Zelda smirked hopefully.
The two soon got up and left the room, having a small argument. Sabrina glanced over as she stayed in the room with Salem as the door closed behind them.
"They love ya, kiddo, they really do," Salem told Sabrina. "Edward and Diana wouldn't leave you with them if they didn't."
"I know," Sabrina replied. "But I guess... I just don't feel like this place is right for me."
"Sabrina, don't think like that," Salem frowned. "You have your friends."
"Yes, they're nice and it's interesting to be in the Justice League, but... Sometimes I just feel like I'm not right for this world." Sabrina frowned back with a small sigh.
Salem decided to nuzzle with her as she could use the comfort of a pet cat. "Hey, you think you got problems?" he then asked. "Remember what my life is like?"
Sabrina turned away, not in the mood to hear about that.
"...Sorry," Salem then said. "...It'll get better... Somehow."
"Maybe, but I don't believe that." Sabrina sighed as she laid on her side, gazing out the window.
Salem frowned as he looked a little sad for Sabrina. Sabrina wiped her eyes as she had a lot on her mind that night. Sure, she had some great friends and they were all doing great things for the town by being a smaller branch off from the Justice League, but still... She couldn't seem to stay happy in this world for so long. She just wished there was some way to escape. She'd learn that there was a way, but not right now. First, her friends would need to find out somehow.
Meanwhile, before we get into all of that, two people were in a secret location, talking with one another. They were known as Alice and The Hatter, which you may remember from certain adventures in a place called Wonderland.
"Tsk! Tsk! Such poor guests," Alice remarked as she watched the monitors, finding a city in trouble before someone would put a stop to it. "Of course, the squad's away on holiday when the bloody Sea People start destroying my city. Hatter!" she then called to her colleague.
There was no answer at first.
"HATTER!" Alice repeated herself firmly.
"Present!" The top-hatted man responded as he rolled back in a chair behind her.
"Tell me we recognize our new oceanic oppressors." Alice demanded.
"Uh..." The Hatter paused as he checked a tablet to show a woman who looked different from where Arthur Curry AKA Aquaman came from. "Princess Magdalena of Atlantis or 'Magda the Mad'."
"Splendid," Alice replied. "Even if she failed to get rid of Queen Athena of Atlantica."
"I like her already." The Hatter grinned since the woman was just as mad as he was.
"And the handsome fellow?" Alice then prompted.
Hatter soon rolled over with a new image on his tablet to show the young woman. "Charles Charming III, a prince." he then informed.
"Of course..."
"Legendary hero if I remember correctly. He was all set to be wed and then he just up and disappeared."
"No doubt out to see with our little mermaid here," Alice replied in mockery with a roll of her eyes. "Why is it always a lover's quarrel with these fairy tale types?"
"Well, that is not the whole tale told... Wait 'til you see his bride-to-be and the children they planned on raising together." Hatter replied before rolling back to a scanning computer with special data on it beside a microscope.
"Curiouser and curiouser..." Alice replied before they shared a smirk together. "I think it's time we break the ice."
A container was soon shown to reveal a woman who looked just like Snow White from the last Avengers Grimm misadventure.
"These out-of-towners were supposed to remain home, but we're about to let this one out," Alice said as The Hatter got ready. "The last time she went mucking about, she nearly destroyed the whole of reality with those meddlers that were sent by that Witch's Council leader. Well, desperate times, I suppose..." she then said as she prepared with him.
The Hatter put a key into the console, and Alice pressed some buttons, turned a knob, and hit the red button. That caused a bunch of whirring noises to be heard as a nearby tube whooshed, before the woman inside of the tube awoke from her sleep, gasping in surprise.
"Any word of those orphans?" Alice then asked.
"Nothing, I'm afraid," Hatter replied. "This is better than nothing though."
"Quite..." Alice nodded. "...Hatter?"
"Yes?"
"If you would be so kind as to prepare a batch of my medicine?"
"Yes."
"I fear I'll require it soon."
"Regular or extra-strength?"
"Both," Alice replied. "...NOW, Hatter."
The Hatter fumbled a bit and hurried on his way. Now that she was alone with the woman, Alice strolled towards her.
"Snow White, I presume?" The curious young woman asked, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. "...I think it's time we had a chat about your fiancé."
Dramatic music soon filled the air.
"Your children will be with you soon," Alice smirked. "Then you can have a little family reunion afterwards."