The Crime Is the Competition
Title: The Crime Is the Competition
Rating: G
Characters: Dan, Casey, Dana
Word Count: ~1,000
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Summary: Danny wants to be a superhero.
Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at Sports Night fic *and* banter!fic. My main focus for it was the dialogue, so hopefully it turned out okay. This references another fic in a different fandom, but all you really need to know is that the Blue Shadow is a superhero who's a lot like Batman, except Batman is fictional, while the Blue Shadow is real. (If you'd like to learn more about the Blue Shadow and are into pundits, particularly Anderson Cooper & Keith Olbermann, then I'd have to point you over to the epic fic by dutchtulips here.)
“I think I’d make a great superhero.”
Casey’s fingers froze on the keyboard, his train of thought officially crashing into the brick wall that was Dan’s comment. He glanced over to see Dan sprawled on the couch, head resting on the back, staring at the ceiling. “Done writing your script already?”
“I’d look good with a cape,” Dan said to the ceiling.
Casey typed a few words of gibberish before giving up. If Dana got mad that they didn’t have anything to show for the afternoon rundown, he’d just blame Dan. He pushed his chair slightly away from the computer to face Dan, leaning forward with his elbows on the desk. “Did you have another Superman movie marathon?”
“Yeah, last weekend, but that’s not the point.” Dan finally moved at that, leaning forward to grab the folded newspaper off the table. He flung it open so the front page was facing Casey. SHADOW STRIKES AGAIN; HALTS BANK OF AMERICA HEIST, it proclaimed.
“Ah. That superhero.” The Blue Shadow, as the media had so cleverly dubbed him, had been making the news for weeks now. “Charlie won’t shut up about him. All last weekend it was, Dad, can you buy me a cape? Dad, can I take karate lessons so I can beat up bad guys?”
Dan didn’t even look up from the paper he was now flipping through absently. “Wow, Case, that must be really terrible for you, your son wanting to be a hero.”
Casey waved his arms around in frustration. “He’s nine years old, Danny! He’ll get himself killed. This Shadow guy should probably do a PSA: ‘Hey, kids, I’m a professional, don’t try this at home, and listen to your parents.’”
“Hm. Maybe he should.” Casey could tell Dan wasn’t really listening to him. “My point is, what has this guy got that I don’t? I could do this.”
“Does he have a sidekick?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Maybe you could be his sidekick.”
“Why would I want to be his sidekick?”
“Batman had a sidekick.”
“Batman had Robin.”
“Wasn’t Robin his sidekick?”
“He was a kid! Hey, maybe Charlie -“
“No, Danny.”
“Right.”
Just then Dana appeared at the doorway. “Hey, guys, make sure you save some time in the 40s. We might have a story coming out of the Meadowlands.”
Casey nodded. “Sure.”
Dana turned to leave, but he called her back. “Hey, Dana! Danny wants to be a superhero.”
“Like The Blue Shadow?”
“Yeah! I think I’d be great,” Dan said, smiling.
“Maybe you could be his sidekick.”
The smile fell off his face like a stone, but it seemed reappear on Dana’s face in the form of an evil grin. “Why would I want to be his sidekick?”
“You could be Misty the Wonder Boy!”
Dan blinked at her. “Misty the…”
“The Blue Shadow and Misty: Crimefighting Team Extraordinaire!”
“Okay, get out; I’m not talking to you anymore.”
Dana spun on her heel and left with a laugh.
“That woman is nuts. What kind of sidekick name is Misty?”
Casey quickly recovered from his own laughter. “Is it really any worse than Robin?”
Dan just snorted in response. Then there was silence for a minute, and Casey thought Dan might have just decided to let it go, so he figured he’d get back to work. But the moment he touched the keyboard…
“We should talk about this on the show tonight.”
Casey was about ready to bang his head on the desk. “What?”
“We could make it a feature.”
“Why would we do that?”
“We’re a news show.”
“Yes, a sports news show. Besides, every other news organization in New York has more than adequately covered it.”
“I think we should do our part.”
“Being a superhero is not a sport, Danny.”
“You’re telling me that single-handedly kicking the asses of five would-be bank robbers doesn’t require some sort of athletic prowess?”
“I’m telling you that if the only criterion we have for the stories we report on is that it deals with athletic prowess, then we should do a feature on the time I remodeled my kitchen.”
Dan stared at him, eyebrow raised. “You hired other people to remodel your kitchen.”
“Then we should do a feature on them. Judging by the way the place smelled like B.O. whenever I got home, they were working pretty hard.”
Dan shook his head. “My point, Casey, is that he’s gotta be in great shape.”
“Then your point is made. That still doesn’t make it a sport. Where’s the competition?”
By the look on Dan’s face, you would have thought Casey had just suggested that soccer was the greatest sport in the world. “Are you kidding me? The crime is the competition!”
Casey couldn’t help but snicker. “Sounds like the tagline to the worst superhero movie ever.”
Dan grinned. “Could you imagine it? Sports anchor by day, superhero by night.”
“Technically, you’re a sports anchor by night.”
“Look, up in the sky! It’s…Sports…man.” Dan frowned. “I should probably work on that.”
Casey was laughing now. “What would you do? Bring the bad guys to their knees by the sheer power of random sports statistics?”
Dan threw his hands up in the air, tossing the newspaper behind him. “Fine! It’s clear you’re not going to support my dream, so I’m going to go over here and do my actual job.” He moved from the couch to one of the chairs at the small table and booted up the laptop.
“Sounds good.” Casey turned back to the computer.
“I would have been a great role model for Charlie.”
“I know.” Casey reread the words on the monitor, trying to remember what he was going to say.
There was a few minutes of silence, both men lost in their thoughts, keyboards clicking away.
“And you know what else, Casey?”
“We’re never going to have a script done for tonight?”
“I would have looked great in tights.”
END.
Hope you enjoyed! :D
Rating: G
Characters: Dan, Casey, Dana
Word Count: ~1,000
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Summary: Danny wants to be a superhero.
Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at Sports Night fic *and* banter!fic. My main focus for it was the dialogue, so hopefully it turned out okay. This references another fic in a different fandom, but all you really need to know is that the Blue Shadow is a superhero who's a lot like Batman, except Batman is fictional, while the Blue Shadow is real. (If you'd like to learn more about the Blue Shadow and are into pundits, particularly Anderson Cooper & Keith Olbermann, then I'd have to point you over to the epic fic by dutchtulips here.)
“I think I’d make a great superhero.”
Casey’s fingers froze on the keyboard, his train of thought officially crashing into the brick wall that was Dan’s comment. He glanced over to see Dan sprawled on the couch, head resting on the back, staring at the ceiling. “Done writing your script already?”
“I’d look good with a cape,” Dan said to the ceiling.
Casey typed a few words of gibberish before giving up. If Dana got mad that they didn’t have anything to show for the afternoon rundown, he’d just blame Dan. He pushed his chair slightly away from the computer to face Dan, leaning forward with his elbows on the desk. “Did you have another Superman movie marathon?”
“Yeah, last weekend, but that’s not the point.” Dan finally moved at that, leaning forward to grab the folded newspaper off the table. He flung it open so the front page was facing Casey. SHADOW STRIKES AGAIN; HALTS BANK OF AMERICA HEIST, it proclaimed.
“Ah. That superhero.” The Blue Shadow, as the media had so cleverly dubbed him, had been making the news for weeks now. “Charlie won’t shut up about him. All last weekend it was, Dad, can you buy me a cape? Dad, can I take karate lessons so I can beat up bad guys?”
Dan didn’t even look up from the paper he was now flipping through absently. “Wow, Case, that must be really terrible for you, your son wanting to be a hero.”
Casey waved his arms around in frustration. “He’s nine years old, Danny! He’ll get himself killed. This Shadow guy should probably do a PSA: ‘Hey, kids, I’m a professional, don’t try this at home, and listen to your parents.’”
“Hm. Maybe he should.” Casey could tell Dan wasn’t really listening to him. “My point is, what has this guy got that I don’t? I could do this.”
“Does he have a sidekick?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Maybe you could be his sidekick.”
“Why would I want to be his sidekick?”
“Batman had a sidekick.”
“Batman had Robin.”
“Wasn’t Robin his sidekick?”
“He was a kid! Hey, maybe Charlie -“
“No, Danny.”
“Right.”
Just then Dana appeared at the doorway. “Hey, guys, make sure you save some time in the 40s. We might have a story coming out of the Meadowlands.”
Casey nodded. “Sure.”
Dana turned to leave, but he called her back. “Hey, Dana! Danny wants to be a superhero.”
“Like The Blue Shadow?”
“Yeah! I think I’d be great,” Dan said, smiling.
“Maybe you could be his sidekick.”
The smile fell off his face like a stone, but it seemed reappear on Dana’s face in the form of an evil grin. “Why would I want to be his sidekick?”
“You could be Misty the Wonder Boy!”
Dan blinked at her. “Misty the…”
“The Blue Shadow and Misty: Crimefighting Team Extraordinaire!”
“Okay, get out; I’m not talking to you anymore.”
Dana spun on her heel and left with a laugh.
“That woman is nuts. What kind of sidekick name is Misty?”
Casey quickly recovered from his own laughter. “Is it really any worse than Robin?”
Dan just snorted in response. Then there was silence for a minute, and Casey thought Dan might have just decided to let it go, so he figured he’d get back to work. But the moment he touched the keyboard…
“We should talk about this on the show tonight.”
Casey was about ready to bang his head on the desk. “What?”
“We could make it a feature.”
“Why would we do that?”
“We’re a news show.”
“Yes, a sports news show. Besides, every other news organization in New York has more than adequately covered it.”
“I think we should do our part.”
“Being a superhero is not a sport, Danny.”
“You’re telling me that single-handedly kicking the asses of five would-be bank robbers doesn’t require some sort of athletic prowess?”
“I’m telling you that if the only criterion we have for the stories we report on is that it deals with athletic prowess, then we should do a feature on the time I remodeled my kitchen.”
Dan stared at him, eyebrow raised. “You hired other people to remodel your kitchen.”
“Then we should do a feature on them. Judging by the way the place smelled like B.O. whenever I got home, they were working pretty hard.”
Dan shook his head. “My point, Casey, is that he’s gotta be in great shape.”
“Then your point is made. That still doesn’t make it a sport. Where’s the competition?”
By the look on Dan’s face, you would have thought Casey had just suggested that soccer was the greatest sport in the world. “Are you kidding me? The crime is the competition!”
Casey couldn’t help but snicker. “Sounds like the tagline to the worst superhero movie ever.”
Dan grinned. “Could you imagine it? Sports anchor by day, superhero by night.”
“Technically, you’re a sports anchor by night.”
“Look, up in the sky! It’s…Sports…man.” Dan frowned. “I should probably work on that.”
Casey was laughing now. “What would you do? Bring the bad guys to their knees by the sheer power of random sports statistics?”
Dan threw his hands up in the air, tossing the newspaper behind him. “Fine! It’s clear you’re not going to support my dream, so I’m going to go over here and do my actual job.” He moved from the couch to one of the chairs at the small table and booted up the laptop.
“Sounds good.” Casey turned back to the computer.
“I would have been a great role model for Charlie.”
“I know.” Casey reread the words on the monitor, trying to remember what he was going to say.
There was a few minutes of silence, both men lost in their thoughts, keyboards clicking away.
“And you know what else, Casey?”
“We’re never going to have a script done for tonight?”
“I would have looked great in tights.”
END.
Hope you enjoyed! :D