THE HAUNTED MANSION
By
Scott Space Ace Oliverson
(Starring the Fox-Box Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles and the WMAC Masters)
Author's
Note: A story based on the Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland
and EuroDisney darkride attractions and the new movie coming to theaters on
November 26th...it is also taken from the Disneyland LP record "Story and
Songs from the Haunted Mansion" which is now re-released on audio
cassette. In the storyline the Ninja Turtles and WMAC Masters find
themselves trapped inside a manor house that's rumored to be HAUNTED!!!
Sensei Splinter, April O'Neil and Casey Jones tell the tale of their friends
trying to find another way out of this living nightmare since they, themselves
had one time experienced the same incident before.
SPLINTER
Welcome, honored guests. <Bows> So glad you could come tonight because my
human friends and I have an interesting story to tell and it's true. It
has something to do with my sons, the Masters of the World Martial Arts Council
and Ninjara the lady fox samurai bodyguard finding themselves in much more
danger or trouble than they could imagine.
CASEY JONES
True, Sensei. Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and my buddy Raphael on
their way home from a movie get caught in a thunderstorm and with the WMAC
Masters end up seeking shelter inside this empty manor house that's supposed to
be haunted because no one has moved in or rented the place due to the present
owners either moving away or passing on, dying to be more exact.
APRIL
O'NEIL
But enough talk, let's begin tonight's story of...The Haunted Mansion.
The next scene shifts to a dark night somewhere in the neighborhood of New York
City, either Brooklyn, Harlem, Queens, or Manhattan’s East or West side where a
desolate, dilapidated, run-down mansion stands against a backdrop of passing
clouds and full moon surrounded by bare, skeletal-like trees swaying about in
the wind. The familiar theme song "Grim Grinning Ghosts" begins
to play as the mansion appears to rotate, or as if we are moving around the
house from all directions as though spying on the manor, trying to see if any
supernatural forces lurk within its walls. Then, Splinter's voice begins
to set the stage for what's to come.
SPLINTER
Have you ever seen a haunted house? You know the kind I mean. That
old dark house that's usually at the end of a dimly lit street. The
owners haven't been seen for years, no one really knows why. The windows
are broken and boarded and the shutters hang loose on their hinges. The
sidewalk leading up to the front porch is broken and overgrown with grass and
weeds. The trees are grown wild, their branches brush against the sides
of the weathering old house making strange noises in the night. There's a
high vine covered fence around the property with a rusty squeaky gate. Is
it there to keep somebody out, man or mutant? Or is it there to keep
something evil inside? It's a house that people and/or animals avoid
walking past at night for strange sounds come from within its walls and it's
said that eerie lights can be seen both in the attic windows and in the cemetery
to the side of the house, our story revolves around this mysterious mansion.
APRIL
O'NEIL
Nights not long ago, the Turtles and Masters were walking home from the movie
"SpyKids 3D Game Over" the night was cool as lightning broke through
the sky. The wind began to blow as the lightning cracked again while
thunder rolled across the heavens to change this pleasant evening into a night
to be remembered. The lightning struck again and illuminated the front of
the old mansion, it began to rain. Leo, Mike, Don, Ralph, Ninjara,
Machine, Red Dragon, Superstar, Turbo, Olympus, Star Warrior, Tsunami, Tiger
Claw, Great Wolf, Panther, Ying-Yang Man ran toward the old house, through the
old iron gate and onto the porch for protection.
CASEY JONES
Protection??? If only they had known...their real nightmare was about to
begin!
NOTE: In
case you've never seen the WMAC MASTERS live action martial arts show on
Fox-Kids when it aired on that network back in 1995-1996 and now has returned
to Fox-Box for the 2003 season, here are the actual masters who participate in
that Mortal Kombat-style tournament for the honor of claiming the Dragon Star
Trophy...
Hakim
MACHINE Alston (Kickboxing Master)
Hein
TSUNAMI Nguyen (Kung Fu Master)
Richard
YING YANG MAN Branden (Wushu Master)
Herb
OLYMPUS Perez (Taekwondo Master - 1992 Gold Medal Winner Of The Barcelona
Olympic Games)
HoSung
SUPERSTAR Pak (Kung Fu Master)
HoYung
STAR WARRIOR Pak (Kung Fu & Drunken Kung Fu Master)
Chris
RED DRAGON Casamassa (Karate Master)
Johnny
Lee TIGER CLAW Smith (Shorin-Ryu Master)
Jamie
GREAT WOLF Webster (Karate Master)
Eric
PANTHER Betts (Karate Master)
Mike
TURBO Bernardo (Kung Fu Master)
"The
other WMAC Masters I'm not using in the story are the following..."
Willie
BAM Johnson, Carmichael KID Simon, Tracy TRACER Swedom, Mike WIZARD
Chaturantbut and Larry WARLOCK Lam
SPLINTER
Now my sons, Ninjara and the Masters are huddled together on the porch watching
the rain come down like a gray wall of water. However they still feel
droplets falling on their heads due to rotted boards in the arch-roof where the
rain is leaking through cracks. They cannot remain outside any longer for
fear of catching the flu.
NINJARA
<Complains>
Oh, Ralph, look at that rain come down. We'll never get home on time.
RAPHAEL
You could say that. We'd never make it back before catching a cold.
MIKE
BERNARDO
Sure we will, don't panic. It's not quite midnight yet. <Checks his
watch> But this old porch is not going to keep us dry though.
CASEY JONES
The former Dragon Star Champion studies the front door and then begins
tugging-pulling-twisting the handle & knob back and forth in his attempt to
get it open.
HERB PEREZ
Uh, what are you doing?
MIKE BERNARDO
What does it look like? Trying to get front door open, no one lives here.
DONATELLO
Good idea, we can wait inside till the storm's over.
MICHAELANGELO
What? <Panics> Are you nuts?! I've heard rumors that this house is
haunted.
LEONARDO
Oh great, just what we need. <Disgusted look> A genuine haunted mansion
where no one has lived in for a long time.
JOHNNY LEE
SMITH
That's because the original owners who lived here died or passed on and since
then, nobody has rented or moved in due to weird goings-on.
JAMIE
WEBSTER
Such as noises coming from inside its walls, eerie lights seen in the windows,
blah-blah-blah.
APRIL
O'NEIL
This shakes up the others, they hate hearing about ghosts, haunted houses and
the supernatural.
RAPHAEL
Not me, uh-uh, no way. I'm not going inside that house.
NINJARA
Me too, I'd rather stay out here with my boy and get wet.
RAPHAEL
Count me in, vixen.
NINJARA
You and me, Ralph. <Grins>
HOSUNG PAK
Suit yourselves, but I'm not hanging around out here, I'd rather be inside
where it's dry.
HOYUNG PAK
Good idea, brother. That way when the storm passes we can continue
home. Hopefully we can return before Splinter, April or Casey know we are
missing or late from getting home on time.
CASEY JONES
They got that right...anyway, Turbo succeeds in getting the stuck door open and
peers into its gloomy interior before turning back to his friends.
MIKE
BERNARDO
Come on, don't be afraid. I'll light a match.
CHRIS
CASAMASSA
Always come prepared for the unexpected I always say.
MIKE
BERNARDO
Uh-huh...
SPLINTER
Turbo lights a match from a book he carried with him and cupping it in both
hands led the way into the mansion's interior as the others crowded in
behind. Leonardo, Raphael, Ninjara, Donatello, Michaelangelo, Machine,
Red Dragon, Superstar, Panther, Star Warrior, Tsunami, Tiger Claw, Great Wolf,
Ying-Yang Man and Turbo found themselves standing inside a large foyer or front
parlor filled with dusty covered furniture dating back to the 1800s or early
1900s. Windows gave views of the outside although some pieces of glass
were missing and patched up with wood and/or cardboard, the curtains hanging
like limp flags.
APRIL
O'NEIL
A large crystal chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, its flickering
candles barely illuminating the darkness of the chamber. At the other end
of the foyer/front parlor stood a Victorian fireplace with glowing embers and
flanking either side were 2 doors, both closed.
RICHARD BRANDEN
Well I'll be, this house is still full of furniture.
LEONARDO
It's as though someone still lived here.
ERIC BETTS
But if that's so, how come nobody has claimed the personal belongings left
behind?
DONATELLO
Who would want to buy these furniture pieces or move into this house when it's
haunted.
ERIC BETTS
Oops, that explains a lot.
LEONARDO
Good grief...
HEIN NGUYEN
There's a candelabrum, light some candles.
MIKE
BERNARDO
Okay, this match is about to burn out on me.
CASEY JONES
Turbo attaches the almost dead match to the candleholder until all candles are
flickering. Suddenly from out of nowhere came a deep, ominous voice.
GHOST HOST
GOOD EVENING...
HAKIM
ALSTON <Startled>
Who said that?!
MICHAELANGELO
Yo, dude! Who spoke?
HERB PEREZ
I think it came from that marble bust. <Points out the source>
NINJARA
<Panics>
Guys, let's get out of here!
SPLINTER
Yet as they run back towards the open front door it began to swing shut by
itself and before they could stop it, it closed! Now the Turtles and
Masters are trapped inside this manor with no escape.
CHRIS
CASAMASSA
The door closed! <He begins fighting the knob-handle> I can't get it
open.
MICHAELANGELO
We're doomed! <Mimics ThreePO in Star Wars>
RAPHAEL
That's it, we're trapped inside a cursed mansion with no escape from the 5th
Dimension, the darkest corners of our imagination...the Twilight Zone.
NINJARA
Bother! <Mimics Winnie the Pooh> This is not the time, Raph.
RAPHAEL
Easy, cool down...
NINJARA
Easy?! At the moment that we are in right now?
APRIL
O'NEIL
While they argue back and forth the unseen voice continues speaking though no
one present is revealed to be the speaker.
GHOST HOST
WHEN HINGES CREAK IN DOORLESS CHAMBERS...AND STRANGE AND FRIGHTENING SOUNDS
ECHO THROUGH THE WALLS...WHENEVER CANDLELIGHTS FLICKER...WHERE THE AIR IS
DEATHLESSLY STILL...THAT IS THE TIME WHEN GHOSTS ARE PRESENT...PRACTICING THEIR
TERROR WITH GHOULISH DELIGHT...WELCOME FOOLISH MORTALS TO THE HAUNTED
MANSION...I AM YOUR HOST, YOUR GHOST HOST...KINDLY STEP THIS WAY...THERE'S NO
TURNING BACK NOW...YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED, BUT YOU WILL NOT BE RELEASED UNTIL
YOU TAKE A TOUR OF MY HOME...WE HAVE SO FEW VISITORS...LIVE ONES THAT IS...HMHMMHMMMHMMMMAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH...OUR
TOUR BEGINS HERE...IN THIS GHOSTLY GALLERY...
CASEY JONES
Just then, one of the 2 doors flanking the fireplace swung open by unseen hands
revealing another room within. The Ninja Turtles, Ninjara and WMAC Masters
too frightened to find another way out obeyed their host's voice and entered
the candle-lit art gallery, not knowing what terrors awaited them beyond.
TO BE CONTINUED...