A Message From Minstrel 2

The familiar fanfare fills the air around millions of Gotham's television sets. WWGC's familiar logo, the pigeon in flight carrying a pen, appears on the screen. It's soon replaced by the interior of the WWGC newsroom, a familiar sight to many of it's regular viewers. What isn't familiar, however, is the man sitting in the spot usually occupied by Vicky Vale.

With his pitch-black makeup, giant, red lips and bulbous eyes, the stranger makes an entire city recoil. Some in horror, some in embarrassment, some in laughter and validation. The hypnotic swing of the large, black, yarn locks beneath his straw Dixie hat captivated thousands of Gothamites. A wide smile spread across his face, giving him an appearance so disturbing that it traumatized an entire generation of Gotham's children.

"Greetings, citizenry and visitors of Gotham City," he eloquently elucidated. In the background of the studio, the sounds of a banjo strumming a light, fast tune began to play. The figure simply stared into the camera for a minute and a half, not saying anything or even commenting on the music as it played.

Finally, he raised one hand, pointing up as though the source of the sound was right above his head.

"Currently, your ears are being pleasured by the musical genius of the great Nina Simone. Your banjoist is yours truly, and the piece is entitled Mississippi Goddamn."

He took up a sheet of white paper from his desk, nodding his head and contorting his face as though he were actually reading it. But his eyes were crossed. One was staring down at the paper while the other was still looking down at the screen. The disgusting body horror sent many mothers anxious, as all around the city they warned their children not to attempt it.

"I see," Minstrel said as he turned the paper over. His eye was still stuck in the same position. With his left hand, he took a finger and repositioned it properly, so it too looked straight at the camera.

"It appears that Miss Simone was inspired to compose this masterpiece after receiving news of the murders of Medgar Evars, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair."

With each name, a black-and white picture flew past the impromptu reporter. A later analysis of google searches would indicate that for the next two days each of the victim's names, preceded by the phrase "who was" would dominate searches for the area.

"In the aftermath of their brutal murders," the Minstrel continued, "Miss Simone was enraged. She went to her garage and decided that she needed to construct a gun. Her exact target was unclear to her in the moment, but she resolved to figure out who to target first after her tool was constructed."

At that moment, the strange figure turned away from the camera for the first time. His head hung low while he shook it in disapproval. This break in his monologue continued for eighteen seconds before he suddenly snapped his head up and reformed his wide, over-exuberant smile.

"Miss Simone did not go on a shooting rampage, however. Instead, she was rescued from her fit of rage by her husband, who reminded her that she wasn't a killer but instead a musician. There were better ways a woman such as her could help the situation."

The song continued to play, but the instrumental was overshadowed by the sound of Nina Simone's voice wailing throughout the studio. People in nursing homes began to dance to the familiar sound.

"And so, this classic protest song was born. Nina realized that to create music was better than to take life, so she set to work over this song, Mississippi Goddamn, and the rest is history. Black History. This has been your Black history minute, Gotham City."

The broadcast went black.

Three seconds later, the broadcast came back.

"I, of course, will not write songs to combat murderers," Minstrel said with a blank, unsmiling face.

The broadcast went black again.

Ten seconds later, the broadcast still wasn't back.

Ten more seconds later, the broadcast came back again.

"By the way," Minstrel said while holding the camera aloft in his hands, "I do of course mean that I'm about to go on a killing spree. Stop me if you can, Batman."

The broadcast went black.

One second later, the broadcast came back.

"This is Minstrel, by the way. Should have mentioned that. Okay, for real this time. Ex-oh-ex-oh."