Nightmare on 70th Street (IC)

[Carces]

"Ah..." Creature Feature was rendered speechless by Silhouette's Not A Ninja speech. Deflated, he stared in a melancholy, awkward silence until she asked him another question.

"Oh. Phone? I..." Vance reached down for his pocket before realizing he neither had a pocket, nor the emergency phone that goes in the pocket. "Ah... sorry. I guess not. Oh! But there's a phone booth outside! I saw people calling taxis from it."

Creature Feature looked up at the hole that they had both entered. The ceiling was a fair distance away, but his leap could more than cover the range. He offered his hand to Silhouette as he spoke: "Want a lift?"

[Aoiroo]

Looking over at the hole she gave let out another soft sigh,

"Sure, just watch the claws, I only have one of these and it's a pain to fix."

She pointed absently at her arm as she walked away from the case and over to the generator. After looking for a moment, she found the right switch and with a quick flick, the wheels started to slow down the lights began to dim until they were in darkness once more. She started walking over to the hole, feeling out her steps carefully as she waited for her night vision to return. It would be a few more minutes, so she stopped over next to the hole and waited for the person who called themselves Creature Feature to catch up.

While she waited, she leaned against an adjacent wall and started to go over the events in her mind. With the adrenaline from the security system attack fading, she was feeling just a little tired, but it still meant that there were several strange things about tonight. She looked over at her companion for this little adventure and said in a casual tone,

"So Vance, what's with the whole werewolf thing?"

[Carces]

"Well, it's kind of new to..." Vance caught himself in mid sentence, his jaw dropping open in shock. "What the? How did... Vance who?"

Catching himself giving away his secret identity (which apparently was not terribly secret), he dropped his voice in a rather clumsy attempt to mask it, despite the werewolf's voice sounding nothing like Vance's normal voice to begin with. He gently picked up Silhouette and leapt through the hole in the ceiling, landing outside.

"I don't know anyone by that name. I happen to be a common garden-variety werewolf. Yep."

Even as the words were escaping his muzzle, he knew there was no way she would buy any of this. He rubbed the back of his head as he thought to himself: How did she know?

[Aoiroo]

She gave a wry smiled as his jaw dropped,

Looks like I guessed right.

Waiting quietly as he picked her up and continued to bring her outside the lair where he might of had the advantage if he wanted to silence her she slid out of his arms and onto the ground and looked right up at him. Walking a few feet from him to the hole he had made on his entrance she pointed straight up at the sky,

"I'd like to ask, what type of werewolf changes during a half moon?"

She let out a breath through her nose as she looked around the store,

"You answered my questions so naturally, about what happened, you gave me details, and you knew about what was in the lower levels before we even went down here. That only leads to one explanation, you were here when it happened, but that also led to another question, why, were you here when this happened?"

She gave a light stretch before she continued, looking at him all the while through fabric around her eyes that could be seen through one way, and only seen through the other if you really closely,

"You probably don't realize how very obscure this place is. Heck, it's a full on rarity to find a place devoted to simply lending out old videos especially in one of the places promptly labelled the City Of Tomorrow. Plus, this place has no ads, no commerials, even if someone went looking for it, the moment they realize that it's in the Fens they'd just pass it up as a dirty movie store and ignore it all the same."

She took a quick glance around the store, then back at him,

"Also, Ms. Lights lived alone, any and all family she has is out of state or deceased. In the last two years, probably the only real company she's had with her was that weird cat, well at least up until a few weeks ago."

[Carces]

"But... I didn't... and..." Vance tried his hardest to come up with excuses - each one falling flat. He sighed and tried to hush his voice.

"Alright. You got me. Please don't tell my parents." Vance pleaded with the woman. "I was there when those ninja laser guys attacked. When I was runnin' away, I got a machine - some sorta VCR from the basement. But the bad guys were chasin' me, an' I didn' know what to do an' I was scared an'... well, I grabbed some sorta car from that basement and I... sorta kinda... drove it into the river."

Vance shook off the memories of that frightening night. What if something bad did happen to poor Ms. Lights? She was the nicest lady and she didn't do anything to deserve an attack! Vance continued his story.

"That VCR-thing I brought home... I thought it was a 3D movie player or something, so I plugged it in. After I, uh, 'used' it, things haven't been the same. I can change into stuff I can see in videos now - it just happens. Like the Wolfguy here."

Vance slumped down on a broken wall and looked back at Silhouette. "I thought I'd try to help Ms. Lights, y'know? And a werewolf was a pretty scary thing for beatin' up ninjas. But... I dunno... I dunno where she could have gone. I just..." Vance noticed a tear welling up in his eye. Hoping it was too dark to make something like that out, Vance turned his head away and nonchalantly wiped the side of his face, all the while trying to force himself not to cry.

[Aoiroo]

Listening quietly, she heard his story, the way he relived the whole thing. It seemed to hit him hard, this was probably the first time he had really thought about the whole incident in context. When something like that happens, you don't generally think about it right away, there's always a period of shock. Also, he must have guilt now that he just realized he drove his boss's car into a river, which she had to say was rather interesting in of itself.

She was about to go over and try to comfort him when he started talking about the thing he brought home. A VCR? A VCR caused him to change into a wolf thing. That could be seriously dangerous stuff, maybe not with him using it, but someone trained, someone who could fight or even had the slightest bit of killer instinct could use it for something serious. It was now she walked over to him, and put her arm around his (because his shoulder was too high) and started to pat him quietly,

"Okay, it's okay, they were looking for something, but they didn't find it, so instead kidnapped Ms. Lights to try and see if she had it hidden somewhere else. Now, as long as they don't have whatever they were looking for, they won't kill Ms. Lights, they still need her. If this VCR does what you says it does, that probably means that's what their looking for. "

She gave him a tug so she could face him, though she really couldn't move him on her own she walked over to the side where his face hung.

"We need to go back to your house, and get the device that made you like this. We have to take this to someone who can maybe figure out what it does, and why exactly you've changed like this. You don't have to tell them who you are, you don't have to explain why you have it, we can just say we found it in some hidden space when we examined Ms. Lights hidden lair. Either way though, we have to figure out what exactly this has done to you, and what side effects might come with it. There is always a price to pay for power, be it time, freedom, or even sanity, given, the last one in your case is rather doubtful if whoever broke in wanted it so badly."

[Carces]

Creature Feature listened with wide eyes. Silhouette made a lot of sense, and this could be a dangerous situation.

Worst, if they really were after the VCR... Is what happened to Ms. Lights my fault?

Vance swallowed hard. The next course of action was clear, however: He had to get that VCR to someone he knew.

"...Alright. I left the device at home. I'll go get..."

Creature Feature's mind clicked, remembering the excited situation he left his neighborhood in.

"Ah... a-actually, my neighbors might not be happy to see a werewolf."

[Aoiroo]

She put her hand on her chin, there were a ton of variables in this situation.

"Don't worry terribly about that their are several ways around that."

Walking over to the door, she opened it quietly,

"Let's not stick around, there's nothing more to find here, at least not by us. Even if we could find a lead, we can't exactly attack whoever did this. You're far too green for something like that, and I'm not suited for direct combat."

Walking out, she kept her pace steady and waited for the sound of his footsteps to follow.

[Carces]

Creature Feature breathed heavily. This had turned into one crazy night. In one fell swoop, everything had changed. One minute, he was a young boy, working at a video store and watching movies in the basement. The next minute, he's on a crazy adventure, monstering up, fighting off crazed turrets and following mysterious non-ninjas. What would his parents think?

Vance's mind began to wander before noticing that his new friend was getting away from him. "Wait up!" He ran towards her, wondering how the rest of the night could possibly go.

[Aoiroo]

She didn't have to lead him very far, maybe a few blocks. They passed several places, but every single one of them had no windows to look in or out of, and anyone who was on the street even may of looked at them strangely for a few minutes, but completely ignored them at once. Silhouette let out a sigh as this happened and checked on CF to make sure he wasn't too shocked by it. It surprised her a little bit the first time she went around in all black, and in any other part of the city someone might of stopped them, but this was the Fens, it among with a few other choice neighborhoods was simply filled with people who had learned not to ignore anything that didn't directly involve them. It was a good stradegy for staying out of trouble, and she followed it for a little while when she first lived here, however at some point she found she just couldn't anymore.

Turning down an alleyway quietly, she quickly found a gate that she climbed up rather quickly, then jumped over the top. She didn't doubt he'd have any trouble doing the same as she headed up a fire escape on the third floor and opened a window that let out dim light and the buzz of some soft music.

[Carces]

As a werewolf, Vance noticed a few things that had changed about his senses. His darkvision had come in handy in the secret lair, as well as coming through the fens in the night. His hearing took some getting used to, as low hums and very high frequencies were suddenly heard clearly, albeit distractingly. The one thing that hadn't bothered him quite as much was the increase in his ability to smell.

Until now.

This part of the Fens had a wretched smell of decay and pollution of various kinds. Each person, building, and alleyway had its own unique scent, which screamed at Creature Feature's nose.

He turned around, watching people look up at him, but ultimately ignore the duo. It was all Vance could do not to throw up from the overwhelming amount of disgusting information his nose was picking up.

Concentrate...

To get him through the Fens, Creature Feature concentrated on Silhouette's scent - an intangible trail that seemed like an invisible string he could follow, wrapping its way through the buildings until it came to a fire escape. Creature Feature climbed the stairs after the heroine.

[Aoiroo]

Waiting quietly for him to follow, she saw his furry head descend up behind her, it was only then did she enter the window. Through the window from the dark alley, was what seemed to some almost an entirely different world altogether. The main room was only about seventeen by twenty feet, but the arrangement some mismatched furniture gave a good amount of space in the middle that had a small round rug. The furniture included a small tv and stand, a dark orange plaid loveseat with a round wooden coffee table occupying one side, and on the other was a desk covered with an assortment of papers, spray paint cans, as well as various fabrics and a well used sewing machines. The walls were all a somewhat sickly cream color, but but it was barely visible since the walls were heavily decorated in various posters from movies, bands, plays, as well as some original designs printed out on standard computer paper but held close together like a poster. The ceiling couldn't be seen at all, since it was covered with a couple of yards of different colored semitranslusent fabrics that obscured and colored the light coming overhead giving the cheap floresent under it a warm glow.

Silhouette moved back through it and over next to the desk where there was an open door leading to another room. She closed it behind her, and the music that had been playing earlier was cut off after a few minutes before she returned to the main room dressed no long in her costume, but in a pair of black pants, and a light yellow t-shirt. She had a folded sheet of paper in her mouth as she walked as her hands were preoccupied with tying her mess of brown hair back out of her face,

"So, how much do you know about you're powers?"

[Carces]

Creature Feature entered the apartment, bumping his large head as he did so. He grimaced, rubbing his head as he carefully entered, doing his best to not trip or knock over anything, nor yank down any of the fabrics with his head. Eventually, he made his way over to the love seat, which was not as likely to break under his weight, where he sat down, huddling himself by grabbing his legs with his arms, looking about the apartment in curiosity until Silhouette returned without her costume. Creature's eyes shot open in recognition as his mind clicked and made the connection.

"You... you were a customer!" He remembered her clearly, now, feeling a little dumb for not placing the voice sooner. Video Head didn't get a lot of repeat business and regulars were rare things indeed.

"So, how much do you know about you're powers?"

Vance looked down, trying to collect all of the experience he's gained for his explanation. "Well... I can turn into people that I see in a video. It doesn't have to be from that strange VCR, either. I just see the video and concentrate on being in that video. And it just happens. But the real magic is when I try to become a creature from, like, a monster movie or something. I just think about the creature I'm watching... and then this weird, hot sensation occurs and I don't know what direction is up or down or anything. The next thing I know, I'm the creature, right? It's weird."

As he spoke, he looked down at his arm. "It's like bein' right of the movie too. See, this form is from 'Revenge of the Wolfguy', the black 'n white classic. But Wolfguy is supposed to be brown when he's done in color. But the wolf is all black anyway, see?"

He shook his head. That point was probably too trivial, and he was wasting Silhouette's time. "A-anyway... When I'm done, I got a vacation video of myself at the beach from just a couple of weeks ago. If I concentrate on it, I'm back to bein' plain ol' Vance in a swim suit. I think that's everything I know so far."

[Aoiroo]

As she spoke again, her natural voice came out as a much more nasual version of the way she had spoken as Silhouette,

"Yes, I was, in fact, I was heading over to return those when I found the Video Head in that horrid state in the first place."

Carrie pointed over at the small stack of videos balanced on the top of the small tv, all put back into their places and properly rewound. Sitting herself on the edge of the coffee table since their was no room on the loveseat, she listened to his story as she looked over the paper which unfolded revealed a large map with several bus routes. As he finished she looked at him,

"Well, if you can turn into someone else, clothing and all, then their shouldn't be any problem getting to you're neighborhood. Though a color video would be best."

Pulling off a video off the stack, she turned on her tv and slid it into the black VCR/DVD player hybrid. Picking up a remote she flicked the input to game mode and started to fast foreward through her already rewound video tape two a seen where two woman are interrogating this young boy about an incident involving some missing towels,

"That guy should do, it's a fairly old movie, plus he's not built much differently then you were."

[Carces]

Vance concentrated on the young boy portrayed in the video. A sinking feeling overtook him, as he toppled himself further into the love seat's cushion after changing from such a large form. Sure enough, the fur of the werewolf was exchanged by the bright, vibrant colored clothing of the young boy.

Vance's color was a little off, being slightly brighter than the usual color of a person. It was an effect of the Technicolor technology of older films before color technology in films became more realistic. However, it wasn't strong enough to be noticeable, save on close examination.

Creature Feature was particularly happy when he noticed the chemical residue that was stuck to his fur was no longer visible. The incredibly sticky substance would have made for a rather nightmarish night of cleaning.

"Thanks!" Vance exclaimed with the movie boy's voice. Although it wasn't quite his own voice, it was nice to hear a word come out of his throat that was low and gnarled.

[Aoiroo]

Watching him change was rather interesting, she had never seen actually met a shapeshifter before and the shift from wolfman to random movie extra showed quite a visual difference. The different voice caught her off guard, but it made sense since the boy from the screen definitely had shorter vocal cords.

"No problem, now onto the next course of action."

Sitting on the loveseat next to him and reaching inbetween the couch cushions she managed to produce a pen missing it's cap and spread the paper out onto the table. After testing the pen on her hand she leaned over the map and pointed it over at a place that was already premarked by a red circle.

"This is the nearest bus stop, unless there's a giant robot attacking midtown, buses generally run until two. Where do you live exactly, if it isn't too far, we can go pick it up tonight since I have a feeling at least for now, it'll probably be safer here with me rather then where you live. You also might want to tell you're parents an abridged version of this, after you're back to normal that is. You'll definitely want to keep the shapeshifter thing secret from them, at least until we consult some professionals."

[Carces]

"Tell them about the attack, and stuff?" Vance nodded. He pointed at the map to the center of Grenville, where his house was. "I live there. It's a couple of buses away, but it's not too far. We could do it tonight."

Vance breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of going home and getting rid of that VCR. The last thing he'd want to happen is for the laser ninjas to attack his house and parents.

[Aoiroo]

The bus rides weren't very long, maybe ten minutes on each bus, plus waiting time at stops when they had to switch routes. Carrie at one of them used the time inbetween to call and inform an aquaintance whom she didn't opening name of the lair beneath the Video Head. She out a few of details, mostly the involvement of a certian wolf and used her standard name and voice when she spoke to them. She also asked about anyone who she might consult about a sudden mutation of a friend. The voice on the other line sounded skeptical, but gave her a few names to look into and it was around that time their bus came so she gave a quick goodbye and hung up.

When they got to the little neighborhood Carrie had subtle waves of nostalgia come over her as she looked upon a two story house much like the one she grew up in back in Georgia. She didn't really mention it, she just looked over at Vance and said,

"So, how do we get in? I'm guessing you didn't just walk out you're front door and walk around the neighbor in werewolf mode."

[Carces]

"Aheh... well, funny story about that..." Vance started as he walked to the house after the bus ride home. "Oh, but I left the basement window open. It leads right to the device."

The neighborhood was much more quiet at this time of night then when Vance had decided to leave. He peered around to see if anyone was watching and opened the gate leading to his backyard. He signaled Silhouette to follow as he carefully slid his thin frame through the window, landing on an old couch set beside the wall.

The basement room was fairly neat, save for a few old movie posters that adorned the wall and the tangle of entertainment equipment that made for Vance's "Tower of Transformation". The centerpiece of the room, two televisions connected to VCRs, still stood soundly against the test of time for the hours that Vance had been away. One of the televisions flickered with static as the tape of "Revenge of Wolfguy" had already been automatically finished and rewound. The second was still playing Vance's vacation movie.

As Vance got out of the couch to allow Silhouette room to come in, he concentrated on his form, turning back to his familiar 16-year old self in a bathing suit.

"I gotta get a movie of me wearing better clothes" Vance mumbled to no one in particular as he went over to the VCR device, looking to unplug it.

[Aoiroo]

She watched quietly from the window as he transformed back into Vance. It seemed strange to her that he needed the prompt of a video to change back to normal, but she didn't voice this, he had enough to worry about. She tried to get a good look at the thing he unplugging, and she could see that the device itself didn't scream the whole dangerous thing, it just looked like a fancy VCR. It was a bit of a relief, as ignorant as he was, he wasn't completely clueless, and she might of made the same mistake if she didn't know ahead of time what that was. Except, she really didn't know what it was, it was probably dangerous, it granted him some weird power but they still didn't know what it was. That was something that she would need to remedy.

She looked at her watch, she had given him five minutes, he probably got dressed and thought she was waiting outside which was true in a sense. Letting out a breath, she went over her lines once more, and then shifted her face from her neutral scowl to that of subtle nerviousness as she as she pressed the doorbell and waited. She heard footsteps, and as the door opened, she met the face of a man a bit taller then herself,

"Yes, excuse me, I was wonder if Vance Malloy is here?"

((You can probably play Vances parents as temporary NPCs, given you can give them full profiles if you want later.))

[Carces]

Manny Malloy, as a police officer in Freedom City, was naturally suspicious of a woman knocking at the door in the dead of night. Clearly not afraid of whatever might lurk in the outdoors, he opened the door wide. "And who might you be?"

With the time given, Vance ducked under his father's arm with the VCR device in his hand. Unplugged, the device looked almost completely like a VCR and had room for a video tape, but also a circular hole in the front, large enough only for a hand to slip in. Whatever purpose it served was a mystery.

"Here's the VCR you needed, Ms. Sil!" His father was visibly surprised to see Vance as he handed Silhouette the device along with its cords. Manny Malloy furrowed his brow as he stood in the door, looking down at Vance with a look of disbelief.

"She was a customer at the store, dad. There was some wort of accident there, and I was holding on to the device for safe keepin'." Vance smiled at his father. The world of technical truths was his friend.

"An accident?" Mr. Malloy's expression of suspicion turned to concern. "I hope everything's okay..."

Vance nodded at Silhouette.

[Aoiroo]

She looked at Vance thoughtfully as she was handed the VCR.

"Thank you Vance, though I think you might be confused, my name is Carrie."

Looking down at the device she let out another light sigh,

"I have to admit, I had nearly forgotten about my VCR, but I also wanted to make sure you were alright. I don't know if you know this, but the store's been absolutely trashed and Ms. Lights has gone missing. I was worried something might of happened, and you're the only other person who worked there."

Her eyes were drooped, and her voice had geniune concern, she was acting on some level, on another however, she was being truthful. She was worried for Ms. Lights, in fact she was almost certian there was probably something horrible happening to her because of this whole fiasco.

[Carces]

Manny Malloy nodded with concern. "Thank you for checking up on things then, Carrie." He looked over at Vance who nodded his head and tried to smile, carrying a grin as goofy and awkward as the one the werewolf had plastered on his face. The concern Vance had in his heart was easy enough to see, though. His father turned to Vance and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Vance. We'll make sure there's a missing person's report filled in and I'll personally look into the matter in tomorrow morning. We'll find Ms. Lights." He patted his shoulder twice before turning back to Carrie.

"Are you going to be alright going home, Carrie? I don't see your car outside..."

[Aoiroo]

She glanced over at Vance as his father turned to him, mouthing slowly, note by the window, but stopped once his father turned back towards her. She said without missing the end.

"I do not own a car, the neighborhood I live in is a bit unsavory so I wouldn't have the faintest idea as to where I'd be able to park it. I came here by bus, though a ride back would be most appreciated."

She wore her brightest please don't leave me out in the cold smile as she looked at him.

[Carces]

Manny nodded to his guest. "I'll go get a jacket." He turned to Vance. "You need to get to sleep. Whether something happened to the video store or not, it's a school night. It's late and you're gonna get sick if you stay up too long."

"Aw, dad." Vance protested as he got embarrassed in front of a guest. He nodded to his father as he waved to Silhouette. "Good night, Carrie. Good night, dad." Without a second thought, he hurried to the basement, looking around the window and area for an important, secret note.

Vance's father, Manny Malloy was in his police outfit within a minute, sporting his trusty flashlight. He was clearly not afraid to be seen in a rough part of town with his uniform on.

"Are you ready to go, Miss?"