"Chasing Ghosts"

By Jonesycat79
Characters by Agent 505
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SHALESTONE CITY,USA, 11:45 PM

The moon hung over the night sky, a few stars barely penetrating the haze that blanketed the night. The only sounds that meandered were the occasional clangs of industry and the train making its stops. It seemed like any other night.

The peaceful setting was suddenly shattered as a roar of an engine screamed into the night, tires squealing, rubber burning as the 1977 Oldsmobile jackknifed into the street, the back end striking a trash can, sending it flying with garbage raining down. A skinny man with greasy skin and a dull beanie was behind the wheel while his scruffy compatriot looked out the window, a cocked revolver in hand. Both men wore dark clothing, wool caps and beanies, both eyes alert.
"Yo Matt, do you see it? Did we loose it?" The driver asked.
His partner was looking franticly in the back. "I think we did. Gun it Manny!"
Matt sat down and reached into the sack on his lap, several diamond bracelets and gems rattling inside. "Well good riddance, the sooner we bail before dawn, the better."

As they drove under the elevated train bridge, they failed to notice a figure jumping on top of the train cars. Matt looked into the side mirror, his eyes widening as he saw something stand on top of the train and jump off, the silhouette seeming to stretch and grow before their eyes as it landed behind their car. After a moment, the shape looked more like a car and two headlights flashed open, the distinct roar of a sports car's engine reaching their ears.
"Crap its back!" Manny screamed as he shifted gears and began to floor the pedal. The sports car was gaining on them. Matt could see now that it was a purple Dodge Viper, steadily increasing speed as it gained toward them. He reached for his pistol and held it out and fired at the incoming car. The Viper turned sharply to avoid the barrage and was rolling in the sidewalk before turning back on their lane and gaining on them again. Matt aimed again and fired at the viper and it pulled back to avoid the bullets and edged forward, a steady stream of red light suddenly appearing from the hood. Matt saw the side of the back door spark as a neat incision appeared. "Christ, that things got lasers too?!" Manny had a look of utter panic as he made another desperate turn down the dirty alley, water splashing from a stale puddle, old grimy papers and liter streaking by. Matt got inside and reloaded his revolver, hearing the roar of the viper's engine behind.
"Christ this thing won't give up!" Matt yelled as Manny made another turn toward the construction zone and saw the viper still steadily pursuing them. Manny made a pass near a pile of cinder blocks and the Viper edged away from it heading toward a ramp behind a wide pit. Manny made another turn, avoiding a parked caterpillar and turned to see the Viper gunning its engines as a stream of flame appeared for a brief instant as if a jet engine went off and the viper jumped clear over the pit and toward them with a missile appearing from the grill suddenly, exploding behind their car, sending pebbles raining. Matt looked ahead and saw that behind the viper was the exit out of the site. The Viper landed and Matt yelled at Manny to gun it and the car began to speed toward the oncoming viper. Matt got his gun out and began to fire several shots at the viper, seeing it shake a little when the side mirror on the driver's side suddenly shattered from a shot and hung loosely from the car. "Smash that thing!" Matt told Manny as he sat back and buckled his belt tight, preparing for the inevitable impact. Either they smash the viper and themselves to pieces or the viper is smart enough to move out of the way giving them a clean exit. Either way, this chase was drawing to a close.
The Viper and the Oldsmobile were nearing inch-by-inch, Manny feeling sweat on his face, staring into the hard headlights of the viper. Matt gritted his teeth, clutching the sack with the stolen loot.
The Viper suddenly turned at the last second, Matt feeling it whiz by the pen window, the engine roar zooming past them. Matt cracked his head to the back to see the purple car spin and stop, a grin breaking on his face. He turned around and his smirk disappeared as he and Manny saw a small wide object as tall as a hockey puck ahead of them, a single beeping red light in the middle. Manny made to stop when they were on top of it and the car suddenly lurched into the air with a jarring jerk as the ground beneath them exploded, the car flipping onto its top upside down, the wheels spinning in the open air.

Matt hung off his seat , several diamonds scattering from the bag as it hung upside-down. He unclipped his belt, landing on the roof of the car with his back and began to pry the door open. Manny shook himself and woke up, seeing the car still slowly approaching. He squinted, swearing there was no familiar silhouette of a driver behind the empty steering wheel. "Uh matt…look..."
"What?" Matt asked as he was cramming the diamonds and jewelry back into the sack.
"There's no driver." He uttered with wide-eyed disbelief.
"What are you talking about?" Matt looked and saw the same thing from the slowly approaching car. He looked to his revolver sand saw he wasted all his shots.

"Christ lets get outta here!" Manny and Matt struggled out of the car as the viper roared forward and rammed into their overturned car with its side as it turned toward them. It then drove toward them and drifted to its side with its door popping open and the two crooks were suddenly scooped into the interior of the car, the door shutting suddenly. Matt sat up and began to pry at the handle, which felt like an invisible force was holding it, the door locks suddenly clicking. Manny sat in the passenger's seat also prying his door with the same result. The seatbelts suddenly wrapped around their hips and arms and shoulders as they clicked and began to tighten on them. They watched in horror as the shift stick suddenly moved by itself and the pedal and steering wheel began to move as if with a life of its own and the car drove forward.
"What the hell's going on here?!" Matt asked with fright as the Viper began to dive itself back into the city, struggling to get out of his seatbelt but it tightened harder against him. He kicked his legs and tried to push the break but it pushed back against him.
"We don't stop until I say we do." A girls voice sounded from out of nowhere. Many and Matt looked around. "Who said that?" Manny asked with whining fear.

Who ever it was didn't answer as the car made another jarring turn.
"Look, we'll give ya anything, just please let us out of this freaking ride!" Matt asked with desperation to whoever was holding them.
The voice gave a laugh and the belts tightened a bit. "Sorry, but I just can't do that. It's not in me to let crooks like you get away scot-free when so many others all ready do."
"Who are you?" Matt asked.

"I'm your worst nightmare." The car suddenly accelerated and began to drive toward the railroad tracks as a train began to approach. "What are you crazy? You'll get us killed!" Matt protested as he struggled to get out of the constricting seatbelt. Manny just closed his eyes as tears began to flow from them. The train inched closer. Matt's eyes widened. The car suddenly stopped and somehow launches itself into the air in a flip past the speeding train. They land after their world spun for a few moments and the car took off again.

"Ok ok! Stop! Stop!" Matt protested. There was a sound like someone giving it some though again from nowhere. The sound was too clear to be coming from a sort of speaker or stereo. The car then began to slow down and lurch to a stop. "If you say so." The doors plopped open and Manny and Matt struggled to get as far away from the car as possible, raving madly as they did. The stumbled onto the steps of the building and looked up as polished shoes and clattering metal caught their attention. They slowly looked up to see a police officer eyeing them first and then the bag. Several diamonds were seen scattered from the sack. Manny and Matt looked from each other then the cop and slowly put their hands behind their heads as they got on their knees and the cop pulled out his cuffs. He didn't see the purple viper slowly driving away. Manny and Matt were being pulled into the station, sighing with relief that at least they were away from the car…
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The viper drove by a lonely part of town and drove by some automatic sprinklers going off in a grass field of what appeared to be a school track. No one was around. The water drizzled against the shining purple metal surface, a surface that began to soften as the car began to shrink. The front end began to compress and shift as the head lights lost luminosity and became a pair of blue eyes as the grill began to shrink back into a mouth and blond hair began to appear from the shifting mass that was the hood, purple metal becoming human skin. The driver's console, doors, and dash began to quiver and shrink as they stretched back into a human torso, the undercarriage becoming slightly rounded as the girl's breast appeared. The bumper began to recede back into the girl's rear as her legs and hips split to become human again, the metal becoming the material of dark jeans. The emerging girl now was on all fours with four rubber tires at the ends of her hands and feet. Soon her rear tires unfurled and shrank back into tennis shoes and her axel and linkage began to retreat back into her tires, which unfurled and morphed into fine human hands. In the place of the purple dodge viper, a beautiful blond girl stood up. She reached for her left shoulder, which bled slightly, the fabric of her jacket slightly shredded from where the bullet grazed her.

Collette pushed some pressure against the wound, thankful the bullet was not lodged in there and only grazed her. It could have been worse. She looked around to make sure no one saw her transformation from Specter and began to jog slightly back toward where she was staying at for the time being.
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Collette reached for her key, making sure no one was watching her with a bleeding shoulder, feeling around in her pocket. Her fingers felt something rough and smooth and she pulled her hand out to find several tiny diamonds. She gasped and put them back into her pocket incase anyone was watching and found her keys and stuck it in, entering the hotel room. She closed the door and turned on a single lamp as she took off her coat and reached for the first aid box she always carried with her when she traveled. She could always go check herself into a hospital, but there was too much risk for her involved. It could leave records and she wasn't sure she kept up on her insurance.

Plus she couldn't risk her secret getting out in public. But then again she took that pretty big risk playing cops and robbers tonight anyway…

She stood in the open part of her room and took off her T-shirt and began to take the stitching needle she fashioned from a standard sewing needle and took some medical tape. She poured some peroxide in a dish and soaked a little cloth inside. She held it to her shoulder, bracing her self, and let out a muffled strain as she pressed the burning cloth to her exposed wound. She clenched her eyes as she felt the peroxide soak into her arm, a sharp pain building from that area. She was lucky no heat sensations built up from the ordeal, otherwise she would have to call a detailer than a doctor to patch her up when she got on four wheels. She took the needle with the stitching prepared and began to hold it near her wound to stitch it up.

How far she had learned to sustain herself for this long…
She stuck the needle through her skin and prepared to run it across her arm…
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In the station, a man with brown hair and a suit began to walk through the hallways. He had a sharp look to him, a stern face that still had some youth to it. He put his hands to his pockets as he walked down the basement to the prisoner cells. He walked to the Lieutenant there.
"Lt. Ashcroft." He said as he walked into the room, Ashcroft looking from the cell to the man who just called his name. "Ah, the feds." He said with a sarcastic grin.
The visitor held up his distinct badge. "Agent Kessler with the FBI, I was sent here in regards to an unusual report."

Ashcroft shook his heads. "What we got here is just a regular case of grade-A nut jobs slipping from their rocker. Standard Robbery, no big mystery."

"But I hear it wasn't your men who apprehended them." Kessler noted with look of assurance. Ashcroft pinched the bridge of his nose. "No it wasn't. According to the officer who apprehended them, they were dropped off, running away, rambling and raving about some ghost car."
Kessler nodded. "A purple 1999 Dodge viper."

Ashcroft looked at the two thieves behind bars and back to Kessler. "So you know about it too."

Ashcroft crossed his arms. "So what's this about? Why are the feds getting involved with a simple robbery?"

Kessler walked while looking out the one window with the moonlight. "Oh, I could tell you…" Then he looked with a smile. "…But then I'd have to kill you."
Ashcroft chuckled and regained seriousness. "Very funny, you here all week?"

Kessler looked aback at the two inmates then at the lieutenant. "Lieutenant, this isn't he first case with "ghost cars" that have caught my attention. Over the past few years we've heard of cases that could not be fully explained, where things sound too incredible to believe. This story with the self driving car, only the latest in many sightings."

Ashcroft raised an eyebrow. "And what, you're some type of X-files guy?"

Kessler shook his head. "No, just trying to find some answers. If somebody's developing a secret system behind these automotive incidents, it is our duty to find out how and why. I mean, it could be someone who's secretly developed AI or something. Either way we need to find out before it gets out of hand to a point where we can't do anything about it."

Ashcroft gave him an incredulous look. "Yeah, someone's going around building real life knight riders. What's next, you gonna tell me someone spotted the little mermaid playing tea party with Sasquatch and Nessie?"
Kessler smiled as he nodded. "That's very funny." He then inched closer with a severe look on his face. "I don't think you understand the severity of what could be at stake here if someone is developing a secret new weapon. Some of the scattered reports we've received say these cars can fire at things, others say they can fly and disappear with out a trace. We need to find out what's going on."
Ashcroft just simply walked forward. "I'd stick to homicides and serial murders if I was you than chasing after ghosts and goblins." Kessler only closed his eyes and put his hands inside his pockets. "Thank you for your time, Have a good night." He then turn and left, Ashcroft not believing what he heard. "Someone's gotta lay off the Sci-fi flicks."
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Collette finished stitching herself up and turned her attention to her jacket, spilling out the contents of the pockets. Three little gems popped out, glinting in the lamplight. Some of the diamonds must have fallen into her driver's console when she caught the crooks. It must have stuck with her until she transformed back. She looked at the little diamonds and held one in her fingers, seeing the light break into many rainbow faucets. One of these has got to be worth several hundred dollars, and she is running a bit short on travel cash to get around in her search for her father…
No.
She closed her eyes and put the diamond down and pushed it slowly away from her. It has to go back.
But it could make her journey across the country a little easier, and it could become useful in certain situations, maybe something to fall back on…

She sighed and put the diamonds on the desk and threw her jacket on top of it. She turned the light off and tossed the pillow and some sheets on the floor as she rested on her stomach and crossed her arms under her chin as she buried her face in her pillow. She'll figure out what to do with them before she leaves…
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Kessler drove his 2003 midnight blue Ford Taurus Coup down the construction site where he saw some police officers around the smashed overturned car the culprits used. He could see his partner already on the scene, a woman with rubber gloves and a mask collecting something from the ground near the overturned vehicle, her brown hair tied in a bun as she worked over the site. He stopped his car and began to walk forward with his badge, the officer letting him past the yellow tape. He walked to his partner.
"Found anything interesting, Agent Bryce?"
She looked up and began to stand, picking up a small baggie. "Well some interesting matter found on the floor near where the car supposedly flipped over. Probably fecal matter from a rat or something." Kessler looked at the bag as he took it. "No gun powder or shrapnel from the supposed Mine?" Bryce shook her head. "Nope."

"Any thing else?" Kessler added.
Bryce nodded and directed him to follow her to the flipped car where she pointed to the back of the door. "You see this incision? It's almost like a sword or surgical tool cut it but it is in fact actually a heat-based incision. Something with a lot of power and energy cut into this door, very concentrated too."
"Like a laser…" Kessler noted. Bryce nodded. "Remember those lasers you see in the bond movies?" Kessler got up. Bryce got up with him. "So any luck at the station?"
They both began to walk toward the Taurus. "Same story. A car was apparently pursuing the two culprits with no driver seen, moving too fast for a proper ID and that it apparently vanished from sight after the two were apprehended."

Bryce sighed as they went into the car and undid her bun as they closed the doors. She brushed her hair back and looked to Kessler. "So?"
Kessler started the car. "So nothing new in this case, but it's been the same pattern that's been happening across the country in several different states in the last 2 years. In the past 8 months these cases have been moving more westward, and I'm curious as to why."

Bryce chuckled. "Maybe it knows your getting on to it."
Kessler rolled his eyes. "I bet. Yeah, it's Moby Dick and I'm Captain freaking Ahab." He began to back the car and drive, passing a young blond girl who was walking by the Pawnshop. She stopped and stared at the sign for a while. She then began to walk again and walked to the Jewelry store next to it with the police tape over the shattered window. She placed a bag with a small note reading "HERE, FOR THE JEWLERY STORE THIS BELONGS TO" and looked around before walking into an alleyway. A few moments later a purple dodge viper slowly drove out and began to drive for the interstate highway and toward the lonely night sky.

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REDEMPTION IS COMING…

A/N:This is a story I wrote awhile back on my anniversary of joining fanfiction and this was published on DevantArt. The character of Collette Simmons was originaly concieved by a deviant known as Agent505 based on the Turbo Teen television series of the 1980's. he actually wrote several fanfictions for it with other characters on a turbo teen fanficiton site along with Tracker, another fan of turbo teen who made her own character who has the same ability. While the site is still up, an (almost) complete record of Agent505's turbo teen fanfics can be found at his deviantArt page while tracker and several other's turboteen fanfics can be found here .
though it may be tricky to access some of the stories there. I'll also post the link on my homepage. Me and Agent505 are also collaberating on a turbo teen web comic coming soon titles Turbo Teen redemption.

Anyway on this story, in preparation for my collaberation with Agent 505 on TT:redemption, I wrote this to show him how I would handle his character of Collette Simmons, AKA Specter, a girl who can turn into a modified dodge viper and is searching for her father in the wake of her mother's death. The only one she is open ot in Agent's fics is another changer named Michelle Peyton. Collette wanders a nomadic soitary life to find her father and reassemble her shattered familly life. I can't really expalin the complexity of htis charcter withthis story alone, but I can at least give an idea. for Collette's full origin and life, I'd recommend visiting Agent505's turbo teen fanfics On deviantart..

This actually stemmed from the idea of a character I made up named Agent Kessler, whose name is actually inspired from the "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", in which a detective or FBI agent would be interested in these bizarre cases that have popped up in the years since this whole thing began. I imagine him to look kind of like Robert Patrick did in Terminator 2 when he was the evil terminator that was the liquid metal man, the T-1000. Actually, one would have to think of his role in the X-files as agent Dogget to really see this character, a show that I heavily referenced in the Lt. Ashcroft Kessler scene.

The interesting scenes to me were the transformation, the stitching scene, and her moral dilemma of what to do with the diamonds that were stuck with her. The transformation was fun because I got to apply the detail I write in my pokemon transformation fics with a car this time, and to try and use that kind of detail was always a challenge to try and get that image of a person turning into a car, or in this case a car to a human, into a reader's head. I hope I accomplished that well. The stitching scene was set up to establish Collette's resourcefulness and the things she had to learn from her new life of searching. The situation with the diamonds is a "what would you do in that position?" scenario and there may be many of you who may have not jumped to the noble decision first and would find it difficult to decide the choice. Collette knows they don't belong to her but there's a small part of her is desperate to do anything to survive yet she still has her morality. One could imagine if any of the turbo team decided to cross that fine line that lies between a hero and a villain what the consequences would be.

Well I hope you enjoyed this story. And thank you to agent505 for allowing me to publish this story.

Please review. ^_^

Jonesycat, out.