*Chapter 6: Out on the Town*
On their ride back to the theater, the entourage discussed their meeting with Boardman.
"The man's a scuzzball." Slappy ranted. "Peter Cushing was far more tactful than that."
"I don't get why we didn't beak 'im back there." Pesto complained.
"Eeeeeehhhhhh, well you never know." Yakko replied, lazily looking at all the documentation again while playing with his paddle ball. "Dare I say we might end up needing him again after all."
Although Boardman, as Slappy astutely put it, was indeed a scuzzball, he didn't strike the elder Warner as someone who was dumb enough to steal confidential information and leave a paper trail for the human authorities to discover and throw his butt into the slammer.
"...I don't know, Boss." Bobby commented tentativelty. "We know he's up to somethin'. You sure it's a good idea to let him keep on breathing?"
"Well...the kid's got a point." Slappy grudgingly conceded. "We could give this another twenty-four hours before lettin' the fat lady sing. I'd just keep an eye on him in case he gets any stupid ideas."
"Right." the pigeons replied.
XXXXXX
In a far corner of town, sat a forty-year-old building recently refurbished, but closed to the public theater called the Rag-Tag Comedy Club. While most of the seating had been removed, the backstage had been completely redone to accommodate the coven's coffins and sleeping area. With half of the stage covered and obscured from view by a large red velvet curtain, the outer part of the auditorium was slightly converted into a makeshift computer lab.
The Warner siblings and Slappy were seated in the front row seats closest to the stage, along with the rest of the coven who had returned from their hunt. The Brain had already made photocopies of all the documentation the Warners had received from Boardman. Although, Brain was fit to be tied upon looking at the information.
"And he has the gall to call his tech people real hackers?!" he ranted. "What nonsense!"
"Oh my, somebody got an 'F' in Algebra. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Pinky said, shaking his head as he read through the report card. "NARF."
"Tubby seems to be lousy at everything..." Rita commented sarcastically, as she went through the copies of the documents that were given to her and Runt.
"So what we have here ladies and gentlemen, is the probability that our dear sister is waltzing around Crescent City as a student." Brain continued.
"Only so many of those..." Slappy quirked.
"The good news is, that in spite of that worm Boardman's sloppiness, this documentation is in fact active." Brain pressed on.
"Meaning?" Dot said.
"Meaning, that the person that this information is referring to does exist, and student or not, mistaken identity or otherwise, is in fact walking the streets of Crescent City."
"Would be nice if we actually had ID." Skippy muttered as he disdainfully as he went through the copies given to him and Slappy. "Or contact info."
"That's where the sloppiness comes in. All we really know about this individual, is that she's in good health."
"No kidding." Wakko commented. "Whoever heard of a vampire going to the dentist for cavities?"
"The best we can do for now, is begin our search at early morn around the city, particularly at these scant addresses, and see if we can at least pick up on her scent. Perhaps enlist the assistance of some of our neighbors who might be also present here."
"Like a scavenger hunt!" Pinky added eagerly. "ZORT!"
"Well, I'm game for a scavenger hunt." Yakko said with a grin. "How 'bout you guys?"
While his siblings gave eager nods and Skippy showed some interest, Slappy, Rita, and Runt weren't too keen on the idea of going out in broad daylight.
"Eehhhh, this better not be like the scavenger hunt that yutz Nick Cage was in." Slappy ranted.
XXXXXX
The very next morning, a well-fed coven split up and went all over town for a search and retrieval mission. Slappy and Skippy made their way to the dentist office where the target had previous work done.
"But Aunt Slappy, how are we gonna find her scent here?" Skippy asked. "Especially with everything...sterilized?"
"We're not lookin' for her scent, Skippy." Slappy replied. "We ain't collecting that 'forensic' stuff; we're lookin' for more paper."
The younger squirrel then went into thought. Of course they were seeking additional information on this girl in question, especially if it had any of the contact info he himself mentioned the night before.
"Ehhhh, I hate morphin'." Slappy complained as she and Skippy approached an oak tree on the way towards the dentist office.
When they walked behind the tree and went past it, they were suddenly no longer squirrels. Slappy took the appearance of an elderly receptionist in scrubs, and Skippy was a youthful looking dental assistant also wearing scrubs. They walked right into the office like casual with nobody the wiser. Except Skippy noticeably stiffened when the smell of the cold air and highly sanitized objects filled his nose.
"Just hold yer breath, Skippy." Slappy quietly told him. "We won't be long."
The pair managed to get behind the front desk and to the side wall were all the files of records were kept without the other personnel even noticing. Skippy somewhat gawked at all the files that were meticulously organized and alphabetized.
'So...where should we start?' the younger vampire asked telepathically.
'You take the A's through the L's, and I'll take the M's to Z's.' his elder replied in the same manner.
'...You think she might be using an alias?'
'Eh, maybe. If she's goin' incognito...'
The pair casually peered through the records, so much so that none of the other staff didn't seem to notice anything amiss or out of the ordinary. They were also moving faster than a blink of an eye, so it would be nearly impossible to really take note anyhow.
'...well, well, well, look what we've got here?'
Skippy perked up when Slappy found something that piqued her interest. All too soon however, their expressions turned to confusion as they scanned through the documentation.
'...what is this?' Slappy mentally ranted.
'Um, is this the right folder?'
There was a pause. Slappy wasn't even entirely certain of what she was looking at.
'...eeehhhh, we better have the Brain look at this. Because I sure as heck can't make heads or tails of it.'
In a flurry of movement, Skippy took the records, put them through a copy machine, and placed the originals back where they belonged. The pair then left the office without a word.
XXXXXX
In the afternoon, Rita and Runt roamed a different part of town were people seldom went. It was near the coastline where the sparse buildings were somewhat partly abandoned. Despite that, it was the perfect place for creatures of the supernatural to congregate whenever they may. Right away, Runt picked up on the scent of the ocean wildlife in the salty ocean airs, making his stomach rumble.
"Oh boy, the whales smell so good." he whined. "Duh-definitely good..."
"Not to worry, Runt." Rita assured him. "We'll be grabbing a meal soon."
As they approached a building that looked like a slightly kept up shop, three figures emerged from the shadows and made their way towards the pair. Rita's ears twitched to her companion's low, apprehensive growling as they were revealed to be cats like her.
"Now, now, Runt." she said in a soothing voice. "They're just neighbors."
When the other three felines got closer, they gave Rita warm smiles.
"Rita! How are you, darling?"
"Doing well, thanks." Rita replied, returning the gesture. "It's nice seeing ya, Sarah, Betty, and Paige."
A few seconds later, the other cats quickly noticed Runt and recoiled back.
"Rita, dear!" Betty crowed. "Is that a mongrel?!"
"Don't get your tails into a twist, ladies." Rita replied calmly. "He's with me."
"Hmph! Where's your pride?!" Sarah ranted admonishingly.
"Relax, willya? I've got a question for ya..."
The grey cat reached into the pockets of her dress and pulled out one of the many 'Missing' posters she and her coven had previously made.
"Have you seen this kid runnin' around here?" she asked, handing the poster to her acquaintances.
The other three felines stared at the poster, scrutinizing every detail.
"You've lost one of your coven?" Betty quizzically inquired.
"How in the blazin' darkness did that manage to happen?" Sarah added in a criticizing tone.
"Funny you should ask..." Rita replied with an annoyed expression, as if Sarah just asked the most stupid question in the world.
There was a pause as the trio looked over the poster a bit more.
"Sorry, darling." Betty apologized sympathetically. "But I'm afraid we-"
"Wait a moment..." Paige suddenly interrupted. "...I've seen this girl before."
"Where?!" Rita rasped with an urgent voice as Runt perked up.
"Well, only for a moment, mind you...but I'm quite certain I saw her go into a churchyard the other day."
The others gave her a look of surprise and confusion.
"Huh?" Rita muttered, flabbergasted at the very thought.
"A churchyard?!" Sarah exclaimed, not believing her ears either.
"Rita, are you sure this child's a vampire?" Betty asked.
"Of course I'm sure!" Rita insisted, flustered. "I can't imagine her doing something like that."
While vampires have been thought to have an aversion to holy places and objects, the fact of the matter was that they could actually enter places of worship as freely as a mortal. They would however have to prepare themselves for some level of discomfort upon entry depending on the site. As for holy objects and relics, they would have to be one hundred percent the real deal, otherwise, they wouldn't be anywhere near as effective or not being effective at all. Surprisingly, the one thing that was effective almost every time in warding off a vampire, was garlic of all things.
Still, the idea of a vampire willingly entering a churchyard was hard to wrap their heads around. Unless of course, if she went there to sleep in a mausoleum, assuming if there was a cemetery on the site.
XXXXXX
As the sun was setting, the Warner siblings had covered nearly half the town with no success. Understandably, Dot was getting a bit annoyed at their lack of progress.
"You'd think in a small town such as this, where a guy across the block knows your grandmother, we'd find something." she complained.
"It's the salty air from the ocean." Yakko said. "It's messin' with my nose."
He took out a really long hanker, with the WB shield embroidered at the bottom right corner, and blew his nose. Wakko scratched the top of his head in thought.
"How 'bout we split up?" he suggested. "We might be able to cover more ground that way."
"Uh-huh..." Dot mused, eyeing her middle brother suspiciously. "Are you really serious about that, or are you just looking for an excuse to tail that bistro lady we passed by a few hours ago?"
Wakko threw his sister a dirty look as Yakko simply shrugged and took out his paddle ball.
"Eeeeehhhhh, splitting up sounds like a good idea, now that I'm thinking about it." the elder Warner commented, scratching his chin in thought while Wakko triumphantly stuck his tongue out at Dot. "So why don't go with that for a bit and meet back up at the National Park at, oh say...three-thirty?"
"Right!" Wakko said with eager determination before marching in another direction of the street.
"Just don't you be venturing into any dark allies, young man!" Dot warned before she went on her way, to which Wakko simply turned his nose up.
Just as his younger siblings went their separate ways, Yakko simply walked down another road that went into a more sophisticated part of town, continuously hitting the small pink rubber ball against the metallic paddle.