Allison, Quinn and the Rangers got to the Brainfreeze, finding that Ernie had gone all out for their little private party. He had even gone to the effort of getting a pirate costume for the night. It was a little last-minute, and obviously was a rather cheap one, but no one could blame him really. Ernie rarely did anything for Halloween, which was always a quiet night for him, and had agreed to the party only a few days ago. As she arrived, Emma couldn't help laughing.
"You look great Ernie." She complimented him. "This place looks great."
"I'm grateful to have something to do tonight." Ernie answered honestly as he ushered them in. Noticing Quinn and Allison, he made a mental note that the party would not be exclusively Rangers. Being in on their secret, he knew when it was time to restrict the conversation. "Quinn, it's always a pleasure. And...I don't see you here often."
"I'm here for Jake." Allison stated, offering a hand to Ernie for a handshake. "I'm Allison."
"Well, any friend of my very best customers is a friend of mine." He assured her. "Your costume..."
"Yeah, I didn't get dressed up." Allison said sheepishly, stroking the arms of her wheelchair awkwardly. It was her first Halloween since the accident that had robbed her of the ability to walk. "I made the donation, but I couldn't think of any costumes that um...I couldn't think of anything that worked out with this."
Seeing that Ernie looked a little awkward about this, Jake decided to step in. The chair was kind of an elephant in the room for a lot of people. It was natural that a lot of people didn't really know what to say around her, and didn't really want to bring it up. It did, however, create something of an issue when it was something that couldn't really be avoided. It left the conversation hanging, something Jake had noticed Allison was acutely aware of, and that seemed to trouble her whenever it happened.
"Yeah, well...I guess that makes you the best person to judge the costume contest later." Jake rushed out.
"Well, I better get started on the pie." Emma stated as she made her way behind the counter, a hand-written, battered old book in her hand. The recipe was her mothers, and something of a legacy in her family.
"I can help..."
"That's sweet Quinn, but we've already offered." Noah told her. "Emma's already made it clear that she's the only one that gets to see the recipe."
"It's my mom's." Emma explained. "It's a family thing. I guess someday I'll pass it along, but until then, I have to do it myself."
Troy just headed over to the table, where the others had taken their seats. Jake looked to the others.
"So, what do you think of the film project?" He asked them. "Pretty cool huh?"
"Yeah, talk about an easy A." Jordan said with a smile. "Not to mention we get to see them making a movie. How great is that?"
"Jordan, we're only extras." Gia reminded him. "We'll just sit in the background of some scenes. We won't have any lines or anything. A lot of us probably won't even be in the film."
"Way to ruin the moment." Jake commented in a disappointed tone. "What made you miss killjoy?"
"Did you not get that autograph you wanted?" Troy asked her. Gia just sighed and looked to him.
"I decided not to disturb Queen Felicity." She stated. "She sounded like she was having way too much fun bitching at her agent about the fact her hotel suite didn't have its own Jacuzzi."
"Seriously?" Jordan asked her. "This is the same Felicity that fought dozens of zombies..."
"I think you'll find most of that was her stunt double." Gia told him. "She'd probably be too busy worrying about her nails or something."
"I guess sometimes fans expect too much of the celebrities they look up to." Noah replied as he looked to the others. "When I went to get my autograph from David, he thought I was the runner he sent out on a booze run. By the sounds of the bag he got, he's planning quite a night of it."
"You know, having a little drink isn't a huge..."
"Trust me; it didn't seem like a little drink." Noah told them. "And if the half-empty bottle in his trailer is anything to go by, he'd had a few already."
"Well, at least my...er...at least Oliver was cool right?" Jake asked with a huge smile, only just catching himself before he referred to Oliver as his actor. "Seriously, that guy was still in the class taking pictures when we left! He was a great guy!"
"Not to mention, Xavier, he seemed amazing!" Quinn answered. "I was surprised; he looked a lot bigger on the screen and in magazines..."
"But he's just as cute right?" Allison asked, clutching her notebook, which he had autographed for her tightly. "Not to mention a complete gentleman. He was only too happy to talk to the fans."
"Did you seem his smile?" Quinn asked. "What about his hair? He was just...oh..."
"Yeah, he was really something alright." Emma said a little dreamily from where she was mixing up ingredients for the pie. A small cough caught her attention, at which she looked and saw the guys at the table looking slightly put out. Jake was looking at Allison, and Noah at Quinn. Neither of them seemed too impressed. Troy just looked at her wearily. "Um...I meant...um...oh come on, it's not like looking is a crime right?"
"I'll need to remember that." Jake teased Allison. She just looked to Ernie.
"Um...maybe some drinks would be a good idea." She suggested. Ernie was only too happy to accommodate them.
Meanwhile, in the hotel bar, Jeremy, the actor called on to play the Blue Ranger, David, was enjoying a meal with a few drinks. He was largely keeping to himself. Unlike the others on the production, he was not really being approached as often. Oliver, who was playing the Black Ranger Walter, was famous for a long-running part in a hospital drama series. Henrietta, the Yellow Ranger Catherine, was known for taking part in a lot of kids' movies that were played on Nickelodeon regularly, while Felicity, who was playing Amy, the Pink Ranger, was well known from a series of zombie movies.
David, as he insisted everyone called him during production, was well known, but within significantly different circles. His work was mainly in theatre, which had a naturally smaller fan basis than the others. He had played in some of the most famous theatres in the world, and had worked alongside some of the greats of the stage. His performances had been critically acclaimed throughout his career. At least...they had been.
In recent years, he had found the number of parts he was receiving declining. Directors were passing him over more regularly, and with the decline in theatre audiences, he had ended up swallowing his pride and turning his trade to other media. He was very traditional, and perhaps a little snobby in his outlook on his art. He had always looked down on television series and commercials and suchlike, but with work drying up, and his bank balance along with it, he was forced to do work he would normally never have considered. If he was brutally honest, it was only because Andrew Hartford had gushed over his performances in Macbeth and The King and I that he had accepted a role in something as gaudy and gauche as a superhero movie.
He was a method actor, and very strictly so. He stayed in character at all times from the moment he took on the role to the moment production wrapped, to the point that he didn't even use his real name in his down time. He looked up as a bottle of champagne was placed in front of him.
"I didn't order..." He started to say, before looking up, seeing it wasn't a waiter. The stranger was wearing an immaculate suit, and an expensive looking gold wrist watch. He smiled at him and held up two glasses.
"I did." He responded. "Would you mind if I sit down?"
Jeremy just gestured to him to do so. The stranger looked to be older, somewhere in his sixties, with long, silver hair that he let do its own thing, kind of like he was so rich and important that it no longer really mattered if he spent much time on his appearance. He had slight stubble, and more than a few lines on his face. He opened the bottle with a large crack.
"So, what do I call you?" He asked. "I know you don't go by Jeremy when you're working. I'm a huge fan."
"David." He replied, checking the label on the bottle. "Dom Perrignon 1993, it was a pretty good year."
"It certainly brought about a number of memorable productions." The stranger agreed. "Sorry, where are my manners? My name is Silver. Lionel Silver."
"So, you're a fan, I know that much." David sighed. "So, what do you want to talk about? My work on that God awful sitcom? The pile cream commercial?..."
"While that work was certainly memorable, I think it's beneath a man of your talents." Silver told him. "I remember you doing a magnificent turn as The Phantom in London's West End..."
"You...you really remember that?" David asked him, looking impressed as he took a sip of his drink. The stranger set his down and smiled.
"Of course I do. It was one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen." Silver complimented him. He handed him a card. "I've earned a considerable amount of money with my businesses, but I feel it's about time I became a patron of the arts. I have a production I think you'd be interested in."
"I'm under contract..."
"That won't be a problem. I don't mind waiting." Silver told him. "Just give me a call some time."
As he got up to leave, David just looked puzzled.
"What about...?"
"Consider it an incentive." Silver told him, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll look forward to your call."
As he left, he watched David pouring himself another glass and smiled, before leaving.
Back at the Brainfreeze, the party was in full swing. It was pretty intimate, but definitely fun. With most of the regulars avoiding the place, since they were getting vast amounts of candy for free by trick or treating. As Emma attended to her pumpkin pie, the others were busy telling each other spooky stories. Right now, it was Jordan's turn.
"Then, as they looked up the stairs, they saw the little girl, wearing a clown mask, and holding blood-stained scissors." He concluded his story. The party all looked around each other, before bursting out laughing.
"Dude, seriously?" Jake asked him.
"What?" Jordan asked him.
"That was the plot of 'Halloween 4'!" Allison said, still laughing at Jordan's attempt to pass the movie off as his own story.
"But...I thought...How did you...?"
"Dude, we ALL saw it. It was playing on television last night." Jake reminded him. "It wasn't even one of the good ones, it was totally lame!"
"Never mind, storytelling obviously just isn't your thing." Emma told him as she joined the table. "The pie just needs to bake, it'll be 30 minutes."
"It smells great already." Troy complimented her. "So, while we wait, how about we let the Allison judge the costume contest?"
"Oh...right...um...let me see then." She said, moving away from the table a little. She wasn't sure how to do this; she had only come into the group recently. She didn't know how any of them would take any criticism or judgement. She felt a little like they had put her on the spot. Everyone lined up, ready for her to check them out. "Alright...Noah, I guess since you and Quinn went for a combined costume it's only fair to class you as one contestant. Great costume, not sure it's what I'd consider Halloweeny...but great costumes. Marie and Pierre Curie. Good work."
She saw that they looked happy enough with what she had said as she looked at Gia next. If she was honest, her view was that Gia's costume was only really a cheap white witches' hat with a white dress she probably already had. She wasn't sure if she'd take offence if she said that though.
"Gia...nice white witch...not bad." She stated. She looked to Emma. "I'm sorry, I have no idea..."
"I'm Emily Pankhurst!" She interrupted Allison. "She started the Suffragette movement! It's because of her we have the right to vote!"
"Oh...um...yeah, that's really good." Allison stated. She honestly didn't know enough about the woman to know if Emma's costume was a good representation. Emma just smiled.
"You don't have to worry, you won't hurt our feelings." Emma assured her. "Just say what you honestly think."
"Well in that case, sorry Jordan, but that aloha shirt and shorts? Are you a surfer?" She asked. "Cause...I really don't get it?"
"I'm Logan from 'Dead Island'." He protested. "The video game?"
"Uh...I think that one must have slipped me by, sorry." She answered as she looked to Troy and sighed.
"Sorry Troy, but a checked shirt and a plastic axe to be a lumberjack? That's just lame." She told him. He just crossed his arms and pouted.
"I WAS a cowboy." He said grumpily. "Up until Jake showed up in that get up."
This made Allison smile as she looked to Jake in his cow suit. He'd only gotten the costume because he'd been late to the store and it was all they had left. Still, he'd been a good sport about it. His mood was always light-hearted anyway, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. It was a little impressive that he was more than happy to look like a dork and not care.
"I'm going to have to go with Jake." She stated. Jake leapt to his feet and started dancing as the others all groaned.
"Like I couldn't have seen that coming." Jordan said, throwing his hands up. Jake just smiled.
"What can I say? I'm going to milk it for all it's worth." Jake replied as he sat down, putting his arm around Allison.
"Did he seriously say that?" Gia asked, rolling her eyes. "Lame stories, lame jokes...next year we seriously have to do more preparation."
"Emma, how long until we get that pie?" Jordan asked. "I think I'll need a slice to chuck at Jake."
"You better not!" Emma warned him.
"Trust me; it's too good to throw away." Gia told him. "I've never seen a time there were any leftovers."
As they shared a laugh, Allison took Jake's hand in hers, giving it a little squeeze. Jake couldn't help smiling.
Back at the hotel, Silver was sitting in his hotel room, when he heard a knock at the door. He smiled.
"Come on in." He stated. As the door opened, David, Oliver, Felicity and Henrietta came in. He stood up, looking a little puzzled.
"Where's Xavier?" He asked them. David just shrugged.
"He was in the gym the last time I saw him." He answered.
"Yeah, the guy's a machine." Oliver agreed. "We all work out, but he's been there since we got here. I don't think he's even been to his room yet."
Silver just looked a little irritated. This was something he hadn't banked on. Obviously, Xavier hadn't gotten his message yet. He looked to the other four, then gestured them to follow him as he headed for the door.
It took them a little while to get to the gym, but when they did, they found Xavier there working on a heavy bag alone. He looked to the others as they arrived, picking up a bottle of water.
"Um...hi." He greeted them.
"You really are as dedicated as they say." Silver complimented him. Xavier just looked at him curiously.
"Um...who is this guy?" He asked.
"I'm someone who admires talent when I see it." He stated. "I have to say, the camera doesn't do you justice."
"I'm sorry?" Xavier asked him.
"Well, all those magazines, all those people calling you fake." Silver stated. Xavier looked decidedly annoyed at this statement.
"Alright, whoever you are, I suggest you leave." He told him. Silver just grabbed his arm.
"Just hear me out."
"Get your hand off me, or I swear you'll regret it." Xavier warned him. Silver took his hand off him, at which Xavier went to start wiping himself off with a towel. He snapped around as he saw a flash of light from behind him. Silver had been replaced by Vrak. Xavier looked around, seeing if he could see any cameras.
"OK Dax, if this is enforced method acting, I'm not down with that!" Xavier told him. Vrak just laughed.
"I'm the director now." He replied, snapping his fingers. His four co-stars started to surround him.
"Consider this a casting call for a role that will make sure no one ever considers you a phoney again." Vrak told him as Oliver and David grabbed Xavier, holding him in an impossibly strong grip. Xavier struggled to get free as Vrak came towards him, producing the yellow data card he had ignored earlier.
"You sent that?" Xavier asked him. Vrak just nodded.
"Consider it a prop for your role in the greatest role you'll ever play." Vrak told him as the card started to glow. "Don't worry, this won't hurt for long."