"Here we are," Todd announced as they reached the familiar run-down form of the Brotherhood boarding house. "Home sweet hovel."

The demon didn't give any indication that he'd heard Todd, but that wasn't anything new. Todd had been trying to get the guy to do something interesting the entire way home, but the blue fuzzball just kept looking around himself with wide yellow eyes. It was like he'd never seen a grungy city street before.

An irritable and haggard Lance Alvers greeted them as Fred carried them through the door. He stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his arms crossed.

"Where the hell have you two been?" he snapped, then stared at the demon. "And what the hell is that?"

"It's-that-demon-thing." Pietro provided, appearing with a fwip in the doorway opposite Lance. "From-the-freak-show."

The demon's eyes were wide and fearful as he regarded the two strangers, and Todd kinda felt sorry for him. As Freddy set both his bundles down, the fuzzball slunk across the carpet to hide behind Todd's legs.

Oh boy.

Lance slapped his forehead and drew his hand slowly down his face. "You've gotta be kidding me. First that Boom Boom chick, now this thing? We can't make ends meet as it is!"

"Wait," Todd looked between his housemates in confusion, trying to ignore the odd sensation of a prehensile tail curling tightly around his left ankle. "Whad'ya mean 'first that Boom Boom chick'?"

"We-had-a-new-arrival-while-you-guys-were-out." Pietro quirked his head and glanced irritably up the stairs. "Welcomed-herself-in-and-everything."

A familiar female voice called from upstairs: "My ears are burning, Speedy! Now hush up so a girl can get some beauty sleep, huh?"

No. Way. Todd groaned… he'd thought he'd been done with her when he'd ditched her and her psycho father in the warehouse. Guess not.

"On the bright side, she found a way into Mystique's room," Lance said, not sounding very bright at all.

"But-she's-not-letting-us-sell-anything-in-there."

"That's because we haven't asked her," snapped Lance.

"Hey, I'm-not-asking-her… she's-nuts. You-ask-her."

"No way! She shouldn't be here at all!"

"Sounds-like-a-job-for-our-mighty-leader."

"That's right, I am the leader. And I degrigate the task to you."

"It's-delegate, smart-stuff."

"Yeah, well… shut up Pietro."

Pietro made a huffing sound and disappeared into the room behind him with a fwip.

Lance turned his focus back to the other people, his glare falling squarely on Todd. Todd gulped. He could feel the furball pressing his face into his leg.

"So what the hell, Toad? Since when do you bring home strays?"

"It was Freddy's idea, yo."

Todd sighed in relief as Lance's glare shifted to Fred. The larger boy didn't even seem to notice the glare.

"Side shows can be rough, man," he said simply.

"We can't keep him."

"Aw," Todd groaned. "C'mon, Lance… have a heart!"

The glare turned back to him, and Todd cowered. "This ain't about heart, Tolansky. The city just shut off our water, like, an hour ago. There's no damn way we can afford one more person living here."

"Wha…? You're letting that Tabby chick stay!"

Fwip. "Yeah-but-she's-scary." Fwip.

"Well, uh…" Todd scratched his head. "Maybe the furball can help with the money. He does this real cool shadow blending thing, yo."

"Forget it, Tolansky."

"I like him," Freddy put in slowly.

Fwip. "He-was-pretty-bouncy-at-the-fair."

Lance's hand went back to his face. "He's such a freak."

Ka-BOOM! "I said to quiet down down there! How's a girl supposed to crash without blowing stuff up around here? Sheesh!"

Todd chuckled as Lance stared up the stairs with mild horror. "Should fit in just fine, then, huh?"

o-o-o-o-o-o

One leg twitched as he pulled out of sleep. Something soft was under him… and on top of him. Someone was moving around in another room nearby, knocking and thumping things.

Light filtered dimly through his eyelids. Light…? Oh no, morning.

Late; he was late. Master would be in any minute… he couldn't be caught still sleeping.

…he?

His eyes snapped open, and he bolted off the couch he'd been on, upsetting the ratty sheet that had been tossed over him. Disoriented, he didn't recognize his surroundings… oh God had he been sold again?

He paced around the run-down sitting room on all fours, his breath coming harsh in his throat. Not again, hated when they sold him to private residences… needed to get out, before they put him on a leash and started doing… things. But where could he go?

He was running now, bouncing off floors and walls as he streaked through the house. A hallway, a closet, lots of closed doors. A high-pitched, animal sound escaped his throat. Find an open door or window… outside, get outside… but where to go? Nowhere safe… he was in trouble, so sorry ohGodheshouldneverhaveyelped.

He?

He streaked through a grimy kitchen and didn't see the occupant until he had nearly slammed into him.

"What-the-!" Fwip. The boy dodged aside impossibly fast.

Get away from him. Keep running.

He jumped off a counter and propelled himself into a hallway. Someone on the staircase-!

BAM.

This person didn't dodge nearly as fast, and they both toppled the three steps to the bottom of the stairs. The demon rolled upright and streaked up the stairs as his victim shouted "TOLANSKY!" behind him. The house seemed to shake around him, and he ran faster.

A door opened, and a pale face poked out sleepily. "Whassa matter now?"

A pale, familiar face! A flash of memories: food, freedom!

"Oof!"

The demon tackled Todd back into his dim bedroom and wrapped all five appendages around the boy's legs. The boy's hair was a mess, and he was dressed in nothing but a worn pair of PJ pants. His thick, swampy smell was a great deal more pungent in the enclosed area… and the room smelled to match… but the demon was in no state to be picky.

The one he had run into stomped into the doorway a moment later. "What the hell, Tolansky? I don't need to wake up to some freaked out freak!"

"S'not my fault, foo'!" Todd tried to stand, but couldn't with a demon wrapped around his legs. He made an attempt to pry his assailant off, but the demon was shaking too much to comply.

Memories of the night before were rushing through him at full speed. Todd. The scary blond girl and her exploding light. Freddy's thick, safe grip. People calling him a "he" instead of an "it." And this house.

He hadn't been bought. He was free… that's what Todd said. But what did that mean? He didn't know what to do… everything was so scary now.

"Yo, get off before ya break my legs or somethin'!"

He jerked his head up and saw Todd's annoyed expression. Immediately, he released the pale boy and scurried away. He cowered against the nearest wall, hoping that the boy wasn't mad enough to injure him too badly.

"Jesus. This is just pathetic," said the one called Lance from the doorway.

"Is he scared a' me? That's fucked up, yo."

"Well, calm him down or something! And while you're at it, make sure he's housebroken!" Both Todd and the demon flinched as Lance slammed the door hard enough to shake peels of paint off the walls.

After a moment of sitting in the dim light of the stark, messy room, Todd crawled toward him hesitantly. He raised a hand, and the demon flinched, preparing for impact. The hand dropped back to Todd's side.

"Hey, I ain't gonna hit you or nothin'. So stop doin' that. It's kinda freakin' me out."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled quietly. "I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, well, yer still doin' it. Just relax."

Shakily, the demon forced himself to stop cowering. He could by no means relax, but he could pretend he was. Carefully, he put himself in a sitting position, and hid the shaking of his hands by grabbing his knees. He kept his head down, though, only peeking up through his hair to see if that was okay.

"Damn, yer pretty messed up, ain'tchya?"

He wasn't sure how to respond to that. His confusion must have shown on his face.

Todd sighed and sat up into an easy crouch… much lower than most people could go, except the demon himself. Todd even bounced a bit in it as he glanced around the room, as if looking for something to solve the current awkwardness. Once the eyes were off him, the demon found himself finally relaxing for real.

"So what'd ya do to get Lance so pissed at ya, foo'?"

The demon debated over whether to answer. But Todd seemed to like it when he spoke, most of the time, so maybe it was okay. "I… I knocked him down zhe stairs. …I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it."

He tensed when Todd snorted, and jumped when the pale boy threw back his head and laughed. "Ahahaha! You serious, foo'?"

"You…you're not mad at me?"

"Why would I care? Yeah, Lance might be a little pissed off, but he'll get over it. That's just Lance, yo. Only grudge he holds is with Summers."

"Vhat's a Summers?"

"Ah, boy… you got a lot ta learn." The pale boy hopped up onto his bed, rumpling his sheets even more than they already were. He bounced on the graying mattress a couple times, then flopped back, splaying out across the bed. The demon watched curiously, his fear fading.

"So ya got a name, foo'?"

"A… name?"

"Yeah. Like… what do people call ya?"

"Um… demon. Or monster."

Todd's head turned toward him and his buggy eyes bugged out more. "You serious? No wonder you're so messed up."

"I used to have vun," the demon ventured, feeling braver now that Todd wasn't so near. "But… zhat vas before…"

He expected Todd to look at him in confusion, or ask what he was talking about. Instead, his head rolled back and he put his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I been there."

"…vas?"

Yellow eyes flicked toward him. "Yo, what language is that?"

The demon blinked in surprise. Then, he furrowed his brows, trying to remember. He knew several languages, after all the places he'd performed, but the one he sometimes slipped into was the oldest… it was from the Before-Life. It took a moment to sort through it…

"Deutsche," he said, his hoarse voice tinged with light awe at the rediscovery of something he'd thought lost. He looked up at Todd in wonder. "I'm German."

"So that's that accent. Coo'." Todd closed his eyes, completely ignorant of the flutters of joy passing through his companion.

Other things that he'd thought forgotten were making themselves known… a perfume, a window, a lullaby. Still faded and hazy and hidden under a lot of darker, more recent things, but at least he knew they were there now. It was like hearing a little tinkle of a music box through the cacophony of a carnival crowd… he couldn't make out the melody, but the mere presence was enough lift the spirits.

He was human … his trainers and owners had tried to make him forget that over the years. But he'd had a family, once. It was possible for people to care about him.

He looked up at Todd, feeling somehow reborn. Todd seemed to have fallen asleep, sprawled across his grungy bed with the sheets half off. The pale boy was completely oblivious to just what he had set in motion.

Todd and Freddy had called him "he." Lance and Pietro had called him "he." He was a person, not a thing.

These guys didn't beat him because he was a person to them… he was an equal (well maybe not quite… but close!). Master… Master had been wrong. Master had not had the right.

He could have fought for that right. And if Master tried to come after him… he would fight. Because he was a free person now. Free. Person.

He couldn't remember ever smiling as widely as he did now. A light, happy energy he'd never felt before coursed through him, making him want to start bouncing off the walls (again).

Without thinking about it, he leapt up and bounced onto Todd's bed, nearly trampling on the boy's legs. Todd awoke with a jerk and a "Wha…"

"Kurt!" he announced, excitedly bouncing in place over the pale boy. "My name is Kurt!"

"Easy, foo'! Havin' a name ain't that excitin'!"

"You don't understand! I have a name! I zhought zhey took it, but zhey didn't!"

"Whoa, hey, don't cry!"

He realized that there were tears leaking out of his eyes. Too late… a pair of tears dripped off the fur at his chin and splattered onto Todd's collarbone. He was grinning too hard to care.

He threw himself on top of the boy's bare chest, hugging him gratefully and crying out his happiness. Because he wasn't a monster. He could cry, if he wanted to. And God, did he want to right now. Todd awkwardly patted his shoulder, but didn't react any more than that.

Finally, the tears stopped, and Kurt (Kurt!) felt like he could let go without doing flips around the room. He sat back on his feet and crouched there, grinning like a maniac. His flicking tail made a further mess of the already rumpled bed.

Todd pushed himself up on one elbow, looking awkward. After a moment scratching a hand in his rat's nest hair, he seemed to find something to say. "So… um. Outta curiosity…an' I ain't volunteerin' or nuthin'…"

"Vhat?" Kurt asked, curious and a little worried.

"Are ya housebroken?"

o-o-o-o-o-o

By the time they headed down the stairs, Kurt was feeling a bit more level-headed, but Todd was completely cracking up.

Todd had lent him an old pair of mud-stained jeans and a mud-brown long-sleeved shirt (both heavily bathed in all-natural Perfume de Toad), and they had both been rather baffled about what to do about Kurt's tail. Eventually, Toad had scrounged up a switchblade and poked a hole right through the belt-line of his jeans. When Kurt cried out and said he didn't want Todd to ruin his clothes on his account, Todd had just shrugged and said that "one more hole ain't gonna make no difference, dawg."

Todd's clothes fit surprisingly well. They would have been a little tight, if Kurt weren't so thin. His arms and legs were just a bit long for them.

Todd had looked more than a little mortified to discover that Kurt was not, in fact, housebroken. He'd stood outside the bathroom, explaining things in a voice tight with embarrassment while Kurt fumbled his way through his first real encounter with a toilet.

Then, Todd had made the discovery that Kurt could not physically walk upright without help, and had not stopped chuckling about it since.

Kurt was somewhat baffled over Todd's amusement. It was only natural he couldn't walk upright after all, since he'd spent the last year in a cage too small for him to stand. His muscles just hadn't grown that way. Apparently, there was something funny about him climbing halfway up the wall just to try to get his legs straight, and then them not being able to support his upright weight for more than a few seconds.

But if it made Todd happy, he had no complaint about it. He didn't mind being laughed at in the least… it was the least he could do, after everything that the other boy had done for him in the last twelve hours. It was actually kind of nice… a different kind of attention than he was used to. Better.

So he trailed after Todd, on all fours like some kind of prowling cat and dressed in clothes that were just a bit too short for him. He could hear voices and movement below; the house was fully awake, and probably had been for some time.

Todd bounded down the stairs toward the voices. "Yo, we got anythin' to eat other than flies?"

Kurt crawled down the stairs a little more slowly. His tail twitched nervously as he paused halfway down and crouched there, listening. Todd had already disappeared into the TV room… the place where Kurt had woken up not all that long ago. It sure felt like a long time.

"Most-people-don't-include-'flies'-in-things-to-eat-Toad."

"That's just cuz I'm more nu-tri-tion-al-ly flexible than you guys, yo."

"Translation: you eat trash and bugs. Nothing to brag about, Tolansky. And where'd the freak go?"

"Huh? Uh… he was here a second ago."

Todd's head poked out of the doorway. He blinked up at Kurt in confusion.

"You comin' down, or just sittin' there all day?"

Kurt nervously worked his tongue around his fangs. Todd was okay, he'd decided. And Freddy, too. But he wasn't sure how to feel about everyone else in the world, and there were more than just Todd and Freddy in that room.

Slowly, Kurt lowered himself from his crouch and started down the stairs. He met Todd at the bottom and followed Todd into the TV room. His stomach would have been churning, if it weren't so empty.

He crept around the corner and through the doorway, as if that would make him less noticeable. Much to his relief… no one seemed to care. There were no screams, no stares, no torches and pitchforks (a hazy recurring nightmare he didn't like to dwell upon)… in fact, the three boys in the room simply looked over to register his presence, and then went back to heckling Todd.

"We'd have enough money to buy some groceries," said Lance, "if you hadn't turned and fled as soon as things got hot with Boom Boom's pops." He was sprawled into a second-hand armchair, one leg tossed casually over the arm.

"So-Toad-flees-the-scene-of-the-crime. What-else-is-new?" Pietro rolled his eyes. He was sitting rather stiffly on one end of the couch, one arm resting out along the back.

"Hey, next time you do it, if it's so easy." Todd said, sounding a little petulant. He hopped onto the other end of the couch.

Fred was on the floor in front of Pietro, the TV remote dwarfed by one of his huge hands. The TV was a small, battered machine that showed more fuzz than picture. Fred was absorbed by whatever was on it, but the volume was too low for anyone else to listen properly.

Kurt hesitated in the doorway, but since no one protested his presence, he felt free to follow Todd into the room. He crawled up onto the back of the couch behind Todd and perched there, his head moving back and forth as he watched the others talk.

"Yeah, you're one to talk about running away, Maximoff," Lance snickered.

"At-least-I-do-it-with-style."

"Aw, I gots style!"

"No, you got slime. It's no wonder no girl ever gets near you."

"Nah. Smell-scares-'em-off-long-before-they-notice-the-slime."

"Now that's just hurtful, yo."

"But it's true. You should really consider a bath, Tolansky. I can smell ya from all the way over here."

"I can't bathe, foo'. We ain't got no water, 'member?"

"Yet-the-cable's-fine. Go-figure."

"Man, we've been stealing cable since last term. It'll stay, don't worry."

"Yeah-but-what-happens-when-they-cut-our-power-huh? Ever-think-of-that, oh-fearless-leader?"

"Yeah, I got it covered! Just settle down, and I'll handle everything."

"Like you been 'handlin' things so far? Yeah, good job with that… now we ain't got no food or water."

"Shut up, Tolansky, before I decide to shake things up!"

"Ooh-creative. Never-heard-that-one-before."

"Yeh, now we gotta deal with no food, no water, and Lance's stupid rock puns."

The house suddenly started shaking around them, plaster falling from the ceiling. Todd, Pietro, and Kurt all grabbed the couch for support. It stopped a moment later, and Lance sent them a smug grin.

"Are-you-insane? You-trying-to-bring-the-house-down-around-us-or-what?"

"Yeah, foo'. The only reason I still stick around is cuz there's a roof over my head. As in, over, not on."

Kurt had been confused for a while now. He leaned down and poked Todd. "Zhat shaking vas him? How did he do zhat?"

Both Lance's and Pietro's heads whipped around to stare at him.

"Whoa. He-does-talk."

"That's easy, furball," Lance said lazily, after he'd gotten over his surprise. "I shoot these tremor wave things out of my hands. Makes everything shake… breaks up the ground. So I can crush anyone who pisses me off, like Tolansky here."

Todd's green tongue poked out of his mouth toward Lance.

"Is zhat… normal?" Kurt ventured uncertainly.

Lance gave him an odd look while Pietro burst out into laughter. "Of course it's not normal. It's my mutant power, duh."

"Mutant?"

Pietro threw his head back and shrieked his laughter, one fist pounding the couch impossibly fast. Kurt's eyes widened as he watched the fist.

"You serious? You don't know what a mutant is?"

Kurt shook his head, his wide eyes trained on Pietro's fist. That was unusual… he was sure of it. And Freddy had bent metal with his hands. Were all these guys… monsters?

"You're a mutant, furball." Lance sat forward. "In fact, you're the mutantest mutant I've ever seen."

"We're people born with special powers an' stuff, yo." Todd relaxed back into the couch with a grin. "Just chill an' enjoy it."

"Oh." Kurt tried that term in his head: "mutant." It sounded…strange.

Suddenly, Todd sat up again. "You need a mutant name."

"Huh?"

"Hey, yeah." Lance sat back, wearing a grin that was less than entirely benevolent.

"News-flash." Pietro zipped over and knocked on Lance's head, then zipped out of range when Lance tried to swat him. "We-don't-know-anything-about-him. We-don't-even-know-if-he's-Brotherhood-material."

"Just look at him, yo."

"You gotta admit it, Maximoff. He'd make a good mascot."

Kurt's tail twitched uncertainly. The attention was nice, but he wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"Okay, basics-first." Pietro settled back on the couch, twisting to peer closely at Kurt. Kurt drew back slightly. "Name."

"Uh… Kurt."

"That-it?"

Kurt lowered his head.

"Ooooh-kay. Next-question: family?"

"Aw, come on, Maximoff!" Lance butted in. "You don't ask a potential Brotherhood member that!"

"Maybe-I'm-just-making-sure-he-doesn't-have-any," Pietro snapped. "I-mean-we-don't-want-someone-coming-after-us-for-kidnapping-their-blue-baby-boy."

Lance simmered. Kurt spoke before he started making things shake again. "I don't have a family. But… Mas… my trainer from zhe carnival might not like me disappearing."

"Pfft." Lance sat back again, dismissing Pietro's existence. "We can handle some stupid human. Don't worry." Lance looked at him a little more companionably. As if admitting he was alone in the world somehow drew Lance toward him. "So what powers you got?"

"Powers?"

"Yeah. You gotta have something, looking like that."

Kurt furrowed his brow thoughtfully. He had a lot of idiosyncrasies… things he could do that normal people couldn't, that scared other people. Could they be 'powers'?

"I… I have alvays been very agile," he ventured.

"Seen-it," Pietro sang. He pointed to Todd. "Unless-your-power-comes-with-super-stink-and-a-prehensile-tongue, I'm-not-impressed."

"I have a prehensile tail… does zhat count?" He lifted his tail pointedly, curling it in lazy patterns behind him.

"Anything else?" Lance pressed curiously.

"Um…lots of little zhings." He ducked his head, feeling like he was about to list everything that made him a monster. "I can see in zhe dark really vell… und I turn invisible in zhe dark. Vell, except for mein eyes. Zhey glow."

"Yeh, it's downright freaky, yo."

"Und, um…" He straightened on his perch, encouraged by the interested looks that they were giving him. Even Pietro. "I'm really flexible. Und I can climb just about any surface, even flat valls und sometimes ceilings."

Lance nodded thoughtfully, looking pleased. Kurt felt a smile tug at his lips. They didn't mind his oddities…. In fact, they liked them!

"I have zhis funny spatial sense zhing too. Like… I can close mein eyes, and still tell vhere zhings are. It's not much use on its own, but it complements zhe ozher zhings. And my ozher senses are pretty sharp too. I have very good hearing und sense of smell."

"Huh. You-wouldn't-think-so-of-someone-who-follows-Toad-around."

"Hey, I gots animal magnetism."

"Emphasis on animal."

"Talk about animal magnetism!" said a new voice very close behind Kurt. Suddenly, something grabbed Kurt's be-jeaned butt.

He yelped and shot straight in the air, sticking to the ceiling by four splayed legs and with his hackles sticking up every which way. He peered down and saw the scary blonde girl leaning against the couch where he had just been, her lips grinning around a Dumdum.

Lance made a face at the girl. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Getting breakfast." She vaulted over the back of the couch, carelessly nearly landing on Todd as the pale boy scrambled away. "You boys do know you don't have any grub, right?"

"Oh yeah. We know."

"So-you-weren't-kidding-about-climbing-stuff-huh?"

Kurt glanced over, and noticed Pietro craning his neck up at him, looking baffled. "Ja." He experimentally made his way across the ceiling, finding an empty light fixture right over Freddy's head. "I can't climb some smooth metals, but for everyzhing else, gravity might as vell not exist."

"Awesome." Lance's attention was back on Kurt. He looked thoughtful. "So you can hide in shadows and climb walls and stuff. You'd probably be wicked at stealth."

"Ja. Probably." He hooked his tail on the empty light fixture and let himself drop so that he was hanging upside-down by it.

"Mm…" Boom Boom grinned around her DumDum, stretching and tossing her legs over Pietro's knees. The blond boy stared at her feet, as if unsure what to do with them. "Love your accent, Blue."

"Uh… zhank you?"

Lance scratched his chin. "So how about somethin' dark? 'Nightcreeper'."

"You trying to come up with a codename for him or something?" Boom Boom asked, popping her DumDum out of her mouth.

"Yeh," Toad drawled, settling on the ground next to Freddy. "Tha's cool… but I dunno if it fits. I don' think Kurt is much of a 'creeper', yo."

"I like 'Blue'," Boom Boom volunteered cheerily.

"Yeah, that'd strike fear into the hearts of the X-geeks," Lance said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, is that what you guys are trying to do? Couldn't really tell, with names like 'Quicksilver' and 'Toad'."

"Hey-what's-wrong-with-my-name?"

"Maybe something demonic?" Lance said. "What was it those carnies called you… the Blue Demon?"

"Wait-wait! What's-wrong-with-my-name?"

"I'd razher not," Kurt said hesitantly from his place hanging from the ceiling. "Zhere are a lot of bad memories attached to zhat name."

"Okay, okay. Any more bright ideas?"

Toad volunteered, "I kinda like the 'night' thing. Maybe 'Nightcrawler' or somethin'?"

Pietro quirked his head. "Isn't-that-some-kind-of-worm?"

"Yeah. 'Nightcrawler'." Lance said, grinning. "I like the sound of it."

"Seriously-I-think-it's-the-name-of-a-worm."

"So? It wouldn't be the first Brotherhood member named after a type of vermin."

"'Ey! Toads ain't vermin, yo!"

"This-Toad-is."

Lance turned his face upward and met Kurt's upside-down eyes. "So whaddya think, fuzzball? 'Nightcrawler' sound like a good name?"

"Sure. It sounds… cool."

"Excellent."

"Now that that's done," Boom Boom said. "What is there to do around here?"

"Bug-the-X-geeks. Complain. Wail-on-Toad. The-usual."

"Cool. That last one sounds fun."

"Aw, man. This just ain't fair, yo."

Boom Boom shot out a booted foot and lazily kicked Todd in the head. The pale boy went sprawling across the carpet and grumbled into the shag.

She giggled. "That is fun."

"Hey… um, guys?" A new voice rumbled from amongst them, and everyone turned startled expressions toward Fred. He was twisted to look back at them, his face scrunched into a worried expression. "I think you guys better hear this."

Everyone turned their attention to the TV, and Fred turned up the volume.

The news was on. Kurt watched curiously, having little experience with such things.

A lady in a sharp suit jacket was seated at a desk, talking into the screen.

"…unsure as to the identity of the thieves, but the security cameras on the site did capture this image."

The screen flickered, and then was filled with a blurry black-and-white video of the darkened fairgrounds, complete with tents and a partially-disassembled ferris wheel in the background. As they watched, a large figure could be seen crossing the field, too far away to make out any details. However, anyone who had ever seen Fred could identify him easily.