A/N: Sorry I took so long with this update: let's just say that things are a bit tight back home; anyways, this chapter MIGHT have a brief cameo of one of the few "heroic" OC's I have planned for this story. Just thought I'd give you a heads up and all that; now, onto the story…
Dog-gone Identity Crisis
"Here's the file you requested, Madame," stated a man dressed in a mall security uniform, "though I must inform you that even though this holds the names of everyone who was inside the store, that doesn't necessarily mean we know the full extent of the damage from the accident." "It's no problem, Joseph," stated a woman in business clothing, "I just want to be prepared to help if there's evidence in their permanent records that could prevent any more incidents like what's been happening." "Just be aware that not everyone was near a science fair project," Joseph replied, to which the woman replied, "True, but perhaps some of the information on what was in their possession could fill in some of the blanks." "Well, so long as you're sure it will help you, Miss Talega, I'll be going now," stated Joseph.
Once he'd left, Python smirked to herself. "Such an ignorant fool; I almost feel sorry for him: ALMOST." After looking through the file for a while, she groaned to herself. "Well, THIS might certainly change things a bit, but just to be sure, I'd better test the waters," she said as she reached for her phone.
As Charlie Dobbs, aka Night Owl, sat in the security room, he couldn't help but wonder why Jonesy had wanted him to take his place for a while: after all, this was one of the few times that the mall patron who was fired the most often actually TRIED to keep his job. Yet not ten minutes ago, the pyrotechnic member of 6Teen had told him that he was going on his lunch break, when he usually at his lunch in his new workspace. Well, whatever the case, it gave him time to analyze one of the two samples he had gotten off the creature that had kidnapped Nikki and Talon a while back. Actually, it was his ONLY sample for the moment: the day afterwards he was ambushed by some sort of werewolf-like creature which destroyed the vile containing it. If it wasn't for the fact that Catlin had gotten some of the mud the creature seemed to be made of on her skirt, he wouldn't have anything to work with.
It was weird, though: five days had passed after the attack and nobody had seen the creatures OR their friends. Jen had recently claimed to have spotted Nikki yesterday, but when he went to check it out, she said her eyes had been playing tricks on her. He was starting to think there was a connection somewhere in all of this, especially since she was working up a bit of a sweat when he pressed her on the issue, not to mention that he inadvertently found some more mud at the site where she had called from.
Suddenly, he noticed something about the sample he was holding. Taking out a high-powered magnifying glass just to be sure, he saw that it was indeed as he thought: human DNA that seemed to be moving on its own. That meant that, in theory, who he had thought was Jen, and for that matter Jonesy, had actually been some sort of imposter!
At that moment, however, Catlin burst into the room. "Charles: our friends have been kidnapped, by US!" she exclaimed. "First off, I had just figured out this could be a possibility," the teen hero stated, "Secondly, how do I know you're REALLY Catlin?" Catlin paused, as if considering, before stating, "Come to think of it, how do I know you're REALLY Charlie Dobbs?"
Charlie sighed, "Okay, it's you: only Catlin would jump to that conclusion instead of trying to prove to me that she's who she claims to be; also, although you'll never admit this, you absolutely HATE the Twilight series." Caltin scoffs and says, "Who forces someone to choose between two hot guys?" Realizing what she just said, she gasps. "Only Jen knows I react that way to that statement," she exclaimed, to which Charles shrugged and stated, "Jen REALLY needs to work on handling interrogation, even if it's completely harmless."
"It IS you," Catlin said with a grin, before slapping him. "Tell anyone what you know and you're dead," she hissed, to which Charlie nodded and stated, "Now that we're in the clear on THAT issue, we need to find our REAL friends." "How do we do that?" Catlin asked, to which Charlie replied with a smirk.
"You're telling me that you've been able to track us by our disguise collars this whole time?" Catlin exclaimed, now in her cat-form, to which Night Owl shrugged. "Not exactly: YOU were the one who truly made it possible," he admitted. Noticing his friend's confused look, he explained that he'd been trying to find a way of keeping in contact when the team's normal com-systems were down for some reason. "However, I needed the exact energy signature that they give out to make my tracker work properly, and recent events have made it next to impossible to simply ask to borrow one of the devices," the teen vigilante summarized.
"What do you mean?" the feline heroine asked, to which her friend sighed. "I thought I was being paranoid at first, but it seemed too coincidental that Nikki and Talon BOTH disappeared shortly after we split up to catch that blob creature," the teenage boy explained, "Add my attack from that dog girl and you get the idea that we're dealing with more than one opponent this time." Catlin nodded, not noticing the vigilante seemed to be contemplating something else.
After a few minutes of trekking through the mall, they arrived at their supposed destination: a run-down clothing store that once held temporary headquarters for the mob. "I don't understand," Catlin wondered out-loud once they were inside, "I mean, I get that we're dealing with imposters here, but why would they set up shop HERE? This is too obvious a hiding place for someone needing a disguise." Night Owl frowned at that and stated, "Considering how one of our opponents can make it's own disguises at will, I'm thinking that this might possibly be…" "A trap?" came a new voice from within the shadows, "Nice to see ONE of your friends isn't a total idiot, CATLIN."
"I…don't know what you're talking about," the cat girl demanded, to which a hairy figure dropped down from the rafters, snickering, "Oh, come now: you can't lie to me, OLD FRIEND." "Tricia?" Catlin exclaimed, too stunned to say anything else, to which her ex-friend gestured behind them to a blob slithering behind them and stated, "And I believe you've already met my associate, Teresa Clay, also called Madame Mold." With that, the blob reformed into a Caucasian brunette who looked a little remorseful at the situation.
"In case your wondering about your friends, their currently being stored in some specially designed containment cells I acquired," the hairy teen sneered as the lights came on to reveal the members of 6teen, along with Nebula and Talon, sedated and contained. "What do you want?" Night Owl demanded, to which Tricia smirked, "For you to stay out of my way. You see, when I discovered my powers, I KNEW I had all that I needed to send anyone I wished to the pound. Teresa here had a similar view, isn't that right, Pokey?"
"I SAID I wanted people to stop making fun of me and others who wore that costume," Teresa insisted, "I NEVER wanted things to go this far." "Oh, but how else are you ever going to get your old life back?" Tricia sneered, "Remember that it will only take one phone call for me to make sure that you can never take on human form again. Not that you can stay that way for long anyways." As if on cue, Teresa began to revert back into the form of a blob-like state.
"Say we refuse: then what?" Night Owl demanded, to which Tricia smirked, "Then I tell EVERYONE your secret identities, CHARLES." "Nobody would believe you and even if they did," he said pressing a few buttons on his suit, which caused the surrounding electronics to spark. "What did you do?" Tricia demanded, to which the vigilante declared, "Simply put, as long as we're in this store, no communications not approved by yours truly can get in or out, and the only way that will change is going to be over my dead body." "THAT can be arranged," she growled as she tackled him into the store's public area.
As soon as they left the room, Catlin made a move for the control panel. "That's not going to work," a voice called out, to which she hissed at the shape-shifter. "Why should I trust YOU?" she demanded to which Teresa morphed into a mirror image of Tricia. "The equipment she obtained is programmed to ONLY be accessed by her, or myself when I have a reason to," she deadpanned, "and I can help you out in keeping your identities a secret if the need arises." "Why would you do this?" the Cat-girl demanded, to which she smiled, "After the accident, I lost sight of who I really was: your friends gave me the chance to remember." "I promise you, Terri," Catlin said with determination, "we'll do everything in our power to return you to normal." "I know you will at least try," the blob said with a small grin.
Tricia snarled as she searched the area. The vigilante had disappeared shortly after she brought the two of them out here. Part of her wanted to just run outside and contact the press, but she figured that with the resources of the Dobbs' family at the fingertips of this vigilante he could easily expand the range of his disrupter. Better to kill him now before he messes with her plans more then he already was. "I can smell your fear, Charles," she declared, "You might as well give up now."
"You may have all the powers of a dog," the teen hero stated, "but I'm willing to bet you also have their WEAKNESSES." "Please, I don't know what you're…" the diva began to reply, only to stop short when the teen dropped down and threw an assortment of small colorful balls along the floor. "Must resist…the urge…to chase," she said with a shake, only for the vigilante to respond by tossing a small bell across the room. "Trying to…fight instinct," she desperately whined. "I KNOW you are, but the accident didn't just give people powers: it made us MORE of what we are," Night Owl replied, placing a steak sandwich on the ground.
With a primal yell, she grabbed the sandwich and started to wolf it down, realizing too late the possibility of a sedative being in it. "All that time setting yourself up higher then everyone else," the teen stated as she started to black out, "you never realized that nothing special comes from acting like a pure breed." The last thing she saw before passing out was mall security beginning to show up.
Tricia smirked as Charlie Dobbs showed up at her cell the next day to check on the containment unit. "You sure this will hold her?" inquired one of the guards, to which the rich kid nodded. "From what Night Owl and the rest of 6teen gathered, she is basically a Labrador Retriever/Human hybrid, and they're not exactly known for their strength," he stated, which caused the feral girl to laugh. "Still trying to cover your identity, Night Owl?" she quipped, only to be surprised by the said vigilante walking into the room. "Somebody mention my name?" he said with a smirk.
"What? This isn't possible!" she declared, "You two can't be in the same room together: Night Owl is supposed to be Charlie Dobbs!" "Make sure she gets that mental therapy I mentioned," Night Owl quipped, "and in case she's spread any OTHER absurd rumors…" With that, he handed a disk to the guard in question. "THIS should silence any claims of the identities of 6teen and/or their allies," he remarked. "I'll make sure the authorities get this," the guard stated.
Unknown to any of them, the business woman known in certain circles as "the Python" was close-by while all this was happening. "It seems I underestimated that bird of prey," she remarked, "but with a few more tests, I should get me the same results." "I'm not crazy, I tell you!" Tricia wailed, to which the crime lady sighed. "It's SO hard to get good help these days," she mused.
"You never told me how you convinced Teresa to go through with helping us maintain our identities," Jen remarked a few days later. "You be surprised what people will do when you offer them help without asking for anything in return," her boyfriend said with a shrug, before tossing a frown her way and stating, "You didn't have to do this, you know." "I know," she replied as the two of them approached a set of tombstones, their friends a respectable distance away, "but I think that even in death, your family should know you intend to keep your promise." "Thank you," was all the teen could muster as he faced a trio of head stones that basically said the following: Here lies Robert, Deborah, and Angela Dobbs.
What the group didn't REALIZE, however, was that a good ten yards away, the criminal known as Night Terror was observing them, a young teen male sitting next to him."Uncle Jack," he stated, "I'm not feeling too good about this." "Well, tough," he chided, "I'm your only living relative and you don't have a choice in regards to obeying your legal guardian." "Even if you're right, and I'm not saying you are," the boy said with a gulp, "You wouldn't be able to fight ANY of the masked heroes since we're just a few blocks away from the police station." "Night Owl is NOT a hero, and neither is Charlie Dobbs!" his uncle suddenly yelled, "What you don't seem to REALIZE, Robert, is that the best weapon in warfare is FEAR! I KNOW his father denied me funding because he didn't TRULY support our country!"
Calming himself, he stated, "Still, you DO have a point, which is why it's a good thing that I don't plan on attacking anyone just yet." "Come again?" Robert inquired, to which his uncle gave an evil smirk. "Think of this as gathering ammunition for the coming battle," he said with a chuckle, to which the criminals nephew sighed. "Forgive me, old friend," he said to himself, grateful his relative didn't hear him.
To be continued…
A/N: Sorry if the pure breed offended anyone, but given the situation, I couldn't think of a better way of showing that when you put yourself on a pedestal, it's only a matter of time before you get knocked off of it; also, the graveyard scene at the end was to show how seriously Jen is taking her new relationship; hopefully that last bit is a good indication of what will happen next chapter...