New York: New York City

"Again, I'd like to rest. But I will help you get Valencruz's influence out of your head." 'But will I succeed? ...no, I have to.'

"Erik, um... this may be a bit awkward as of right now, but..." She hugged Erik, sighing heavily. "...god help me."

"Uh, nnnnn don't touch me." The Phantom hisses uncomfortably. "And don't call me 'Phanny', dear god."

Then Signal drapes herself over him and hnnnng he can't take this much socialization in one day. He carefully pries her off of him and wipes his cape. "Sorry no can do lady let's just get going."

The Phantom worked hard to place some distance between himself and these two, leading them towards the old elevator. "Don't worry, it's not going to fall or anything even though its decades old."

He waved them into it and pulled the lever, causing the thing to go down.

"Doesn't want to be called 'Phanny'? But I ran out of the X of the X a while ago...wait...the...um...Apparition of the Post Office! Nah, I like Phanny. Phanny is good." Saho, don't you know his real name? Of course you do, you know EVERYONE'S real name.

"Also, can you ask Lulu how she's gonna help me cause she makes me uncomfortable so I can't look at her. Huh, I never realized how much more I like Siggy. Hugging her is like two marshmallows in front of you. Hugging Lulu hurts, like hugging a glass pane. I guess I don't like how flat she is anymore. But anyways, ask her how she's gonna help, k Phanny? K? K new friend?" Saho tugs excitedly on Phantom....Saho...she can hear you, ya'know?

...flat? Is that why he doesn't want to be touched? Because she's flat?

"Sorry, Erik. 's just...it's not every day you see your sire next to your dead parents, y'know? Or maybe the image is a fake, but if it is, then it's a REALLY mean thing to do." Surprising that Signal still didn't know about Erik's... past yet. Maybe she's just being polite in not sweeping him?

Inside the elevator with Erik and Saho, she looks at them both.

Answering Saho's question: "Your mind has been...in a way, dominated by Valencruz's mind control, Saho. I can try to...to persuade you to ignore it, maybe even to defeat his control over you. But all it is, is persuasion. You have to fight the rest of the battle on your own. With your own willpower. With your own strength. But if you need a push towards that strength, I can provide that."

Saho's willpower is pretty amazing; even Val remarked it.....or maybe it's just that Saho's mind is so twisted it's harder to control than a normal person's and is, actually, weaker-willed. Still, it's something for him to think-Where is he?

Yes. Soon after getting in, Saho took off the emergency hatch thing at the top and climbed through, and is now sitting atop the elevator rather than inside. Why?

"She'stooclose.....ah....notmynotmymother...notmymother...." So much for willpower. Mange will have to think of some other way to rid himself of Val.

"Ugh. Whatever it's alright for now just seriously get this guy out of my base as soon as possible bef- okay he's climbing through the- okay."

The Phantom decides that he needs to take a break from this fast. His head is starting to hurt and he just wants time alone. Too much human contact thanks.

"...I really need to rest. This is starting to become too much for me, too." Signal grips her head.

The image from the cell phone simply wouldn't leave her mind. Neither did any plots for revenge, no matter how half-baked or poorly-planned they were.

"I'd ask about the history of this theater but it's obvious you want to be left alone for now. Maybe for later, then."

"So while Lulu sleeps" Saho shouts down to them

"Me and Phanny can bond right? What do you wanna do first, Phanny?! Oh oh! Lets go karaoke! I wanted to go there with Siggy but she was on the fence about it and I said there'd probably be phonebooks or something to read; so lets you and me go Phanny! Oh, then I can start working on integrating tinfoil into my hood or something. What do you put into your clothes, Phanny? Hey. Guess how many knives I have. Come on, guess. Phanny, you'll be my first male non-gay friend ever! Though I've only ever had two friends and Crippie is always mad at me for some reason. What do we after karaoke? Um...football! Yeah! And uh, beer! Yeah! And then we get some Danas on the hoodie and your fly ass bitch. Thats what two hetrosexual guys do together, right?" Saho was genuinely excited about spending time with his uh...new 'friend'. It's almost like he'd forgotten how awful he was feeling a few....an unspecified time ago.

The Phantom pinched the bridge of his nose and almost snarled "Oh my god please shut up before I make you learn why you need to keep your hand to the level of your eyes the hard way."

He wiped his face and ran his hand through his hair, breathing out a large sigh. "I'm sorry, that was mean. Just... do NOT call me 'Phanny' please? Just... no. Call me Erik if you want a nickname."

Signal looked at Erik with a look, and feeling, of shame on her face. This is embarrassing. How does Virgie even LIKE this guy?

"I have to apologize again, Erik... aside from him following me and... doing all that, I really don't know who he is."

She waits for the elevator to stop. Anything, anything to get 40 winks...

"But your name's Calvin. Also, Phanny is nice and cute-sy. You know, like really buff guys named Tiny? You need an effeminate name to really outline how MAN you are. That reminds me, I need to text Siggy but SOME CARDBOARD CHEST broke my cellphone." Saho is very brave when he's not in the same space as a person.

"Oh, Lulu. Did you want know about this theater? What did you wanna know? You know, as a Detective I obsessively find myself learning every little fact about everything, for example, did you know that when Phanny was 11 he-" Cue another embarrassing story Saho somehow uncovered. Between stories that I really would rather not know, he asked Phantom-

"Phanny" You know theres suppose to be a wall between us, right? Whatever, he asked PHANNY if there was a place to charge his laptop.

The Phantom coughed like he just choked on a take of spit and sputtered when that weirdo said his name. His ACTUAL name! What the hell? He hadn't mentioned it at all! How did he... nevermind! He clapped a hand over Saho's mouth and shushed him loudly.

"Okay, listen here buddy. I don't care what powers you have that make you suddenly know everything about me and my theatre, but keep it to yourself. Not everyone needs to know at the moment, so just... shush! Yes there is a place to charge your laptop, just don't reveal anything about me, kapeesh?"

The elevator comes to a loud halt, making more than one kind of disconcerting noise. The Phantom walks out of it and starts talking. "If you want to know about my theatre, you could have just asked. Like I said before, the owners were killed in a hit and run; however the entire cast and crew were also gunned down by an unnamed mob. It is rumoured that they are the ones who also hit the owners, and that the owners might not be dead. Although for what reason they would be kept alive, I have no idea. For now, it is mine to call my own."

There he goes again with calling Signal flat. "Look, just because I'm... underdeveloped doesn't mean it's a bad thing! I'm more aerodynamic!" However, she did look to her own chest and frowned.

I mean, really, if she cut her hair to a certain length and wore baggier clothes, she'd pass pretty fine as a guy. She tried it once, actually, as a dare from some co-workers; people then kept asking if she and Virgie were dating whenever they'd go sightseeing. Never again.

She listened to Erik's story and nodded her head, following the Phantom. "Terrible shame. I kind of want to see this place in its original glory. Any video tapes remaining of the shows they once held here?"

"I don't have any powers. Except for those flips, I suppose. I'm a detective. I detect things...
Seriously, I'm, usually, the greatest detective alive! How have you not heard of me?"

Mange hops down back into the elevator, following behind them....well, he actually kind of just walked off to look around, 'borrow' stuff, and climb on shit. Why? He had nothing to do until either they: Figure something out for dealing with Val or see if Sigil can help. Of course, everyone hates her too so I feel bad for the person who has to sit in the room with both of them.

"Hey Phanny....that's illegal you know." Like you're one to talk

"Mm? What's illegal? Oh, the squatting. No matter." he brushes off. "What the owners don't know won't hurt them, besides, I have these awesome catacombs here.

"I heard the kid of the owners had some. Don't know where he is now though, hasn't left a trace since the entire incident. I checked before I moved in, don't want to barge in on some kid's inheritance after all. No phone, credit card, or tax records of him from the past two years. He hasn't been reported missing at all, but I'm not eager to look for some brat any time soon. When he reappears I'll move out, how about that?"

"...ah. At least you're courteous." The catacombs are rather spacious; were they originally a part of the subway system in this city, or perhaps a part of the sewer system?

"And if the kid who inherits this place decides that.... that he doesn't want it? Running your own theater is a costly thing and an owner of such a theater needs to thrive on its patrons."

She didn't want to sweep his mind without asking, but... she wanted to make sure his story was legit. So she kept her mind open and ready for any thoughts contrary to whatever his answer may be.

The Phantom almost smiled. "Oh, I don't think he would sell it."

He didn't forget that Signal could read minds, nor that... whoever he was could apparently detective the shit out of anything he said and didn't say. So to protect himself, he tried a tactic that he thought might work. Carefully, he imagined large brick walls surrounding his psyche. Walls that blocked his secrets. The Phantom made sure to focus on them hard, so to not betray anything. Just think about the walls.

And he made sure to add some graffiti on the brick walls saying 'no offence'.

"I could probably find that guy for you..." You probably could, but please don't.

"Anyways, this'll be a great place to live for a while, thanks Phanny. Hmm...Siggy's offline. That's weird. She never is." Mange had already made himself comfortable, using his cloak as a makeshift chair and hunched over a laptop (where did he put that?). He began to re-investigate the Lord Signal phenomenon. With renewed information on what's what, as well as everything else that happened; Saho felt like it would be simple to piece the puzzle together now. Maybe while he was at it he'd find some kind of....brain bleach or something.

...What he did find was a headline though: Strange cult murder/suicides in Golden Nugget Casino: Who is Lord Signal? From a newspaper from Las Vegas with a name of victims. Victims he recognized. Worried if Sigil was alright, he wanted to show it to Lucy...he wanted to, but he couldn't say anything to her; so he threw a knife at her instead. It wasn't drawn, so really more a knife handle but still...

As if he couldn't just have said, 'Hey, look at at this'.

Again the knife was stopped without Signal even turning around. It drops to the floor and she does indeed turn around to face Saho. Her face, once mildly amused (particularly due to those brick walls Erik set up), now has been painted with worry. She steps behind Saho to see what was on the screen.

Her heart... uh, drops? Yes, that's a nice way to put it. Worry is replaced with despair.

"...he wasn't lying." She falls to the floor. Despair into shock, and then shock right back into despair. "He wasn't lying. And he blamed ME for it."

Slowly, Signal curled up into the fetal position, eyes wide and mouth flapping with words in a hushed voice. If you thought vampires couldn't cry, wait 'til you saw Signal.

"This...this can't be real. Am I dreaming? Do the dead dream? (Of what? Ghoul sheep?) Maybe I'm in Hell. Purgatory? No, definitely Hell."

From there she just kept babble-mumbling on and on and on.

Whatever Valencruz hoped to achieve, he won(...?)

Mange jumps back a bit; he's usually the one looking pathetic and crying but...huh.
Her whole family was just murdered. Even Saho wasn't afraid of Signal at this point; well a little but...he put a hand on her shoulder, and..after an oddly long time, tried to comfort her.

"....My family was murdered too, it's okay....?" Smooth. Still. He understood what that meant. Valencruz used him to kill people. Used him to get Signal. If it wasn't for him, Valencruz would've never found her family. He needed someone else to track them down, someone like...

"...the world's greatest detective....that's what he meant by 'without me, none of this would've been possible." Mange stared at Lucy for a bit longer; feeling strange that he was ever really scared of her; and decided it'd be best to close the article and head to Google. He needed to search something up:

How to kill a vampire.

He turned your back for one second, ONE SECOND, then suddenly there's a weeping dame oh lordy. The Phantom's stress levels rose to a higher-than-wanted number. He almost lost control of his mental walls.

He frantically rushed to Signal's side. "Oh hey, hey! Don't worry, Mina! It's... uh... not your fault?"

HOW THE FUCK DOES ONE DEAL WITH CRYING GIRLS GOD HELP US ALL.

"U-UH." he stammered. Suddenly an idea came to him. "Mina, my dear, do not shed tears for the past." The Phantom's voice suddenly took on one not of his own. It was deeper and more mature, with a thick yet understandable Transylvanian accent. Almost as if it should come from the actual Dracula.

"Please do not cry, my darling Mina. The tears you weep only make those who care about you sad. There was nothing you could have done, Mina."

Signal remained unresponsive though she did roll her eyes to look at Erik. She was trying so hard not to think about vampires, even not thinking about herself, and here he was unintentionally mocking her. But no, it's not mockery. He does care and he tries to cheer Signal up the best way he knows how. But soon enough her stare becomes blank and she spaces out.

Intentionally or not, a message was sent to Valencruz's mind. It was a part of a really nice line, from a movie she had watched with Virgie about four years ago or so. Much like the last mind message Val himself sent to Signal, this one was loud, deafening even. It was a very simple, a very concise, a very clear message:

"I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

"Yes there was." Saho states coldly...Saho? Out of character man.

"Shut up." Oh...

"That's the whole point, isn't it? He was in my head after all; I could feel him. The whole idea was that there was something she could do. He warned her of this. How many times you did let him just walk away? How many times did he threaten you? Did you just ignore him? VV's entire point is that she COULD'VE stopped this, easily. But never did. That's why he kept calling you a monster, right? Because you were selfish and a coward. Well I'm not you. He used me to hurt people. I'm not okay with that. I'm not gonna just let him walk away like you did.

He wants to play? Fine. I'm Saho Mange: The Greatest Goddamn Detective that ever lived. And him?

He's dust in the wind." Okay, just to recap: When Saho Mange starts calling you pathetic and having a spine; you KNOW something's gone wrong. Incidentally, being used and manipulated, especially if it makes victims, is a berserk button for Saho. Why? For more information, see Saho's backstory.

"Wanna come, Phanny?" He adds cheerfully....Mange is moody, I suppose.

The Phantom stopped talking and looked at Signal. He had no idea what to do next.

"Hey. Mina, you ok?" he asked, once again in his normal tone. God all this shit was going to kill him.

"..."

Signal closed her eyes, uncurling her body and standing up. She dusted herself off. And when she opened her eyes, they were contracted and... wow it's like they're not even there anymore.

"This was intended for me. This is his calling card. And you bet your ass I'm gonna answer." She stepped towards the elevator, stopped, and looked at Saho again. "You want to follow? Go ahead. Let me tell you, from someone with experience, he's NOT going to give you a fair fight. At BEST, you're going to be used as a meat shield or as part of a bargain. At worst... you better not hope it's gotten to the worst. Follow at your own risk, Saho Mange. And... Erik."

Signal looks at Erik. "I suppose this is a good time if anything to tell you my name. You can keep calling me Mina, but my birth certificate says it's Lucille Lagrange. Lucy is also acceptable. Goodbye. Maybe for now, maybe for the last time."

She turns around again, steps into the open elevator doors, and flies out of the open hatch above.

After figuring out how to get out of the theater without causing much damage to the theater, she sees the sky slowly lighting up. It's still night in Vegas. She needs to be quick.

Signal gains altitude and flies off at head-turning speeds for her home town.