Fandom Welcome to Night Vale

[SoldierVAI224]

She kept petting "Lizzy" as she turned her attention to the mayor, wondering when the meeting would be over. She hadn't had the chance to catch herself some breakfast yet.

 

[Stickdom]

Maximilian Barringer


There was a commotion from behind him, sounded like someone taking a seat, but he never turned his eye away from Tan Jacket. He wasn't really all that personable, the few he got along with were usually at the bar, most of them behind the counters trapped in bottles. "New Guinea, it's gotta be. There's no way he's from Iowa, his nose is too big." He didn't care if anyone could hear him muttering, he didn't much care what other people thought of him, since he didn't hesitate to tell people just what he thought of them.


The sound of a voice behind him did turn his attention, though, and he started, "Don't sit so close, you might leak all the..." he turned and saw Halibell there, "oh, so it's you, kiddo. How's it going? You set yourself on fire or anything exciting recently?" He didn't realize that it wasn't her voice that had caused him to turn, he had yet to even see Alex sitting there on Hali's other side.


@X3 Infernal Infinity


@Elspeth Caraci

 

[Elspeth Caraci]

((I have absolutely no idea what to say at this point))

 

[SoldierVAI224]

Jess is just waiting for the meeting to start.))

 

[BarkWolfBacon]

The City Council files in and the room falls suddenly quiet, they are indescribable. You assume they are men, but a few could maybe be women....its hard to tell when they are so featureless. Those are really nice suits though. The City Council leans into the microphones, and as always, begin to speak in Unison.


"We wanted to make an announcement. A company named Strexcorp will be opening a new office on the outskirts of Night Vale, by the Whispering Forest. A job fair will be organized, but considering all the positions are already full, you will probably not get a job at the job fair."


With that the City Council left, and Mayor Pamela Winchell took the stage.


"This is a reminder that you should NOT, I repeat, NOT approach the Dog Park that in no way exists. Also, next week is buy-a-mandatory-city-council-approved-bloodstone week. If you've been praying in your Bloodstone Circles like you should, you should be due for a new one anyway-"


A sudden crack of thunder splits the air, which has suddenly become heavier. Light objects not tethered to the floor began to levitate, and those with open beverage containers had the enjoyment of watching their liquid of choice begin to flow UP.


As per protocol, because this is Night Vale after all, many calmly began to leave the gymnasium.


It appears that shadow people, who appear like forms of thick black smoke, have begun to materialize in the edges of the room.


Just another regular town meeting in Night Vale.

 

[SoldierVAI224]

"Hmm. How am I supposed to buy a bloodstone?" She walked to the exit, gripping Lizzy so as not to lose her. "I don't have any money. Do you think they take skeletons?" Once she reached the exit, she looked back in at the shadow people and the few that had remained in their seats. "I guess I'll figure it out later..."

 

[ChronosDesine]

He was right. He left the meeting with even more questions than when he arrived. It wasn't that he didn't expect it, but it still made him feel weird. Aaron walked to his car but stopped himself from opening the car door. He looked around him to see the people who also went to the meeting. Or in other words, the whole town. It weren't that many people or at least it looked like it. Aaron lived his whole life, before Night Vale, in a big city. With lots of nosy rude people. He felt like he had stand with more people in one elevator than that there where people in this high school parking lot.

 

[Elspeth Caraci]

Alex sighed. Another seemingly pointless meeting here in Night Vale. Of course, this would probably come back in a few days and turn out to be super important and life threatening. Probably very life threatening. And dangerous. "Oh who am I kidding? I love this town." Alex smiled and stood up, putting her earbuds back in her ears and un-paused her music, it immediately jumping to a hardcore rock song. She began walking out of the gym, mumbling the lyrics to the song.

 

[Stickdom]

Max was interrupted by the speeches, which were the usual 'we're here to tell you cramp that you don't really need to know and won't help anyone, but we just wanted you to know that stuff is happening that you don't really care about.' It was the same thing every meeting, the only difference being the clap of thunder, "Bit early for rainy season, eh?" He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, opened it up, only to watch all of the white rolls float away and stick to the ceiling, accompanied by his lighter. He tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling, still sitting perfectly still in his chair, "Shoot, that was my last pack."


He decided he didn't feel like paying outrageous prices for another box, so he decided to get them back, one way or another. He took a piece of gum out of his pocket, careful not to 'drop' it and watch it float away too. Then, he undid one of his shirt buttons, coiling the string up to keep it down with him and putting the button in his pocket. He wrapped the end of the string in a small piece of gum and proceeded to slowly reel it out, watching it rise into the air. He reached the ceiling with it, and stuck it onto a cigarette, then pulled it back down to him, next came the lighter. This took a few minutes, so he removed what gum he had in his mouth, stuck it to his pant leg, lit up the cigarette he had, and safely put away his lighter. Then, he proceeded with this procedure, reeling the remaining forty-seven cigarettes in one at a time, replacing the gum with a fresh little piece in between each haul.

 

[SoldierVAI224]

Jess watched a man reverse-fish for his cigarettes. She literally thought that this was the most entertaining thing she had seen since she got here. Once he had successfully retrieved them all, she put Lizzy under her arm and clapped in celebration.

 

[X3 Infernal Infinity]

"Hehe well you're still as inventive as ever eh Max... Well you can add reverse sky fishing to your list of accomplishments now... Maybe they'll make it an actual event... That would be amusing to watch..."


Hallibell giggled kicking her feet a bit as she sat. She had sat through the entire meeting in silence paying little if any attention at all to what was being said. She actually rarely if ever paid attention at the meetings because they rarely if ever said anything of merit, or at least anything that wasn't completely boring. The thunder and sudden levitation of items was rather interesting though. She was momentarily quite glad that she had hooked her thermos to her belt and put a lid on it. Couldn't have her precious tea being whisked skyward without the presence of an abnormally long straw. She clucked her tongue a bit. Whoever's job it was to clean the gym was going to have a bit of a mess on their hands once all that floating stuff fell back down from the sky. Standing up she scratched the back of her head, having gotten her sleeves loosed quite a while ago.

 

[Elspeth Caraci]

Alex watched Max, slightly slack jawed. Once he finished she clapped slowly. "I always knew this town would be where I witnessed the impossible. Dude, what's your name?" She was excited now. Alex could make a story out of this guy. Looking around, she noticed a few other... Interesting characters. She could make a story out of all of these people. Alex would be a reporter yet.

 

[BarkWolfBacon]

Isaac was leaving when he saw Old Man Barringer reverse fishing. That man was some kind of genius, and Isaac had gotten sloshed with him on more than one occasion. But the shadow people materializing in the corners of the room distracted him. They had an...ominous presence, as most shadow people tend to have.


His phone rang, and Isaac picked it up, backing away slowly from the shadow people and heading towards Barringer, as well as a few others who had gathered near the center of the gymnasium


Cecil's voice came through his phone, the reception fuzzy, "What's going on, Isaac? I heard some strange noise and there is a purple column of light coming from Night Vale High...is Intern Alex still alive?"


"Yea, C., she's alive. But uh, there appears to be some transdimensional rift...or some shit like it- there are shadow people appearing all over."


"Ah, I've seen them before- uh...last time they appeared and chanted dinosaurs came out of a rift they made and attacked the town. It took the Secret Police forever to get all those Pteranodons back in that portal. what was it we did last time to get rid of them? Oh! Yes! Salt, you need salt. I remember broadcasting that announcement from the City Council."


"Are you fucking kidding me, C? Salt? Why do I need salt?"


"Well it makes the shadow people dissipate, Isaac, yeesh. Weren't you here last year when this happened?"


"C, I haven't even lived here for a year."


"Oh, well you know what they say- time isn't really real."


"I have no idea what that even means, C, but thanks for all the help- I'll give you a report when I get back."


Isaac hung up his phone and approached Old Man Barringer, the shadow people were beginning to chant something, and it was getting louder- the air whipping around in the gym haphazardly.


"BARRINGER!" Isaac yelled over the chanting and whipping air, "I need your help!" Then he noticed the young people around him, a girl in a straight jacket, intern Alex, and a few others.


"Do any of you know where we could find salt in here? Apparently the Secret Police forgot about this happening last year."

 

[ChronosDesine]

Aaron was about to step in his car when he suddenly heard someone yell. ''What the...'' He looked over at the source of the sound and raised an eyebrow. Aaron felt the urge to jump in his car and drive back home, well home? To his mothers home to be exact. Or the nearest town. Both work. But curiosity, fear, dumbness or whatever you want to call it stopped him. He wanted to know what was going on.

 

[Stickdom]

Max ignored the little crowd around him, watching his feats. He was simply focused on retrieving his precious little rolls of tobacco from the irrationally attractive ceiling. He even missed the sound of the chanting and the wind picking up as he tucked the last cigarette into the box and shoved it firmly into his pocket. But Isaac's call across the room snapped him from his focus, and he looked around at the bizarre shadows, moving on their own like a deranged puppet show. His cane in hand, he ran in Isaac's direction, jumping straight over chairs and even Halibell's head. On hearing Alex ask him his name, he hollered back over his shoulder, "No time, kid, these ain't no Stay-puft Marshmallow Men!" Then muttering to himself, "How did I end up in this Ghostbusters town?"


Reaching Isaac, he stood directly back to back with the man, raising his cane in front of him like a sword. "What do we got here, chief? Looks like the circus is in town a bit early this year."


@X3 Infernal Infinity


@Elspeth Caraci


@BarkWolfBacon


@SoldierVAI224

 

[Elspeth Caraci]

Alex rolled her eyes at the large mans comment. Do I look like a three year old? The Chanting clearly happened after I had spoken! Kudos for the Ghostbusters reference though. She waited for a moment for a response. Upon realizing she had said none of this out loud, Alex turned to Isaac. She knew the disheveled man, he often did some freelance reporting for the show, and she considered him "almost sort of a friend?" She had no idea what he thought of her, most likely nothing (Alex, despite her best efforts, never really seemed too make a lasting impression on people, if she had, nobody had told her) but she liked him. She stepped towards him and cupped her hand around her mouth to try and make her voice louder and shouted "Isaac! There should be rock salt in the janitors closet! Does that help?" at her top volume.

 

[X3 Infernal Infinity]

Halibell blinked as she looked at the chanting shadow figures. This was certainly turning out to be a fun day. Turning she made her way over to Isaac and Max, the heavy winds tossing her hair and skirt around her like some dark shroud. She giggled softly shaking her head dismissively at the voices in her head which were murmuring frantically to themselves. Moving to stand behind Isaac she popped her hands out of the long sleeves of her straight jacket. Bouncing a bit as she looked around she opened to pouch on her hip just a crack to stick her fingers in and feel around for something inside it. The noisy chanting would have been more amusing had it not made it harder for her to think and by that accord clearly hear the voices. It wouldn't do at all.


"We need to get rid of these specters... How terribly loud they are, all this noise is distracting when I'm trying to practice..."

 

[BarkWolfBacon]

"Halibell, I'd say you belonged in a straight jacket, but well...I think that would be lost on you." Isaac said. He spotted the janitor's closet in the corner of the gym and let out a frustrated groan as he saw the shadow people blocking his path.


"Alright everyone, I need some of you to distract them, try to draw them away from the closet. Cecil says the salt will make them go away. And Barringer... I'll probably need your help getting the closet door open, it's probably locked!"


The chanting reached a crescendo as a crack of loud thunder split the air, hair beginning to stand on end. Gravity was getting noticeably lighter now, and chairs were starting to lift off the floor. A purple orb came into existence at the center of the gym, shadow people around it in a circle. The orb was pulsing, undulating with light and emitting a deep warbling noise with every pulse. Men in crisp white uniforms burst into the gym, on their backs was the Strexcorp logo and the words, "Believe in a smiling god."


They approached the orb and began to scan it with some beeping equipment, but were quickly sucked into it by strange octopus like tendrils that came flailing out of the small purple mass. It was growing....





"THIS. FUCKING. TOWN!" Isaac screamed, his trench coat billowing behind him from the whipping forces of the orb.

 

[Stickdom]

Max heard only two words, "door" and "locked." He walked calmly past the shadow men, muttering to himself, "If I don't look, they're not there. If I don't look, they're not there." The decreased gravity took effect, he felt a few pounds lighter, which he didn't consider a bad thing, he had been meaning to lose some weight. A shadow person stepped directly in front of him, billowing and nearly intangible, "Well, looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." He raised his cane to strike at it, but after a quick mental calculation, threw it instead, end-over-end like a spinning tomahawk. It passed directly through the shadow person, Max wasn't sure how much good it had done, but the force of his throw pushed him into the air a little bit like a tiny jump, gravity was starting to lose its grip on reality. He jumped, getting enough force to launch his way over the shadow man, a feat he could ALMOST accomplish under normal conditions, but the extra lightness really helped. His cane had hit the far wall and was bouncing back, its momentum enough to send it back at an angle, directly to his hand.


In mid-jump, he caught the cane and swung it down at the shadow man's head, cutting cleanly through it again. But this time, it was different, the shadow dissipated and scattered, as if he had killed it. He knew that it wouldn't be that easy, the shadow would reform elsewhere, but he could take advantage of these few seconds to make it to the closet door on the far wall. He charged it, his cane held forward like a knight's lance, and it struck directly into the locked keyhole, and bent both his cane and the metal of the locked doorknob. He tossed his crumpled-tin-can cane aside, it was useless now and he had several extras in the back of his car. A swift and solid kick to the to the door sent it flying open,slamming against... a group of shadow men lurking in the closet. As he turned, the shadow men he had passed were beginning to close in behind him, and he could see the orb of purple energy forming in the center of the room. "Isaac! We have a bigger problem!" He stared the blobby mass of impossible shadow directly in the eyes, if it had any, and puffed a ring of smoke directly at it. "You're in my way, boy."

 

[BarkWolfBacon]

The Shadow Men in the closet let out a collective ear piercing screech, not unlike that of a pterodactyl, and began to close in on Barringer.


Isaac rushed to follow the old man, sliding under the Shadow Man that Max had jumped over. When he saw what was in the closet he cursed and frantically tried to think.


"Those bastards are guarding the salt!"


Suddenly, a few of the Shadow Men let out a deep boom as they dissipate outward, their forms giving away with an explosive pressure. Carlos, the scientist, is to Max's right, and throws a marshmallow gun at Max. Carlos, perfect and beautiful Carlos, stood triumphant in his flannel shirt, handsome features intense in the purple glow.





Carlos shot a few marshmallows into the closet, shouting over the noise, "There are only ten marshmallows in each, I guess Hasbro never guessed that people would actually need them in a life threatening situation. Thank god for the Sodium content in marshmallows though- terrible for your health!"


Isaac turned back to Intern Alex, Hallibel, and the rest of the other group- "KEEP DISTRACTING THEM!" He shouted.


Was that Cecil's t-shirt under that flannel? Are they...?...well I'll be damned. Isaac thought to himself.

 

[Elspeth Caraci]

And they don't even trust me with a gun. Alex smiled, Carlos, Beautiful Perfect and all that, had begun to save the day yet again. What a hero. Alex took out her iPod and snapped a few pictures of Carlos, she could use them for trading tokens with Cecil (Its always good to have someone owe you something.) She stood for a moment, contemplating on her bosses borderline obsessive relationship with Carlos, before deciding to do what Isaac (He didn't even reply when I helped him! The bastard.) had told her to do. Distract them. She could do that. SHe could definitely do that. Alex smiled and took out her iPod once more, moving to a fast, exciting song, and blasting it full volume into the air (After all, life is better with background music) and grabbed the broomstick that was lying on the floor a few feet away. She unscrewed the broom from the stick then held it like a sword. Which it most definitely was not. She then began to swing the stick around, cutting through shadow people until they disagreed, probably reforming behind her but what did she care? This was fun!

 

[SoldierVAI224]

Jess was shocked by all this, still standing at the exit watching. She looked at Lizzy. "Do you think I could help?" After a pause, she placed Lizzy outside and jumped at the shadow people. Please be there when I get back, Lizzy. She thought to herself.

 

[X3 Infernal Infinity]

"Oh foo... All this work...and creating distractions too... Oh here it is..."


Death Bell sighed pulling out a small silver stick wrapped in a small piece of black cloth. Cocking her head to one side she stared at the strange purple orb and by extension the weird octopus tentacles protruding out of it. Now that looked like an interesting attempted escape, but of course she wouldn't try something like that it was simply designed in a way that spoke of a high chance of failure. Even the voices tutted to themselves like a bunch of old hens at the thought and they knew everything there was to know about the art of escape. She paced forward a bit, a light skip to her step as she tried to decide on the perfect angle. Angles were very very important in her line of work. Some things could only be viewed properly from a certain angle. Some escapes only made by holding the body in a certain angular position. But in this case the angle was important to the overall presentation of the show piece she was preparing to present. Finding her angle at long last she pulled a match from her pocket, striking it on one sleeve and then using it to light the small torch.


Thankfully she had picked an angle where the wind was buffered slightly. She grinned at the flickering flame, her head tilting back a bit as she dropped the torch in to her mouth for a moment. Her niche was escapes but much like her idol the incomparable Harry Houdini she was not a simple one trick pony. Pulling the now doused torch from her mouth she pursed her lips for a moment, taking a deep breath through her nose. It was a strange trick and one she had only recently mastered, not the nose breathing of course but what was to come after. Taking a vial out of her sleeves she quickly emptied it in to her mouth and moments later spewed forth flames of a brilliant purplish hue, turning her head a little bit in either direction as she spewed the fire directly above the heads of the shadows. The flame really didn't taste all that good.

 

[BarkWolfBacon]

After Carlos pumped a few more marshmallows into the closet, Isaac let out a bellow as he charged in for the salt. He could feel the shadow people gripping at him, cold and clammy. He threw both bags over his shoulder, the shadow people avoiding him on his way out thanks to the thin line of salt crystals trailing out of a hole in one bag.


He plopped both bags down on the ground in front of the old man Barringer and looked at Carlos.


"What now, Carlos?"


Carlos, perfect and beautiful, opened one of the bags, closed the Janitor's closet door, and put a line of salt in front of it. Inhuman screams came from the other side, and it appeared the shadow people were trapped for the time being. Carlos shouted over the growing purple energy in the center of the gym, shooting a shadow person off to the side as he did.


"We need to pour the salt inside the rift!" He said.


Issac turned to his comrades, "Any ideas?"


The shadow people were retreating to the rift, surrounding it in a protective manner. The first sounds of life began to emerge from the rift, and they sounded...


like dinosaurs. hungry, hungry dinosaurs.

 

[Elspeth Caraci]

Oh crap. Why are there freaking dinosaurs? How do we pour salt into a rift surrounded by shadow people? Alex wasn't panicked per-say... more like at a loss of what to do."Uh.... We could throw salt at the shadows!" Wow. That is a really stupid idea Alex. Why would you- oh shut up voice in my head. "I don't know, can these marshmallow guns be modified to shoot salt?" Better. Much better. "Carlos! Could you maybe help out with that?"