With his gradually rising fame as 'The Escapist' and the somewhat constant venue bookings he was starting to get for his illusion acts, Daniel Tyler didn't really need to busk anywhere near as much as he still chose to.

But Dan didn't really do his street performances for the money, not now he wasn't neighboring on broke anymore...though the few extra dollars he always made from it didn't hurt. But no, he did it out of passion for his craft, the thrill of performing and the love of seeing the looks on peoples faces.

Dan was on the sidewalk entertaining his captivated crowed with a card trick, while on the other side of the road a mother stopped to tend to her two year old who was fussing in his pushchair.

The mother crouched down in front of her son, hushing him soothingly as she adjusted his blanket and seat belt in attempt to settle him down. But as she did so her son's skin began to ripple in an unnatural way.
The mother's face dropped and her eyes widened as her son began to morph. His face began to change and a light coat of fur began sprouting out of his face and arms.

"No, no, no. What's happening now?" His mother said very tensely. Her son had been doing strange things lately and she knew by now that he wasn't...normal.

But it only took a few moments before the light coat of fur exploded into a full body of fur as the boy morphed into a White-headed capuchin.
 
With his new formed body now small enough to slip easily out of his belt the monkey-boy slipped out of the pushchair and he quickly scurried along the sidewalk, darted past his mother.

"George!" The mother cried as she spun around to face the direction he was going.

George moved with insane speed and agility, weaving through pedestrians before zipping between the legs of a hazel-eyed Asian man.

"George! C-come here." She said in a baffled and defeated tone as she ran a few yards chasing him. "Stop him, please somebody stop him!" She cried desperately. Her arm outstretched as if reaching for her baby who was quickly gaining distance.

Dan finished his final trick with a flourish and he smiled he received his much loved applause.
He crossed one leg in front of the other and stretched his arms out to the sides as he tipped his head forwards in a bow of a true showman. It was in that moment that George leaped into the air and jumped onto Dan's shoulder, leapfrogging over him.

Startled and confused Dan shot upright and looked about with a 'who-what-why-what-the-heck!' expression, only to see it had been a monkey...A monkey? He took a few blinks, even for New York that was not normal.

Tag: Tetsuya Shinbo .

Well. One certainly did not see that every day. Here he'd been, out window shopping for a present for his wife, tiny bag in-hand, when suddenly and from out of nowhere, Bam! A very tiny little monkey with a mane of white fur rushed between his legs. A woman came rushing after the little critter moments later, and realization hit him like a battering ram.

That was no monkey. No little animal that played for an organ grinder, or did tricks on the street. Wham! That woman was somebody's mother. Bam! That monkey was somebody's baby. The final realization shattered the Asian's sleepy morning calm. The woman was begging for help. He spun to look at the little animal's progress. What had she said the kid's name had been? George? Fitting name. And he certainly was curious. As Shin watched, the monkey leaped onto some man's shoulder and vaulted over it, down the street.

He hadn't had much experience with mutant babies. Usually, mutations activated around teenage years. There was nothing saying they couldn't activate sooner, however, but just to check. Shin turned to the woman and quickly asked if that was her child. Because he was an X-man, and he could help!

"Yes!" She said. "Thank you! His father and I weren't sure, but this right here cements it! My baby is a mutant!" Now that someone had offered to help, she was starting to calm down. Not entirely though, because a moment later she shot the x-man a stern mother look and told him to hurry.

The X-man hurried. What else would he do? Shin rushed down the sidewalk after the monkey, shoveling his little shopping bag into his hoodie's front pocket as he went. His triangular pupils judged measurements to figure out the speed and projected trajectory of George's path. He was springing over shoulders and between or up people's legs, heading towards a building dead ahead.

The Asian passed the man the monkey had leapfrogged, bumping into one shoulder as he went by. He called out a hasty 'Sorry! Baby monkey mutant!'

Up, the monkey went, over the railing around the stairs of a stoop. Right through a window next to the front door. One that was opened a crack. Too small a crack for him to follow. He inwardly cursed, and tried the front door. It was locked.

Shin said some words babies shouldn't hear. "Of all the times to encounter a locked door--," Shin complained, mainly to himself. But out loud. "I'm gonna get arrested for property damage because I'm going to have to break down the flipping front door!"

He looked up, in the hopes of an open window on a higher level, or a fire escape or something, but he got no reprieve. So, with a sigh, the Asian raised his right hand and started focusing on creating a fireman's axe out of luminous light blue triangle shards. He could have created a Shard drill, but-- fireman's axe hadn't been done. Plus, he wanted to avoid barfing from the motion sickness today. The construct came together over several seconds, small triangles snapping into perfectly geometric arrangements that formed the shape of an axe. Then, he got ready to hack down a door.

Dan's mind barely had a second to process that he had just been leapfrogged by a capuchin and that it was scurrying down the side walk in the middle of NYC when he felt someone bump his shoulder as they hurried past in a tremendous rush. And before he knew what was going on Dan heard the the man shout the words 'Sorry! Baby monkey mutant!'

Most people would have been left wondering if this was real or if they needed to get a psychological evaluation, but the quirky Englishman's natural response was to join the pursuit. Leaving his hat of change there on the ground the street performer took of running after the Asian man who had a small lead on him.

"Sorry! S'cuse me. Comin' through!" He said as weaved through the foot traffic as fast as he could, seeing the monkey climb into a building several yards ahead.
As Dan neared the building he heard the man muttering a few choice words and complain about encountering a locked door. An issue he knew he could help solve, no problem.

Dan reached the dark haired man just as he formed an axe out of light blue triangles. Ok that sight made even the offbeat illusionist's eyes widen a little. Even he didn't see stuff like that very often and hadn't expected it, at all.
Not that it phased him much, after all there were stranger displays of mutant powers out there. Point and case they were chasing a baby mutant with apparent primate morthing abilities. And right now they had said monkey-boy to concentrate their attention on! 

"Whow! 'old up, Mate." The cockney man exclaimed stopping him from putting the axe to the door.

"I can 'elp with that." He said pulling two bobby pins out of his pocket and moving to the door. "Dan, your friendly local illusionist at your service."

Dan wasn't ashamed of being a mutant but he very rarely made his mutation known to random strangers.
For the most part he usually only displayed his powers freely around the inner circle of people in his life because not everyone was warm and friendly towards mutants, not to mention it could ruin his career. He would probably be condemned and branded as a fraud if it ever got out that 'The Escapist' could controlled locks with his mind and his life as an illusionist come escape artist would be over. Perish the thought!

So no, he put the bobby pins in the keyhole to make it appear he was picking the lock manually, but his eyes squinted ever so slightly as he harnessed his power and used his mind to get the lock open in literally three seconds.

No time was waisted before turning the handle and opening the door, "Did you see wot way he went?" He asked as he entered the building alongside Shinbo.

Tag: Tetsuya Shinbo .

The Cockney comment came close to being too late. The axe jerked forward slightly as the Asian halted his swing. He turned to stare at the unexpected stranger. The axe was light in his hand, but felt silly and overbearing. The man pulled out some bobby pins, and Shin took several steps back.

He’d played that Post-Nuclear Apocalypse game enough to know what a couple bobby pins could mean. Inwardly, he chided himself for not trying something simple and subtle like that. Illegal entry was illegal entry, but at least an attempt at picking a lock wouldn’t leave a door in splinters. Time HAD been of the essence, though. That was his excuse.

The man said he was an illusionist. Having met illusionists, the Asian man took the claim at its very literal face value. The man was a mutant. He could do illusions. He could also pick a lock. Moving on. It was an asinine assumption, and wrong on several counts, but he didn’t know that!

The act of picking the lock took roughly three seconds, and then the door was open. With a small slashing motion where Shin swept his arm on the horizontal axis off to one side, the tiny triangles that made up the axe rearranged themselves into a sort of makeshift gauntlet on one arm. Now he wouldn’t need to waste time resummoning shards, when push came to shove. He could just repurpose the gauntlet into something new.

>>”Did you see wot way he went?” The Englishman asked him. For the moment, Shin put the question on the back burner. He extended his hand for a quick shake and greet.

”Thank you! My names Shin. I appreciate the help.” Then he tackled the question. With a question. ”In and up, I guess?” He pushed forward into the building, leading the way.

As he walked, he talked. He didn’t check back to see if the guy had, you know, followed him, or anything of the sort. He just sort of rambled on. ”Hope we find the little kiddo soon. Not that great with kids. Always happy to have another fellow mutant at my back. Helping out.”

The entrance had windows on either side, and a landing that let people off on either side of the apartments. There was also a staircase dead ahead. Shin was headed towards that.

Dan saw as the mutant reformed the shards into a gauntlet on his arm.
That was one he sure hadn't seen before and he was both surprised and amazed. Considering the fact that he was one himself Dan didn't know an over abundant amount about mutants. Though he found the various kinds of powers they could have fascinating.

Most any normal person would have been left visibly flabbergasted after witnessing Shin's display of power, but for the eccentric Englishman it just sparked the beginnings of an idea for a new illusion. But now was not the time! He pushed the thought aside and grabbed the hand Shin offered to him. "Pleased to meet you."

Dan shook his hand with a grin, "I don't know what that was, mate. But it's amazin'" He said referring to everything Shin had done to form the shards and morph them.

He gave a nod, in and up it was. "Right you are then." He didn't waste a second following his new companion inside.

At first he nodded in agreement when Shin said he hoped they would find the kid soon, but then the not stopped and the rock-star styled illusionist gave a slightly awkward chuckle, "Never said I was a mutant. But I'm not bad with kids if I do say so myself, so don't worry." He replied with grin as they began to ran up the stairs.

Technically he hadn't just denied being a mutant, but he wasn't gonna admit it to a relative stranger either. Dan wasn't ashamed of who he was, he just didn't go around telling every Tom, Dick or Harry was all.

Reaching the top of the first flight of stairs Dan looked around. Then spotting George he pointed, "There!"

The magician hurried towards the Monkey-Boy who had come to a seemingly unmotivated stop.
As he got closer Dan slowed down a little so as not to frighten him off, "Hey, little buddy." He used calm and happy baby/pet friendly voice.

George tilted his head slightly, looking at the pair calmly before he casually hopped on to some pipe work before the men got too close. He wasn't gonna make it that easy.

And just as quickly as he had stopped George took off again scurrying along the pipes, "Oh he is a right little monkey isn't he?" Dan vented with very mild annoyance. No pun intended.

Tag: Tetsuya Shinbo.

(Ooc: Sorry I took so long to reply!)

Never said he was a mutant?

“You said you were an illusionist,” Shin said mildly. Inwardly, Shin thought “Hes definitely no Katrina.” He let it go, though, and moved on... right into the monkey’s den.

There the monkey was, alright! At the top of the stairs, they found him. The illusionist who probably performed parlor tricks ran to greet him... And then monkey ran away.

“Dammit.” Shin muttered, completely missing the pun. “He rabbitted.” Read: ran. Shin broke into a run after the kid.

Skitter skitter, George ran the pipes like they were a freeway. Then he reached the end of the hall, and— there was another locked door. Luckily for George, there was also a hole in the wall to one side of the door large enough for him! It was several feet off the ground, too high for a normal person, but for a monkey it was perfect! He slipped through.

Shin ran past Dan and rattled the door handle urgently. “Locked,” he said. He glanced back at Mr. Has a lock pick with a significant look. Unknown to Shin, this door’s lock had recently had a key broken off inside the keyhole. It was wrecked. A simple lock pick probably wouldn’t have much luck against a solid chunk of metal in a hole.

Inside the room, the monkey screamed. Loud sounds, like objects falling and some sort of scuffle soon followed. What the hell was George getting himself into?!

((OOC same))