"I'm sorry." you say to the shapeshifter. "But my friend isn't comfortable handing out with you. Maybe we'll talk later, okay?"

Monster transforms into a regal king with a crown nearly as tall as himself and a trailing cloak nearly twice.

"Uh! Gah! Sir, you have offended me, sir, so sir, I shall take my leave of you...sir!"

With that, the king turns, but suddenly turns back to you, now in the form of a withered old man in a cloak.

"But it's dangerous to go alone. Here, take this--my permission to copy my powers, Xenographer!"

New Permission: Monster

--it seems to be some kind of shapeshifting, but without more information, you'll not know the specifics without trying it yourself

"And use it. You'll like it, I guarantee it.'

Monster looks to the sky, holds his arms out, and then vanishes, leaving behind a cloak on the sand.

Sam stands over the cloak. "Do I have to kick you or something?"

"Sam, don't!" Edith says.

"Get out of here!" Sam shouts at the blanket.

It scampers off, yipping like a whipped dog. 'Yipe! Yipe! Yipe! Yipe!"

Edith giggles. Sam shoots her a look.

"What?" Edith asks, "He's funny sometimes. Like, legitimately funny."

Sam shakes his head.

"I'm not saying he's funny all the time!"

"Well, let's get going then." Sam picks up Edith's dinner from the sand. "And lets home we don't suddenly run into Tommy Taylor or Harmony to round out the list."

"Oh! My burgers!" Edith exclaims. "Thank you, Sam, I forget they were there!"

Sam smiles. "I figured you would."

......

Up on the boardwalk, you and your friends follow the smiling cartoon signs of Old Ironsides pointing his tail to the ferry station. You get in line behind a kid with a balloon shaped like a Thule eye and a large vanilla ice cream cone with sprinkles.

Man, now you want icecream. Oh well. Maybe later tonight before you go to All-Nighter's you can zip by Johnny Winter's and pick you up some.

"So, what's the deal about Monster?" you ask your friends.

"You know how some people are real explicit about who they are?" Sam asks. "Like a dude calls himself Headstone and his vocation of choice is in fact putting people several feet under? He's a little monster. That's what he is."

"So Monster is his supername? What's his real name?"

Sam takes an exasperated breath. "That is his real name. Okay, let's start at the beginning with him..."