Victoria was amused by Sarah calling her cute and bringing up memories of their first meeting on Crescent Island, the resort of choice for Earthland's rich and famous. It had been awhile and Victoria had all but forgotten that venture, but the brunette faintly remembered walking on the sand in a conservative one-piece swimsuit and meeting a far less conservatively dressed Sarah. That was the first time the two had met and it was the start of their working relationship in Sabertooth. Victoria reached the top of the stairs to the third floor just ahead of Sarah, who was putting on a brave face despite the discomfort she was experiencing.
"I'm glad you think so highly of me, Sarah. I mean that. I'm not sure what others think of me and sometimes I'm not sure if I want to know." Victoria assured Sarah that her kind comments about the brunette did not go unnoticed. The brunette did not care much for her image because she was fairly sure that she would die before she reached thirty due to the abundance of enemies she had made. If she died in battle, it was not like she was an irreplaceable mage. Sabertooth could and would find plenty of young, eager mages looking to take up the mantle of defender against the depredations of those who would threaten the world. That was how the world of mages worked... when the old ones retired or died in action, new ones stepped up to take their place.
Victoria's moment of serious thought was interrupted by Sarah asking what their plan of approach was.
"Well, if we go in like the Rune Knights and begin getting aggressive right off the bat, that'll scare them off and make us look like the bad guy here. I suggest that we play it cool to start with. You know, walk up to them calmly and not looking to punch their face in." Victoria quietly suggested their approach to Sarah as the pair began walking past the first stores by the stairs, trying not to sound insulting but probably failing. Even though she was raring to run in and grab the offender before they could melt into the crowd again, Victoria calmly led the way past the stores dotting the third floor and slowly retraced her steps to the pillar seen on the security camera. Incredibly, the long-haired woman in the footage was still standing by it instead of making herself scarce.
The tall woman had long brown hair with brown eyes and wore a casual but eye-catching outfit of a purple hoodie with a purple shirt and a blue jean skirt with white tennis shoes. She looked to be slightly older than Victoria and Sarah. Once she noticed the two mages she did not panic or try to flee. She stood where she was and smiled at them. Victoria was put off by how calm the woman was, but she did not betray this emotion and practiced the calm approach she had preached to Sarah on the way here.
"Hi there. Do you happen to know anything about a wizard who steals women's underwear with their magic?" Victoria asked the woman carefully since there was no solid proof that the purple-clad woman was behind what was going on. The woman simply chuckled.
"As a matter of fact, I do. Come closer and I'll tell you." She answered tersely. Victoria raised an eyebrow but approached the potential lead. Something fishy was going on here. The woman raised her hands towards the pair and focused white magical energy into them. When the hands were enveloped in white, she pushed towards the two and their clothes disappeared.
"I'm the one, but you'll never catch me! I'm too fast for you!" She exclaimed and took off running towards the stairwell the pair had used to get here. Victoria shrieked as her clothes went missing and she was down to her underwear... again. After a few seconds of shock Victoria clenched her teeth in anger and brought up her right hand in a gun shape. She began channeling golden energy into the fingertip of her right index finger and waited until it was complete. After tracking the fleeing bandit with her hand Victoria fired the Taser Spark and hit the fleeing woman in the back.
The purple-clad woman screamed and fell to the carpeted floor in mid-sprint, where she landed on her face, then began twitching and rolling on the floor in electrically induced pain. Four officers of mall security rushed up to Victoria just as the latter picked up the panty thief by the shirt collar. Victoria really wanted to pound the woman's face in with a fist, but she had promised to turn over the thief alive.
"Don't worry, she's not dying. She just got hit with a Taser Spark. She's all yours, just like I promised your chief." Victoria told the alarmed mall security officers, letting go of the collar and holding up the bandit by the waist. Two of them grabbed the woman by the arms and began hauling her away as the other two followed closely behind in case the thief recovered and tried to make a run for it. Victoria and Sarah had solved the case of the panty bandit and no one got killed. Victoria walked back over to the hapless Sarah, who had lost her clothing for a second time.
"Sorry about that, Sarah. Let's get our clothes back and go talk to the security chief about that compromising footage. Then we might go to the sports bar... if you want." Victoria suggested to her hapless guildmate, who had twice suffered the indignity of losing her outfit to the thief. Maybe having the footage "disappear" would put the redhead in a good mood. A visit to the sports bar would likely raise her spirits too.
[Post Word Count: 1,022]
[Victoria's Word Count: 8,405/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 15,684/14,000]
"I'm glad you think so highly of me, Sarah. I mean that. I'm not sure what others think of me and sometimes I'm not sure if I want to know." Victoria assured Sarah that her kind comments about the brunette did not go unnoticed. The brunette did not care much for her image because she was fairly sure that she would die before she reached thirty due to the abundance of enemies she had made. If she died in battle, it was not like she was an irreplaceable mage. Sabertooth could and would find plenty of young, eager mages looking to take up the mantle of defender against the depredations of those who would threaten the world. That was how the world of mages worked... when the old ones retired or died in action, new ones stepped up to take their place.
Victoria's moment of serious thought was interrupted by Sarah asking what their plan of approach was.
"Well, if we go in like the Rune Knights and begin getting aggressive right off the bat, that'll scare them off and make us look like the bad guy here. I suggest that we play it cool to start with. You know, walk up to them calmly and not looking to punch their face in." Victoria quietly suggested their approach to Sarah as the pair began walking past the first stores by the stairs, trying not to sound insulting but probably failing. Even though she was raring to run in and grab the offender before they could melt into the crowd again, Victoria calmly led the way past the stores dotting the third floor and slowly retraced her steps to the pillar seen on the security camera. Incredibly, the long-haired woman in the footage was still standing by it instead of making herself scarce.
The tall woman had long brown hair with brown eyes and wore a casual but eye-catching outfit of a purple hoodie with a purple shirt and a blue jean skirt with white tennis shoes. She looked to be slightly older than Victoria and Sarah. Once she noticed the two mages she did not panic or try to flee. She stood where she was and smiled at them. Victoria was put off by how calm the woman was, but she did not betray this emotion and practiced the calm approach she had preached to Sarah on the way here.
"Hi there. Do you happen to know anything about a wizard who steals women's underwear with their magic?" Victoria asked the woman carefully since there was no solid proof that the purple-clad woman was behind what was going on. The woman simply chuckled.
"As a matter of fact, I do. Come closer and I'll tell you." She answered tersely. Victoria raised an eyebrow but approached the potential lead. Something fishy was going on here. The woman raised her hands towards the pair and focused white magical energy into them. When the hands were enveloped in white, she pushed towards the two and their clothes disappeared.
"I'm the one, but you'll never catch me! I'm too fast for you!" She exclaimed and took off running towards the stairwell the pair had used to get here. Victoria shrieked as her clothes went missing and she was down to her underwear... again. After a few seconds of shock Victoria clenched her teeth in anger and brought up her right hand in a gun shape. She began channeling golden energy into the fingertip of her right index finger and waited until it was complete. After tracking the fleeing bandit with her hand Victoria fired the Taser Spark and hit the fleeing woman in the back.
The purple-clad woman screamed and fell to the carpeted floor in mid-sprint, where she landed on her face, then began twitching and rolling on the floor in electrically induced pain. Four officers of mall security rushed up to Victoria just as the latter picked up the panty thief by the shirt collar. Victoria really wanted to pound the woman's face in with a fist, but she had promised to turn over the thief alive.
"Don't worry, she's not dying. She just got hit with a Taser Spark. She's all yours, just like I promised your chief." Victoria told the alarmed mall security officers, letting go of the collar and holding up the bandit by the waist. Two of them grabbed the woman by the arms and began hauling her away as the other two followed closely behind in case the thief recovered and tried to make a run for it. Victoria and Sarah had solved the case of the panty bandit and no one got killed. Victoria walked back over to the hapless Sarah, who had lost her clothing for a second time.
"Sorry about that, Sarah. Let's get our clothes back and go talk to the security chief about that compromising footage. Then we might go to the sports bar... if you want." Victoria suggested to her hapless guildmate, who had twice suffered the indignity of losing her outfit to the thief. Maybe having the footage "disappear" would put the redhead in a good mood. A visit to the sports bar would likely raise her spirits too.
[Post Word Count: 1,022]
[Victoria's Word Count: 8,405/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 15,684/14,000]