Shopping Mall Mayhem

-Capital Crocus Shopping Mall-

Wearing a green t-shirt and black skirt with white tennis shoes, Victoria strolled into the Capital Crocus Shopping Mall and found herself back on familiar territory. She had been here a few weeks ago with one of Sabertooth's three Aces in the person of Gaia Sabin and had learned a lot about the mage. Gaia had a boyfriend, she had a pet ferret named Noya, and Gaia had a flair for fashion. Gaia was also on good terms with Olga of Olga's Boutique, where the brunette had obtained two rather nice outfits courtesy of Gaia.

Victoria had been tempted to wear one of them to the mall but was afraid to because she had a bad feeling that another serial creep was kicking around the mall somewhere. She did not want to lose the clothing that Gaia had bought for her because it was the first time that someone besides her adopted father had ever bought clothing for her and the brunette valued them. She recalled what it was like to actually feel like she had a friend in Sabertooth and liked the feeling. Today the redhead named Sarah Stone wanted to go shopping and Victoria had beat back the latest scheme of A. Kerwes, so there was a little time to go back to the three-story monument to consumerism that was the mall.

It was every bit as busy today as it was during the last trip. The crowds were out in force and all the stores were packed with shoppers on the hunt for a bargain. There were a lot of hapless boyfriends and husbands with arms loaded with shopping bags being dragged from store to store with no end in sight. Their morose facial expressions showed that they would welcome any release from their unending torment, such as a visit to the chain sports bar on the first floor with some witty sports-related pun as its name. Victoria wanted to find out what it was but could not see the mall map for all the shoppers crowding around it.

Victoria wanted to pay another visit to Resin Monuments to see if they had gotten any new resin figures that she could buy. She might also drop by Olga's Boutique and check out the outfits to see if anything interested her. However, the brunette's ambitions would have to wait because Sarah's interests took priority over her own. Victoria sat on a miraculously unoccupied metal bench and waited for Sarah to show up so that the shopping trip could begin in earnest.

[Word Count: 435]
[Total Word Count: 435/7,000]

Sarah had never really gone shopping before, so when she asked to go with Victoria, it wasn't so much that she wanted anything. She just saw it as a good way to bond with a guild member, and learn a little about her. Sarah was also curious about what it was that drew people to such a place, with no view of the sky, the surrounding foliage, or anything natural. It just seemed strange to Sarah. Still, it was nice to spend time with the other guild members from time to time, outside of work. Sarah didn't know what it was that had everyone moving around so much within the mall, but she figured it might be something important. As she made her way towards the map, in her usual attire, she took note of Victoria, who's outfit looked nice, and decided to sit next to her.


"Hey, thanks for agreeing to meet me here today. You really didn't have to, but I appreciate it just the same."


Sarah was slightly flustered, as she spoke, while not looking directly at Victoria. She wasn't sure why she was acting in such a way. It was a habit of hers, whenever she spoke with anyone that she found attractive.


"I don't really have any idea as to which shop we should visit first, so I'm open to suggestions. To be honest, shopping isn't really something that I was raised to do, so this is going to be a first for me."


She smiled lightly, placing her hand on the bench between herself and Victoria. It was a little early, but Sarah hoped that Victoria wouldn't mind the small display of interest. She also wanted to see what sort of places Victoria preferred. Mostly, she wanted to know how her guildmate was doing, and see if she meshed well with her.


While Sarah normally figured this out in bars, or on combat related jobs, the mall was a nice change of pace, and it was nice to see what people were like outside of such situations. It offered her a new perspective, and one that she had not previously considered.


"So, where would you like to go first?"


Sarah had only one real goal, which she picked out after everyone near the map had rushed off to their respective destinations. The sports bar seemed like a good spot to stop and get some drinks, but it could wait until much later in the day, and Sarah wasn't quite as interested in alcohol as usual on this particular occasion.


"I mean, I'm up for just about anything. I mostly just need to get a good lock for one of my drawers.....you probably already know why."


WC: 451
PWC: 451
TWC: 886/14,000

Victoria was a bit surprised when Sarah thanked her for deciding to go with her to the mall. As much as the brown-haired mage liked traveling and fighting the good fight against people like A. Kerwes and human traffickers, even she needed to take a break and do something other than fight constantly. Going to the mall was a perfectly acceptable pastime for a youth of her age. Having a guildmate with her was the perfect reason to go... not that she needed much of one to start with, but the presence of a guildmate made it seem more legitimate. When Sarah mentioned visiting the sports bar later on, there was a good chance that the two would get along quite well.

"It's no problem, Sarah. I was looking to do something different other than travel and fight." Victoria said to her red-haired colleague. They had only met once before on Crescent Island and had never run a job together. This would be the first time that they had worked together. It was nice to have a chance to get to know someone without life-threatening circumstances being involved.

"I don't have any ideas on where to go first either. We've got three whole floors of shops to browse at, so you can pick one and we'll get going." Victoria said to Sarah, who had briefly mentioned something about needing a lock for a drawer for a reason that the brunette had heard about. Victoria did not remember hearing anything about the reason needed for a lock, but she did not really question it. She just decided to let the matter go and focus on the present... and the crying children around... and the piped-in pop music that could barely be heard over the din of screaming children and crowd noise. Maybe "focus" was not the right word. A better phrase would be "try to focus."

"Where would you like to start, Sarah?" Victoria asked the red-haired mage. She would let her guildmate take the lead on this one because the brunette had no idea of where to even begin looking. She would stop by Resin Monuments, Olga's Boutique, and the sports bar... whatever its name was. Other than that Victoria had no predetermined destination in mind. It was her and Sarah against a mall full of shoppers, screaming children, piped-in music, and never being able to walk out with just what one wanted without making a lot of other unintended purchases.

The visit to Resin Monuments came to mind. Victoria had just wanted to buy the figurines of Samira Nassar, Gaia Sabin and Ryo Knetegawa but ended up buying two panda figurines and Noya. Noya was fine, but the panda was something that she did not intend to buy but bought anyway because she had enough money to handle the expense. After running a couple of jobs for Franklin Kerwes her bank account had just about recovered from buying the Crown of Persephone, which was a valuable item that any healer worth their salt would covet. Victoria would try to keep her spending within reason, but there was no guarantee that she could.

[Word Count: 534]
[Victoria's Word Count: 969/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 1,420/14,000]

Sarah was a little confused that Victoria was asking her where to go. After all, it was Sarah's first time in a mall, so she didn't have much of a plan besides the bar. But, she wanted to save that for last. When she got up to check the map again, she felt a decidedly male hand somewhere it definitely did not belong. She debated for a second on whether to tell off her offender, or handle this in a more therapeutic manner. Ultimately, she turned around and slapped the male, then watched him walk off. The mall was turning out to be a strange place, and she was suddenly glad to have some backup. After some time, she felt another hand in the same spot. Once again, a male who was vastly overstepping. After a while, she returned to Victoria, and sighed.


"The men in this place are such pigs....I mean, is it too much to ask for them to leave me alone?"


She laughed a little as she said so. First, she looked for the locksmith shop, but they seemed unusually crowded at the time.


"Great, the one thing I need, and everyone else apparently needs one too. Things just can't be simple, can they?"


After a while, she tried looking for one of those stores that sold a lot of different types of things. Once again, there seemed to be too many people already in there.


"Okay, I guess the lock can wait. Let me take a look here....the 'delicates' store is on the third floor, it would seem. I kinda wanted to come back on my own for that, but I guess there's no avoiding it."


Pushing through the crowd, Sarah managed to make her way to the stairwell, and climbed two flights in order to get to the aforementioned store. Upon arriving there, she grabbed three different designs, and walked into a changing room. Her general outfit didn't leave much to the imagination. Aside from a vest that was obviously not meant to close, her only layer up top was a leather bra. If Victoria had managed to follow her, Sarah would come out and show off each option. The first was just simple black fabric which snapped in the back. Sarah twirled around before she walked back in. The second option, which Sarah didn't really enjoy, was a little frilly. She made it quite apparent that this particular option wasn't something she liked. The third and final option was something unusual for a few different reasons. The first was that it zipped up in the front, and apparently was a little snug, causing Sarah to look a little bigger in it.


"So, which one do you like better?"


It was probably an unusual way to ask what she should buy, but then, she wasn't exactly buying for herself in this case.



WC: 477
PWC: 928
TWC: 1,897/14,000

Victoria watched incredulously as a handsy teenage male decided to place his hand somewhere it definitely did not belong on Sarah's body. Victoria did not hear Sarah give consent either, so it was not a touch she wanted. The brunette winced when the redhead slapped the offender, but Victoria did not blame Sarah for doing so at all because unwanted contact had to be dealt with swiftly and in no uncertain terms. Moments later the brunette braced herself for a swarm of mall security to descend upon the mages and force them to leave at best; at worst Sarah could be facing criminal charges for the physical rebuke, but Victoria would vouch for Sarah if it came to that.

"Yeah, men can be kinda... disgusting. That's all I'll say in public." Victoria readily agreed with Sarah's opinion. Her experiences in bartending taught her that men could be kind of disgusting, especially when they were intoxicated. More than a few men tried to hit on her when she first started bartending. Victoria learned to ignore the catcalls and lewd comments, but her late friend Gerald and the bar's owner Frank put the creeps on the road if the cheap talk turned into unwanted touching. Thankfully that never happened because of Victoria's age, but they did not hesitate to try to touch the older and more attractive female bartenders.

Victoria followed Sarah as the groping incident faded into recent memory and the pair went to the locksmith's shop. Unfortunately for Sarah there was a line of people who were in need of the locksmith's services. The brunette could feel the disappointment radiating from the redhead as the latter made a comment about how things could never be easy or convenient for her before pledging to search for a lock at a later date. Victoria caught up with Sarah at a mall map and heard her talk about needing to pay a visit to the delicates shop on the third floor... Victoria would soon find out what her companion meant.

-Inside the delicates shop-

Victoria hated coming to these places because even though they were courteous about it and meant well, the staff of such establishments never failed to remind her how flat-chested she was. She looked to the left as she entered and the very first display consisted of "Push-Up Bras" in different colors and styles. The brunette frowned even deeper as she followed Sarah to the changing room and slipped inside just in time to avoid having the door accidentally shut in her face. Once inside she witnessed Sarah display three different types of bra and was asked to help the redhead choose the best one.

"I don't think you're the type for frills, Sarah." Victoria stated to her companion in as polite a way as possible. Sarah looked too rough-and-tumble for undergarments like that. Victoria's attention then turned to the first bra, which was simpler and snapped in the back. That looked to be more Sarah's speed.

"I'd say go with the first choice... unless you like the bigger look of the third bra." Victoria politely suggested to her guildmate. The brunette had never been called upon to help with choosing bras for another person before. Victoria had very little experience with such a task but would do the best she could to help Sarah out. Unfortunately for her a staff member soon came along and reminded Victoria of her shortcomings.

"Miss Sheridan, would you like to see our selection of push-up bras?" A female staff member asked Victoria through the door. The brunette's face turned beet red. Why did they have to ask about that now when she was in front of Sarah?

"N-n-no thanks!" Victoria blurted out. She was equal amounts of embarrassed and angry, but sheer embarrassment won out over her outrage. Victoria suddenly found it hard to look at Sarah... at least she was not standing in front of Masha.

"OK, but if you change your mind, let us know!" The staff member gently reminded Victoria before walking away, leaving the redhead and the red-faced brunette alone again. An awkward silence filled the air as Victoria could find nothing to say to her guildmate.

[Post Word Count: 732]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,701/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 2,629/14,000]

"Well, I do like the design...but it seems a little tight. So I think I'll take the first one, like you said."


She didn't mind changing in front of Victoria, since they were both women, but it did bother her that the staff seemed so pushy towards her friend. While selling such products was their job, they didn't have to be so rude about it.


"Don't mind them, I think you look perfect."


After realizing what she had just said, Sarah blushed and looked away. She wasn't drunk enough for this. She wasn't being dishonest, but she was much too nervous about saying such things while sober. After a few minutes more, she spoke up again.


"I....I mean...."


She was stammering a little, and turning a more luminescent shade of pink with each moment.


"Well, I mean....you...um...you look nice...I guess."


Having said so, and possibly embarrassing herself, Sarah ran out of the dressing room. She paid for her new clothing items as she wore it out of the store, and looked for somewhere to hide. Perhaps the bar? No, too obvious. The bathroom? Even worse.


There were not very many options. Oddly enough, however, something odd happened around this time. Most of the women in the mall suddenly shrieked, and rushed into the very same store that she had just left. Unsure as to why, Sarah looked around. She didn't see any cause for this behavior at first, so she decided to poke around a bit. 


Most of the stores were now empty. So, taking the opportunity for what it was, she decided to go back down to the locksmith on the first floor. Once she'd procured the lock, the Smith then talked her into buying several other things, such as her own set of lockbreaking tools, several packs of lockpicks, and a file. It seemed a little odd, but Sarah wasn't exactly complaining when she left. She found it odd that the mall was so empty considering how much it had been bustling when she and Victoria had arrived. 


After looking around a bit more, she eventually found her way back up to the third floor, and heard yet more shrieking. Something was definitely odd here. The shrieking seemed to come from the very shop that she had just left, which seemed stranger still. After all, she had just seen the influx of customers to said store, so she was wondering what all the commotion was about at this particular location.

WC:412
PWC: 1,340
TWC: 3,041/14,000

Victoria soon got over the embarrassment of having her "shortcomings" brought to Sarah's attention when the redhead agreed that the first choice was the best one. Victoria slightly turned her head since she did not need yet another reminder of how flat she was and let Sarah change in peace. Sarah tried to assure the brunette that she looked good without either a push-up bra or having a bigger chest, but the redhead soon blushed as furiously as Victoria did when the staff member mentioned the push-up bras and suffered a loss for words.

Victoria was about to assure her guildmate that no harm was done when the redhead quickly left the dressing room, paid for her purchase, and hurried out of the shop before the brunette could respond. The brunette briskly walked out of the shop in search of Sarah and passed by a staff member who again tried to pitch push-up bras to her. Victoria halted in place and politely but firmly asserted that she did not need them... not today, anyway.

"No thanks." Victoria said to the brown-haired young woman who had been the one to make the offer in the changing room. Satisfied that the point had been made, Victoria then left the shop, leaving only an electronic DING in her wake. She had to find Sarah and explain to her that everything was all right.

-On the third floor-

Victoria had stepped out of the shop and had been outside of it for barely five seconds when she heard the sound of screaming and was knocked to the floor by women who trampled her and fought each other to be the first to enter the shop she had just left. The brunette lay on the floor for a few moments to let the last of the stampede pass over her, then slowly got up and examined herself. Aside from a badly bruised ego and a bruised face, Victoria was OK after inadvertently being used as a doormat by the panicked women. Focusing her magic, Victoria's hands glowed gold before she cast a Field Dressing spell that healed the bruise on her face. She then dusted herself off and wondered what caused the stampede.

Was the cause that Music Man guy?

Victoria's skin crawled just thinking about the green-haired mage she had dubbed "Music Man" during their first meeting in Silver Moon Inn. He was a certified creep with bad taste in musical instruments. He was also a member of a Dark Guild, but the atrocious music he played was reason enough to dislike him.

Victoria listened carefully and did not hear any music other than the piped-in mall music playing on the overhead speakers, so it was certainly not his work. Then she had another thought that she did not like to even consider. The more she thought about the possibility the more she frowned.

Victoria hoped that Sarah had not already fallen victim to what she thought was going on.

[Post Word Count: 508]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,209/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 3,549/14,000]

Sarah had been worried about Victoria when she returned to the third floor. It was empty, and it didn't seem like the other women were leaving the shop anytime soon.  She was worried for a few different reasons, but the most important to her was that she cared about Victoria. She cared about all her guild mates for that matter, both past and present, and didn't want to see anything bad happen to them. Her worries were dissuaded temporarily when she saw Victoria pick herself up. 


However, she was concerned about the abrasion on her head for a few seconds. Once Victoria healed herself, though, Sarah was slightly less worried. Still, she slowly made her way over to check on her, but she stopped about ten feet away. Was it okay to talk to her? Was she mad or offended about the manner in which Sarah had rather forwardly flirted with her? 


Perhaps there might be some resentment from Sarah leaving her to be trampled? Regardless of, and not knowing, how Victoria actually felt, Sarah slowly started inching away from Victoria. That was until she tripped over something, or rather someone, behind her. There was a short yet sharp "Eep!" as she toppled over them, landing flat on her back in the middle of what seemed to be a pile of women's underwear...all used by the looks of them. Before she had a chance to stumble over her words in response, the person whom she had tripped over had already disappeared....along with her clothes and the underwear that she had landed on. 


This left Sarah in a rather delicate position. She was unclothed, in public, with a bunch of lock breaking equipment surrounding her. Her embarrassment came not from her nudity, nor from the items that she had purchased. Rather, she was embarrassed to have had her natural anatomical anomaly exposed in such a fashion. Sadly, there was nothing around for her to cover herself with, other than her shopping bag from the locksmith shop. 


So, she could only cover one part of herself as she sat up and quickly grabbed the bag. She pressed it flat against her thighs as she looked around, trying to figure out what had happened, and where her clothes had suddenly disappeared to. She had hoped that Victoria hadn't seen too much, and that her clothing wouldn't be too far away, as she continued to look around, from her seated position on the floor. She couldn't stand to look at Victoria, or have Victoria look at her as she was. 


It was bad enough that she had said what she did, but to appear before her in this state, she really just hoped that this wouldn't get back to the guild in the form of a complaint. She had lit up in a pinkish hue for a while and continued her seated surveillance before she finally had to give up. Whoever it was that had done this to her, she would most certainly make them pay. But first, she would have to get over her own embarrassment, and that would be no small matter.


WC: 520
PWC: 1,860
TWC: 4,069/14,000

Her face and stomach still twinging in pain from being an unwilling doormat, Victoria was wondering what happened to cause so many women to literally run over her, but she had a suspicion that she knew what had happened. It was not that Music Man guy because there were no annoying instruments playing in the mall, so it had to be a wizard of a certain class. A certain perverted wizard of a certain perverted wizard class.

Her thoughts then turned to how to find Sarah before closing time. She was thinking of conducting a floor-to-floor search and checking every last shop when she had a sudden epiphany.

She was a mage. She could locate most fellow mages by sensing their magic signatures within a certain radius of herself. Unless Sarah could conceal her signature, Victoria could reliably locate her that way.

Using an ability that mages of every alignment had, Victoria began to seek out Sarah's magic signature in a game of "find the needle in the haystack". She turned to her left and spotted a flash of red that soon vanished from view. Unless the mall was suddenly a site of paranormal activity involving red-headed ghosts, the flash of red had to have been Sarah. But where could it have gone to so quickly?

Victoria walked a bit further and spotted someone with bright red hair sitting on the floor and using their shopping bag to cover themselves due to a lack of clothing. The magic signature matched that of Sarah, who had obviously fallen prey to that certain perverted wizard class she suspected was behind the stampede she had been caught up in. Victoria turned away from the hapless mage and spoke to her with her back turned to avoid adding insult to injury. Victoria herself could be in Sarah's place at any moment, so it was a good idea to show some compassion to the hapless redhead before the tables turned and the brunette was the one looking to cover herself.

"Hey there. Is there any way I can help you?" Victoria asked Sarah. The brunette never thought that she would have to deal with this kind of situation so soon after her first encounter with the creep during her shopping trip with Gaia, but dealing with creeps like that was part of the life of a mage. Compared to the countless other dangers she had faced over her career, facing down another wizard who stole women's underwear was such a small threat that it was barely a blip on Victoria's radar.

[Post Word Count: 435]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,644/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 4,504/14,000]

Something was stirring within Sarah, something dark, something that she had no idea was a part of her. This embarrassment had taken her somewhere dark, as dark as the aura that began to slowly envelop her as she stood, dropping her shopping bag. Her eyes slowly changed from green to red, and her hair faded into a more pinkish hue as two red horns sprouted from the top of her head. Her facial expression betrayed only one emotion, pure rage. Not at Victoria, of course, but at this so-called wizard that had placed her in such a demeaning situation. When she realized that Victoria was speaking to her, her expression softened a little.


"Um... right, sorry about earlier. I was just kinda embarrassed by what I said, much like I am now. But, I guess I can't really take it back. So, might as well find whoever caused all of this, and stole my clothes."


She was still upset, but something about being around Victoria had a calming effect on her. She had nearly forgotten her state of dress, until she noticed the bag on the ground, and immediately found something to hide behind.


"That's what I'd like to say, but I'm not exactly sure if I'm in any position to go chasing after him. Plus, I really don't want you to see me like this...not yet, at least. I mean, I haven't even asked you out yet."


She gasped audibly, and clasped a hand over her own mouth to prevent herself from saying anything else that might cause her further embarrassment. What was she saying? What was she thinking at a time like this? The matter of her clothes suddenly disappearing was more important, and she was going to find out who did it, even if she had to do it alone. She walked away quietly, trying to forget what she had just said.  Something was wrong with her, or perhaps right with her, it was difficult for her to determine at this point, as she walked into a clothing store to buy something to wear. It was a simple item, and the only thing left in her size. Her vision began to blur as she walked out in a red dress with lines cut down the sides. She hated dresses, and to be seen in one was more embarrassing than her previous state of dress. After taking a minute to try and calm down, Sarah walked back over to Victoria.


"I'm sorry, this must be very confusing for you. To be honest, I'm more focused on catching whoever did that. Still, I wouldn't mind having a moment to talk once that's done, and I hope I haven't scared you too much for one day. Anyhow, we really should work on catching this pervert. They're a menace to mall-going women everywhere. If only I had some idea of where they might go. I mean, this doesn't look like it was planned. Or rather, I should say that it seems more whimsical than methodical."

Code:

WC: 504
PWC: 2,364
TWC: 5,008/14,000

Victoria turned around and saw Sarah's facial expression radiating anger, but the former knew that it was not towards her. The anger was directed towards the creep who had stolen the redhead's clothing to begin with. Victoria recognized that fact and took it in stride as Sarah spoke to her and made a couple more mistakes, such as implying that the redhead would willingly disrobe if the mages were dating. The brunette overlooked the verbal faux pas and let the embarrassed mage cover herself up with the plastic bag she had been carrying and hurry off to acquire some clothing so that the Sabertooth mages could get past the awkward part and find the thief responsible for stealing women's underwear.

Victoria began to think about where the thief could run to after each brazen heist.

Where could someone with such a distinctive collection of "loot" in their possession possibly run to to avoid detection from mall security?

She initially thought about the men's bathrooms. Women could not go in there unless they were mall security and the thief might have accomplices willing to hide the evidence for later removal, but then she thought about it. They did not want to get trapped in a bathroom since there was nowhere to run if the heat came down on them.

She then thought about the possibility that the thief might be part of mall security. That would certainly allow them to get around without too much trouble and possibly even permit them to persuade their fellows to cover for them. However, she doubted that a rogue mall security officer would have enough clout to get away with a crime like stealing underwear in such a public venue and with so many witnesses/victims.

Victoria's thoughts were sidetracked when Sarah returned to her while wearing a red dress that looked rather decent on her... if the brunette were of that persuasion. Still, it was a nice-looking article of clothing and it covered Sarah enough for her to avoid public indecency charges. That was good enough for Victoria.

"All right then. Let's start looking for this creep. Once we find him, we bring him back to the authorities. ALIVE." Victoria agreed with Sarah's plan, placing emphasis on the last word so that the angry redhead knew in what condition to bring back the culprit once he had been found and caught by the Sabertooth mages.

[Post Word Count: 416]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,060/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 5,424/14,000]

"Right, right, sometimes I forget that we're supposed to be the good guys.  Still...I don't exactly know where to look, and I'd rather not get separated again, especially with what I paid for this dress...and my tape was in my back pocket.... wonderful."


Sarah let out an audible sigh at the realization that her weapon had been stolen along with her clothing. She still wasn't in the best of moods, especially considering that she was embarrassing herself at every turn. The day had gone from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. She had said so many embarrassing things to Victoria, without even trying to see if the interest was mutual, and she couldn't help but be a bit upset with herself for that. While this thief they were after had caused Sarah some embarrassment, she had caused herself a great deal more.


"Hey.... don't worry about those things I said. I didn't really know what I was saying at the time, and it's not all that important anyway."


This was her way of trying to fix whatever awkwardness her words had caused. She still wanted to maintain a friendship with Victoria, if possible, and while her earlier comments were at least a little truthful, she didn't want them to get in the way of mutual civility.


"So, any ideas as to where we might find this guy? I'd like to get my clothes back as quickly as possible."


By focusing back on the matter at hand, Sarah was trying to keep Victoria from thinking too much about the other things that had been said. Although, at the same time, she also wanted to get her clothes back so that she could change out of the dress.


"The sooner I change out of this thing, the better. I mean, honestly, I'd rather wear nothing, if not for the fact that A: I'd be arrested, and B: I would probably die from embarrassment. Don't get me wrong, it's well made, and I have no doubts about my appearance. I just don't like dresses...or skirts."


It wasn't as though she had lost interest in Victoria. Rather, she simply didn't want to introduce her foot to her mouth any further.


"Don't misunderstand...I do like you, it's just, the things I've said, when we barely know each other outside of work...I just don't know what came over me. I mean, I meant most of what I said....I just don't want that to ruin any chance we have at being friends."

Code:

WC: 418
PWC: 2,782
TWC: 5,842/14,000

Victoria raised an eyebrow when Sarah mentioned that her tape was stolen along with her clothes. The brunette had a feeling that the redhead was not talking about cassette tapes... unless her guildmate was a fan of old music media, the tape had to be something else altogether. Victoria put the more unorthodox possibilities out of her mind and focused on the present. Their goals were to get Sarah's clothes back and take the thief... alive.

"Eh, don't worry about it, Sarah. I've been in more awkward situations before, including the first time I went up against the panty thief. That's a story I will have to tell you another time." Victoria assured Sarah that everything between them was good and that the former did not think the latter was strange. The brunette had dealt with Music Man dumping water on her head during the raid on Silver Moon Inn several months ago plus all manner of other oddities like Florence Manderley, the medical professional who downed Strawberry Slam and coffee like there was no tomorrow while lecturing Victoria on the latter's need to give up carbonated drinks for health reasons. Then there was that weird Autumn Jamboree with everyone's personalities being flipped upside-down.

Victoria had been through a lot of weird stuff before this, so she was unfazed by a few remarks that could be easily taken the wrong way. Now that she believed that she had settled that issue, she turned to the question that her guildmate had posed earlier, one that she wanted to answer as soon as possible. Getting the answer would require the brunette to think, something that she did not do too often. Where would the thief go with his ill-gotten loot of women's underwear?

"I'm not sure where the thief would go, Sarah. I thought about it a little earlier and had one idea, but I don't think it's a very likely place. I thought that he'd go into the men's restroom with his... loot." Victoria suggested to Sarah. Like when she had brainstormed earlier, she did not think the restroom to be a likely place because it was all too easy to get trapped in there by mall security or outraged women. The thief would go somewhere they could be assured of a reasonably fast getaway should their victims band together and track them down. Maybe the pair should search in side halls and other like places.

"I'm thinking that he's taken shelter in side hallways where people don't usually go. He might be hiding where only employees or mall security can go." Victoria gave another suggestion. Since she did not have a solid lead, she was just spitballing right now. Maybe Sarah could chime in with her ideas and come up with a likely place for the thief to be hiding.

[Post Word Count: 495]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,555/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 6,337/14,000]

"I don't know about the hallways. Those seem a little too open....although, I did just trip over him out in the open. So, at this point, I'm not going to discount any possibility. In any event, it would seem that we have quite a bit of ground to cover. The problem with this is that he could, quite literally be anywhere. At this point, i would prefer to not get separated again. At least if we happen to be together when next we run into him, we should stand a better chance of catching him. I only hope that he has not already escaped. After all, that particular roll of fighting tape was not easy to acquire."

Sarah had calmed herself a bit since she had been able to clothe herself. She was still rather disgruntled about having to wear a dress, but it was that or jail, and she preferred her freedom. As to where the thief had absconded to with his hoard, those particular whereabouts were unknown. Whoever this person was, they had some measurable skill in the art of avoiding detection. Had Sarah not tripped over the perpetrator of this most heinous act, she would be none the wiser as to said act being committed.

"Alright, I have just abducted the undergarments of several women. Where would be the least likely location where someone might expect me to hole up? If i myself had perpetrated such an act, i would likely be of a mind to somehow make a profit while discarding evidence at the same time. And where might one turn a profit with women's underwear better than a shop that specializes in said apparel? I suppose the real questions would concern the depth of this operation. Just how far down the proverbial rabbit hole does this thing go?"

Sarah seemed quite proud of herself for being able to calm herself enough to use logic and reason to suggest something that the average person might find illogical and unreasonable. However, in her mind, it made perfect sense. More than that, it was the only reasonable explanation that she could think of, outside of a personal fetish, as to why someone would go to all the trouble of stealing women's underwear off of them. After a bit more thinking, Sarah postulated an idea as to who this person might be.

"Now then, if we run with this assumption, then the obvious answer as to the identity of our elusive fugitive is quite simple. They would have to be someone who could sneak in and out of said establishment undetected, which would mean that they would be either management, maintenance, or a tenured employee. Still, it does boggle the mind that they have not, as of yet been detained, or at least remained so for any plausible amount of time. That is, of course, unless there happen to be more than one of them. It stands to reason, since you have admitted to having had problems with one such individual before, that they might not have been the only one. And let us not forget the fact that the staff in the outlet seemed to be rather pushy with their merchandise, almost as if they were in a hurry to be rid of it. With this being the case, one could gather that the entire store, and possibly other stores within the mall, are in on this. It's quite simple really. They sell you things you do not necessarily have any intention of buying when you initially enter their establishment, then they steal it back, and sell it to someone else."

[WC: 603]
[PWC: 3,385]
[TWC: 6,940/14,000]

Victoria reserved judgment on Sarah's "fighting tape" because she had never heard of such a thing. There were countless fighting styles in the world and Victoria did not know even a fraction of them. Perhaps her adopted father Lawrence knew of some of them, but he was not here to tell her about it. In the meantime, she and Sarah had a mystery to solve and not all the time in the world to do it. The thief was still running free and the female patrons and staff of the mall were still vulnerable as long as the thief was free.

"If you ask me, I think that the thief is part of the staff. That's why they can strike and get away with so few problems. I'd say that if the thief is part of the staff, they'd be part of mall security." Victoria surmised to her colleague. She did not have solid proof of this theory, but it was the most logical thing she could think of. However, the Sabertooth mages would be wise to find proof before charging off and accusing mall security of complicity in a plot to steal women's underwear. That kind of thing would tarnish Sabertooth's reputation and possibly get them kicked out of the guild by an angry Ryo.

Victoria did her best not to let her inner conspiracy theorist run wild during her attempt to puzzle out who the thief was and who was helping him, if anyone. Running around making false accusations would not help their cause. If anything, hurling accusations without proof would make people side with the thief, if only out of spite for Victoria and Sarah. Therefore it would be prudent to go about the investigation with a soft touch.

"If we follow up on that theory, I'd suggest that we ask mall security if they've seen or heard about anything really sketchy, but be gentle about it. We don't need to antagonize them." Victoria suggested to her colleague, who yearned for both vengeance against the thief and recovery of her hard-to-find fighting tape. The brunette wanted to stop this creep on principle, but aside from justice there was another, more personal reason for her zeal in pursuing the thief. She was already sensitive about her flat chest and did not want it exposed a second time by the thief's magic.

[Post Word Count: 411]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,966/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 7,351/14,000]

"You know, now that I think about it. I do find it odd that nobody has notified security of what has happened yet. In fact, I'm surprised, if not a little grateful, that nobody reported me for punching that pervert earlier. The lack of an authoritative presence is more than a little disturbing."

As Sarah kept up her train of thought, something just didn't seem to click. It was almost as if the mall had no security to speak of. Was such a thing possible?

"Speaking of which, have you seen any form of security since we got here? I certainly haven't. How do we know that this place even has security?"

This day had gone sideways practically before Sarah could think. She had originally intended to turn this outing into a date, and it had instead turned into an investigation.

"You know, not to complain, but I'm surprised that this place is still in business, if such things are being allowed. In any event, I'm not exactly familiar with the layout of this building. Could you perhaps show me to where the security office might be located, that we might see if we can gain any information on the matter at hand?"

Sarah was trying to be as level headed as possible. However, behind the thin veil of clear mindedness, was a torrent of anger, frustration, and embarrassment. This was only natural, of course, but she was doing her best to hide these emotions, for the sake of remaining true to the guild, at the very least. She could always vent in the Talonia arena, if need be.

"So, just wondering, what's your take on fighting? For sport, I mean. Actually, just so you don't get any strange ideas about the tape, it's something I wrap my hands in before I fight, as a protective measure."

Sarah was certain that a few odd thoughts would have crossed someone's mind when first hearing about such a thing.

"I mean, I try not to wear clothes that I would have to tape down, seems kind of odd to me. But then, I'm sure that a lot of people think I'm odd. Truth is, I actually enjoy fighting quite a bit. Enough that I'm a regular participant at the arena. I can't make any promises, but I might be able to get you a ticket to my next fight, if you're up for it."

Having finished this chain of thoughts, Sarah considered the idea of there not being any security for the mall. That would make such an office the perfect hiding spot for someone such as the person that they were after. It would be somewhere out of the way, and if they happened to be security, it would grant them access to passages that the average person could not normally gain entry to. It was too good to pass up as a lead, and Sarah didn't want to leave any leads unchecked.

"Okay, Security is actually beginning to make more and more sense, the more I consider it. Especially since security guards usually have access to corridors that we wouldn't be authorized to use. I don't see how I managed to overlook this possibility before. So, how would you suggest that we tackle this? Should I talk to them? Should you? Actually, you should probably do the talking, since I tend to get a little carried away at times like this. I'm sorry that this isn't going well. I would have liked a chance to get to know you better before you had seen me like that. Probably would have saved me a lot of embarrassment, at least. But, unfortunately, it's not like I have the ability to reverse time. If I did, I probably wouldn't have let myself be convinced to buy a lock breaking kit. I mean, why would I ever really need to pick a lock?"

Code:

WC: 649
PWC: 4,031
TWC: 8,000/14,000

The more she thought about what Sarah had said about security, the more Victoria found that it had made sense. Compared to past trips where mall security was out in force, this trip she had not seen too many uniformed officers, not even when Sarah slugged that dude for getting handsy with her. That act would have normally drawn the interest of mall security, but there was no response, not even a single officer conducting cursory questioning about what had happened. Victoria found that strange.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen very much mall security. I'm sure there are a few plainclothes officers running around, but you'd think they'd have acted the moment women's underwear started disappearing. You'd think that they'd at least try to locate the culprit." Victoria started her response to Sarah's query. She tried not to let her inner conspiracy theorist run wild and make the leap that the entire mall staff was complicit in the thief's activities. While certain stores did stand to profit from the thievery, the damage to the mall's reputation and the damage to Capital Crocus' reputation would far outweigh any short-term profit that complicit mall staff could expect to reap from turning a blind eye.

"Unfortunately, I don't know where the mall security office is, Sarah. We'll have to consult one of the mall maps." Victoria answered Sarah's question about finding the security office. That would definitely be a good place to start their search. Maybe someone there would know if anything unusually sketchy had been going on the past few days. There was always some kind of mischief going on in places where large amounts of people gathered, whether it was loitering, men heckling women, run-of-the-mill thievery, or something really sketchy like stealing underwear while women were still wearing it.

Victoria listened to Sarah ask about how she felt about fighting and heard the explanation about the significance of the tape that had went missing. The brunette felt relieved and embarrassed when she heard that it was not what she thought it was for. It was Victoria's turn to feel awkward.

"Fighting for sport, huh? I've thought about entering the Road Fighter tournament I keep hearing about, but I always get sidetracked by something else. I also think I like fighting far more than a Legal mage should." Victoria admitted to her red-haired colleague. Other Legal mages only fought when it was necessary and did not take joy in it. The brunette, on the other hand, looked forward to fighting and brought a lot of firepower to the table whenever she could. It sounded like she and Sarah had something in common. She should have left well enough alone, but the brunette found herself asking the question before she thought it through.

"So that tape was fighting tape, huh?" Victoria asked. She should have quit there.

"Ohhhh, that kind of fighting tape! The kind I see those twiggy martial arts dudes wrap around their hands and legs! I thought that it was for... something... else." Victoria commented before trailing off once she realized the immense amount of stupidity she had just spewed into the air. The brunette's face turned beet red and she looked at the tile floor. She really wished that she could disappear right about now.

"I really just said that, didn't I?" Victoria muttered awkwardly. Things were going great up until now. Now Sarah probably thought that her guildmate was a pervert. If news of this faux pas spread, Gaia, Aura, Itori, and the other women of Sabertooth would shun her at best and run her out at worst.

"Uh, about security. Yeah, I'll talk to them. Yeah. Ready to go find the office?" Victoria awkwardly asked Sarah, wanting to put this dumb moment far behind her.

[Post Word Count: 676]
[Victoria's Word Count: 4,642/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 8,676/14,000]

"Hey, it's not that big of a deal, especially considering all the crazy things I've said today."

Sarah didn't mind the comment much, seeing as how it gave her a little insight as to how her guild mate processed things.

"Hell, when I first met Kenna...eh, that's a story for another time, and none too soon. Anyhow, all I'm saying is that I've probably said more awkward things than that since I've been in the guild. So really, it's no big deal. And, if you're still curious about that 'something else' later on, at least you'll know where to find me."

Sarah blushed when thinking about the one who brought her into the guild, it had been a while since they had gotten together, and she missed her company. While she walked with Victoria, she sighed audibly.

"You know, our line of work doesn't exactly come with a retirement plan. I've been thinking that one day I might like to settle down somewhere, but that depends on a lot of factors. I mean, considering all I've been through in such a short time, who's to say I'll make it another year? I mean, I've been abandoned, kicked out of my home, bitten by werewolves, been in fights with pirates, exorcised an evil tooth fairy, and dealt with bandits, and that's just stuff that happened before I joined Sabertooth. Honestly, there's a lot of times when I miss Shane and Luna. They were kinda like the brother and sister that I never had growing up. I don't know how I'm going to reconnect with them, exactly, but I really hope I can get around to doing that soon....and speaking of things I hope to do soon, I'd also like to be rid of this dress, but I can't exactly walk around without clothes. There's too many attractive women, present company included, that I'd prefer to not further embarrass myself in front of."

Sarah shuddered at the thought of the earlier events that had befallen her, and the humiliation of having to wear a dress.

"I swore I'd never wear another one of these after that photo shoot in the woods. I wanted to strangle that so-called designer so many times. But, the whole good-guy-code wouldn't allow it. Speaking of which, you never heard that. Last thing I need is the guys in the guild finding out that there are pictures circulating of me in floral dresses."

This discussion was only serving to pile on to Sarah's previous frustrations, and that was something that could have been counter-intuitive, had Victoria not brought up a more calming topic.

"Oh, that tournament! I actually took part in that. I gotta say, that detective and her friend really know how to handle themselves, and I don't just mean in the arena."

She smirked smugly as she recalled those fond memories. After a while, however, Sarah returned to the present.

"Anyhow, the whole thing ended up being pretty fun, even when one guy ended up being taken over by a demon. Exorcised that one the old fashioned way. You should have been there, might have made things more interesting. Plus, who doesn't fight better when they have someone as beautiful as yourself in their corner?"

Sarah blushed again at her own comment. Victoria wasn't exactly her type, but she seemed to be able to connect with her on something of a deeper level than she did with her other guild mates.

"And there I go saying embarrassing stuff again. Don't get me wrong, I was being completely honest. I just don't know what's going on with me today. I can barely think straight around you today, and to be honest that worries me more than a little. I mean, I can still fight, don't worry about that. It's just that my thoughts are a bit of a mess after what I said in the changing room. And to be honest, I'm sorry if what I said bothered you. That wasn't really my intention."

Code:

WC: 667
Personal WC: 4,698
Total WC: 9,343/14,000

Victoria was glad that her faux pas concerning Sarah's tape did not irrevocably brand her as a pervert because that reputation would make things incredibly awkward with both Sabertooth and any other female mages out in the world, of which there were plenty. Among their number were most of the Wizard Saints and three Goddesses of Ishgar. Victoria just decided to shut up while she was ahead and think before she spoke again.

When Sarah mentioned meeting Kenna the Sabertooth Ace and now co-Guild Master, Victoria faintly recalled something to do with tables. Was that the meeting she was referring to or was that a completely unrelated event? The brunette had no idea and was afraid to ask after mistaking Sarah's fighting tape for a completely different kind of tape. One faux pas was enough for today and for many weeks.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Us mages don't have much of a retirement plan aside from what we can muscle for ourselves. I'm trying to save for the future so I don't have to keep going into the fray, but I'm already in too deep. I've pissed off plenty of demons and bandits and slavers, so I'll probably be fighting for the rest of my life... however long that is." Victoria confided to Sarah. The brunette did not expect to live to old age because of her extensive enemies list. At this rate she would be lucky to see twenty. At least the pay was good enough to ease the looming dread with plenty of alcohol, but she wanted something out of life other than money and alcohol and fighting. She was having a tough time finding that "something" that would make the struggle worthwhile.

Victoria listened to Sarah talk about the last time she had worn a dress and her unspecified but strong dissatisfaction with the designer who had made it. The brunette had a hard time seeing a tomboy like Sarah in a dress, but it was not an unpleasant sight to think about. The redhead looked pretty good in the dress she had borrowed to avoid being arrested on public indecency charges, but Victoria did not dare say that.

Sarah briefly talked about the Road Fighter tournament and hinted at how the detective and her friend could "handle themselves." Victoria had a feeling that she knew what she meant, but there was no judgment on the brunette's end. It took all kinds of people to make a world. Of greater interest was the redhead's admission that she considered Victoria to be beautiful.

Victoria's face went beet-red. Very few guys and no women had ever considered her attractive before, let alone admit it in public. She had no idea what to say to that.

"No, I'm not bothered. Not at all. I've heard a lot worse, trust me." Victoria said to Sarah, whose body language indicated that she was being completely truthful about everything she had said so far. Victoria's mind flashed back to Francesca Corlone, that blonde bimbo who had thrown a Bloody Mary on her and tried to hit her with a thrown bar stool back at Silver Moon Inn. Francesca had also been the one to torture Victoria with a taser in the basement of the Corlone mansion. Sarah's words were nothing in comparison to the torrent of insults and abuse that Francesca had heaped on Victoria in the past.

[Post Word Count: 593]
[Victoria's Word Count: 5,235/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 9,936/14,000]

Sarah smiled a bit when she saw Victoria blush, this led her to believe that she was possibly on the right track with her comments. "I'm glad to hear that I haven't bothered you, because to be honest, I've meant everything I've said so far today. Actually, to be honest, had the day gone a little differently, I was thinking about asking if you wanted to go somewhere with me without it turning into a job. Something like a...." The word was sticking in Sarah's throat. Perhaps it was her revelation to Victoria of how she was thinking of her, but somehow she simply could not finish this statement. "Um...anyhow, I guess we should focus on doing what we're here to do for now. And I've handled my share of demons to, if you count possessed vegetables as demons. I mean, really, vegetables? They couldn't inhabit something more terrifying, like a bear?"

Sarah chuckled a bit as she recalled her first job, of exorcising a farm of demonic plants. It was more of a joke to her than a job. "Oh, and don't get me started on the pirates. They're kinda like roaches, when you think about it. You can kill them, run them out, and capture them, but they just keep coming back. The bounties are pretty fun, though. I think I caught a couple on my own. But, I feel I've talked about myself a little too much. I'd love to hear about some of your adventures as well. After all, I'm sure you've been on some interesting ones, especially with how the resort people treat you like you're their personal goddess. Oh, and if you ever feel the need to unwind after this, I have a room at the Inn. So, I'm sure I won't be that difficult to find."

Refocusing on the job at hand once more, Sarah looked around, searching for a map of the mall. Luckily there happened to be one on this floor as well. "Okay, so we're here..." She pointed to the red dot on the map, and looked around for the the security symbol. "And security is...." It wasn't on the same floor as they were, as the mall happened to have more than three levels. Luckily, each was detailed. "Looks like we need to go up a couple floors, and go clear to the other end." She sighed audibly, seemingly exasperated by the very thought of the effort, especially considering that she was barely keeping her balance on level ground, she wasn't looking forward to dealing with stairs. "Why? Why did it have to be on a different floor? I don't exactly know how well this dress is going to hold up once we start the climb. I mean, it's barely holding me in as it is. I'd prefer to not have to buy another one. Just remember, you never saw me like this. I'm going to see if I can get security do delete any footage of me in a dress, once we catch the one who did this to me. The rest of the guild absolutely can not find out."

Code:

WC: 522
Personal WC: 5,220
Total WC: 10,458/14,000

"Possessed vegetables? I can believe that. I've fought evil pumpkins on two separate occasions, once in Sakuramori and once in the Cursed Lands. Then there was the time I fought an actual demon under Hargeon Town... that's a story in itself." Victoria expressed her belief in Sarah's story about possessed vegetables. The brunette had seen a lot of strange things over her eventful tenure as first a member of Black Rose and then as a Sabertooth mage. She had seen dancing musical instruments at a party, pumpkin creatures terrorizing an isolated village, a foul-mouthed and ill-tempered blonde who was a wannabe mob princess right up until the police began looking for her, and a marvelous undersea kingdom in a state of decay. She had even dealt with an underwear-stealing wizard before at this very mall and she was on a collision course with a second panty thief.

"I haven't dealt with pirates yet because I've only been on a boat once, and that was a brief run to River Village to carry office supplies. I've heard that they're not too bright but can be dangerous in large numbers, kinda like zombies. As the saying goes, never underestimate the power of stupid things in large numbers." Victoria summarized her one experience with anything approaching the sea. She had served aboard The Eager Merchant as a hired helper of Captain Kooh and had found the job oddly satisfying, if only because of getting to see the open water for the first time in years. She turned away from memories of the past to focus on the present task, which was finding the security office and speaking to someone there about the elusive thief.

Sarah commented on how the dress would barely hold up through the climb thanks to her figure and how she wanted to get footage of her wearing the dress deleted once this job was over. Victoria was amused by that, especially the idea of Sarah requesting mall security to delete the footage. Accomplishing that would take quite a bit of influence, influence that the two mages did not have yet. Maybe they could work out a quid pro quo with mall security... if the Sabertooth mages caught the thief and brought them in alive, the incriminating footage might conveniently "disappear" as thanks. It was worth a shot.

"OK, I didn't see any of this. And you didn't hear anything about me needing a push-up bra. Now let's go to that security office. Whenever you're ready to go, I'll go first." Victoria agreed to Sarah's request, adding one of her own. Victoria was as sensitive about her fairly small chest as Sarah was about being seen wearing a dress. Perhaps they would both forget certain things about each other today.

[Post Word Count: 488]
[Victoria's Word Count: 5,723/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 10,946/14,000]

Victoria listened to Sarah talk about how being in the arena and experiencing the adrenaline rush of a fight made her feel alive and could identify with that, only her fights did not take place in an arena in front of hundreds of spectators. Her most intense fights tended to take place in private venues, namely abandoned military complexes on Snowfall Island and Shadow Island. Victoria had gotten a hell of an adrenaline rush during the encounters with Alexander Kerwes' mutants and during the fights she had with him. The first "fight" ended up with her getting stomped into the ground while the second went slightly better and was easily the most intense of their encounters. Kerwes knocked her around and slammed her into computer consoles with the promise of a repeat of their first fight, but the brunette gave as good as she got thanks to a Flashbang to his face and a Beam Cannon to his right pectoral muscle.

She then listened to the redhead describe how she had to fight to be taken seriously as a female mage, a struggle that the brunette was not familiar with because she happened to coast off of Black Rose's reputation back when they were around. Over half the roster was female and few people dared take its mages lightly, even the less powerful ones like Sassy Luminosa, Esialeth Rose, and Victoria herself. However, she did have to fight just to stay alive in the bad parts of Capital Crocus, which could be every bit as intense as the fight to be taken seriously as a female mage.

"I can't say that I've dealt with being treated as a joke because of my gender, but it's probably because I look like a guy." Victoria said to her colleague. Victoria could pass for a guy without really trying; the only thing that marked her as a female was gender-appropriate clothing like skirts. Sarah, on the other hand, was unmistakably female. The brunette did not know how to identify with gender discrimination because she had never really experienced it. The streets were equal-opportunity; men and women alike had it rough and had to fight just to see tomorrow. Speaking of gender, Sarah had raised the point that instead of male the panty bandit could be a female, which was an interesting point and a valid one to raise.

"Ya know, there might be something to that. It'd be pretty easy for a female panty bandit to hide among her victims and we wouldn't suspect a thing. Maybe we should take that up with mall security." Victoria voiced her belief that Sarah might be onto something with her theory of a female thief this time around.

Victoria's musings came to a halt when they arrived outside the security office and Sarah knocked on the door. After three minutes of waiting a rail-thin black-haired man in a light blue short-sleeved uniform shirt with navy blue slacks and black dress shoes opened the door. He clutched a white mug of coffee with black print that read "I AM THE LAW!' On his face was a look of stress-induced fatigue. He must have been the head of mall security.

"I'm kinda busy here. What do ya want?" He gruffly asked the Sabertooth mages. Since Sarah had said that the brunette would do all the talking, Victoria stepped forward to keep the conversation going.

"We're with Sabertooth and we're looking to stop the thief who keeps stealing women's underwear. I'd like to ask to see the security footage so that maybe we can help find them." Victoria started, turning left and showing him the guild tattoo as proof of her claim. He looked at it and nodded.

"Kid, I don't even know where to begin. I'm feeling the heat from mall management and they want this stopped yesterday. I've got all my people walking the beat and patrolling the staff-only areas, but we're spread too thin and can't even begin find the thief. There's just too many places to hide." The mall officer complained to Victoria. The brunette opened her mouth and he quickly threw his free hand up to stop her.

"And before you even ask, the thief's NOT one of my guys. I've checked their records from top to bottom and I've inspected their lockers. All my guys are on the level." He said pre-emptively. Victoria observed his body language with her special ability and saw that he was telling the truth. Not wanting to offend their best chance at finding the thief, the brunette did not argue with him.

"OK, we have a theory of our own, but we'll need to review the security footage. Can you help us with that?" Victoria brought the subject around to their need to review the footage. The officer looked around and sighed.

"Normally I wouldn't even consider doing this, but I'm at my wit's end. I need help and I need it NOW. Come in and be quick about it!" He said to them, ushering them into the security office with haste born of desperation.

-Inside the security office-

The man guided them through a small, cluttered and obviously shared office space with flickering florescent lights overhead and past four desks arranged in a square overflowing with papers and folders. The bland concrete walls decorated with posters advertising openings in both mall security and the Capital Crocus Police. Victoria kept quiet about the Crocus police and was rewarded when the trio stepped into a corridor lined with cardboard boxes that was wide enough for four people to walk side-by-side. The man stopped in front of a door with a keypad and rattled off a five-digit entry code.

A small light near the keypad flashed green and the lock clicked. He twisted the doorknob left and it opened. Inside was a bank of overhead wall-mounted security monitors and a central computer console with multiple smaller monitors displaying various sections of the mall.

-Inside the monitoring room-

The officer set his cup of coffee down on the table to his right and sat down in the folding metal chair. The mages stood just behind him and watched as his hands danced across the computer keyboard and images were brought into sharp display. Most of the monitors were focused on the first, second, and third floors of the mall.

"As you two can see, we've been monitoring each floor for the creep, but we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary ever since that last stampede almost an hour ago." He said, bringing up the relevant footage and playing it back. Victoria frowned as she got the distinct displeasure of seeing herself knocked to the floor and trampled by the women rushing to get in the underwear store. The officer looked at the monitor and then looked at Victoria, rapidly making the connection.

"So that was you who got trampled?" The officer asked.

"Yes, officer." Victoria answered tersely. He got the hint and quickly moved on, bringing up footage of someone curling into a sitting position before darting off to go find something to cover themselves with. The brunette recognized this victim as Sarah and so did the officer. After playing back the footage he reverted the camera's view to normal and turned to face them.

"Now I see why you two are so keen on helping us." He said to them.

"Yes. My friend here was a victim and I already fell prey to a panty bandit when I was here with Gaia Sabin. We don't want this creep running around and stealing underwear." Victoria answered. The man massaged his temples for a moment.

"You said that you guys had a theory, right?" He asked.

"Yes, officer. You see, my friend thinks that the bandit might be a woman. Based on what you've told us, I think my friend may be onto something." Victoria gave him the short version. He hmmm'd and began typing, turning the camera's view to outside the women's underwear shop. It was calm outside the shop with a trickle of foot traffic passing by.
The officer lifted his right hand to take a sip of coffee as he looked over the cameras with a view on the floor. Then he cursed.

"Oh damn! Not again!" He shouted. On the cameras was another stampede of women hurrying to the women's underwear shop.

"Quick, turn the cameras away from the shop! Check the area off to the side!" Victoria suggested. The officer wordlessly rattled off more keyboard commands and turned the cameras away from the commotion. Standing by a pillar on the same floor as the underwear shop was a long-haired woman who was surprisingly nonchalant considering what was going on. While the footage was not a smoking gun, it was certainly a lead worth following up on.

"That's kinda suspicious." The officer dryly remarked.

"Yeah. We'll go check it out. Tell your people not to be obvious when they approach... please." Victoria ended her statement with a request.

"OK, but bring them in alive. As much as you two don't like them, we don't want them killed." He requested of them. Victoria nodded.

"We'll try our best, officer. C'mon Sarah! Let's go!" Victoria urged her guildmate.

[Post Word Count: 1,660]
[Victoria's Word Count: 7,383/7,000]
[Total Word Count: 13,660/14,000]