2014.09.21:Trouble at t' Mall

Trouble at t' Mall
A fistfight breaks out
IC Date	September 21, 2014
IC Time	Evening
Players	Hazel Montrose, Misa, Nagi, Wormwood, Erzsebet
Location	Fashion Valley Mall

Begin Log

Ah yes, the mall. Popular spot for people from all walks of life. Young people fawning over each other at the food court, middle-aged couples with baby strollers, old people power-walking. A few members of that first set, momentarily short on young women to ogle, are hanging around and bugging the proprietor of a middle-of-the-walkway booth selling cheap baseball caps and such.

Hazel makes her way through the mall. The teenager has a shopping bag from the vitamin store in one hand, and her top of the line phone in the other. She peers down at it through her glass, idly tapping the screen with her thumb with exacting precision. The arm carrying the bag appears to be some form of very realistic looking and usable prosthetic. Looking closely, on can see the articulation lines.

The guys near the cap booth look closely at Hazel, all right-- just not at her arm. They try to address her at the same time, prompting one to elbow the other out of the way. "Watch it!" says the elbowed one. "Or you want me to tell Holly you were cheating on her?" "I wasn't--!" "Yeah, but /she/ don't know that!"

Misa strolls through the mall, taking in some more warm weather it seems. As is usually the case while making her way through the mall she has a smoothie in her hands. and is very obviously people watching with a bright smile. The boys turning their attention to the blond gets her attention rather quickly, as well as the joke. She giggles to herself but doesn't move to interact.

A Mall adventure for Nagi! She walks along not far from Hazel, cutting a fair figure in a yellow sundress with her hair a blazing vivid purple. She is quiet as she moves through, her tablet PC in hand, pausing to tap a few things out on it, pinch and zoom.. tap tap tap... and then continuing onwards.

Those guys gawking at Hazel really, really need to get over their hormones already. Alas, it's not going to happen any time soon. "If you know what's good for you," one of them says, "you're not gonna tell Holly a /fucking thing/!" With that, he grabs the other guy's shoulders and shoves him again, /hard/, to the point of crashing back into the booth and knocking some swimsuit calendars off the shelf and onto the floor. One of the metal hooks gouges a little divot out of his skin for good measure, leaving a fingertip-sized welter of blood behind.

Misa giggles even harder and goes to find a place to sit. One of her favorite past times has always been watching people beat the living hell out of each other! It's especially the case when they are upper middle class kids, half of them have never been in a fight in their lives, the other half take some crappy self defense classes that are more interested in charging for belt tests than actually teaching kids to fight... of course there's always one in the group that actually can fight. They're even MORE fun to watch.

Muttering to herself, Nagi intones "Taku... baka gaijin," as the boys behind the stands begin to fight. Her otherwise serene and ladylike expression is marred only for a moment by true contempet. But then, she raises her head, looking around, and rubs the back of her neck. She holds her tablet PC in one hand and with her other begins to rapidly type on it, turning around as though trying to get a pesky 4G signal.

Wormwood is just hanging out, you know...? Like anyone at the mall would do. Maybe he has a nose for trouble, because he's sitting nearby eating a pretzel as a fight breaks out. He doesn't get up or stop eating his pretzel.

Orienting back on the boys fighting behind the counter, Nagi frowns. She pinches something on her tablet PC and then drags it to one side with a finger. Then she doubletaps another portion of the cellular device...

The nice-looking blonde who started all this has been long since forgotten. "What the /fuck/, man?" says the guy who just got shoved, stepping forward toward his 'buddy' and swinging a foot upward at his crotch. Okay, that looked painful-- except that the guy just stands there, upright and seemingly unharmed.

Misa can't help but cheer as the fight picks up the pace raising her drink in salute to those battling. "Ai ya! what's he wearin a steel cup? Cheater!"

Hey, Misa, nice job sitting around and doing fuck-all! Well, that stops now, because while that fight is going on, other people /are/ noticing. A couple of them, whom Misa would recognize as Jesse and that middle-aged woman from the other day, spot a mall cop nearby and run over to get his attention.

(ed: Jesse is an NPC)

Wormwood continues eating his pretzel and sitting on a bench, watching. Did he even buy the pretzel? Who knows. He certainly has no idea what is going on, and has no stake in what is going on...and since there's no Good Samaritan law in prospect, he just dips his pretzel in a little paper cup of cheese, eats a bite, and watches more while he chews.

Mr. What-Nut-Shot? hauls back and throws another haymaker. This time, though, his would-be target goes wobbly at the knees and collapses to the ground even before he's hit. What-Nut-Shot continues to stumble forward, headed for a collision with Wormwood in approximately 1.2 more seconds.

Misa is on break, she doesn't have to do anything, except maybe enjoy the show. That sounds like a great plan right now actually. I mean seriously after this last month it's nice watching someone ELSE get a beating for once. She does eye Jesse and the middle aged woman as they move towards the guard... studying him for just a bit to try to get a read on him.

Ostensibly, Nagi is doing fuck all besides playing on her tablet. Maybe she's recording this for the bum-fights mall edition. But she does seem very intent on it. As Mr. What-Nut-Shot? stumbles forwards from his haymaker she seems to be focused on him now pointing her tablet's camera at him and tapping away rapidfire.

Wormwood continues sitting on his wood and iron bench and eating his pretzel. He has a tiny little wooden stick he uses to spread cheese on the end of it, wherever he breaks off little pieces. It smells like sharp cheddar, mmm. He drops salt as he bites it. He doesn't seem concerned about the man tumbling towards him, at least not yet.

The mall cop, to his credit, is up and jogging through the crowd as soon as he gets the heads up. He's not /that/ slow or unobservant, it's just that the mall is crowded and things are moving quickly. Speaking of which, What-Nut-Shot blunders forward another step and bumps hard into Wormwood before he finally recovers his balance. "The fuck are /you/ looking at, asshole?" he declares, reaching out with his left hand in an attempt to grab Wormwood's collar (or if he doesn't have one, then a handful of his shirt will do). Clearly it was his fault for being in the guy's way. Meanwhile, Jesse and Ms. Somebody move over to one side, maintaining a safe distance from this sudden outbreak of violence.

Where did he go? Wormwood has stepped over the back of the bench just in time to avoid the collision, and then steps back JUST in the nick of time to avoid a grab aimed at his collar. He finds another seat a few feet away, and then continues to casually sit there, eating his pretzel. He gets to the pretzel 'heart' which he pushes into the paper cup, squashing it down and collecting a bunch of cheese, then popping it in his mouth and chewing.

Shaking her head, sending her purple hair shimmering side to side, Nagi double taps on aomething on her screen and then makes amotion along the screen like she is turning down th ebars of an equalizer. She is probably having trouble with her sound quality on the video...

Misa watches the brawl spill over to Wormwood, turning her eyes towards the other boys in case they decide to start spreading violence as well. For now she's still just watching the fight, clearly enjoying it. "Hmm... I should get a pretzel..." she thinks aloud.

Well, it's a good thing Wormwood moved, because What-Nut-Shot doesn't wait to see if he did or not; with his right hand, he throws another punch, once again just assuming his target will be there. And /again/ he is proved to be wrong on that score. "Get back here, you fuckin' p--!" Before he can finish the sentence, though, he finally seems to run out of steam somewhat. "Aww, fuck it, you're not worth it." He turns away, shaking his head-- then spots the uniform bearing down on him, and it's his turn to leg it in a hurry. /That/ guy actually has a weapon, and on a good day might actually remember how to use it! Not good odds there.

Wormwood finishes his pretzel and crumbles up the little paper cup, tossing it in the trash. He stands up and brushes salt off of himself, then stands up and stretches, watching the...'fight guys'? Curiously. He still doesn't seem to be entirely clear on just what happened or why...and why it's dying down.

Pretzels are popular this evening. Do they grant some sort of super nonchalant dodging powers? Jesse and Ms. Whatshername are in line to buy some as well, satisfied that the threat of spreading violence has been properly dealt with. (Has it been? Good question. Mall cop and What-Nut-Shot have rounded a corner and gone outside line of sight from the food court.)

Misa watches the fighters disband and sighs. Not as much fun this time as that one girl fight. She sighs and scans the crowd again, this time her eyes move to the woman with Jesse for a few moments before she shrugs and goes to get that pretzel she promised herself.

Meanwhile, remember that guy who got thrown around earlier? He's just getting up again. Remember what he and What-Nut-Shot were fighting about in the first place? He does. "Hey, wait up!" he calls out, spotting Hazel again (who had wandered off just a little too early to catch the action) and jogging after her. He's damn well going to mack on /somebody/ before the evening finishes running its course.

She tries to be nonchalant about it, but Nagi moves to chase after the mall cop and Mr. What-Nut-Shot?. Granted, a purple haired Japanese girl in a canary yellow sundress is not the least noticable thing in existence, especially when she breaks into a run.

Misa watches the woman in yellow run off because... well who wouldn't? Seriously that many colors it's kind of hard NOT to look. The human eye is designed, afterall, to be especially attentive of bright colors and movement. She pulls out her phone and types something into it, turning to face away from Jesse and the lady with him for now.

In the line for Auntie Anne's, Jesse turns around and waves casually to Misa. "Oh, hey. Smoothie girl, right?" He remembers something about a spilled drink and an apology, it's a little fuzzy by now.

Meanwhile, off in the other direction, it's the First Annual Running of the Bullies! Or, bully, singular. Other shoppers hurry to get out of their way, or occasionally don't hurry enough and get jostled. If he makes it out to the parking lot then they can't do nothing to him, right?

Wormwood moves over towards a large potted plant, and then watches the purple haired asian girl chase after the dude who was previously fighting the other dude who is chasing after the pretty girl. He watches this curiously, arching a bald brow, and still looking completely dumbfounded about whatever it is he walked into. He wanders over towards a frozen lemonade truck, though, since nothing seems to be happening RIGHT NOW.

(ed: previous pose edited slightly to clarify which NPC is which)

While on the run, Nagi holds her tablet PC in front of her. She's a dexterous little minx, you have to give her that, and she runs like a machine. her fingers drift over the screen and then make a counterclockwise motion as she keeps her camera on the cop chasing Mr. What-Nut-Shot?

Scene-set: A NPC (Mr. What-Nut-Shot?) is running away from the food court toward the parking lot, a mall cop chasing after him, and Nagi chasing after /him. In another direction, another NPC who looks a bit disheveled is wandering off after Hazel (who dc'ed early in the scene) and trying to chat her up.

And Misa is in line to buy a pretzel, where she's just been addressed by a third NPC (Jesse) who seems to recognize her from some past event.

Misa giggles and nods as she turns around when Jesse calls out for smoothy girl. She puts her phone away and waves. "Yep! That'd be me! Err... sorry again about that. Seriously from behind you looked just like Anthony. I'm SO sorry about that."

Erzsebet watches the drama unfold. The moron being chased by the other moron in a mall security outfit is no surprise, other than why the mall cop is so motivated to fight for no prestige and eight bucks an hour. Decisions decision, watch to see if anyone died or go steal a dress when no one is watching. Oh sure she can afford a dress but why bother? Then again watching super mall cop run is pretty amusing. Is that woman seriously running and recording with her laptop. Awkward! She raises a WTF eyebrow at Misa.

Wormwood is standing near a potted plant. He was watching the chaos spill out in every direction, but when the chaos is gone, it's hard to keep his attention, and he starts looking around, looking for something new to grab him. Now that he's done with his pretzel, at least. Ooh, is that a lemonaid stand?

Jesse totally buys it, or seems to; his voice is the very picture of sincerity. If, y'know, pictures were audible. "Well, that makes sense. He must've been a jerk to you, huh?" It's a matter of casual interest to him, he's also paying attention to how much cinnamon and cheese sauce they're adding to his cardboard tray o' carbohydrates.

Elsewhere, the bully is going to get away scot free! He can see those sliding doors right up ahead-- but he misses spotting a wad of chewing gum that some kid ditched earlier, one of his designer sneakers landing squarely on top of it. It's not strong enough to make him trip and fall down or anything, but it does throw off his pace for just a second, and that's long enough for the cop to catch up to him and shove him up against a wall. "Nice try, pal," he mutters, taking out a pair of handcuffs and slapping them on the kid. Wow, they gave him actual working metal handcuffs!

Misa shrugs and sighs as she scratches the back of her head. "Well... yeah. I mean I mighta... I shoulda been better to him. My fault I guess." she says, her posture changing quickly. One knee bends inward to shift her appearence off balance, she lowers her gaze towards Jesse's feet as her shoulders slouch. All in all she looks off balance, insecure and strangely vulnerable. "Sorry again about that. I got a little angry thinkin he was cheatin on me again..." Misa even manages to make herself blush as she looks up to Jesse's companion. "Oh! Uhh right, who's yer friend?"

Erzsebet is looking in the window of a fashion boutique by the food court. There is a lovely white gown there made of two cloths. The first is a translucent white material and the second a white silk. One sleeve is long and the other non existent. The Collar is very high on the long sleeve side and then plunged indecently down on the other. The pattern of the dress seems to resemble a tree in winter. Erzsebet claps her hands. "Its the same as my old gown that got ruined!". She sighs with delight, imagining how much sexier she will be in that crazy get up once more.

Standing nearby the apprehension, having slowed down to a trot and finally veered off to the side when the cop caught up with the bully, Nagi keeps her camera on her tablet trained on the scene for the time being. She waits, at a safe distance, to be sure the mall cop has the guy apprehended.

What-Nut-Shot glowers as he's restrained. Dammit, he was gonna /make it/, how did this happen? "I know my rights," he says, "I don't gotta tell you nothing!" Never mind that probably a hundred people saw him hit that other guy, and try to hit that weird bald dude too.

Jesse looks confused. Friend? The older woman follows Misa's gaze, though, and realizes she's the one Misa is talking about. "I'm Kendra, I'm Jesse's mother," she introduces herself, offering Misa a well-manicured hand. "You must be one of his school friends."

Wormwood wanders over to the Frozen Lemonade stand. Whoever was working there must have been scared off by the fight, so he takes a moment to reach behind and get a cup, then jerk the nozzle, helping himself to a cup, and a staw, which he sticks into it, watching Misa's embarrassing encounter nearby with a bored sort of look, now that all the drama and action is gone.

Frowning faintly, Nagi slides her finger across the tactile screen of her sleek tablet and then begins to murmur something softly into it where she stands outside of earshot of the police officer and the detainee....

And then Erzsebet notices Misa picking up on some guy who probably lives with his Mom. This looks more entertaining so she heads in that direction. She doesnt interrupt the conversation verbally, just moves over and orders a soda from a vendor directly in the asian womans line of sight.

Misa nods quickly, then stops and shakes her head before breaking into more giggles. "Oh no, oh man if I saw him around school after that I think I'd die!" she exclaims. Oh yeah, she sees Erz, but that doesn't seem to change the direction she's going at all. "I mean embarassing enough mistaken a stranger for my boyfriend and dumpin a soothy on him, if I saw him in class I think I'd just crawl under my desk and never come out."

Wormwood continues sipping on his Frozen Lemonade as he watches Misa. After a few moments of this awkwardness, however, he simply shrugs, perhaps deciding he didn't need to see this, and so, begins to wander off with his stolen lemonade. Did he even pay for that pretzel? Probably grabbed it in all the confusion earlier. Bastard. Where are those security guards when you REALLY need them? Hahaha...

Misa's retelling of the story draws an arched brow from Jesse's mom, but if he's cool with it then she doesn't raise too much of a fuzz. "Oh, I see," she murmurs. "Well, hurry up and pick what you want," she adds, "we need to go back home so you can start on your homework and get a good night's sleep."

A few more taps and swipes and Nagi walks away from the scene with Wut-Nut-Punch and the mall cop. Things appear under control now, but she is not walking away fast and has her ears peeled...

Misa nods quickly again as she hears the comment about homework. "Ai ya! I have a report due!" she shouts, leaving teh guy at the pretzel counter about to ask her for her order confused as she bolts away, making her way towards the doors that the strangely fit mall guard ran for. Seriously, that has to be like the third person in a uniform she's seen that weighed less than the golf cart they tooled around in.

That cop almost weighs as little as Misa herself does. By the time she gets that far away, though, they're already out of sight. Well, at least the guy isn't being allowed to run around loose and cause more trouble. And Jesse and his mom have picked up their orders and moved on as well, pausing just long enough to do a bit of window-shopping along the way. Ooh, next time she'll have to go in and ask about that one in the window of the corner shop.

Misa doesn't really bother spending much time looking for the guard or his charge, she's got more info, which is all she really needed. She can catch up with that purple haired lady some other time about what happened. I mean seriously, how hard can it be to find her? She shoots someone a text on her phone as she slips off into the night.

---

End Log