"Teleporting would be cheating," Victoria replied. "Why not drive us in this night air back to the apartment?"

  He laughed, and said "My pleasure to take you home whichever way you like, my love."

"Let's ride then," Victoria said, looking forward to a ride with her Demon Knight.

  He grinned, and picked her up, setting her in front of him, sidesaddle on the Harley, as he straddled it, his big, warm form right against her back as he kissed the top of her head, then took hold of the handlebars to start the big bike.  It rumbled to life like a growly Demon itself, and he rumbled in her ear "The long way, or the short way?  If you want to tool around, I don't mind, love."

"Long and scenic is good," Victoria said, leaning on Andy.

  He smiled, and  she felt his tail snake around her waist, holding her close as he rolled the bike out of the parking space, and then into motion.  "Up and apast the cliffs and around the bay then, my lovely Victoria.  And I will enjoy every moment of it." Which was true, he would.  And he headed them out toward the cliff road to take in the scenery.

_------------->> streets of Weston

>>>To The Streets>>>

Third time's the charm. There was no escape this time. At least, that was the plan.

Truth was, Liron had bungled his last two job interviews with a mix of stammering and fidgeting. He didn't feel confident about this one either, but he needed the money: after making a list of everything he'd need as peltast, he had realised he was miles over budget. Anyway, experience was useful to have as it seemed just about any job above a cashier required a mound of experience.

He adjusted his tie for the fifth time, and fretted over his suit. Was he overdressed? Would the interviewer expect more from him? Could he sell himself without stumbling over his words. Liron sighed, and gave an exasperated laugh. It was a cashier job - how was he getting worked up over this? Swallowing his fear, he walked into what would hopefully be his new workplace, stopping at the desk and announcing: "Here for the job. Do I wait anywhere? Go anywhere? What do I do?" already, he was rubbing his hand nervously, face locked into an awkward smile.

  The person behind the counter directed him to the manager's office for his job interview, the fellow in question not much different than Liron, really, being maybe 24 and probably in college, and wearing a rather rumpled suit and a tie that had definitely seen better days.  He said "I will be honest, we are in bad need of a cashier who isn't going to be terrified every time a parahuman walks into this store.  Tell me you can do basic addition, subtraction, and you won't shit your pants when some of the local parahumans come in, and you'll be hired on the spot."

Liron opened his mouth to greet his interviewer, and promptly shut it as the situation was explained to him. Were parahumans coming in for groceries that common? He hid a smile as he imagined someone like dragon fist coming in to pick up some milk an eggs. Snapping back, he replied: "I can do sums fine,
and I should be able to handle any parahumans"

Anyways, he thought to himself, I doubt anyone would expect the damn cashier to start launching spears at people. He let himself grin a little, and asked "So, is there any paperwork I need to do? Anything I've got to sign?"

  The manager handed him the standard forms that one filled out, with all the lovely tax information and such to keep  the IRS from hunting him for not paying taxes, and said "Fill those out, and you can start tomorrow at nine AM sharp."

  The electronics store on the ground floor of the mall had an exterior access point for deliveries.  Some electronics didn't like traveling any further than needed, after all.  The alarms went off at twenty to five in the morning, and indicated the loading doors were forcibly opened, breaking the latches.  The alert reached the Weston police and dispatch called for a unit to respond to the security breach.  B and E was more than simple mall security should be handling, after all.

4:40 am is ENTIRELY too early in the morning for Mittens to be out and about.  Much less near a mall.  Nevertheless, a combination of waking from an epic nightmare, subsequent insomnia, and resulting boredom has the neophile cat bouncing around the city, and the sound of the alarm draws her closer.

Mittens double-takes at the mall security guy.  "Matt?!  Holy cow!  Haven't seen you in a coon's age!  You're a rarer sight than Nessie!  Don't suppose you're free Saturday nights for D&D with the guys?  Voice chat, of course.  Everyone lives in separate towns, now."

Mits posts to the D&D chat, "I found Matt!"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:34, Tue 20 July 2021.

Insomnia bloody sucked. She may have quit drinking which means she wasn't drinking herself to sleep every night but that didn't mean she was sleeping which is why the fiery form of Seraph was flying high over the city, lighting up the night sky around her, casting eerie shadows and shapes in the clouds and on the ground.

The alarm reached her keen ears which made her pour on the speed as she dove for the ground, sword already out and ready. She was going to talk to the security guard when she saw one of the last people she expected to see up and about at this hour.

"Mittens?!"

A ghostly form emerges from the shadows as the reverse-echo voice of Wraith says, "I understand people wanting to roam at night... but I did not expect to see either of you. Stay on guard. The villains may still be close."

He stays near the corner he emerged from, though, anticipating he just might need to dive for cover.

  The loading dock was still standing wide open, so the heroes could easily enter and examine  the scene if they wished, or examine it from a small distance as the police were en route with a unit to examine.  It didn't sound like anyone was still there, and looking at it, the latches looked to have been forced open from the inside and not the reverse.  So how did whomever get in there, when did they get in there, and what was missing?

Huge smile!  "Eee!  Seraph!"

Gasp at sudden creepy person appearance!  "Aaah!  Wraith!"

Mits reaches out with the cosmic energy to telekinetically stop the alarm from beeping.

"Ah.  Better.  So nice to see you guys!  Sheesh you're up late... early... whatever.  Mittens is aware that she is too.  Sue me.

"Police radio scanner says there was vehicle recently stolen from the impound.  Connection, perhaps?  Shall we have a look-see for anything conspicuously missing from here?  Anyone else find it strange the latch was forced from the inside?"

Seraph smiled at Mittens. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to do something useful and stop evil people from doing evil things."

She turned as she sensed the other presence there and saw how excited Mittens was (not that her friend was anything but wired and buzzing like a rat-dog on speed). She nodded to Wraith.

"Old trick, particularly in malls and banks: hide, usually in the acoustic tiles, wait for the place to close and use the time you've spent learning where the cameras are and when the guards make their rounds to avoid them."

Wraith nods to Mittens and waves a skeletal hand at her.

Wraith headtilts at Seraph. "...acoustic tiles? Sorry, not familiar. Point us the right direction? Maybe we can pick up their stench..."

Mits grins at Seraph's hero speech.

"Mittens tried the ceiling hiding place thing once.  Didn't work out so well.  Turns out, her school's ceilings weren't rated for holding the weight of a truant teenager.  It got a laugh outta the class when I fell through, at least.  Teacher covered in ceiling dust and tile bits, notsomuch."

Mits shines a flashlight up at the ceiling tiles to see if any look recently lurked behind.

"If it were you, what would be worth the trouble?"

    None of the ceiling tiles looked disturbed, although the back room with the loading dock access was all that they could see without venturing further into the mall and store.

"They're also called drop ceilings. The tile-type ceilings that cover duct-work, electrical cables. Things like that. You'll see them in stores, schools - places with a lot of ceiling because they are rather cheap."

Seraph stepped inside and let her light shine more brightly. "If you don't weigh too much you can sit or kneel on the bracework they use to keep them in place. Wait for whatever building you're in to close then slide one back and drop down. Quiet entry."

She looked around before kneeling down and checking the floor for recent prints. "Of course you need to watch out for motion detectors but those can be bypassed by someone clever enough."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:48, Tue 03 Aug 2021.

  Upon inspection, Seraph (and anone else looking closer) found that the normal 'entry chime' had been cut, and that most of the security system in the  store (internal motion sensors and cameras) had been sabotaged.  Wires unplugged or cut, and the small janitorial closet's ceiling had four tiles slid aside.If they peeked up above that drop ceiling, there was also an open air vent that the grating had literally been sliced away.

Wraith asks, "Do we know what is missing? That can give us some clues. See if you can't find out quickly, Miss Adventure..."

He then heads up into the ceiling to look around for any clues left behind. A piece of cloth, a hair, anything..

Before entering the premises, Mits radioed the incoming police.  "Interpol Trial Elite Member Codenamed: 'Miss Adventure' entering crime scene with assistance from two Civilian Paras, Codename: Seraph, and Codename: Wraith."

Formalities and all that.

She looks perplexed after inspecting the cut grate.  "This is heist-level work.  For a mall.  Seems rather overkill, don'cha think?  Maybe this store is a front for something much more lucrative than your usual retail stuff.  Lessee if we can find anything else out of place."

Mits does a quick once-over of the inventory expecting to find a few expensive things missing as a red herring, but also listens carefully for any tugs from the universe guiding her to a hidden panel to where the real merch was kept.  Also ye olde, 'if I were a shady business dealing in illegal merch, where would I hide it all?' thinking is employed.