Description: 'Twas the shopping week before Christmas, amid advertising spam - 'tis when dear Naerose runs her holiday scam. In the mall with Alexis, and a Riko as well. But watch this story turn into sweet hell...
o/` It's the most wonderful time of the year!
With the kids jingle-belling, and everyone telling you "Be of good cheer."
It's the most wonderful time of the year. o/`
It really /is/ the most wonderful time of the year, and the Village mall spruced up with holiday decorations - twinkling lights, pine boughs, and little decal snowflakes in shop windows. No outward signs of Christmas, per se, but it's enough to get the holiday spirit nipping at everyone's behinds! Especially a girl like Alexis.
Stepping into the outdoor park, she twirls around and around, just taking everything in. The hot cocoa stand, the pretzel vendor, and all the people scurrying to and fro to get their shopping done. At this time of the early afternoon, the small parks are just littered with people stopping to grab a quick bite to eat before attempting to push their way through the crowds again in the search of that one /perfect/ gift on their list.
Forced to stop twirling about when she nearly slugs a guy in the stomach, she bites her lip, giggles and then makes a quick apology. This must be a sign that she should stop wasting time and get to her own list! Digging into the deep pocket of her coat, she pulls out a long scrolly sheet of paper and lets it dangle toward the floor. A mittened hand glides down the list upon the paper as she exclaims, "Aha!" After which she promptly begins to head off in search of a sporting goods store, not paying any attention to where she's going.
One thing you are never ever ever free from this time of year is charity. This is the time of giving, charity, helping out someone who is in need. One thing you can never go without is the ring ring ringing of a bell with a donation bucket. You've seen it all before, a street person for some charity or another dressed festively. But it's all good right? We all give a little.
At one particular corner stands one such person. A red tin bucket with a funnel lid with the fun slots for coins to do the spirally thing around the top children love so much. The person with the bell is dressed in the festive red, a woman, a nice red dress as though she were not terribly used to cold. It isn't long enough, her legs are bare aside form her knee high boots, her arms have weird sleeves that don't actually attach to the dress and flare out dramatically. Also the white fluff around her pointed hat looks glowed on as an afterthought, with a little fluff ball at the tip.
"Come give a tot a toy this year,- Thank you sir, hello little girl, I bet you totally wanna see your dime spin round and round and help someone less fortunate?"
The girl does. The charity worker smiles and accepts her money along with her fathers.
"Happy holidays to you too!"
Happy holidays, indeed.
Because...
...Christmas is special.
It's more than just a holiday. It's gone beyond the shores from whence it came, beyond even the religion whose name it bears. It's spread to Japan, after all - the state of the mall bears witness to that fact.
Maybe it's because people just like an excuse to spread warm fuzzy feelings and celebrate. Or maybe there's something in the actual spirit and message of the season that strikes a chord
Something special.
Of course, in every heartwarming scene, there's always one person that stands out. In every story, there's a Grinch, in every tale, a Scrooge...
There's a hideous crash at the edge of the mall, as an old lady clutching shopping bags goes tumbling over, bowled by a lithe shape that streaks through the crowd like a rocket, bobbing and weaving through the shopping street. She makes an impossibly tight turn round the corner, grabbing hold of a tinsel-bedecked tree as a pivot - the motion shaking loose more than a few decorations. Then she speeds on her new course, faster, faster, /faster/. So quick that the shoppers and revelers have little time to react...
...and Riko Koganei, dressed in a long red coat, sleeves and hem bedecked with white fluff, a bobble hat of her own on her head...speeds /past/ Alexis, blazing on in-line skates, the wind of her passage twisting the long shopping list, possibly even tearing it.
And past the innocent female 'charity worker' standing by the shops.
As Riko blurs past, she snakes an arm out, almost negligently grabbing the handle of the tin coin bucket.
And then, it's gone.
...did Miss Santa just rip off...Miss Santa?
Wooooooosh~!
Alexis, who had been very happy to just plod along to that sporting goods store is suddenly left without her happy little list. "Eeeeeek!" Scrambling around in an attempt to catch the scrolly list before it lodges itself into the fedora of a nearby man, the young girl goes flying up into the air. By luck only, she manages to obtain her list just seconds before face-planting into the cold, damp, grassy area of the one small park. "Ooof."
The blurring blitz of person that wheeled by seems to be causing quite a ruckus. The toppled old lady just lays there with a stunned expression upon her face as several bystanders rush over to see if they can do anything to help. Several others are scoping out those shopping bags though, one of which is snagged by a small hand in all of the commotion. Though she spies this happening, it's what she sees next that has her mouth all agape.
Rolling over in order to kip up to her feet, the little gymnast sees a blur of red ripping the bucket away from the caring hands of the charity worker. Peeking over her shoulder at the shopping-bag snatcher, she figures that the security that wanders through this area will be able to catch the little brat soon enough.
And that's when she takes off.
"Hey! You! Skating girl-Santa! STOP!" Bolting toward the thieving Santa, she attempts to gain enough ground so that she can hop up onto a nearby bench and then launch herself at the miscreant.
Darn those do-gooders she's been hanging around with of late. She just /feels/ as though she's got to do the right thing!
WOOOOOSH~!
Just like that, two hours of hard work asking other people for their money in exchange for nothing is gone. GONE. The wi- I mean charity worker is totally perplexed, she'd never been ripped off like this before. Though in previous years her charity attempts have also failed, generally for different reasons, either they were pathetically bad idea, such as the program to feed the hungry, her. To the shoes for the children's hospital, where she actually did make money but was at the very last moment persuaded to actually donate the money as she was advertising she would. Guilt was a terribly evil thing. This time though she just gets ripped off.
"Well huh," The woman says, adjusting her shades and hat to watch the skater," That's a first," she says, looking sort of not too upset over it really. Then another girl jumps into stop the thief and suddenly it's all bawling.
"That money.. ! It was for the children!" She cries,
"Someone, please!" Right, next up
She turns to the small crowd and takes off her hat, man she has horrible hat hair.
"Please, I lost everything for the children, please if you can reach into your heart and see it to help me regain some of the lost charity.." She appeals to the hearts of the people. Also there seems to be a bunny in there fast asleep (see unconscious).
Even as Naeros---I mean, the perfectly innocent charity worker who was just horribly victimized and is utterly unrelated to a certain witch of the red persuasion, not in the slightest---appeals to the hearts of the crowd...
...chaos and confusion reigns.
People in the mall are just beginning to catch on that something is horribly wrong in the shopping street. The Village Mall is a wide pedestrian path, but it's not all /that/ wide, especially packed with the seasonal sale crowd. There's shouts of alarm, as people are jostled out of the way. A couple of kids dive frantically for the ground as they narrowly evade being run over by the rapidly moving girl on wheels.
Said girl is rolling rapidly, zig-zagging through the press of humanity, her skates rattling over the paving stones. Her fluffy bobble-hat and red coat trail behind her, as she proves a Santa can move really fast even without sleigh and reindeer. Of course, she's not /that/ good a Santa, being female and a teenager. Not even a sexy Santa, at that.
Trailing from one hand is the stolen donation bucket, swinging from the handle.
The thief glances over her shoulder, eyes alight. Riko takes in the people behind her in one single practiced look. There's a security guard /way way behind/, only now just barely turning the corner into the shopping street proper, huffing and puffing. No threat. Far more immediate is the other teenager chasing her - and covering ground at too rapid a pace for her to be any ordinary Good Samaritan.
Riko winks at Alexis.
And speeds up.
Leaping off of the bench, Alexis realizes that the skating girl-Santa is speeding up. Not wanting to land on the ground again, she tucks her knees up tightly to her chest and executes a perfect tumbling somersault, to land in a crouch upon the ground. She does not stay crouched for long, and as soon as she catches sight of the thief again, she dashes off through the crowd of people. Unlike the girl she's pursuing, she apologizes to everyone she passes, pushes out of the way or nearly steps on.
"Sorry."
"Coming through!"
"Excuse me..."
Upon coming to the downed kids, she launches herself into the air, pushing off her right foot so that she can clear them. Executing a half-turn, she lands gracefully on the other side of them before continuing on at a brisk run. Even though the skater /does/ have an advantage over her, due to the maneuverability of her footwear, Alexis is not about to give up in her pursuit.
"Come on! Give that back! It's not yours, and those kids need it!" Stomping her foot down in an exasperated manner, she looks as though she's about to give up.
Turning to let the girl-Santa skate off with the stolen goods, she grins to herself and then cuts a path through one of the parks to attempt coming out ahead of the other and catch her by surprise.
Wink at her, will she?
Watch those two go. It's so amazing that the innocent charity worker takes a moment to stare. Shades slip down her nose like so many snowboarders on a hill, that sounds fun, she makes a mental note which registers on her face as a somewhat off grin. Meanwhile people do start giving her money again, tossing in bills this timee to make up for some of the lost change, she dips a little politely and is totally like,
"Wow thanks, peace be with you or something." To be honest she puts some people off. But no matter, as a security guard comes up, trying to get into the fry, a somewhat over weight man clutching his heart and gasping for breath.
"Stop.. .. right.. there.." he pants and contiues on. The charity worker stares at him as she goes by, for some reason she thinks what he does is sits on you. Whatever that means. She shakes her head and decides to cheer on the pursuit.
"Save the children's toys!" she calls after Alexis.
But though Nae---the charity worker's---voice rises high and clear over the crowd, Alexis is nowhere to be seen. Riko continues to grin as she swings her eyes back, facing forward. The girl's not in sight - she lost track of her a moment ago, in the flurry of shoppers, but the would-be Good Samaritan hasn't emerged. Maybe Riko's lost her? With a triumphant swing of the donation bucket, coins rattling around the container as it spins, Riko rounds a bend of the shopping street, so quick she nearly knocks over a table (and a few shocked customers) of a sidewalk cafe...
...before coming almost face-to-face with Alexis. Just as the other girl comes racing out of the park, her shortcut having brought her into Riko's path.
Riko's eyes go wide, eyebrows arching, as she slams her skates hard to the flagstones, braking with a massive screech of friction.
But she's still grinning.
There's an edge of shock and surprise to that smile, but it's...not annoyed surprise.
No, if anything, Riko grins wider.
"Ahhh," she chirps, "you got me, copper!"
Cheers! It worked! Alexis' quick thinking ploy worked!
Only, what does she do now? This girl-Santa is a little confusing, what with the grinning and chirping after being "caught". Nipping her teeth lightly against her lower lip, she slams her hands down on her hips. Forcing a stern look upon her face, she calls out, "That's right! I did! Now hand the money back over to the nice charity lady, and uhh... quit knocking people down! It's not nice, and you should be nice at this time of year!"
Okay, so she's not half as good at doing the hero thing as Hurricane Hime, but she's certain that's something she can learn when given enough time.
This skater seems like she might be a flight risk still. Carefully edging ever closer to the other girl, she juts a hand out to grab for the donation bucket. Movements, while very stern and serious in nature, are in no way overly aggressive. It's almost as if Alexis doesn't want to scare the girl-Santa into action, or get beaned on the head by a swinging bucket laden with coins.
And what is the charity worker doing? Well...
Meanwhile. . .
"Hey, mister security person is that one of those nifty scooters you lean on to make to?" Yes the security guard is more mobile now, except he's so tired even standing up is starting to get a little hard. He breaths and manages a nod while the witch trots alongside,
"Hey hey, can I have a ride?"
He falls over, now from exhaustion, but from the shock that someone would ask such a clearly dumb question. The device is clearly for one person only. The charity worker however is like, "Great, I'll totally bring this back." She gets on and realizes almost at once she has no idea how it works. *Crash*
She knocks over some people, hits a bench, runs over the security guard a few times and then she's off, zooming toward the scene and rounds a corner, they're they are! With red wit- I mean santa hat flapping behind she has that, thiis is so cool grin, she even starts to hum the theme to happy flight from the never ending story. One thing is just not right, why does she have a broom? Another thing is not right,
"What th.. How do I stop this thing? This is totally uncool!" Tears stream from behind her shades as she can't find any brakes!
Can't find the brakes? Well, them's the breaks. That's how the Christmas cookie crumbles. And maybe if she crashes, there'll be more broken stuff. Hospitals, after all, are always in need of Christmas cheer.
As our friend the charity worker rattles wildly down the street, we turn back to the standoff between Riko and Alexis. Quite an impasse, this. Riko rests, one leg stuck out, almost fully extended, the other bent at the knee, her skates tilted. It's an awkward position, and it's hard to tell how she's even managing to /balance/ like that, having come to a stop. Beneath the fluffy brim of her faintly oversized Santa cap, she peers at Alexis with bright eyes.
he coin bucket jingles musically as she gives it an experimental twirl.
Jingle, jingle, jingle.
"Golly," Riko says, "whatever shall I do?"
Her lips part, her smile growing even broader. She flashes her teeth at Alexis.
And, straightening, Riko takes a quick step to the side.
Without turning round.
Neatly avoiding being run over by the other santa-girl on a scooter.
Of course, since Alexis was standing in front of Riko...
This is /so/ not the holiday shopping experience Alexis was hoping for upon waking this morning. Oh, no. She figured she'd hit the little Village Mall, do a bit of window shopping, pick up the best hockey stick she could find for Lucas, a few small presents for Vanka and a few other important people in her life, do something cute like get her picture taken with Santa so she could bring it to her parents at the Embassy in Tokyo and then stop and get a nice big mug of hot cocoa, complete with whipped cream and little red sprinkles.
Instead, she's got two girl-Santas trying to gun her down.
Thinking the more immediate threat is the scooter that's barreling toward her, she drops toward the ground in a side-sault attempting to avoid the vehicle that's about to crash through her. Trying to keep her bright eyes trained upon the skater, she yells, "You aren't gonna get away from me that easy!"
The charity worker is not forgotten either. While she doesn't peel her eyes away from the thieving skater, she does offer a bit of advice. "You could hop off! That way if it crashes you won't crash with it!"
Not the best of advice, perhaps, but the only thing she can think of at the moment beyond using shoes as brakes, but that /never/ turns out well.
Woah, hey, there is an idea. The charity worker never would of thought. She totally does just that she jumps and. . The scooter crashes with a clattering of metal and trash cans while the worker is suspended oddly in mid air.
"I can fly? I can fly!" she exclaims and then struggles a little, finding herself stuck to a lamp post where her dress has gotten caught, causing her to hang there like a sack of potatoes.
"Aw man.." she complains and then notices her dark circular tea shades start to slide down her nose. She tries to reach up to slide them back up, but the way her dress is pulled taught by the lamp causes her to fail.
"What? no!" she exclaims and struggles some more. She can't reach her shades.
Now her chocolate brown eyes are not hard to see, she often peers over the rims of her shades, but without her shades on entirely? No, you've probably never ever ever seen her without them on. This is a witch who has gone swimming and wears them, under water, in the bath, in the shower, in to bed, into an eye exam. . yes eye doctors hate her. They fall off into the snow beneath her.
"Woah! Help! I can't see without my glasses!" cries the charity worker. She literally can't, because the moment they slipped off her nose she closed her eyes and seems to insist on keeping them closed.
Riko watches all this with a distinctly bemused expression.
She recognizes the woman wrapped around the lamp-post. Obviously she does. In fact, Riko knew who she was long before she zipped round the corner and snatched the donation bucket like that. Riko wouldn't have just randomly ripped off /any/ mall Santa.
Right?
Uh, right?
We'll get back to you on that one.
But that's besides the point, because Riko knows exactly who /this/ woman is.
And Riko snorts.
The crowd's a few steps behind them, and they seem too confused to respond. At least immediately. Which lets Riko tilt her head towards the distressed witch-charity-worker...
...and smirk at Alexis.
"You can chase me," Riko says, making as if she's about to start moving, "or help her..."
What to do, what to do!
Alexis' stern expression softens to one of fret and worry. Helping the charity worker might be the right thing to do here, but then again, so is saving the money for all those poor children without toys! How can she do both without leaving the one Santa wrapped around the lamp post for a prolonged period of time?
Oh! She can do what her father does all the time! Delegate!
Even as she steps toward skater-Santa, she points to two rather toned looking guys in the crowd gathering by the post. "You and you, can you help her down or at least get her glasses for her? I've got a thief to catch!"
This may seem to be an odd choice, 'cause certainly those two guys would be able to take down the small skater much more easily than she could, right?
Be that as it may, Alexis chose to "do the right thing" here, and since she started down that path, she can't exactly ask someone to step in and take over for her!
"And do it quick before her dress rips and she falls, kay? Thaaaaaanks!"
Sliding her foot forward, she lunges out to grab at the donation bucket again, hoping to pilfer it from the thief before the girl decides to take off again.
And so two helpful looked tone and confused gentlemen do the typical look at each other, look at Alexis, point to themselves, point to each other the whole me thing. Then they go to help her down, each man grabbing an arm and lowering the charity worker who is now confused onto the ground and dust off her shoulder.
"Did you lose your glasses ma'am?" One asks and helps who who is now on her hands and knees feeling for her fallen glasses. Most people would think, look for glasses, probably not shades, though maybe the shades are easier to find, they're clearly not a prescription. But who knows, maybe she has one of those eye problems where if her eye is exposed to too much light she could go blind? One can only speculate.
"Here you go, " One of the men offers and the charity worker soon has her shades back in her hands, fixes them to her face and looks around.
"Woah, I thought I was a goner for sure." Then she looks up to try and see all she missed in the pursuit. The men meanwhile are busy with the 'are you okay's' But when she looks up at them and smiles it's almost as though someone hit each with a mallet. That mallet being, 'why could she possibly need to wear those shades to see.' They do not cover all of her eyes, so it isn't some sort of disease, unless it's something mental.
The charity worker picks up her broom and rises, brushing off some snow.
Even as the bespectacled woman rises, Riko dances by her, whirling away from Alexis in a fluid motion - holding the donation bucket at the end of an outstretched hand, playing a deft game of 'keep-away'. That's no mean feat, considering Alexis' swiftness and agility. But whoever she is, Riko appears just as quick, gliding on her skates.
The red Santa coat and hat swirl around her, turning her into a spinning flash of red. She neatly avoids Alexis, and moves fast enough that no other members of the crowd seem inclined to approach her.
"You're after the wrong girl, you know," Riko retorts, her eyes twinkling, "I'm not the thief! She is!"
Riko points to the charity-witch.
"What kind've world do you live in?" Alexis queries this as she runs at her top speed in order to keep up with the skater. It's no easy task, but at least she's had practice at playing keep-away like this before! That's one of the joys of having a twin brother who spends all of his time on the ice, and decides he wants to hide your favorite toys from you by attaching them to the side of his hockey stick.
"She's the charity worker, you took the bucket from her!"
Alexis has learned one thing since transferring to Southtown. People around here are just plain /weird/.
"Now, give back that bucket!"
In the end, she knows she's really got no hope of catching the skater. Unless she does something "drastic". Puffing out a hefty sigh, she decides it's time to spring into action.
So she does.
Continuing along in her run, she suddenly breaks into a front handspring. The deft movements have her springing and soaring swiftly through the crowd toward skater-Santa. Frankly, she's pretty much broken out into a full-fledged gymnastics routine, all in the hopes of getting the upper hand again.
Finding herself within range, she suddenly twists to the side and drops down to the ground, mittens lighting upon it briefly before she vaults up and over with her feet airborne and heading directly toward Riko's shoulders.
"Don't worry," she calls to the other Santa. "I'll save the money for those toys!"
Is Naerose truly going to make this easy for Riko? No. She is going to make this as humanly difficult as she can. So she knows her part, damsel in distress. She watches Riko and listens to the accusation and is probably really wide eyed right? Yep, she even falls back onto the ground as if you know she couldn't possible be just standing there, not in light of an accusation like that. She's like, dumbfounded.
"Me ?" she exclaims, perhaps protesting too much, "I am a volunteer, giving my own time and energy so we can provide toys for the children who are less fortunate! Here I have pictures of them right here!" She reaches into her hat and pulls out time magazine clippings from Time of starving children.
"How can you say that? Me a thief? someone eplease stop that imposter!"
NAerose pulls a red hanky from her hat and dabs at the corners of her eyes under her shades. Who knows if she was even tearing up.
Riko hits the flagstones, tumbling painfully as Alexis collides with her, the older girl's heels slamming into her upper torso. She unbalances, spilling to the ground in a tangle of flapping red fabric and faux-fur lining. The bobble hat comes off her head, flopping to the floor as Riko rolls. Amazingly, though, she somehow manages to squirm away from Alexis, all the while keeping a grip on the bucket.
She comes halfway to her feet, one skinned knee against the ground, and points an accusing finger at the crying Naerose.
"Ah-HAH," Riko crows, "such audacity!"
Raising her voice in a loud declaration, Riko continues:
"YOU HAVE BEEN FOOLED! For that is no charity worker, but the notorious con-woman and infamous criminal mastermind, NAEROSE DELPHINE, preying upon your generous hearts!"
Drat!
The villainous skating-Santa has escaped her clutches! Alexis had be so very certain she had the girl trapped, and even /more/ certain that the bucket was about to be hers! To be honest, she's quite impressed with the thief's abilities of tumbling around, and for the tiniest moment, she forgets she's chasing this girl to rain down JUSTICE upon the evil-doer!
"Oh wow! Great escape! Have you ever taken gymnastics?"
Er...
"Even if you have, I'm gonna get that bucket back!"
Swiftly swinging about to accost Riko again, she pauses. Every time she's tried to attack and get the bucket, she's failed. Maybe she should try a different tactic! With that in mind, she waltzes around Riko, taps her on the shoulder and then grabs for the bucket once more.
"Umm... is that s'posed to mean something to me? I've never heard of this Naerose person and if she was so infamous, surely Interpol would make sure her name is plastered all over the Embassies and Consulates..." Wrinkling her nose up in a cute, confused manner she points out, "'sides, you're the one with the bucket, and if you're /both/ thieves, then I really need to make sure this money goes to those poor kids."
She can't believe what she is hearing, Naerose is gape mouthed that this skater would go through such incredible lengths. Well she knew Naerose' name and she seemed to know that Naerose was planning on pocketing the dough. It's almost as if she doesn't recognize Riko at all. She certainly stares as if she doesn't.
"Ahhhh.." The witch says, and sort of looks left then right. "Ahhh.." she scratches her head and then decides to shout
"Lies! This is all for the children and if you don't believe me you can come with me when we drop the money off at the toys for tots regional center!"
Opps, the witch totally covers her mouth, as if realizing only a moment later what she did. Of course someone like Alexis would accompany her and probably enjoy doing it, seeing the money donated relishing in the feeling of giving... The witch stares at the ground. She half expects Riko to just give back the money at this point.
Which is /exactly what Riko does/.
Riko is a ninja. Ninja are all about the unpredictability. But sometimes the best instrument of chaos...is to do /exactly/ what someone expects.
Because, really, sometimes it's just too good an opening to pass up.
Riko's on the ground, her hands wrapped tight around the donation bucket's handle. Alexis has the other end, and they're fighting a frantic tug-of-war battle, the coins rattling around inside the container.
Then, all of a sudden, Riko /lets go/.
And hops to her feet, nodding sagely.
"Righto," she says brightly, "excellent idea! That's EXACTLY what we'll do! Along with anyone else who wants to help!"
Riko shoots Naerose a sunny smile, before turning that same smile to the crowd, her face curving into an expression of pure heartwarming innocence..
The unexpected release of the bucket has Alexis staggering backward. Gymnastics has her agility at its peak, so she doesn't stumble far before she rights and balances herself.
Left blinking at the change of heart from the skating-Santa thief, she tilts her head to the right, and then spins around to face this "infamous mastermind" of a charity worker. "That seems fair. Doesn't that seem fair? It's so much more in the holiday spirit than stealing money from the children! I'm game! Let's all go down there right now! I'll even donate half of my shopping money to those kids!" Because that is /so/ the right thing to do. Lucas will just have to suffer with a cheaper hockey stick than what she intended. But by golly, he'll suffer and he'll like it!
Mittened hands hold firmly to the bucket, and she looks between the two girl-Santas to see what the verdict will be. Are they about to do this, or will there be another frantic chase on her hands?
Ah ah ah. Naerose looks from Riko to Alexis and is thinking, just my luck. The thought process you can almost see the gears turning in her head, some of the onlookers meanwhile are clapping. Apparently some of them think this was a very intricate act, perhaps to make them feel like they were getting more than peace of mind for their donations. The result is more money being donated, this time in more than just change, oh the giving spirit could make someone cry, infact Naerose is crying she starts to sniffle and then wipes her eyes. You could probably imagine if you knew her well.
Such a good con, she would seem to think, and look, all the money.. and the clincher. She has to donate all of it, ALL OF IT.
She sobs a little and wipes her eyes, oh she's okay, she waves off a helpful hand from an onlooker probably thinking ' Oh what a charitable soul'
The witch looks sidelong at her broom. A careful eye might notice a flash of calculation. What could she POSSIBLY do with a broom?
Indeed, by now the crowd's getting pretty noisy, riled up in a good Christmas cheer way. Street theater's always fun. Most places in Japan, such antics wouldn't be appreciated. But this is Southtown, fighting capital of the world - and even the natives are used to weird craziness.
Riko's smiling, waving, acting as if this was all according to plan.
Except, even as she does that, Riko follows Naerose's gaze, her eyes tracking along with the witch's.
And the ninja girl /smiles/.
No, no, no. This can't have been all an act! Alexis would have known /that/, wouldn't she? She's not /that/ easily duped, is she? Then again, according to Himeko, she already /was/ duped pretty good by someone she thought differently of. Even if this /was/ all an act, she doesn't seem to care all that much. The money is going where it was intended to go, and some children that might have had a rather dull holiday are now going to have something to look forward too! Oh! This is just /so/ great!
It's all because she helped to stop the nefarious skating-thief! As a bonus, she gets to help hand-deliver this money and see the happy looks on the faces of those organizing this charity, and maybe she can even offer to help them with the shopping! That'd be awesome!
"Awww!" Refusing to release the bucket now that she's gotten it, she holds it out to make sure the donations get to the right place and not someone's pocket. "Thanks so much!" A man in a business suit seems to have just pulled out a wad of cash and is trying to stuff it into the coin slot. "I don't think that goes there though! How 'bout this spot here. I think this one is for bills, and thank you again! That's a nice donation and some little boy or girl will be happy for it!"
Riko is not the only one that's smiling, even if Alexis is doing it for the warm fuzzy reasons of doing something right.
The witch smiles. Smiles big at Riko, she isn't watching Alexis, but she's reaching toward her slowly, wait is that some cash in her hand? Yes she must be about to make a donation too! What a generous charity worker. Meanwhile very slooooowwly she reaches toward her broom. She isn't moving to brandish it.. No not quite. Sloooowly she drags it torward herself and positions the stick under her backside. Weird and starts to move her other hand toward Alexis, the smile still there.
"Come come, let us bring this to the central office, it is a block away from here.." She starts to point, maybe trying to draw attention away from the bucket.
% r She drops a wad of cash in, her hand ends up on the handle , near Alexis's while she seems to very slowly position the broom more under herself, pointed..well.. up. She hasn't done anything too weird yet, right?
Nope. Of course not.
Certainly, Riko isn't making any attempt to stop Naerose. Not in the slightest. She's just standing by the side, a ways behind Alexis, smiling and nodding at the people in the crowd. Almost encouraging them to donate more.
All she's done is retrieved her Santa hat from where it hit the ground. She's wearing it again, tilted at a jaunty angle, the fluffy bobble hanging from one side, framing her bangs and heart-shaped face.
She hasn't moved much since then. Her hands are clapsed behind her. One of her feet is flat on the ground, her skate resting above the stones. The other is lifted, front wheel and toe shifting as she turns her leg slightly.
Her eyes, though...
It looks like she expects something to happen.
"Ah-ah," Alexis says as soon as Naerose settles her hand upon the handle of the bucket. "I think I'll just carry this all on my own. See, I don't know if you're really a charity worker or not, and while I wanna believe you're trying to do good, the other girl over /there/ says you're this notorious con-artist and I'd rather not take any chances!"
She didn't fight so hard to save the money, only to lose it again now! Yanking the bucket back from the charity-worker Santa, she pouts her lower lip out in a small frown. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything, but see, I'm not from around here and maybe she like, is. And maybe she like, knows you better or something. I mean, it's just best this money gets to the little kids, okay? That's all I care about and whatever con you guys are trying to pull or whatever... that's not so important as this! It's the holiday season and time for sharing and all that fluffy warm stuff, so let's go do that, kay?"
Twisting away from the woman trying to grab the bucket, she clings to it more firmly with her mittened hands and shakes her head vigorously, causing her pigtails to dance about behind her. Then, she starts walking down one of the paved pathways of the Village Mall, eyes scanning the store windows as she goes, looking for this charitable organization because surely it can't be /that/ far away!
A little angel appears on Naerose's shoulder, you totally wouldn't know this except Naerose mimes its voice as the bucket is pulled away from her.
'Wot are you doin' mate? This is for tha children." The witch sighs and hangs her head, "You'ree right.. It doesn't matter who brings the money.. It's for the kids." She smiles a little more and lets go of her broom, well not dropping it but letting it out of the take off position.
"Lets go, this is th way," The witch says and starts to lead the group to the office. As it turns out, rounding the pleasantly snowy sidewalk, she actually does know where the office is, afterall, she needed to get the bucket. It would quickly turn out she did actually sign up as a volunteer, she was totally legit except with the fact she was planning on keeping the dough. Oh well.
"For the children." She says.. except, are those forms for needy families to fill out to get toys for tots? Naerose discretely slips one into her hat.
But...
Riko isn't following the two girls. She's standing where she was, watching rom behind. Watching Naerose and Alexis go. Her hands are still held behind her back. The over-large sleeves of her Santa coat and their white-edged furry lining fall over her hands and wrists, exposing her fingers - laced together, tightly intertwined.
She smiles a sunny smile.
There's no need to run away when the only people who could possibly stop you are already moving in a different direction.
Unnoticed by even the crowd, she shifts her hands, fingers shifting to a distinct position, curling quite deliberately.
There is a small surge of chi.
Infitesimally small.
Just a spark.
Quite literally a spark, for this is chi molded and shaped of the lightning element, a mote of spiritual energy that for a moment, just a moment, almost perfectly mimics true electricity in every practical way.
A tightly focused spark, just a pinprick, concentrated entirely on the bucket in Alexis' grasp.
Concentrated, specifically, on the underside of the collection tin.
After all, Riko had the tin all to herself for several long moments.
And gummed to the base of the container is a small wad of 94.3% pentaerythritol tetranitrate.
Better known as the key ingredient in plastic explosive.
"Katsu," Riko mouths, with a smile.
Before turning, and skating away.
Yes, she exposed Naerose's scam.
Doesn't mean she's a nice person.
Innocent, happy girls like Alexis aren't prone to think the worst of people. So, does she think to check the bottom of the bucket for explosives?
Nope.
Does she think that anyone is /insane/ enough to attach explosives to a bucket that's filled with money for children?
Nope.
The kicker is that she's just trotting along her merry way, thinking everything is alright now. The thief was stopped, the apparent con-artist really /does/ want to donate the money to a worthy cause and all is right in the world! She's a justice-doer now! She's got purpose! She's got a reason for celebrating the season beyond all the gifts she'll be spoiled with in ten days! She's got...
...
... a bucket of money that literally /explodes/ in her hand, leaving her cute little mittens aflame. Dropping the remnants of the bucket, she rips off the mittens and pulls a hat out of her pocket, attempting to catch as much of the raining coinage as she can. While one hand holds the hat, the other snaps out to grab wads of burning cash in order to save as much as possible.
But... but who would do such a thing? This is horrible! This is evil! This is worse than that tacky green Grinch-guy who ruins Christmas for all of Whoville!
At least there are a few good samaritans that stroll along and help with the collection, but this is just a disaster! The happy-go-lucky look she's had plastered on her face all throughout these hijinks, has fallen. Seems the little do-gooder is heartbroken over the fact that someone would stoop so low just to ruin the holidays for those poor kids that usually have to go without.
And it looks like she's all set to blame the con-artist charity worker. "Oh! How... how could you! That's just /so/ mean! I can't believe anyone would be that mean!" Sniffle. After she gets out the last word, little tears of frustration form in the corners of her eyes and she just sets about her work collecting as much as she can to help out.
"Huh?! Me?" exclaims the witch and she's taken just as off guard as Alexis, but then it's money lost to her either way but still. She does have a trump card she was hopnig not to be conned into pulling. She sighs and reaches into her hat, taking out the money she had collected there, inwardly wishing that stranger with the skates hadn't forced her to be good.
"I stashed some away in just such an event." She states, pulling out the hate money with a big winning smile, she totally doesn't want to give the money away either.
"Seee? It's all okay." She hopes she is convincing someone because she's afraid the angel she imagines on her shoulder will get mad at her otherwise.
An unexpected bonus.
Riko's back is turned, and she's moving away from Alexis and Naerose. By now, they're almost half a street distant - with a press of concerned bodies between them. Riko can't possibly see them. And indeed, she can't. But she stops, momentarily, an odd expression crossing her face. Then she laughs, out loud.
She's got more senses than just vision. There's a lingering trace of her chi in the twisted remains of the bucket, where she detonated the explosive...
And the security strips of the banknotes and the coins in Naerose's hands are an unmistakable electromagnetic signature.
Riko chuckles.
Is the great Naerose Delphine actually offering money she had hidden away?
An unexpected bonus!
With that, Riko continues moving.
Her work here is done.
Log created on 12:06:56 12/15/2007 by Riko, and last modified on 17:35:39 12/15/2007.