I'm not sure where the ideas for this chapter came from, but I kidna like how it turned out =3 Also, sorry about the re-call, I forgot to add that Malice the rabbit and the other character introduced here are copyright to me =3 (Brick'd) MOVING ON!
Enjoy =3
Chapter 2: Walk Though the Mall
"Vector, there's a problem with this plan." Espio spoke up after a few minutes of walking.
"What's that?" The croc asked, looking back at his smaller companion.
"We don't have a picture of Silver to use. Our client took the picture back, remember?" The other three detectives froze at this; they had completely forgotten.
OoOoO
After convincing their client to photo copy the picture they had been shown, the quartet was back on track and quickly on their way to the Station Square mall.
For a human, even to run there would have taken an hour and a half, and that's non-stop; for the mobians, however, it took only 25 minutes with all four going as fast as their slowest member. The mall was nothing special; a big building made mostly of different squares; one for each major store that took up the space. And a smaller bit of space between them for the lesser-known stores, as well as a food court.
The four found a directory as soon as they entered the building; the list for clothing and shoe stores was enormous.
"Okay...so how're we splittin' this up?" Kaity asked, scanning over the list with dread.
"I guess two of us will take the shoes and two the clothes." Vector shrugged, "They look about even, anyway."
"But it's still too many fer me." Kaity scoffed, "I call teamin' with Espio." she said immediately after; no telling what questions Charmy would start asking if she was stuck looking around in clothing stores.
Vector seemed to have the same idea and nodded, "Fine, you two look around the clothing stores, then." Both chameleons groaned loudly in protest. The croc crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, "No more negotiations. The longer we stand here, the longer Silver is lost."
"Let's get this over with, then." Even Charmy didn't seem excited with the notion of walking around in shoe stores all day.
"We should meet in the food court a few hours from now," Espio suggested, "none of us have had lunch yet. We'll compare notes there."
Vector nodded in agreement, "Good idea; we'll meet there at about four."
OoOoO
"We got nothin'." Kaity said simply, popping a french fry in her mouth, "All we got were odd looks and weird-o's tryin' ta spray me with stuff." As a smirk twitched over Vector's snout, Kaity added with a hiss, "Don't laugh!"
Vector cleared his throat, choking down the laugh that was about to come, "We didn't find anything either."
"Not even new shoes." Charmy added as if it were the best piece of information they had.
Espio sighed, "Well, there's still a number of shops the look into." the chameleon picked up the list of store names he had made; about half the list was crossed off.
"Yeah, same here." Vector nodded, "We'll search the last few stores and meet back here, whadda say?" The other three nodded in agreement as the last bits of food were finished. The detectives went their separate ways once again in their search for the missing rabbit girl.
OoOoO
Espio and Kaity walked into one store that reeked of perfume and had a name scrawled in unreadable script all over the tiny store space with a surprising number of people milling around. The clothes resting on shelves and hanging on hangers looked expensive and luxurious.
"Gotta be the place." Both chameleons muttered together. Another few steps in, Espio came to an abrupt halt and shot out an arm to bar Kaity's way.
"What's the big-!"
"Look." Espio cut Kaity short, pointing to a familiar black and red rabbit milling about with a smaller rabbit girl.
"Malice..." Kaity murmured. "What's 'e doin' 'ere?"
"Shopping, apparently." Espio answered, "But who's the girl is what I would like to know." He moved carefully, with Kaity following, behind a rack of clothes to watch their enemy and the child.
The girl looked to be about ten; the girl's fur was dominantly brown with the exception of black rimming her floppy ears in a spiked fashion. She wore a light blue shirt with flowy short sleeves and a reasonably long skirt colored black. The girl hurried over to clothing display, looking in awe at a figure-flattering dress that was obviously too big for her. She turned only her head to look at Malice, who remained rooted in place. "I like this one! It'll look so pretty on Dawn!" she cried out happily.
Espio's golden eyes suddenly zeroed in on the girl's fingers; on each forefinger and pinky was a small ring made of wood painted white. Her right hand was twitched as if hesitantly playing an invisible piano. Almost immediately as this happened, Malice moved forward and stopped at the girls' side. The girl's middle finger of the girl's left hand twitched and Malice looked up at the dress. "Whatever you like, honey." Malice said in an almost dry tone. The girl's aqua eyes lit up in delight as the male rabbit picked up the outfit carefully and draped it over his arm. Kaity nudged her friend and pointed to the others bags Malice was toting around; several of the names they recognized from some point or another from their search.
"Can we get just one more for Dawn?" The little girl asked with an innocent, pleading tone.
The left hand's middle finger twitched again and Malice looked down almost in unison with it. "We can get as much as you want, honey." the villain assured. The ten year old clapped happily and darted away to find another piece of clothing suitable. As soon as the girl left, Malice's ridged shoulders slouched, his expression suddenly dawning a tired, dizzy expression.
"We'd better get outta here before 'e spots us." Kaity said quietly, edging toward the door, "If 'e takes the kid hostage, we won't be able ta do anythin'."
"Hold on, I want to-" Espio froze mid-sentence. Malice's red eyes caught the gold of Espio's; for a moment, both males stood in stunned silence, then Malice quickly turned his back on the detectives and spoke urgently with the little girl. The girl looked suddenly sad be followed Malice to the counter with the clothes she had picked. Malice wrote something down for the woman at the register and quickly hustled the brown rabbit out into the mall's hallway.
Another tense moment passed and both chameleons let out the breath they had been holding, "Well that was...weird..." Kaity said finally. "Suppose Malice is in on the kidnappin'?"
"It would fit his style," Espio pondered, "Silver appears to be rich, it makes sense he would kidnap her for the money. Besides, those clothes were too big for that girl."
"But they'd fit Silver."
"Most likely." Espio nodded. The chameleon then walked immediately over to the register Malice had paid at; the brown-haired human smiled at him in greeting. The chameleon boy only nodded in acknowledgement, "That man who just came through, what did he write down for you?" He asked.
"Sorry, I can't-"
"I'm a detective." Espio cut in, "And that rabbit is a known criminal, my partner and I suspect the girl was him was kidnapped."
The human girl looked at him in shock, then quickly fumbled for the slip of paper, "He wanted me to send what he bought to his house, this is the address he gave me."
Espio took a quick glance at it, committing the name and number to memory, and handed the paper back. "Thank you." He nodded, and turned quickly to leave the store, Kaity in tow.
OoOoO
The group met up once again, and headed back to the CDA, discussing what they had found out on the way.
"Malice?" Vector gaped, "I guess it'd make sense if the girl was rich, but why go buying all that stuff for her?"
The male chameleon shrugged helplessly, "Maybe he has a bigger plot in mind?"
"Could be..." Vector nodded, "And Silver was seen in a couple of the stores we stopped at, but no one mentioned her being with anyone who looks like Malice.
"But we're gonna find out about Silver and Malice, right Vector?" Charmy asked, buzzing close by his reptilian friend.
Vector nodded, "You got it, kid."
I honestly have no idea what I'm doing for the next chapter, sooooooooo...yeah... =D;;