"What's he doing in a place like this?" Dylan fumed, seeing Thomson go into the electronics wing. "…You know I think he's here not because one of the boilers exploded..."
"Jinkies! Yes, I agree." Velma said. " I'm really beginning to take back the bit about Thomson not being the burglar."
"So you finally came to your senses." Dylan said sardonically. Velma flared. The two were hiding behind a wall near the entrance to the electronics wing.
"What's he doing in there?" Dylan saw Thomson enter a store.
"Let's take a closer look." Velma said, edging near the store. They were already directly outside the store.
"…Hmm…one could make a great variety of simple robots with G-13's…" The guy inside the shop told Thomson, holding the bag of screws."
"Yeah. I went to buy some to see if they were the same with screws I already have." Thomson said happily. "Great! Now I can proceed with my plan!" Dylan smirked upon hearing this.
"Velma, I was expecting to hear a crazy, half-witted laugh by now." Dylan said derisively. "As much as I don't want to gloat…but, I told you so."
"…Hm…" Velma hummed. "Yes…it may seem like it, but…"
"Don't you get it? It's solved!" Dylan placed a hand on her hip. "Why won't you listen to me for once???"
"What!?" Velma was pissed off. "You're the one who doesn't listen! What about the little fountain incident!?"
"I had a good reason!"
"Talk to your truant officer!"
"Do you want to go hungry!?"
"God, why did the money have to come from the fountain!?"
"Don't make me hurt you."
"What are you going to do? All your 'witchcraft' is one big hoax." Velma just picked a bad time to say that. Dylan clenched her fist tightly. Velma was beginning to be held back.
"…Nmad uoy…" She whispered vehemently. Velma bit her lip and shield her face with her arms. Just then, Dylan loosened her fist and crossed her arms.
"…(guffaw)…ahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" Dylan laughed like a kid. Velma dropped her hands and frowned.
"You…you brat!" Velma flared, pointing a finger in front of Dylan's face.
"Why thank you." Dylan shortly replied, polishing her nails on her shirt sarcastically. The two were arguing loudly outside the store. Thomson and the store clerk could hear two girls' voices strangling each other outside.
"What in blazes is going on out there?" The store employee asked.
"I'll go check." Thomson volunteered, stepping out of the store. To his surprise, and rage, he saw Dylan and Velma bickering with each other. "Blasted kids! Why are always following me!?" To Dylan and Velma's surprise, they both jumped into action upon hearing Thomson's voice.
"Uh-oh! Run, Dyl!" Velma grabbed Dylan and ran past Thomson. "God, here we go again!" Velma sighed. "More running."
"See this doo-doo your unreasonableness got us in…?" Dylan slightly whispered.
"Oh, great, now it's my fault?" Velma huffed while running.
"Yeah." Dylan rudely replied. She looked back and saw that Thomson wasn't chasing them. "(That's funny…he's not coming after us.)" Dylan thought. Just then, due to their running and loss of focus, they bumped into Daphne and the nerdy kid. Literally bumped into them. The four people made a slightly loud thud on the floor.
"Hey, what the hell?" Daphne winced, rubbing her head. "Velma!"
"Hey, Daph." Velma greeted, getting up. She also saw the nerdy kid, who was slightly knocked out cold.
"…(Frickin' hell…)" Dylan thought, stand up and rubbing her eyes. She saw Daphne. "Oh, hey Ms Blake."
"Hello…erm…" Daphne thought for the girl's name. "Dylan, right." Dylan just nodded and then laid her eyes on the nerdy kid on the floor.
"…Gee, it's really a small world, isn't it?" She asked Velma, folding her arms.
"Yup." Velma replied. "So, uh…what are you guys doing here?"
"Well, I'm being this kid's mentor for career day." Daphne explained happily.
"…Your student sure looks happy." Dylan commented ironically, staring amusingly at the knocked out kid. Velma nudged her discreetly.
"So, the kid's future profession is to be a full-on fashion guru?" Velma asked Daphne.
"Sorta like that." Daphne handed Velma the nerdy kid's test results.
"….So…he is supposed to be a fashion junkie?" Velma inquired, scanning the papers. "His answers…don't seem to match the profession."
"I know." Daphne said, taking the dossier away. "The school says he just needed a proper outer appearance. Besides, Dylan already got you as the mentor. His paper was just checked a tad bit late." Velma looked at the dizzy, unconscious kid.
"…I don't know about his paper being checked later than Dylan's…" Velma said. "But he really needs the glamour help…" Then the two friends laughed. Dylan inserted her hands into her pockets and sighed.
"…The day will be almost over." Dylan's frosty voice shattered the laughter. "If you don't hurry, I'm never gonna get my grade."
"Friendly kid you got there." Daphne muttered. "Well, good luck Velms. You sure look like you really need it."
"Yeah, thanks." Velma said. "A little luck goes along way when you have to be with a 13-year-old pain in the backside…" Daphne laughed and patted Velma on the shoulder. Just then, the nerdy kid was starting to gain consciousness.
"…Pumpkin pie, how I wanna kick your hiney high…." The nerdy kid sang. The three conscious people looked at each other.
"Effects of the fall. Nothing to serious." Dylan garbled. "Yet." Dylan was the type who enjoyed twisted humor. The dirty brat.
"Well, Velma, we have to go!" Daphne said, pulling the nerdy kid to his feet. "Let's go kid. Let's stop by at the store you want to go to, then we'll go to the salon." Daphne dragged the kid to the store where Thomson was.
"See you Daphne!" Velma bade goodbye. "You know, he didn't chase us when we ran away."
"What's your point?" Dylan asked.
"Don't you see?" Velma now began to pace the floor. "Isn't he alarmed that we overheard his plan?"
"Who cares?" Dylan started walking away. "All the clues lead to him. Who else could've done it?"
"Well…" Velma thought. "All the events do seem to point him out…"
"See! I told you so!" Dylan gloated. Just then, the two caught sight of Thomson going out of the store. He was still carrying the pack of G-13 screws.
"I really think he's got nothing to do with it…" Velma muttered.
"I think all we have to do now is to follow Thomson around." Dylan suggested. "He will lead us straight to the foiling of his plan…"
"…Don't you go jumping into your conclusions again!" Velma scolded the girl. But seeing that all clues seem to lead to him, Velma guessed it wouldn't hurt to try. "…Fine."
So the two girls followed Thomson. The old man exited the electronics wing and headed for a comic store not far away. Velma and Dylan saw him go in there and went inside as well. The place was packed with nerds, dorks and the like.
"Hey guys! I didn't expect to see you again soon!" A familiar voice came from behind. It was Daphne. And the nerdy boy.
"I thought you guys were going to the salon?" Dylan asked.
"We were supposed to, but this kid wants to stop y the comic store." Daphne explained. "Can't have him crying the rest of the day." Just then, the nerdy kid went inside the store without Daphne's consent.
"Come back here!" Daphne called out. "Well, see you guys. I gotta catch me a nerd kid." Daphne then went inside. Velma smiled and then turned her attention to Dylan.
"Good thing there are many people…" Velma said, going into the comic book store. "He won't sense we're following him…"
"…Yeah, great. Now if they could only do something about their customers…" Dylan eyed the nerds reading and babbling about the comics. One of them accidentally bumped Dylan. "Do you mind!?" She fumed. Velma caught sight of the man in the blue jumpsuit talking to the employee behind the counter.
"Dylan, look at that!" Velma pointed at Thomson. "He's going to the back of the store."
"Yeah, I see him." Dylan just responded. "Let's go. I don't know how much dweeb air I can take." Dylan trudged through the hordes of nerdy comic book lovers. They say Thomson going to the back of the store, the storage.
"Great, now he's stealing comics as well." Dylan rolled her eyes as they went through the "sea" of nerds and towards the storage door. Thomson was in the storage, staring at all directions, as if looking for any spies. The two girls were watching him from outside the door.
"Shhh!" Velma hushed. "Look at that." Dylan was dumbfounded. It wasn't what you'd normally see. Thomson was opening a manhole cover on the floor.
"That must lead to the sewers…" Dylan whispered. "But why is he going there?" Velma shrugged her shoulders. They waited until Thomson disappeared into the hole. Velma nodded, as a sign of action. They went inside the storage. Dylan examined the piles of comic books lined up on the floor.
"No way! They have The Occult Review #12! Only 4 were made!" Dylan said, picking out the comic. Velma lifted the manhole cover.
"God, it reeks!!!!" Dylan cursed, pinching her nose. She went back on reading the comic book.
"Dylan, focus!" Velma said, snatching the comic away from Dylan. "Just get your rear down that manhole!" Dylan went down the manhole and Velma followed. As they went down the manhole, the smell got stronger. They reached the landing and saw a shadow was cast on a sewer wall.
"That must be him! Let's move!" Velma commanded, taking Dylan by the hand. They had to be very careful not to be caught. The sewer was well…filthy. Dylan could hear the squeaking of sewer rats. It gave Dylan a very disgusting picture in her mind about cat-sized sewer rats.
"(Ewww…)" Dylan shrugged. "I hate rats…" For some reason, Dylan sensed they were being followed. "…Nah." Dylan shook her head and concluded that she was just tired. Just then, they caught up with Thomson. He climbed up a ladder that leads out of the sewer.
"I wonder where that leads?" Velma asked.
"Only one way to find out…" Dylan said, going ahead Velma and ran towards the ladder. Velma started moving, but then she heard splashing in the sewer water. She looked back, but saw no one.
"Hm…must be the rats." She speculated, following Dylan up the ladder. Dylan was already near the top and then lifted the manhole that was blocking the way.
"So, where does it lead?" Velma asked, seeing Dylan already took the first peek.
"It's too dark! I cannot make it out!" Dylan responded, completely clearing out the manhole cover. "Let's go! He couldn't have gotten far." Velma agreed and followed Dylan out of the sewers.
…But down in the shadows of the sewers, a shady character surveyed them as they went out of the sewers. But…who could this be? And why is he following Velma and Dylan?
A/N: So Dylan was right. There was someone following them. Please, R and R, people!